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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421

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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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September 14, 202632 min

How I Built A 7-Figure Shopify Brand With AI, Automation & Almost No Team

What if you could build a 7-figure Shopify brand without building a 50-person team? In this episode of Winning With Shopify , Nick is joined by Phil Atkinson , founder of Greenphones , to reveal how AI and automation are changing the way ecommerce businesses operate — from analytics and Google Ads to marketing, research and customer service. Phil has built a radically lean ecommerce operation, using AI as a team of specialised “employees” with different roles, access to business data and the tools needed to analyse performance and help run the business. Rather than simply using AI to write content, this episode explores what happens when you start giving AI access to the systems and information that actually run an ecommerce business — and whether one person can use AI to compete with much larger teams. You’ll learn: How to build AI employees for specific ecommerce roles Why Phil started using AI throughout his business How AI can analyse business data and improve decision-making Whether AI can actually manage and optimise Google Ads What AI can replace — and what it can't How AI is changing the used-phone industry How to use AI for marketing, research and advertising Whether AI customer service is good enough for ecommerce How Shopify brands should start implementing AI If you're a Shopify founder, ecommerce manager or marketer trying to understand how AI can save time, improve decision-making and help a smaller team compete with much larger businesses, this episode is for you. Connect with Phil Atkinson: Website - philatkinson.com LinkedIn - Phil Atkinson Greenphones: Website - greenphones.no Instagram - @greenphones Facebook - Greenphones In this episode: 00:00 – Building AI Employees for Ecommerce 02:57 – Why He Started Using AI in His Business 03:27 – Creating AI Employees for Analytics 04:34 – Building an AI Team With Different Roles 07:44 – Giving AI Employees Access to Business Tools 09:11 – Can AI Manage and Optimize Google Ads? 11:02 – What AI Can—and Can't—Replace 17:02 – How AI Is Changing the Used-Phone Industry 21:13 – Using AI for Marketing, Research & Advertising 22:57 – The Jobs AI Still Can't Do 25:39 – AI Customer Service: Is It Good Enough? 28:37 – How Businesses Should Start Implementing AI Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth strategies, Shopify marketing advice, AI insights and expert conversations designed to help Shopify brands grow more profitably. 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 WWS . 506 - Extended 30-day free trial on Shopify apps with code WWS . About Winning With Shopify Winning With Shopify is a podcast for Shopify founders, ecommerce leaders and marketers, covering practical strategies for growing an online store. Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

September 9, 202631 min

If I Had To Build A Shopify Brand From Scratch In 2026, Here's Exactly What I'd Do

If I had to build a Shopify brand from scratch today, I would do almost everything differently. Ecommerce has changed. Customer acquisition is more expensive, competition is everywhere, AI is changing how people discover products and the brands that win are no longer just the ones with the best products — they are the ones with the best systems. In this episode, Nick breaks down exactly how he would build a Shopify brand from zero in 2026, covering everything from finding the right opportunity and creating demand to building a brand that can scale profitably. This is the blueprint for building a modern ecommerce business — not just a store that generates sales, but a valuable brand with predictable growth, loyal customers and long-term potential. You’ll learn: Why you should start with the customer, not the product How to validate demand before investing in inventory and development Why distribution matters more than ever in modern ecommerce How SEO and AI discovery should shape your strategy from day one Why relying purely on paid ads can make your business vulnerable How to launch with a focused offer instead of an overwhelming product range Why conversion optimisation needs to be built into your brand from the beginning How AI can become a powerful advantage for ecommerce teams Why retention and customer relationships are key to profitable growth How to build a Shopify business that someone would actually want to buy In this episode: (00:00) - If I Started a Shopify Brand From Scratch in 2026 (01:09) - 1. Start With the Customer, Not the Product (05:12) - 2. Validate Demand Before Building Anything (06:40) - 3. Build Distribution Before Inventory (09:44) - 4. Obsess Over SEO & AI Discoverability (12:04) - 5. Don't Become Dependent on Paid Ads (16:21) - 6. Launch With One Strong Hero Product (20:50) - 7. Build Conversion Into Your Brand From Day One (22:58) - 8. Make AI a Member of Your Team (25:18) - 9. Build Retention Before Chasing Scale (27:58) - 10. Build a Business Someone Wants to Buy Nick also shares the mistakes he would avoid, the channels he would prioritise and the strategies he believes will separate successful Shopify brands from everyone else over the next few years. 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 WWS . 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 Winning With Shopify , helping ecommerce brands grow through practical Shopify strategies, expert interviews and actionable advice. Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

