The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Kurt spent a day at Beanstalk, an invite-only ecommerce conference at Industry City in Brooklyn, recording 15-minute conversations under a tent. Seven made it to tape. Every guest is on Shopify. Not one led with paid ads.
The lineup: Matt Butcher of Adam's Polishes on why he comes. Jay Wright, who spends about a billion dollars a year on Meta, on why your media buying is "completely cooked." Maria Lopez-May, VP Marketing at Nugget, on life after the pandemic lottery. Vivek Kumar, CEO of Articore (Redbubble and TeePublic), on their new Shopify integration and a $20 million turnaround. NJ Falk of APL on $400 sneakers and the thing she noticed about Sidekick. Robbie Bent of Othership on building $15 million bathhouses and marketing through the local dentist. Ali Weiss, former CMO of Glossier, on launching NoBiggie and choosing not to turn on paid.
Paul was not there. He asks what you would ask.
What you'll learn:
Why a curated conference beats a big one: "everyone I bump into here is worth chatting with"
Jay Wright: Meta is an auction, someone is winning at that CPM, and it is not the person buying like it's 2022
The biggest mistake Jay sees: founders abdicating growth to a $1,000-a-month retainer
How to label your ad creative so your own account tells you what to make next
Maria Lopez-May of Nugget: right product, right time, then the dupes, then Amazon and CTV
Articore's first profit since listing and a Shopify integration that launched ten days before the interview
Why print-on-demand sellers should not put "the kitchen sink" on their store
APL: Magento to Shopify Plus in a week, then a flagship store opened four months before lockdown
The Sidekick detail NJ Falk noticed and Kurt never did
Othership: a horse trough in a backyard, 90 people screaming in a dark sauna, and why brick and mortar takes two decades
Why local influencers (the trainer, the stylist, the bartender) beat wide-reach channels for a neighborhood business
Ali Weiss on unlearning beauty margins, "playing on hard mode" with two buyers, and why getting on a Target shelf is the easy part
NoBiggie Neighbors: free product for your kid's birthday party as the whole acquisition strategy
The hard decision to not turn on paid until repeat purchase shows up across channels
Hosts: Kurt Elster and Paul Reda, co-owners of Ethercycle, a Shopify-exclusive agency.
SPONSORS
Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt
Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com
Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT
LINKS
Beanstalk: https://www.beanstalkevents.com
Adam's Polishes: https://adamspolishes.com
Ecommerce Equation: https://ecommerceequation.com
Jay Wright on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaywrightofficial/
Nugget: https://nuggetcomfort.com
Articore Group: https://articore.com
Dashery: https://www.dashery.com
APL: https://athleticpropulsionlabs.com
Othership: https://othership.us
NoBiggie: https://nobiggieplease.com
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kurtelster.com
The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

Discounts are the biggest line item on your P&L that nobody approved. Kurt and Paul answer the questions merchants keep asking, then lay out the Black Friday plan.
Part one is a mailbag pulled from r/ecommerce, r/shopify, and the Shopify Community: the Combines With checkbox that wiped the profit on 60 orders before lunch, influencer codes showing up on Honey, welcome codes reused by new Gmail accounts, and the eternal free-shipping-or-20%-off question. Part two is what to fix in September, and what three consecutive Black Fridays of gift-with-purchase data say about thresholds, gift size, and who actually takes the gift.
What you'll learn:
Why discounts deserve the scrutiny you give ad spend, and why almost nobody gives it
How one Combines With checkbox stacked free shipping, 20% off, and a bundle script into zero-profit orders
What to do about influencer codes on coupon sites (and why single-use codes don't solve this one)
The rule Kurt uses on every code he creates: a 12-month expiry, no exceptions
Why you can't stop welcome-code abuse, and the one-line fix from the top Reddit reply
Free shipping vs discount codes: if you have to ask, you don't know your contribution margin
The September checklist before code freeze: SEO metadata, alt text, accessibility, Core Web Vitals, and a discount audit
Three Black Fridays, one $50 gift threshold, and carts that landed at $98, $101, and $111
The surprise in the data: gift-with-purchase skews to returning customers, free shipping to new ones
The segmented strategy: free shipping code for first-time buyers, gift for everyone else
Threshold math: gift at 2x AOV, free shipping 50% above AOV, gift retail value 10 to 15% of cart
Why Shopify's agentic catalog mapping did nothing on two stores for 14 days
Hosts: Kurt Elster and Paul Reda, co-owners of Ethercycle, a Shopify-exclusive agency, and makers of Promo Party, a gift-with-purchase app.
SPONSORS
Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt
Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com
Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT
LINKS
All three research reports: https://ethercycle.com/report
State of Discounts 2026: https://ethercycle.com/pages/state-of-discounts-2026
Q4 gift-with-purchase report: https://promoparty.app/bfcm-gift-with-purchase/
The $2K Combines With thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/ecommerce/comments/1qbvg5k/
Free shipping vs discount codes thread: https://community.shopify.com/t/675799
Welcome code abuse thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/1u9i640/
Influencer codes on Honey thread: https://community.shopify.com/t/222041
WORK WITH KURT
Apply for Shopify Help
ethercycle.com/apply
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ethercycle.com/work
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kurtelster.com
The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

