The Space Bar: Ecommerce Podcast by Space 48

In this episode, we explore the complex world of payments in-depth, demystifying it and exploring how businesses can make informed decisions to enhance customer experience and boost revenue. Our host, Pete Robertshaw, is joined by Nicole Olbe, Managing Director at Adyen, and Alexander Speke, Commercial Partnerships Manager at Adyen—both renowned experts in the fields of payments and eCommerce solutions.

Throughout the discussion, Nicole and Alexander provide valuable insights on several key areas, including:

• Leveraging financial and payment services to gain a deeper understanding of customer behaviours and preferences

• Utilising real-time data and analytics to drive revenue growth and operational efficiency

• Strategically navigating the ever-evolving landscape of payments and financial services to stay ahead of industry trends and regulatory changes

With their extensive experience and expertise in eCommerce and financial services, Nicole and Alexander share practical advice and innovative strategies that can help retailers and merchants optimise their payment processes, reduce friction, and improve overall business performance. They also discuss the latest technological advancements and how businesses can adapt to remain competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace.

This episode is packed with actionable insights and is a must-listen for retailers, merchants, and anyone involved in the payments industry who is looking to refine their payment strategies and enhance their business outcomes.

Welcome to the latest insightful episode of the Space Bar Podcast, where we unpack the complexities of logistics and fulfilment that retailers are grappling with in a market full of rising costs and changing consumer expectations. Logistics maestro James Hayes from Whistl Group joins host Pete Robertshaw to dissect the state of delivery in the UK and explore innovative solutions.

Retailers are feeling the pinch as delivery costs spike and operational expenses skyrocket. But what's the underlying cause, and more importantly, what can be done? We're discussing whether it's better to pick up or drop off, the myth of carrier hierarchies, and the pressing question - to free deliver or not to free deliver?

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James lends his expertise to the gripes with packaging, locker services' real benefits, PUDO's rising popularity, and the ins and outs of providing an 'eco' delivery option. Can customers expect to pay less, and should retailers offer it as a necessity? Tune in to find out.

With a focus on eCommerce and technology, hear James divulge the details regarding game-changing fulfilment and shipping technologies and whether AI is making significant strides in logistics.

Listen now to understand how you can overcome these current logistics challenges.

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Remember to subscribe to the Space Bar Podcast for more episodes like this, and if you found value in our discussion, give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Stay tuned for more expert takes and deep dives into the world of eCommerce and logistics! 🚀

Welcome to this week's episode of the Space Bar podcast!

In this episode, we're diving into the topic of globalisation made easy and how it can help you internationalise your digital retail business without any headaches. We have two amazing guests, Laetitia and Emily Peters, who are sales directors at Global-e, the world leaders in end-to-end cross-border ecommerce solutions.

During this episode, we'll explore the challenges many merchants face when growing their business globally. How Global-e simplifies the cross-border process makes it easier for the consumer and the merchant. No more dealing with issues like currencies, duties, shipping, and languages - Global-e is here to alleviate that stress!

Topics include:

• Discovering global ecommerce solutions and leveraging data-driven insights
• Simplifying cross-border processes for brands and merchants
• Focusing on international expansion opportunities in markets like Poland and Turkey
• The importance of researching local markets and consumer behaviours before expanding internationally
• Utilising marketplaces like Amazon or eBay for market research
• Localising websites and marketing efforts to drive traffic and win back business
• Strategies for addressing language barriers, payment methods, and checkout processes in ecommerce
• Pricing strategies, integration, and adjusting prices for different markets
• Shopify partnership with Markets Pro for global expansion to 200 countries
• Emphasising localised payment methods and their significance
• Recommendations for ecommerce logistics, shipping, and fulfilment
• Addressing customs issues and promoting transparency in cross-border selling
• The importance of localised checkout and shipping processes for sustainable international sales
• Emerging trends in ecommerce sustainability, including cash-on-delivery payments in the Middle East and net-zero emissions goals

Hosted by Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting, Space 48

In this episode, we delve into a critical yet often overlooked aspect of ecommerce - data quality and its profound impact on the customer experience. We'll uncover how poor data quality can severely affect your customers' journey and how improving data quality can enhance that experience.

Joining our host, Pete Robertshaw, are two experts from a company that silently powers much of your online shopping experience, Henry Thomas and Mike OKeefe, both product managers at Loqate. 

