The Conversion Show Erik Christiansen, CEO & Co-Founder of Justuno

In this episode of "The Conversion Show" podcast, Erik Christiansen interviews Drew Clark CEO, Founder, and Director at California Cowboy. Drew opened up about the rollercoaster ride of running a retail business, especially with the crumbling of the digital and seismic shifts in e-commerce. From website redesigns, site speed, and content creation to the return of physical stores; Erik and Drew cover the essential tweaks that can skyrocket your conversion rates.
Erik and Drew discuss:
From fires to covid, how California Cowboy bounced back in the face of unpredictable challenges.The digital shift and its impact on marketing.Product features and design elements of California Cowboy apparel.The highs and lows of return on ad spend.Website redesign + speed, growth trajectory, and conversion rates.Community, cost-saving, and creating a collective experience through sharing retail space with local brands.
Host: Erik Christiansen, CEO of Justuno
Guest: Drew Clark, Drew Clark, CEO, Founder, & Director at California Cowboy
Transcript:
Intro 00:00:05
Welcome to the Conversion Show, a podcast that's all about. You guessed it, conversions, everything that gets you to your goal, whether that's purchase, lead capture app, install content downloads, chat engagement, or demo requests. We're talking conversions hosted by Erik Christiansen, CEO and co-founder of the leading conversion optimization platform, Justuno. On the conversion show, Erik sits down with industry-leading marketers, e-commerce growth experts, founders, and entrepreneurs to chat all things conversion marketing. Be sure to follow the conversion show podcast to be notified when a new episode goes live. Like what you hear? Leave us some love with a review. And now here's your host, Eric Christiansen.

Erik 00:00:50
Welcome to the conversion show. Today is a special day. It's our first in-person interview. Here I am joined by Drew Clark, CEO and founder of California Cowboy. California Cowboy, Do you want to share a little bit about California Cowboy? Sure. You guys are done?

Drew 00:01:09
Yeah, We make after sport apparel that's kind of designed to help you enjoy life offline as all of our product kind of has designed features that enable you to put your phone away. There's a dry pocket on the back of most of our products and it come with conversation cards. They're really fun. It can help you start or stop conversations, subtle reminders that it's so fun to talk to people in real life instead of just sliding into their dance.

Drew 00:01:36
And then there's also bottle pockets of package our shirts and robes.

Erik 00:01:39
You can lock your phone?

Drew 00:01:41
We do make a product at all, and we call it the pocket pouch that actually prevents electromagnetic signals from getting to your phone. So this is very dark edge technology fabric that you slide your filter to the pouch and you kind of put it down, and it's just committing to

In this episode of "The Conversion Show," Erik Christiansen, CEO of Justuno, is joined by Travis Logan, Co-Founder & CTO of Justuno, and this week's guest Brian Peters, Head of Platform Partnerships at Shopify. The conversation kicks off by looking at the most talked about statistic from Brain's presentation at the Shopify Enterprise Partner Summit 2023, 35% of Shopify Plus merchants have seen smaller cart sizes and 50% are seeing less site traffic and lower conversion rates. Brian breaks down what this means for merchants and what the future looks like for E-commerce. 
Erik, Travis, and Brian discuss:
Finding the right product-market fit.Brand identity online.Influencer marketingMarketing is brand experience.Does high customization equal high converting?To survive as a brand you have to convert at checkout.Zero-party data expands beyond your email list.Why Shopify is the number one converting checkout in the world.
Host: Erik Christiansen, CEO of Justuno
Guest: Travis Logan, CTO at Justuno
Guest: Brian Peters, Head of Platform Partnerships at Shopify
Transcript:
Erik 00:00:50 - 00:01:22
Welcome to the show today. I'm very excited because I have two guests. And so this is going to be a jam-packed episode where we're going to gain some insights into Shopify like never before. We're going to learn what that the leadership, what's top of mind with the Shopify leadership along with just, you know, leadership. Because today I have my my co-founder, Travis Logan, CTO of just, you know, on the show and Brian Peters, head of platform partnerships at Shopify.

Erik 00:01:22 - 00:01:33
So hang on, today is going to be a very insightful show. So we're going to jump into it. And the reason I have Brian on the show today. Welcome, Brian. Well, thank you.

Brian 00:01:33 - 00:01:34
Thank you. Good to be here.

Erik 00:01:34 - 00:02:06
I have Brian on here because I was down at the Shopify Enterprise event down in L.A., right by where that I-10 fire was, what, two days ago? I'm not surprised because that, you know, no Shopify, they like to select very colorful neighborhoods to have events like this colorful, really cool spot in the heart of downtown L.A. Brian got on stage and gave a presentation and he had a slide that stood out to me.