September 7, 202633 min

Shopify SEO Masterclass - Everything You Need To Get Growing Your SEO With Shopify

SEO is changing. Shopify brands that want to grow need more than keywords — they need search engines and AI platforms to understand, trust and recommend their products. In this episode, Nick is joined by Alex Moss from Yoast to break down everything Shopify brands need to know about SEO, from the foundations of technical SEO to creating content that drives qualified organic traffic. Alex explains why successful ecommerce SEO is no longer just about rankings, and why data quality, structured information and trust signals are becoming increasingly important as search continues to evolve. You’ll learn: The SEO fundamentals every Shopify brand needs to get right Why technical SEO and data integrity are becoming more important How Shopify stores can help search engines better understand their products Why content strategy and topical authority matter for ecommerce growth The biggest SEO mistakes holding Shopify brands back How SEO is evolving alongside AI search and changing customer behaviour Alex also shares practical advice on building a stronger SEO foundation, improving website trust signals and creating a Shopify store that is easier for both customers and search engines to understand. In this episode: (00:00) - Shopify SEO mistakes and content neglect (03:45) - Fixing Shopify site structure and product discovery (06:08) - Why you need to keep updating old content (09:48) - How customer search behaviour is changing (12:01) - Word of mouth, reviews and AI search (13:48) - Links vs mentions and citations in the LLM era (16:21) - Forums, communities and building brand authority (22:21) - Is Shopify ready for AI and agentic commerce? (25:12) - How to structure product content for AI (27:51) - Brand perception in the AI era (30:52) - How to write content AI can actually use Useful resources: Why Data Integrity Is The New Technical SEO: Search Engine Journal SEO Glossary: Yoast SEO Glossary Listen to the Yoast Podcast: Yoast Podcast 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 WWS . 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 Winning With Shopify , helping ecommerce brands grow through practical Shopify strategies, expert interviews and actionable advice. Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

September 2, 202624 min

Black Friday Is Broken: AI Is About To Change Your Shopify Store Forever

Black Friday is broken. Shopify brands can no longer win by simply offering bigger discounts — the future winners will be the brands that AI can find, understand and recommend when customers are ready to buy. Black Friday and Cyber Weekend are changing. As customers increasingly use AI shopping assistants, personalised recommendations and new search experiences to discover products, Shopify brands need a new strategy to compete. In this episode, Nick breaks down how AI will transform ecommerce sales, why the old Black Friday playbook is becoming outdated and how smarter brands are using AI to improve discovery, create better offers and turn seasonal shoppers into long-term customers. You’ll learn: How AI shopping assistants could change Black Friday and ecommerce discovery Why Shopify brands need to make their products easier for AI to understand and recommend How AI can analyse customer behaviour and create personalised offers How brands can use real-time data to improve ad creative and campaign performance Why the smartest Shopify brands use Black Friday as a customer acquisition opportunity, not just a discount event How to convert Black Friday shoppers into repeat customers after Cyber Weekend Nick also shares five tools Shopify brands can use to prepare for the biggest shopping period of the year, covering AI-powered marketing, ecommerce SEO, conversion optimisation, inventory planning and fulfilment. In this episode: (0:00) - Why Black Friday is broken for Shopify brands (2:15) - The shift from traditional discounts to AI-driven personalization (5:42) - How AI agents will handle customer shopping in 2026 (8:30) - Predictive inventory: Using AI to prevent stockouts (12:10) - The "Death of the Storefront" and the rise of headless commerce (15:45) - Building a brand that survives the AI revolution (19:20) - Actionable steps to prepare your Shopify store now 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 WWS . 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 Winning With Shopify , helping ecommerce brands grow through practical Shopify strategies, expert interviews and actionable advice. Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