In this conversation, we'll explain why data quality and validation might sound boring but how it can transform an ecommerce manager into a superhero for their business.

This conversation will spotlight the importance of data accuracy and validation, laying the groundwork for understanding how this seemingly unglamorous subject can make a substantial difference in business success. Stay tuned as we unravel the hidden power behind data quality and how it can transform an ecommerce manager into a superhero for their business.

So, if you're an ecommerce professional, this is an episode you can't afford to miss. 

Topics include:

• Importance of data quality in ecommerce
• The evolution of address validation technology
• Global address data and geocoding challenges
• Improving ecommerce fulfillment and international shipping accuracy
• Impact of delivery failures on reputation
• Significance of data validation in ecommerce
• Email validation and impact on customer relationships
• Phone number validation for SMS Marketing
• Fraud prevention in the gaming industry via data validation
• Multi-channel marketing and data quality optimisation
• Obtaining and managing data from various channels like Amazon or in-store
• Importance of error prevention in ERP or POS systems for accurate data
• Leveraging AI for data validation and addressing human errors
• AI's impact on improving business data accuracy
• Correcting addresses, especially in regions with poor address data in emerging markets
• Considerations around data ageing and privacy in the context of ecommerce
• Potential challenges and changes in data ownership and privacy laws
• Challenges in expanding ecommerce globally and the importance of accurate, up-to-date datasets
• Addressing the need to meet customers in various markets with reliable data
• Becoming an ecommerce superhero

In this episode of The Space Bar podcast, we dive deep into delayed sign-offs when it comes to your ecommerce project, discussing the associated risks and impacts. Join us with our guests, Rob Peterkin, Senior Project Manager, and Sam Varnam, Senior Account Manager, as we unravel the challenges of prolonged approval processes. Tune in to understand the implications of these delays in the current economic landscape, where factors like inflation and interest rates affect businesses. We'll explore how this new reality impacts margins and extends the time required for sign-offs. Plus, we'll get insights from our guests on the most significant impacts of delayed sign-offs. Don't miss out on this engaging discussion!

Topics:

• Delayed sign-offs in website projects and their impact on costs and effort.
• Project risks, including knowledge loss and technology changes.
• Get off Magento 1, please!
• Project delays, resource management, and communication in website development.
• Project delays and their impact on agency-merchant relationships.
• Could there be adverse effects for your brand if you delay?
• Website redesign phased approach and cost considerations.
• Ecommerce project delays and the importance of honesty.

Hosted by Gareth James, Engineering Manager, Space 48

In today's episode, our host Paul Casey, delves into the ever-evolving landscape of paid marketing for eCommerce. Joining us are two industry experts: Jonathan Fisher, the Director of Paid Media at Bring, and Divya Patel, a Digital Acquisition Strategist at Space 48, both pivotal players at Dark Matter Commerce. 

This episode aims to cover three vital themes buzzing in paid advertising. First on the agenda is Performance Max, a red-hot topic with everyone talking. Our experts will shed light on various takes from both a practitioner and a client standpoint, discussing the market impact.

Next, we'll deep-dive into general market factors, unravelling the current trends and insights shaping the market in 2023.

And finally, we'll explore the fascinating world of AI automation. How is AI revolutionising performance in the market? What impacts does automation have on advertising strategies? Our experts will provide their unique perspectives on these crucial aspects.

Topics include:

• Paid Marketing Trends in E-commerce 
• The challenges of migrating from Smart Shopping to Performance Max
• Paid Advertising Insights and Reporting Challenges
• Market Trends and Performance Max Strategies 
• E-commerce Trends and Challenges in 2023.
• Advertising Opportunities Despite Declining Revenue 
• Digital Marketing Strategies and AI Impact 
• AI's Impact on PPC Roles and Google's Future Projects 

Visit: www.space48.com

In a perfect world, everything runs smoothly on an ecommerce site, but we all know there are times when things go wrong. As a developer, it's easy to panic, but with a clear action plan, you can deal with the disaster in front of you. This episode will cover steps to help you Keep Calm and Carry on in the face of a disaster.

Our guests, Gareth James, Engineering Manager and Sam Varnam, Account Manager, alongside host Rob Peterkin, Project Delivery Manager at Space 48, share anecdotes from their own experiences, highlighting the significance of staying calm and composed in the face of unexpected issues.