Erik 00:02:06 - 00:02:45
And that's what we're talking about today. The quotes from the slide were, according to a survey of Shopify Plus merchants, 35% have seen smaller cart sizes and 50% are seeing less site traffic and lower conversion rates. Now, we also the second reason we're here is Travis and I were at the Google next event in San Francisco wandering the expo and we stumbled upon a Shopify booth at Google Nexus conference.

Erik 00:02:46 - 00:03:16
Which one was...

In this episode of "The Conversion Show," Erik Christiansen, CEO of Justuno, interviews Alex Courselle, Founder and CEO of KARL Mission a conversion rate optimization (CRO) agency. With over a decade of experience in CRO, Alex shared some invaluable insights that are relevant as we approach the holiday season. Alex discusses the science behind unlocking successful conversions, the art of building trust with customers, and the rising trend of focusing on SEO due to increasing costs.
Erik and Alex discuss:
The significance of analyzing mobile and desktop trafficThe tactful application of product recommendations and upsellsThe need for engaging contentThe DNA of successful CRO clientsWhere businesses fall short in understanding client personas
Host: Erik Christiansen, CEO of Justuno
Guest: Alex Courselle, Founder & CEO of KARL Mission
Transcript:
Erik 00:00:50
Welcome back to the Conversion Show. Today I have a special guest that I think anyone going into this holiday season is going to be very excited about. With me today is Alex Courselle, who has ten-plus years in CRO and is founder CEO of KARL Mission. So if you are in front of a computer, check out karlmission.com You'll get the whole breakdown.

Erik 00:01:14
But welcome to the show Alex.

Alex 00:01:17
Thank you so much for having me. That's pretty cool.

Erik 00:01:20
So for today's show, it is November 6th. And everyone's gearing up. You know they've hit play. Everyone's already started their cyber sales. because you know it's not just one day anymore. We're all getting the emails. But there's still more to be done. Every website can always be optimized. Campaigns can always be updated. So today what we're going to do for our listeners is really hear, you know, with Alex's experience, what's trending, what is top of mind with CRO today. And see if we can't get some insights that maybe you can still apply to your sites for this holiday season. So with that, I'm putting you on the spot right off the bat, Alex. But before we do that, let's set the stage for your background. Ten years in CRO, it's very rare for us to come across talent and experience like yours.

Erik 00:02:20
So could you just share with the crowd, what you're doing at KARL Mission and how you got there?

Alex 00:02:27
Yeah. For sure. So. Basically, I started in design and I went into SEO. I stayed in that cluster of digital marketing kind of roles, up to that time I was production director. And then our company, I started being bought by a prospect, and then the option was open to do whatever. So I just decided to start into CRO. It was back in Paris and a prospect and very interesting because at the time there were no merch products and people didn't understand it as well. So it needs to be, you know, easy to understand for everyone. So I had to create the packages and everything. So I really started from scratch. My whole experience didn't really have much guidance or anything. So it was really it was a bit the Western at the time. I felt like the field was empty, the street was empty, no...

In this episode of "The Conversion Show," Erik Christiansen, CEO of Justuno, interviews Drew Sanocki, Founder of PostPilot. Drew has an extensive background in retail and shares his insights on how direct mail can be a game-changer for e-commerce businesses and explains the features of PostPilot, including segmentation, automation, remarketing, retargeting, and acquisition.
Erik and Drew discuss:
The integration capabilities of Post Pilot with platforms like Shopify and Klaviyo.The concept of the discount ladder and the 30, 60, 90 plan.Optimizing retention, basket size, and conversion rates before focusing on customer acquisition. The key to effective postcard designs is treating direct mail like a Facebook ad. The shift in mindset regarding direct-to-consumer brands.
Watch the episode on The Conversion Show YouTube channel
Host: Erik Christiansen https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikc/
Guest: Drew Sanocki https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanocki/
Justuno https://www.justuno.com/
PostPilot https://postpilot.com/
Transcript:
Intro 00:00:05
Welcome to the Conversion Show, a podcast that's all about. You guessed it, conversions, everything that gets you to your goal, whether that's purchase, lead capture app, install content downloads, chat engagement, or demo requests. We're talking conversions hosted by Erik Christiansen, CEO and co-founder of the leading conversion optimization platform, Justuno. On the conversion show, Erik sits down with industry-leading marketers, e-commerce growth experts, founders, and entrepreneurs to chat all things conversion marketing. Be sure to follow the conversion show podcast to be notified when a new episode goes live. Like what you hear? Leave us some love with a review. And now here's your host, Eric Christiansen.
Erik 00:00:51
Welcome to the conversion show today. I'm really proud to have my guest, Drew Sanocki, who we go back ten-plus years and I encourage anyone listening if you're in front of a computer and type Drew Sanocki into LinkedIn and you're going to find a background that is is very well, what's the word? Diverse. 
Drew 00:01:17
Long and boring.

