Winning With Shopify Podcast: Ecommerce Growth for Shopify Store Owners

Hosted by Nick Trueman | Ecommerce Growth, Marketing, PPC and SEO Specialist

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419

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The Shopify podcast for ecommerce founders and store owners. Twice-weekly strategies on Shopify SEO, conversions, marketing, and scaling your online brand. Host Nick Trueman interviews successful Shopify brand founders, ecommerce growth experts, and top Shopify app creators every Friday. Tuesday Tea Break Talks deliver quick Shopify updates, marketing tips, and actionable tactics. With 400+ episodes and 15+ years in ecommerce and digital marketing, Nick delivers the strategies behind real Shopify success stories. No theory, just the specific decisions, tools, & playbooks that drive revenue.

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August 21, 202641 min

Your Shopify Store Isn’t Enough: How To Win When Everyone Sells the Same Products

When customers can buy the same products from dozens of retailers, your Shopify store needs to give them a reason to choose you. In this episode, Nick is joined by Alan Dowell from Escentual, an online beauty retailer specialising in fragrance, skincare and cosmetics, to discuss how brands can differentiate in crowded markets, build customer trust and turn more first-time buyers into loyal customers. Learn more about Escentual: https://escentual.com/ Connect with Alan Dowell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dowell-alan/ They reveal why many ecommerce brands struggle despite selling great products, how removing friction can improve conversion rates and why the best brands focus on customer experience rather than competing purely on price. You’ll learn: How to differentiate when competitors sell the same products Why customer education, reviews and trust signals drive conversions How removing unnecessary friction can improve the buying journey Why having too many Shopify apps could be slowing your store down How testing, personalisation and retention create long-term growth Why mobile-first experiences are essential for ecommerce success The episode also covers how removing 70+ Shopify apps improved conversion rates, why brands should test instead of assume, and how better customer communication can create stronger loyalty and repeat purchases. In this episode: (00:00) - Competing when everyone sells the same products (01:21) - How Essential differentiates its ecommerce experience (02:42) - Removing friction from the customer journey (05:48) - Why A/B testing beats assumptions (08:47) - The 70+ Shopify apps problem (11:41) - Why too many improvements made performance worse (12:20) - From 3.8% to 5.5% conversion rate (15:50) - Testing your store like a real customer (20:02) - Turning first-time buyers into loyal customers (25:00) - Customer data, loyalty and segmentation (30:00) - Revenue vs vanity metrics (32:28) - Turning winning tests into growth (40:13) - Final takeaways Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday. Exclusive listener offers: Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks. https://info.shipsalot.com/winning-with-shopify Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. https://info.brightpearl.com/winning-with-shopify-holiday-planning-bootcamp Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND. https://www.omnisend.com/wws/ Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15. https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-shopify/ 506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS. https://www.506.io/wws About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing. https://spec.digital/

August 18, 202621 min

We Audited 50 Shopify Stores: 7 Mistakes Losing Shopify Sales

Most Shopify brands don't have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem. After auditing 50 Shopify stores and analysing hundreds of ecommerce experiences, Nick reveals the biggest mistakes that stop visitors from becoming customers. In this episode, you'll discover the product page, trust, UX and conversion issues that could be costing your Shopify store sales - and the changes successful DTC brands make to turn more visitors into buyers. You’ll learn: The product page mistakes making customers hesitate before buying Why great products fail without trust, proof and clear positioning How reviews, content and social proof influence purchase decisions Why your mobile experience could be losing potential customers The biggest friction points stopping visitors from converting How successful Shopify brands continuously improve conversion rates Nick shares real examples from Shopify stores, explaining how brands can remove buying friction, improve customer confidence and turn more of their existing traffic into revenue. In this episode: (00:00) - Why Shopify stores lose sales (01:42) - The 4 questions every customer needs answered (02:37) - Mistake #1: Product pages that don't help customers buy (05:05) - Mistake #2: Lack of trust and price justification (07:38) - Mistake #3: Poor product photography (11:21) - Mistake #4: No clear differentiation (12:00) - Mistake #5: Website friction killing conversions (13:09) - Mistake #6: Ignoring mobile-first shopping (15:36) - Mistake #7: Not A/B testing your Shopify store (21:04) - Final Shopify conversion takeaways Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday. Exclusive listener offers: Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks. Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND . Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15 . 506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS . About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing .

August 14, 202634 min

1 Million Shopify Journeys Reveal The Offers That Actually Convert

Your Shopify discount strategy could be costing you sales and profit. Want to test smarter promotions on your Shopify store? Try 506’s Shopify apps with an extended 30-day free trial using code WWS. Should you offer 10% off, give customers a free gift or encourage shoppers to spend more to unlock a better deal? In this episode, Nick is joined by Charlie Tyler from 506, the team behind EasyGift, 506 Sale & Bulk Discount, EasyScan and EasyLink, to reveal how Shopify brands can create promotions that increase conversion rates and average order value without unnecessarily sacrificing margin. You’ll learn: When free gifts outperform traditional discounts How to use spending thresholds to increase average order value Why some promotions train customers to wait for sales How to run BOGO offers, quantity breaks and tiered discounts effectively The biggest discounting mistakes Shopify brands make Charlie also shares how growing ecommerce brands can use smarter promotions, urgency and offer structures to increase sales while protecting profitability. In this episode: (00:00) - Free gifts vs discounts (03:45) - How free gifts can increase AOV by 30% (05:05) - Finding the right free gift threshold (06:35) - What gifts should you offer customers? (10:10) - Mystery gifts and digital gifts (15:10) - Free gifts vs traditional discounts (20:10) - Automating Shopify discounts and offers (25:20) - Tiered gifting to increase customer spend Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday. Exclusive listener offers: 506 - Extended 30-day free trial on Shopify apps with code WWS . Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks. Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND . Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15 . About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing .

August 11, 202621 min

Shopify SEO: Why Your Products Aren’t Appearing in ChatGPT

Your Shopify store could be invisible to the next generation of shoppers. As more customers start searching through ChatGPT and AI tools instead of traditional search engines, Shopify brands need to understand one important question: can AI actually find, understand and recommend your products? In this episode, Nick breaks down why some Shopify products are appearing in AI search results while others are being missed - and what ecommerce brands need to change now to stay visible. You’ll learn: Why your Shopify products might not be appearing in ChatGPT How AI search is changing ecommerce discovery The product page mistakes making your products harder for AI to understand Why structured data, product feeds and reviews matter more than ever How to optimise your Shopify store for the future of search Nick also shares practical Shopify SEO actions brands can take today, from improving product information and collection pages to building the authority signals AI platforms use when recommending products. In this episode: (00:00) - Why your products don't show up in ChatGPT (01:35) - How AI has changed SEO forever (03:00) - Improve your Shopify product pages for AI search (08:20) - Why collection pages matter more than ever (14:05) - Why your product feed could be holding you back (22:15) - Building trust and authority for AI visibility (31:10) - Using internal links to help AI understand your store (43:40) - Creating buying guides AI can recommend (50:20) - The future of AI SEO and ecommerce search (52:10) - Final takeaways Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday. Listener offers: Winning with Shopify listeners get an extended 30 day free trial on any of the three. Details at 506.io/wws , code WWS. Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks. Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND . About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing .

August 7, 202636 min

Your Shopify Margins Are Disappearing: The Fulfilment Problem Nobody Sees

Your Shopify growth could be limited by something customers never see: your fulfilment operation. Before building Ships A Lot, twin brothers Max and Zach Zitney were Shopify merchants themselves. They experienced first-hand how warehouse problems, rising shipping costs and unreliable fulfilment could damage margins, customer experience and growth. In this episode, Max and Zach reveal the fulfilment mistakes that nearly broke their own ecommerce brand - and what growing Shopify brands need to know before scaling operations. You’ll learn: Why fulfilment problems can quietly destroy your Shopify margins The biggest warning signs your current 3PL is holding back growth How shipping costs and hidden fees impact profitability Why poor fulfilment can waste your marketing spend and hurt retention What Shopify brands should look for in a scalable 3PL partner Max and Zach also share how their experience as merchants led them to create Ships A Lot, helping ecommerce brands improve fulfilment visibility, reduce shipping costs and scale more effectively. In this episode: (00:00) - Why they started a 3PL (01:40) - Why their Shopify store struggled (04:00) - The biggest fulfilment problems (06:00) - Why fast shipping matters (09:00) - Creating memorable customer experiences (12:00) - Scaling personalised fulfilment (16:00) - White-glove shipping strategies (19:00) - Cutting shipping costs (22:00) - Finding hidden margin leaks (26:00) - Lessons from 10 years in ecommerce (31:00) - Solving fulfilment problems (35:00) - Advice for growing Shopify brands Get your free Parcel Margin Report Send Ships A Lot one month of your shipping data and receive a one-page analysis showing what you currently pay per order, what you could pay with Ships A Lot and where your margin may be leaking. Get your free Parcel Margin Report Listener offers: Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND . Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. Yoast - 15% off Shopify SEO with code WWS15 . About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing .

August 4, 202626 min

Shopify Email Marketing: 2% of Sends Are Driving 37% of Sales

Most Shopify brands do not need to send more emails. They need better automations. Omnisend analysed 27 billion emails and found that automated messages generated 37% of email sales from just 2% of sends. In this Tea Break Talk, Nick breaks down the three Shopify email automations every ecommerce brand should build first - welcome flows, abandoned cart emails and browse abandonment. You’ll learn how to turn more visitors into customers, increase repeat purchases, use SMS more effectively and avoid the biggest mistakes brands make with email marketing. You’ll learn: Why sending more campaigns does not always create more revenue How to build a welcome series that converts new subscribers How abandoned cart emails recover lost sales without relying on discounts Why browse abandonment is an overlooked Shopify growth opportunity Which email metrics actually matter for ecommerce growth How email and SMS should work together throughout the customer journey In this episode: (00:00) - Why more emails don't mean more sales (00:40) - The data from 27 billion emails (02:05) - Why automation wins (04:00) - Building the perfect welcome series (08:50) - Better abandoned cart emails (10:35) - Browse abandonment strategy (12:25) - SMS marketing that converts (16:30) - Email metrics that matter (20:35) - Omnisend email marketing (22:25) - The 7-step email marketing audit (25:10) - Final takeaways Listener offers: Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND . Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs, shipping margins and customer experience. Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15 . Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency for ecommerce brands

August 1, 202639 min

Your Shopify Growth Is Being Held Back by Inventory Problems

A bad customer review might have nothing to do with your product. Alan Grimsley from Inventory Planner joins Nick to explain why 77% of negative reviews can be traced back to operational problems - and the five Shopify inventory mistakes that quietly damage cash flow, sales and customer trust. Drawing on his experience across PayPal, Shopify and Sage, Alan explains how overstock, stockouts, unreliable data, poorly planned campaigns and inaccurate supplier lead times can hold back even fast-growing ecommerce brands. You’ll learn: Why excess stock could be consuming your growth budget How stockouts send customers and ad spend to competitors When spreadsheets stop working for growing Shopify brands Why marketing and inventory planning must work together How inaccurate lead times undermine your entire forecast Alan also shares lessons from AYBL , Wild & Stone and Astrid & Miyu , including how better inventory forecasting can protect cash flow, reduce excess stock and keep bestselling products available. In this episode: (00:00) - Why most Shopify brands lose money on inventory (03:06) - Mistake #1: Running out of stock (08:39) - Mistake #2: Overstock and cash flow problems (20:15) - Mistake #3: Data and inventory visibility (25:27) - Mistake #4: Marketing without inventory (31:46) - Mistake #5: Ignoring lead times (36:12) - When to use inventory planning software (38:14) - Key takeaways and final thoughts Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday. Free Inventory Planning Bootcamp Learn how to prevent stockouts and overstocks, reduce inventory holding costs and make more confident purchasing decisions with Inventory Planner’s free seven-day course. Join the free Inventory Planning Bootcamp Listener offers: Seguno - Get a free email customer analysis and strategy session. Yoast - Get 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15 . TaxCloud - Get free migration onboarding as a Winning With Shopify listener. About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency for ecommerce brands .

July 28, 202623 min

Shopify AI: 19 Ways to Save Time, Cut Costs and Grow Sales

Stop experimenting with AI and start using it to produce measurable results in your Shopify business. Nick Trueman shares 19 practical ways to use Shopify AI to increase sales, save time, reduce costs and remove repetitive work. From Shopify Sidekick, ChatGPT and Claude to customer support, email marketing, product imagery and sales forecasting, this episode explains what you can implement right now - and where relying on AI could damage your brand. You’ll learn: How Shopify brands can use AI to work faster and more profitably Where AI could reduce app, supplier and operating costs How to use AI across customer service, marketing, imagery and forecasting Which Shopify AI tools are worth using When human judgement is still essential In this episode: (00:00) - Why AI is changing Shopify (00:56) - What Shopify Sidekick can do (07:39) - Using ChatGPT for ecommerce (15:08) - AI customer support (18:46) - AI email marketing (20:19) - Product images and AI search (21:25) - Predictive sales and growth (22:27) - When not to use AI Follow Winning With Shopify for practical Shopify growth advice every Tuesday and Friday. Listener offers: Seguno - Free email customer analysis and strategy session. Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15 . Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp. TaxCloud - Free migration onboarding for listeners. About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency for ecommerce brands .