Topics include:

• The significance of preparedness
• The disastrous consequences of panic.
• Staying calm under pressure
• Navigating communication during crises
• The ARGGRH Approach
• The value of hindsight and preventing future website problems 
• Technical whack-a-mole
• Tailoring responses for response strategies 
• Learning from past experiences to prevent future website issues.

This podcast episode provides valuable insights into handling website issues, emphasising the significance of staying calm, communicating effectively, and learning from past experiences to prevent future problems.

www.space48.com

In this week's episode, we will explore the digital commerce landscape in a traditionally well-known technology hub territory, with many tech firms choosing to set up shop out there. We're going to be looking at the Nordics region and discussing the opportunities that are out there for UK merchants, as well as some of the challenges merchants in that region face when looking to transact internationally.

Our guest is Theis Vedel, the Channel Account Manager for Nordics at BigCommerce and is based in Copenhagen, so he has great insight and first-hand experience he can share with us. 

Topics Include:

• Nordics and the digital commerce space
• How the Nordic market compares to the UK in terms of digital commerce
• Nordic merchants need to innovate to survive.
• Brands succeeding in the Nordics
• Minimal technology challenges and composable commerce
• How Amazon has changed the competitive dynamics in the market.
• Nordic tech ecosystem
• The speed of Amazon in the Nordic market
• Nordic ecommerce platforms
• What can BigCommerce offer local merchants
• Need for Nordic merchants to get online.
• Challenges of selling online in the UK
• The age of the agency
• What's the opportunity in the Nordic market?
• Payment and delivery options are a huge part of the future.
• Looking at the future of the industry.

Our host is Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting, Space 48

Welcome to the Space Bar Podcast with your host, Pete Robertshaw. In this week's episode, we dive into the fascinating world of customer loyalty and explore the power of personalisation in supercharging loyalty programs. At a time when economic challenges are prevalent, retaining customer loyalty has never been more crucial for brands. Join us as we unpack the key aspects of customer loyalty and its impact on your business.

Thank you to our guests: Zsuza Kecsmar, the co-founder and chief strategy officer at Antavo, and Simon Mills, the Senior Channel Manager for the Nordics and Benelux at Bloomreach! 

Topics include:

• Evolution of loyalty programs
• Significance of customer loyalty
• Making your loyalty program stand out
• The transformative power of AI in loyalty
• Achieving seamless omnichannel loyalty
• Building an effective loyalty program
• Successful loyalty program and innovative ideas
• Identifying common challenges and Pitfalls in loyalty program 
• Strategies for loyalty in one-off purchase industries
• Mitigating churn and maintaining customer loyalty.

#50: Introducing Dark Matter Commerce

Welcome to the Space Bar. This episode is very exciting as it's our 50th episode of the Space Bar podcast. To celebrate, we're running a social media competition to win a £50 Amazon voucher. To be in with a chance of winning, we want you to share your top piece of advice from your favourite Space Bar episode. Keep an eye out on our social media channels on how to enter. 

This is another exciting episode to record as we're thrilled to announce a significant milestone in our company's journey, Dark Matter Commerce. Today, we embark on an exciting new chapter as we unveil a brand-new collective that will revolutionise the digital commerce landscape globally.

In this episode, we'll explain what Dark Matter Commerce is, the agencies within the group, how it was established, our mission and proposition and the ideas behind the branding. 

Our guests: 

• Martin Boddy, Chairman, Dark Matter Commerce
• Hannah Eames, Finance Director, Dark Matter Commerce
• David Wood, Brand and Creative at Pavement

Our host:

Jon Woodall, CEO of Dark Matter Commerce

Topics Include:

• What is Dark Matter Commerce?
• The importance of a collective over a group
• Opportunity and ambition
• The Identity of Dark Matter Commerce
• The importance of the identity of the agencies
• The power of branding
• What is the future of Dark Matter Commerce?
• Being a magnet for talent

Dark Matter Commerce was created by Jon Woodall as a digital commerce collective in 2020. With the backing of Foresight, we’re acquiring technology businesses and agencies that share our unique focus on eComm and other forms of digital commerce.

Our mission is to build an era-defining collective of expert innovators and agencies to transform digital commerce at global scale.

Visit: www.darkmattercommerce.com

Welcome to the latest episode of the Space Bar podcast, where we discuss the importance of the product experience in the customer journey; we'll specifically discuss PIM software's role in a digital commerce business. We're excited to be joined by Joe Richardson, the Director of Channel for the UK & Ireland at Akeneo.