August 31, 202636 min

How I Built a £1M Ecommerce Brand and Sold It - Shopify Growth Stories, with PPC & SEO

Most ecommerce brands are built on traffic they don't own. This founder changed that — and it helped him build and sell a £1M Shopify brand. Jayden Clark built Woodlark Garden Luxury into a seven-figure ecommerce business before selling it for £515,000. But the business started in a vulnerable position - with 95% of revenue coming from Google Ads and very little organic traffic. In this episode, Jayden reveals how he moved away from relying purely on paid acquisition, built a scalable SEO strategy, increased organic revenue and created a more valuable ecommerce business that became attractive to buyers. Jayden also shares lessons from his latest ecommerce venture, Camper Nation , which generated £500k in organic revenue in its first 18 months, and explains why building owned traffic can become one of the biggest advantages for Shopify brands. You’ll learn: Why relying too heavily on Google Ads can make your Shopify business vulnerable How SEO helped transform a paid traffic business into a valuable ecommerce asset Why chasing competitive keywords is often the wrong SEO strategy for growing brands How building topical authority can generate thousands of organic visitors How long-tail SEO helped capture high-intent customers ready to buy Why organic traffic can increase the value and saleability of an ecommerce business How Jayden uses SEO strategies across multiple ecommerce brands In This Episode (00:00) The Problem With Relying on Paid Ads (01:15) Why 10% Margins Were Too Risky (03:44) Building a 50/50 SEO & Paid Ads Strategy (05:04) Finding High-Intent Ecommerce Keywords (08:02) Turning Winning Ad Keywords Into SEO Traffic (11:13) Matching Search Intent to the Customer Journey (15:49) Selling the Ecommerce Business (17:08) Why Organic Traffic Increased Business Value (19:49) Cross-Selling & Increasing Customer Value (21:48) Turning Ecommerce Traffic Into Leads (26:04) The Metric That Predicts Future Sales (29:16) How Smaller Ecommerce Brands Can Win SEO (31:55) A Low-Cost Ecommerce Backlink Strategy (35:37) Final Thoughts We also discuss how Jayden built industry authority, created content that converted visitors into customers and used SEO as a competitive advantage rather than just a traffic channel. Learn more from Jayden: Woodlark Garden Luxury: https://woodlarkgardenluxury.co.uk/ Camper Nation: https://campernation.co.uk/ Kiln Crafts: https://kilncrafts.co.uk/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JaydenClarkHTE 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 25, 202625 min

Google Ads for Shopify: Why Your Costs Are Rising and What Still Works

Most Shopify brands use Google Ads to drive sales. The fastest-growing brands use it to build a DTC brand. Google Ads has become one of the most powerful ways for ecommerce brands to find new customers - but many Shopify stores are still optimising for short-term ROAS instead of long-term growth. In this episode, Nick explains why most Shopify brands get Google Ads wrong and how successful DTC brands use paid search, Shopping ads and customer data to build a scalable acquisition engine. Want some help with profitably scaling your Google Ads? Reach out to Nick's agency: team@spec.digital You’ll learn: Why chasing ROAS alone can limit Shopify growth The difference between buying clicks and building customers How Google Shopping acts as your digital storefront Why product feeds, creative and offers matter more than ever How leading brands measure profitable customer acquisition Why Google Ads and retention need to work together Nick also shares the biggest mistakes Shopify brands make with Google Ads, why better data leads to better automation and how to build a paid acquisition strategy designed for long-term brand growth. In this episode: (00:00) Why Good ROAS Doesn't Always Mean Profit(01:14) Stop Using Google Ads Just to Generate Sales(03:00) ROAS vs Customer Lifetime Value(05:12) The Snowball Effect of Repeat Customers(06:31) The 4 Metrics Shopify Brands Should Track(08:02) Fix Your Google Shopping Customer Journey(11:59) Why Product Feeds Matter So Much(14:04) How to Set a Profitable Google Ads Target(16:09) How to Increase Repeat Purchases & LTV(20:00) How AI Is Changing Google Ads(22:14) 5 Things Scaling Brands Do Differently(25:09) The Key to Profitable Google Ads Scaling 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 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 .