He sells vapes with no nicotine. Every ad platform, payment processor, and carrier treats him like Big Tobacco anyway.
Conrad Kurth founded Cyclone Pods in 2018 after watching every friend he had get hooked on Juul. Eight years later the brand has grown every year with a 60 percent repeat customer rate, no paid ads, no Shopify Payments, and no USPS. This is what selling on hard mode actually looks like.
What you'll learn:
Why a product with no addictive ingredient still gets a 60% repeat rate
Where a new customer really comes from when Meta, Google, and TikTok won't run your ads
Why "alternative advertising" on age-restricted sites sent traffic that never converted
The Sunday morning Shopify Payments shut off with no warning, and the standalone store he keeps ready for next time
How UPS and FedEx agreed to ship after seeing lab data, and why USPS never will
Whether publishing third-party lab results helps SEO (his honest answer: he can't prove it)
Why Wisconsin only allows vapes from Philip Morris, Altria, and Reynolds
The Focus Pouch story: caffeine plus lion's mane, reishi, and cordyceps, two years before caffeine pouches were a category
Vapes for dogs, the leaking device that got pulled, and what he'd tell his 2018 self
His advice for anyone selling a restricted product: ignore the ad people, do the legwork yourself
Guest: Conrad Kurth, founder and CEO of Cyclone Pods, a nicotine-free vape and nootropic pouch brand based in Santa Monica, California. Former software engineer.
Show Links:
Cyclone Pods: https://cyclonepods.com
Email Conrad: conrad@cyclonepods.com
SPONSORS
Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt
Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com/unofficial
Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT
WORK WITH KURT
Apply for Shopify Help
ethercycle.com/apply
See Our Results
ethercycle.com/work
Free Newsletter
kurtelster.com
The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

He's shipped over a billion units. He says your Black Friday gets decided in September.
Casey Armstrong, CMO of ShipBob, returns for his third appearance to break down peak season 2026. Five years ago the villain was Shipageddon. This year there's no single boogeyman, just tariffs that pushed brands global, an exploding channel mix, and AI quietly eating the back office.
What you'll learn:
Why right now is "inbound peak" and what to send your 3PL before October
The real warehouse math: when one node beats five, and why split shipments crush margins
The only two levers that lower shipping costs (and you can only pull one)
The subscription discount trap that trains customers to game you, plus how Rise Coffee and Momentous do it right
How brands turn screenshots into warehouse receiving orders in 30 seconds with AI agents in Slack
ShipBob Promise: delivery dates on the PDP and at checkout, built by the exec who ran Amazon's North America fulfillment
The Watchmaster story: a crawler that undercut Rolex competitors $5 at a time to win Google Shopping
The exact signal it's time to stop packing your own orders
Guest: Casey Armstrong, CMO of ShipBob, the global fulfillment platform with 70+ facilities worldwide. Previously VP of Marketing at BigCommerce.
Show Links:
ShipBob: https://www.shipbob.com
Unpacked with Casey Armstrong, ShipBob's podcast: https://unpacked.shipbob.com
Casey's prior appearances: Shipageddon (Dec 2020), 3PL ShipBob Sees Strong Black Friday Fulfillment (Dec 2021)
SPONSORS
Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt
Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com
Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT
WORK WITH KURT
Apply for Shopify Help
ethercycle.com/apply
See Our Results
ethercycle.com/work
Free Newsletter
kurtelster.com
The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

"You think you know what you're doing. Like I work at Shopify. I should be better at it."

That's Atlee Clark, Shopify's VP of Partnerships, on running her own store, Pika Layers, for the past seven years. She's joined by Eytan Seidman, VP of Product for everything partners and developers touch. Together they just rewrote the deal for Shopify's entire partner ecosystem, and this conversation explains what that means for your store.

We get into the new revenue share that pays partners on merchant GMV growth (Plus upgrades finally count), why Catalog and UCP put the world's products in a single API, and how Sidekick app extensions going GA changes what apps can do inside your admin. Plus the two areas both VPs say are wide open for anyone willing to build.

Stick around for the complaint Eytan admits Shopify still hasn't fixed.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more

getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify

cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels

zipify.com/KURT

LINKS

Shopify Partners: shopify.com/partners

Shopify.dev: shopify.dev

Pika Layers (Atlee's store): pikalayers.com

Atlee Clark on X: x.com/AtleeClark

PromoParty (Kurt's app): [URL]

WORK WITH KURT

Apply for Shopify Help

ethercycle.com/apply

See Our Results

ethercycle.com/work

Free Newsletter

kurtelster.com

The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.