Topics Include:

What is PIM

Who is Akeneo

Why should a business invest in PIM?

When did PIM become a thing in the UK?

Who is PIM relevant to?

Core benefits of PIM

How to put together a business case for PIM

demonstrate the ROI that PIM

Importance of investing in the product experience vs the customer experience

What does a PIM project typically look like?

What can't it solve?

How can PIM help drive culture change within a business?

The future of PIM

AI and product descriptions

Hosted by Space 48's PIM expert and Head of Commerce Consulting, Pete Robertshaw.

Welcome to the latest episode of the Space Bar podcast, where we delve into the rise of open banking in digital commerce with our guests, Adyen and Tink. Open banking is a relatively new concept quickly changing the entire financial landscape, levelling the playing field and making finance fairer for all. With its benefits to merchants and consumers alike, it's no wonder that companies like Tink and Adyen are big on innovation and supporting Pay By Bank. Personalisation, risk mitigation, and cost benefits are just a few reasons merchants adopt this technology to maximise conversions. We'll explore the launch of Pay By Bank and how it's streamlining payments for merchants and consumers alike, from desktop shopping to mobile banking through QR. The future of open banking is looking bright. Listen in as Angus from Adyen and Tom from Tink discuss the exciting future of open banking and their partnership.

Topics Include:

• The huge scale of Adyen
• Tink - Building the connectivity between merchants and consumers
• What is open banking?
• Making finance fairer
• The benefits to merchants for adopting this technology
• The launch of Pay By Bank
• Personalisation and risk mitigation
• Offering the relevant payment methods to maximise conversion.
• Big on innovation and supporting the right payment methods
• Why Adyen has entered into a partnership with Tink
• Cost benefits to merchants using pay by bank
• The efficiency of pay by bank
• Desktop shopping to Mobile banking through QR
• Success stories
• The fatigue of payment brands
• Chargebacks, costs and user experience benefits
• Will open banking merge into offline payments?
• What's the future of open banking?

Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting at Space 48, hosts this episode.

Guests:

• Angus Blest - Head of UK Commercial, Adyen
• Tom Pope - SVP Payments & Platforms, Tink

Welcome to the Space Bar Podcast! On this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Eamonn Galvin, founder of the rapidly growing startup, KnowCarbon. With experience at eBay and as CEO of Daft.ie, Eamonn is applying advanced analytics to one of the most pressing issues of our time – reducing carbon emissions. After its first full year of operation, KnowCarbon has paying customers and is gaining global traction. Eamonn is here to discuss all things carbon and explain how KnowCarbon is revolutionising the world by reducing carbon emissions. One not to be missed.

• How Eamonn started measuring carbon?
• KnowCarbon's Mission
• The scale of the carbon emissions challenge
• Which sectors are impacted the most?
• Carbon and the sustainability challenge
• The impact of a product's carbon footprint and ecommerce
• The opportunity for merchants to help consumers make better choices
• Brands pushing the boundaries
• Getting your data ready and lifecycle analysis
• ChatGPT vs Eamonn on a product's carbon footprint
• The Carbon Cost of Returns
• Changing the Consciousness of the Consumer
• Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Emissions
• What's Next for KnowCarbon?

Guest:
Eamonn Galvin - KnowCarbon

Hosted by:
Stephen Kenealy - Strategy Director, Space 48

Digital marketing has become increasingly competitive and challenging for online retailers. The increased competition in the ad space is one of the main challenges digital marketers face this year. Alongside an economic downturn in 2023, retailers focus more on revenue versus profit and customer retention. On this podcast, we will be discussing some of these challenges as well as aspects such as customer retention and migration to GA4. Our data and insight expert will advise navigating this ever-changing digital environment, enabling businesses to move forward profitably and successfully.

Topics include:

• Increased competition in the ad space
• Brands tapping into marketplaces
• Cannibalising your brand strategy
• SEO is the long game
• Google ads to drive brand awareness
• Tapping into micro-moments
• Rising acquisition costs
• Customers are very disloyal
• Reviewing your retention strategy
• Creating an efficient funnel
• GA4 and GTM
• Mastering your channels

Guests:

• Lee Smorthit, Digital Acquisition Strategist, Space 48

Hosted by:

Paul Casey, Head of Account Management at Space 48.