July 25, 202633 min

How to Build a DTC Brand: Your Shopify Store Isn’t Enough

A successful Shopify store can generate sales. A strong DTC brand gives customers a reason to choose you, remember you and buy again. Nadine Killoran joins Nick Trueman to explain how ecommerce businesses can move beyond building a good store and create a brand with long-term customer loyalty. Drawing on her experience with brands including Absolute Collagen, Aion Bank and MYJAR, Nadine shares practical advice on brand investment, customer retention, subscriptions, pricing and securing CFO buy-in. Learn what customers actually care about, why the second purchase is more important than the first and how to build a DTC brand that customers choose over cheaper alternatives. In this episode: 00:00 - Store vs brand: the real difference 01:57 - What customers actually care about 03:11 - Nadine's journey to becoming a CMO 05:57 - Getting CFO buy-in for brand investment 09:16 - Measuring awareness and brand stickiness 11:29 - Retention, churn and the second purchase 18:25 - Turning customers into subscribers 24:45 - Pricing a growing DTC brand 29:15 - Difficult brand and pricing conversations 33:02 - Final thoughts Exclusive listener offers: Seguno - Shopify email marketing Get a free customer analysis and strategy session with an email expert. Claim your free Seguno session Yoast - Shopify SEO Get 15% off Yoast for Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15 . Visit Yoast Inventory Planner - Shopify inventory management Join the free seven-day inventory planning bootcamp. Join the free inventory bootcamp TaxCloud - Shopify sales tax management Get free migration onboarding as a Winning With Shopify listener. Claim free TaxCloud onboarding

July 21, 202618 min

Your Shopify Customers Are Leaving Money Behind: 7 Ways to Increase AOV

Shopify brands fail to harness to power of AOV increases through Upsells and Cross-Sells. This week, Nick unveils his top tips and methods he has actively seen brands deploy to increase AOV. You've got the sale, why not sell another product for the same advertising and delivery cost? The logic is sound, but execution is where it falls down. In this episode, you'll learn: - Different ways you can encourage customers to buy more through upsells and cross-sells - How leading brands have got creative with this - Where Shopify brands fail to cut through with cross-sells 0:00 — Introduction & What We're Covering Today 0:38 — Why Upsells and Cross-Sells Matter for AOV 1:00 — Tip 1: Bundling — Simplify It and Drop the Discount 2:05 — Use Microsoft Clarity to Watch Real User Behaviour 2:39 — Tip 2: Do Not Overwhelm the Customer 4:02 — The Sainsbury's Example — How Over-Pushing Kills Conversions 5:26 — Tip 3: Post-Purchase Upsells on the Order Confirmation Page 6:43 — Tip 4: Be Careful Using Data Before You Hit 5–10K Orders Per Month 8:09 — How to Do Upsells Manually as a Smaller Store 8:55 — Tip 5: Create a Customisable Look or Set 10:18 — How This Flips the Customer Conversation Completely 11:13 — AB Test the Outfit Feature Before Rolling It Out 11:46 — Tip 6: Sell Packs Instead of Single Items 13:05 — T-Shirt Pack Pricing Strategy Example 14:23 — Tip 7: Set a Spend Threshold to Trigger a Reward 15:29 — The $500 Minimum Spend Club Strategy 16:22 — Tip 8: Use Real Statistics as Social Proof 17:54 — Outro — Subscribe and Visit the Website Winning With Shopify is the Shopify podcast for store owners who want to grow revenue, increase conversions, and scale their ecommerce brand. New episodes every Tuesday and Friday. This Shopify Podcast is bought to you by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO Agency based in the United Kingdom. Seguno: Shopify Email Marketing Listeners get a free customer analysis and strategy session with an email expert. https://www.seguno.com/winning-with-shopify-podcast Yoast: Shopify SEO. Listeners get 15% off Shopify and Wordpress, with code WWS15 https://yoast.com Inventory Planner: Shopify Inventory Management Listeners can join a free 7-Day inventory bootcamp https://info.brightpearl.com/winning-with-shopify-holiday-planning-bootcamp TaxCloud: Shopify Sales Tax Management Listeners get free Migration onboarding, as a Winning With Shopify Listener https://taxcloud.com/winning