Erik 00:01:18
It's well-versed. KarmelLoop retailer he's been a retailer himself he is now CEO of Post Pilot a direct-to-consumer postcards highly segmented which is what we're going to get into today. Very exciting. So let's welcome to the show Drew.

Drew 00:01:37 
Thanks, Eric. It's good to see you again. As you said, we've known each other for ten-plus years. I remember when we took over Karmaloop you know, we got it out of bankruptcy. And one of the first things we did was put Justuno up. And that was probably 2014, 2015, just to reengineer the pop up. And they were amazed at how we went from, I don't know, we probably ten next to the opt-ins in a week back then.

Erik 00:02:02
Drew has always been a...

In this episode of "The Conversion Show" podcast, Erik Christiansen interviews Blair Beckwith, head of E-commerce at Tidio and Founder at Railspur.
Erik and Blair, with their combined experience of 20 years in the Shopify ecosystem, discuss their experiences and reflect on the changes in the Shopify app store over the past 10 years and what's yet to come in the next few.
Erik and Blair discuss:
The need for businesses to diversify platforms to truly thrive.Brands aren't doing product-led growth correctly.Anxiety and concern among app partners regarding competition from ShopifyExperimentation and impeccable products are key in today's dynamic ecosystem.Is "freemium" still a sexy term? Product-led growth, pricing models, and the challenges faced by developers.
Host: Erik Christiansen
Guest: Blair Beckwith
Sponsored by: 38 Proven Email Pop Up designs by Justuno
Tidio
Railspur
Transcript:
Erik 00:51
All right, folks. Today is a special day for the conversion show because one of the top questions I get asked personally is having been in the shop ecosystem for ten plus years, one of the first questions I always get asked is, hey, what's what's the check? What's the deal with the Shopify App Store? And you know, anyone who's in this world today is the show for you because you have combined 20 years exactly of Shopify App Store experience between Blair and I. I just looked it up March 19, 2013, Blair and I first emailed each other. So today's show, you saw the title, you know who's on here, Blair Beckwith, welcome to the show.
Blair 01:44
Thanks for having me. Eric, I was looking today, too, and I was I mean, I was thinking back, I think that we met in person maybe that summer in San Francisco. It was one of my first trips as a Shopify employee. Shopify was so small back then, I barely had a budget for a hotel. I remember staying in the Tenderloin and meeting up with you for lunch. You had a little office, and I think I want to call like the financial district. Was that what that area was called?

Erik 02:15
Yeah, we moved offices every year for a while and, we were probably on 2nd and Mission.

Blair 02:26
It was a little bit more like a corporate building. It was a little bit more modern. It was on a nonground floor. I remember taking an elevator. I remember walking with you to go get sandwiches down by the water.

Erik 02:28
I was trying to impress you, huh?

Blair 02:39
Yeah. Yeah, it was, man, it was a long time ago.

Erik 02:43
I do have to correct you because you said you were. It was early days as an employee, but technically, weren't you an intern?

Blair 02:53
By that point, I had graduated to full-time employment status. No. Yeah, I started. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we can get into all that we can get into. Well, for sure.

Erik 03:03
It's funny. Like, I'm trying to remember back the earliest memory, and in talking about budgets, you know, Shopify. I didn't have the budget for a hotel for you. We've always just seen as always...

In this episode of "The Conversion Show" podcast, Erik Christiansen interviews Kyle Brucculeri VP of E-commerce at Gorjana.
Kyle highlighted the need for businesses to own their first-party data, moving away from reliance on third-party pixels like Facebook. Kyle also emphasizes the importance of understanding user needs and providing clarity in the value exchange between customers and omnichannel brands.
Kyle and Erik discuss:
How changes in first-party and zero-party data are reshaping the way businesses interact with their customers.Bridging the gap between online and offline experience.Reliance on discounts and sales isn't necessary to maintain brand value.The value of retail stores in enhancing the customer experience and building trust.Owning first-party data and moving away from relying on third-party pixels.Importance of understanding visitor identities for personalization and conversion optimization.Creative alternatives for engaging visitors and capturing data.
Host: Erik Christiansen
Guest: Kyle Brucculeri
Justuno
Gorjana