Mage Titans is returning to Manchester after a 4.5-year hiatus and promises to be the must-attend event for Magento developers in the UK and beyond. On this special episode of the Space Bar podcast, we talk with Jon Woodall, the creator of Mage Titans, and Rob Peterkin and Gareth James - the people who are behind the return! Tune in as we reveal two very exciting guest speakers!

In this episode, we cover:

• What is Mage Titans
• The history of Mage Titans
• What to expect at the event
• Why should you attend?
• Why sponsor?
• Talks and a call for speaker submissions
• Bonus - we reveal a very exciting speaker announcement

Hosted by Stephen Kenealy, Strategy Director at Space 48.

Welcome back to the Space Bar Podcast, season 3!

In this episode, we're discussing the powerful potential of user-generated content for businesses within the health and beauty sector. Our guest Matt Brindley, Partner Growth Manager at Yotpo, will be helping us unpack this topic and giving us his insight into how businesses in this sector can use UGC. For those who may not be familiar with it, user-generated content is any content created by people external to a brand—such as text, videos, images, or reviews—which has excellent potential for growth in the online health and beauty market. Let's hear what Matt says about UGC and how businesses can make it work for them.

Topics include:

• What is UGC?
• What is Yotpo?
• How can beauty brands cut through the noise?
• Authenticity in the form of reviews and customer imagery
• Getting started with user-generated content
• Encouraging customers to submit user-generated content
• Measuring the ROI of customer content
• How does UGC help with retention and brand loyalty
• Beauty brands leading the way in UGC
• Yotpo success stories
• Best practices for integrating UGC into your commerce site

The rise of SaaS is inescapable, whatever business you’re in. Those who choose to ignore it will get left behind.

In this episode, we reminisce about times gone by in the technology world and look beyond these immediate benefits to understand how SaaS is changing the IT world.

Two industry veterans join our host, Tom Robertshaw, Innovation Director at Space 48, to unpack what this future might look like.

We have Aaron Sheehan, Director of Competitive Strategy at BigCommerce, and Pete Robertshaw, Head of Ecommerce consultancy at Space 48.

Topics include:

• The rise of SaaS
• The reduction in single-use, custom-built software
• The evolution of the solutions specialist

In this episode, we're debating whether Headless is still just a buzzword or whether there is substance to it. We'll revisit where it is today and close the debate on what it is. Headless has been around in the ecommerce space for a long time. For a while, it was just a word that no one really knew what it meant. In this episode, we look at how headless has evolved and things to consider when evaluating Headless.

Topics

• What does headless mean to you?
• Headless is a delivery mechanism.
• The difference between Headless CMS and full Headless
• Microservices, Composable Commerce and PWA
• What sites have done Headless well?
• When is Headless right for your business?
• Does Headless help you improve your site performance?
• What can you expect from a project implementation point of view?
• Does Headless mean you have to have an internal Dev team?
• The key risks and challenges of Headless

Today's guest is Tom Robertshaw, Innovation Director, Space 48

Hosted by Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting, Space 48

Planning for an ecommerce re-platform project with Vervaunt

In this episode of the Space Bar Podcast, we're discussing planning for an ecommerce re-platform project with Paul Rogers, Co-Founder of Vervaunt and Sham Miah, Operations Director at Vervaunt. The two have so much knowledge and experience when it comes to large and complex re-platform projects on an international level. So, we were super excited to get them in the studio to discuss what you need to consider when planning for a re-platform.

Topics include:

• The motivations for re-platforming
• The critical part of getting a project right is the right people and partners
• Derisking a project
• You couldn't get a better time to cleanse your data
• Making the most of the re-platforming opportunity
• The importance of the product data
• The training and development to get comfortable with your new platform
• The future of re-platforming
• What about headless?
• The emergence of new technologies and platforms

Guests:

• Paul Rodgers, Co-Founder, Vervaunt
• Sham Miah, Operations Director, Vervaunt

Hosted by: 

• Jon Woodall, Managing Director, Vervaunt

In this episode, we discussed the BigCommerce Partner Summit for EMEA in London a couple of weeks ago. This year's summit was bigger than ever, with around 300 partners attending to listen to a day filled with exhilarating talks, energetic dancing and an all-welcoming atmosphere, proving BigCommerce is bringing the partner ecosystem together for success.

If you didn't attend or missed some of the talks, here are our takeaways:

• The size and scale that BigCommerce has grown in EMEA.
• BigCommerce doubles down on its "open commerce" strategy.
• The event is an excellent physical representation of the success of the business.
• The way BigCommerce do partnerships and the extent of the partner network.
• The ecommerce platform architecture and supporting third-party technologies is changing.
• BigCommerce's move into the enterprise space with Bundle B2B and B2B Ninja.
• Brent Bellm, CEO, BigCommerce's Keynote talk.
• A frankly impressive ability to deliver against an ambitious roadmap.
• Headless & composable commerce is here to stay but choose wisely.
• How to grow your BigCommerce practice with our very own Tom Robertshaw
• Troy Cox's Product Roadmap talk.
• The team at BigCommerce: a fantasy football team of the ecommerce world.
• Stand with Ukraine.

Guests:

Jon Woodall, Managing Director, Space 48

Stephen Kenealy, Strategy Director, Space 48

Hosted by:

Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting at Space 48

This week's episode follows the last Shopify Unite episode we released. In this one, we'll delve deeper into Shopify's product roadmap with Stephen Kenealy, Space 48's Strategy Director and Jon Woodall, Space 48's Managing Director. 

Topics include:

• Doubling down on enabling direct-to-consumer brands and retailers to trade internationally. 
• Investment in a single platform solution 
• Playing more into the enterprise space
• The ability to serve wholesale and b2b 
• Taking the platform forward with CMS functionality 
• Building the developer community 

Hosted by Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting, Space 48

In this episode, we talk about our experience at Shopify Unite with Laura Black, General Manager at Brave the Skies. Listen to Jon and Laura cover the talks they saw, the event as a whole, the Shopify community and the ecosystem as a whole. 

Topics:

• Fostering the developer community 
• A rundown on the talk 'How We Made React Developers Love to Code on Liquid Projects'
• A rundown on the talk 'Out of Step: From Bootstrapped to Venture Backed.'
• Taking inspiration from Ask Phill on their approach to headless 
• Learnings to take forward 
• Headless, hydrogen and Oxygen 

Hosted by Jon Woodall, Managing Director at Space 48.

This episode provides an insight into the world of Josh Wood Colour. Josh Wood is a celebrity colour expert with a highly sought-after salon in West London. His experience spans over three decades of working with some of the biggest names in the business. Josh Wood Colour translates this exclusive in-salon experience to online with at-home hair colour products that are more widely available across the UK.

We sit down with Linda Benjamin, Director of Product and Kieran Chapman, Director of Growth at Josh Wood Colour, to understand their ecommerce journey and how they approach user experience.

Topics:

• Career highlights and how Linda and Kieran came to Josh Wood Colour
• An insight into Josh Wood and the brand Josh Wood Colour
• Replicating the experience that a customer has in the salon online with Headless and Shopify
• Subscription is a lightbulb moment with Recharge
• Where Josh Wood Colour are placing their bets on customer acquisition
• Launching their first TV ad, #DyeHappy
• The pros and cons of going Headless

Our host is Stephen Kenealy, Strategy Director at Space 48

After a brief hiatus, we're back with season 2 of the Space Bar Podcast and on this episode we're talking about common mistakes we encounter on new website builds and how to avoid them. If you're about to embark on new web project, there's some great tips from Rob Peterkin, Project Manager at Space 48, on what to look out for and what are some of the most frequent issues we see when working with our customers.

We discuss the problems of data migration, design, working with 3rd party technology and how important honesty is in the customer / agency partnership.

Hosted by Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consultancy at Space 48.

On this week's episode of the Space Bar Podcast, we have an exclusive first interview with the team that were involved in the acquisition of the Shopify Plus agency, Brave the Skies into the Space 48 family. We speak to Laura Black and Lucy Roberts, GM and MD of Brave the Skies to get some background on the agency and about their experience of the acquisition and what the future holds for the business. We're also joined by CEO and founder of Space 48, Jon Woodall and also Stephen Kenealy, strategy director at Space 48 to get their take on why the acquisition was important for both Space 48 and Brave the Skies.

Presented by Pete Robertshaw, Head Of Commerce Consultancy at Space 48

In this week's episode we talk to one of our customers, Sarah Raven about their recent re-platform over to BigCommerce.

We discuss how the platform and partner selection process ran, why they ended up working with BigCommerce and some of the other supporting technologies they selected for their tech stack. We also hear about the design process as well as what they learned from the project and what their advice would be for other retailers who are looking to embark on a similar project.

We're joined by Ashley Pallett - Digital Marketing Manager at Sarah Raven, Jim Herbert - Vice President and GM for EMEA at Bigcommerce, Claudia Ditri - Head of Partnerships for Klevu EMEA and Holli Barrett - Head of CX Design at Space 48.

Presented by Pete Robertshaw - Head of Commerce Consultancy at Space 48

In this episode, we discuss the home and garden sector. The last two years have seen exponential change for online retailers due to the pandemic. With this new 'norm' comes challenges; we cover what this looks like going forward and discuss some potential solutions for brands. If you're a home and garden retailer looking for some tips on what you should include in your ecommerce strategy, this episode is for you.

Topics:

• J.Parkers: the shift from offline to online
• How the pandemic changed J.Parkers' business
• Turning marketing and sales off to protect the customer experience
• Changing the tech infrastructure to get to the next level of growth
• Challenges retailers have faced in fulfilling consumer demand
• The need for a digital roadmap
• The need for talent and increased costs
• Keeping a competitive edge and focusing on customer experience
• Investing in your customer data
• Retention is more important than ever
• Buy now, pay later payment options
• Investing in Product Management (PIM)
• Merchandising solutions
• Experimentation, engagement, and experience
• Whatever you do, has to benefit your customer
• Understanding the 'considered commerce' customer journey

Guests:

• Jonathan Bracewell, Head of Digital at J.Parkers
• Holli Barrett, Head of Customer Experience, Space 48
• Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting, Space 48

Hosted by:

Paul Casey, Head of Account Management

Martin Boddy is Space 48's Non-Executive Chairman and chairs several other businesses. Having founded the listed data, creative and performance marketing agency Jaywing plc, Martin has an impressive track record and experience when it comes to accelerating growth. He has extensive commercial acumen while also being a data-digital innovator. 

This episode with Martin is a special one. Space 48's Managing Director, Jon Woodall, sits down with Martin to get an insight into his successful career. He talks about his journey from co-founding Jaywing in Sheffield with three people to becoming AIM-listed with offices internationally and over 300 people.  

You can expect a look into Martin's entrepreneurial mind, golden nuggets of advice and a plethora of sports analogies for business. Thank you to Martin for sitting down and sharing his journey with us. We hope you find this episode as enjoyable as we did to record! 

Topics:

• How Martin became a Middlesborough fan
• How his career began 
• How he came to co-found Jaywing
• From start-up to 120 people in two countries
• Taking some time out  
• Angel investing 
• Batman and Robin are back together at Jaywing 
• The pressure of a CEO of an AIM-listed business
• Transitioning to the world of Non-Exec Chairman

In this episode, we're going to cover global ecommerce and the challenges you may face as a retailer when growing internationally and, through our experience, how we can help solve those challenges. 

Cross border shopping has grown exponentially. With the lack of physical retail stores being open in the last two years, consumers have gone online and found new brands, and the likelihood is these brands are from overseas. 

This online drive provides businesses more power to reach and sell to consumers globally. 

This new era of global commerce requires brands who maybe haven't always dealt with international ecommerce to step up and create excellent customer experiences in their home market and overseas. How can brands replicate this model and hedge on technology to provide the experiences, scalability and data needed to keep pace with the rapid changes?

Our guests are:

Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting at Space 48

Ollie Lees, Head of Data and Insight at Space 48

Paul Casey, Head of Account Management at Space 48

Hosted by Molly Smith, Head of Marketing at Space 48. 

For more information, download our global ecommerce guide at https://www.space48.com/downloads/global-ecommerce-guide/

What are you doing if you're a merchant and don't have Klarna? With the Klarna app having over 40 million downloads, what it can offer for brands and consumers is game-changing.

Beginning as a payments provider that has disrupted the retail banking industry, today, Klarna is a very diverse business in terms of its products. In this episode, we find out what has made Klarna the renowned brand for frictionless shopping for consumers and retailers. We cover the following topics:

• The history of Klarna
• The rebrand of Klarna
• Innovation, acquisitions and product releases
• Tackling financial wellness and consumer protection

Our guests are Rob Beattie, Commercial Manager for UK partnerships at Klarna, and Anisha, Mohammed, Head of UK Partnerships at Klarna.

Presented by Pete Robertshaw

This episode discusses our journey of going remote overnight and not looking back. Space 48 closed its offices in March 2020 and permanently embraced a remote work culture. As ecommerce boomed in the last two years, we've seen rapid growth as a business and with our people. Keeping a solid company culture is at the heart of this success. As we transition into the world opening up again, we reflect on what we've learned and how we'll adapt. This episode covers:

• Adapting and changing to a remote-first work culture
• How do you drive culture remote?
• Growing, developing and supporting a remote team
• Keeping the human connection while remote

Our guests are:

• Jon Woodall, Managing Director, Space 48
• Stephen Kenealy, Strategy Director, Space 48
• Jake Smith, Operations Director, Space 48
• Hannah Eames, Finance Director, Space 48
• Erica Mackay, Head of People and Culture, Space 48

Hosted by Molly Smith, Head of Marketing, Space 48

We sit down with The Very Group's Digital Customer Experience (DCX) Director, Paul Hornby. Get a look at the 2.3 billion pound company behind the scenes with this high-performing digital leader. 

Paul combines the ecommerce growth journey and strategy at The Very Group with his lessons learned over the years and advice for fellow ecommerce professionals. 

This conversation is not to be missed with lots of insightful knowledge around building outstanding customer journeys and being ahead of the curve. There are plenty of valuable lessons for you to take away. 

In this episode of the Space Bar Podcast we compare the two heavy hitters in the SaaS eCommerce Platform space where we put Shopify Plus head to head against BigCommerce. We look at how flexible and extendable each platform is, what their tech architecture looks like, how they perform out of the box, as well as a host of other topics including SEO, B2B and pricing.

Discussing the differences and similarities are 2 of the Space 48 team. We have Peter Hicks, a Technical Lead on the SaaS side of the business who knows everything there is to know about Shopify Plus, and also Sam Brown, a Systems Architect who has worked on numerous BigCommerce projects over the past few years.

Presented by Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting at Space 48.

The B2B customer is evolving, they’re no longer a user of fax machines or even a mobile device to make calls. They’re shoppers like you and I so how should B2B businesses be changing their approach to digital commerce to accommodate for this new generation of B2B customers. How does the commerce experience differ and where does it start to cross over into B2C? Should eCommerce technology companies be focussing their products in this ever evolving B2B market or should their products already cater for the B2B customer anyway?

To answer these questions, on this week's episode of the Space Bar Podcast, we're joined by the IT and Operations DIrector at the B2B Health & Beauty wholesaler Ellisons, Lee Farmer and the Sales Director for the UK & Ireland at Factfinder, Stuart Patterson.

Presented By Pete Robertshaw, Head of Commerce Consulting at Space 48

What is generally considered as the busiest week of the year for most retailers, the Black Friday / Cyber Monday period can see many retailers doing over 50% of their annual sales in just 7 days. With opportunity comes risk so what can retailers be putting in place to make sure their peak period doesn't end in disaster?

On this week's episode of the Space Bar Podcast we talk to two technology companies who sit behind the scenes in your tech stack, but two that are equally as important for maximising opportunity and reducing risk. We're joined by Daniel Sim - General Manager at Rewind, a SaaS backup solution, and Ti Osnat, a sales engineer at Signifyd who are fraud prevention company using AI and machine learning to help businesses reduce fraud and increase acceptance rates.

Make sure you listen ahead of your BFCM week and take on board their tips and advice for how to make sure you fully capitalise on one of the biggest weeks of the year.

Presented by Pete Robertshaw, Digital Commerce Consultant at Space 48.

In this week's episode we discuss a topic which has been the source of much debate within the digital commerce industry over the past couple of years and that is Headless. We breakdown what headless actually means at a non-technical level and why it's important for the future of digital commerce. We discuss why merchants should consider a headless approach, including the benefits it brings them and more importantly, their end customers.

To discuss this, we're joined by Franz Riedl, COO of the front end experience platform Styla, and Thom Armstrong - VP of Go to Market Solutions and Strategy at Fast, the one click checkout solution. We discuss with them how headless has enabled their businesses to move forward and how it's enabling them to deliver great commerce experiences to their customers.

Presented by Pete Robertshaw, Digital Commerce Consultant at Space 48.