Shows
The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 164: Ken Novak, Founder of Hatch QuantifiedSend us a textIn Episode 164 of "The Hard Truth About B2B E-commerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson dive into a thought-provoking conversation with Ken Novak, the innovative founder of Hatch Quantified. Discover how Ken is revolutionizing the B2B landscape by bridging the gap between traditional manufacturing and digital transformation. Learn about Hatch's unique approach to unlocking digital value for manufacturers and distributors, and explore the challenges and opportunities in the evolving world of B2B commerce. Whether you're a seasoned industry professional or new to the field, this episode offers valuable insights into...
2026-01-071h 07The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 163: Hans Leong, Senior e-Procurement Implementation Specialist at Carrier EnterpriseSend us a textIn this episode of "The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce," host Isaiah Bollinger sits down with Hans Leong, a Senior e-Procurement Implementation Specialist at Carrier Enterprise. They delve into the intricacies of e-procurement, discussing the evolution of distribution and manufacturing in the digital age. Hans shares insights on the importance of automation, the future of ERP systems, and the role of AI in streamlining business processes. The conversation also touches on the challenges and opportunities within the B2B sector, emphasizing the need for companies to adapt to technological advancements to stay...
2025-12-101h 15The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceCopy of Episode 162: Matt Weis, Co-Founder of CircuitSend us a textIn this episode of "The Hard Truth about B2B e-commerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson sit down with Matt Weis, Co-Founder of Circuit, to explore the evolving landscape of B2B commerce. From the challenges of selling to government monopsonies to the intricacies of AI in manufacturing, Matt shares insights from his journey in the tech and defense sectors. Discover how Circuit is revolutionizing the way manufacturers operate and the future of AI-driven solutions in the industry. Tune in for a deep dive into the world of B2B innovation and...
2025-11-2654 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBrent Peterson: Episode 161 B2B eCommerce ConsultantSend us a textIn this episode of "The Hard Truth about B2B eCommerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson are joined by Brent Peterson, a seasoned B2B eCommerce consultant. They dive into the evolution of eCommerce platforms, the role of AI in content creation, and the importance of unique content in today's digital landscape. Brent shares insights from his journey, including the challenges and opportunities in the B2B space, and the future of commerce platforms. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on the intersection of technology and commerce.
2025-11-051h 03The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 160: Stephen Metts, Vice President of Innovation at ZaelabSend us a textIn Episode 160 of "The Hard Truth About B2B e-commerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson welcome Stephen Metts, Vice President of Innovation at Zaelab. Stephen shares insights from his 18-year journey in B2B commerce, discussing the evolution of CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) solutions and the importance of innovation in bridging the gap between technology and user needs. The conversation delves into the challenges of integrating complex systems, the role of empathy in technology adoption, and the future trajectory of ServiceNow and Logik.ai. Tune in for a deep dive into the...
2025-10-0852 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 159: Rudy Abitbol, B2B eCommerce & Digital Growth LeaderSend us a textIn Episode 159 of "The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson sit down with Rudy Abitbol, a seasoned leader in B2B eCommerce and digital growth. Rudy shares his journey from programming enthusiast to a strategic leader in the B2B space, offering insights into the evolution of eCommerce platforms and the challenges of digital transformation. Tune in to explore the future of distribution, the role of AI in business, and how companies can stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape. Don't miss this engaging conversation filled with...
2025-09-241h 03The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 157: Matthew Asher, Senior Program Manager of CPQ at ServiceNowSend us a textIn Episode 157 of "The Hard Truth About B2B E-commerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson welcome Matthew Asher, Senior Program Manager of CPQ at ServiceNow. Dive into the evolution of Configure Price Quote (CPQ) systems and their impact on B2B commerce. Matthew shares insights from his journey in the software implementation space, discusses the integration of AI in CPQ, and explores the future of self-service in B2B sales. Whether you're a seasoned expert or new to the field, this episode offers valuable perspectives on navigating the complexities of modern e-commerce...
2025-07-301h 01The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 156: Lance Owide, General Manager B2B at BigCommerceSend us a textIn Episode 156 of "The Hard Truth About B2B E-commerce," hosts Isaiah Bollinger and Timothy Peterson welcome back Lance Owide, General Manager of B2B at BigCommerce. Lance shares insights into the evolving landscape of B2B e-commerce, emphasizing the importance of agility and incremental growth for businesses transitioning online. The discussion covers BigCommerce's innovative strategies, including AI-driven sales tools and immersive buyer experiences, aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and driving revenue growth. Tune in to explore the future of B2B e-commerce and learn how to stay ahead in a rapidly changing...
2025-07-231h 06The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 153: Customer Adoption & AISend us a textTimothy Peterson & Isaiah Bollinger do their first solo episode in a while without guest to discuss customer adoption & AI. Customer adoption is a hugely underrated challenge in which simply building the tech isn't enough. It requires many different departments working together to bring alignment and customer growth across multiple friction points. AI is coming on fast, and if you don't have a plan to make it useful, you will get left behind. We discuss low hanging fruit areas of using AI.
2025-06-181h 02
B2B BitesB2B Branding with Isaiah BollingerBigCommerce's B2B Bites is back with another episode featuring CEO and Co-Founder of Trellis, Isaiah Bollinger, to discuss the topic of B2B Branding. Lance Owide asks why B2B brands struggle to get their branding up to par with D2C brands, wanting to figure out how they can improve — and Isaiah has some ideas.
2025-03-1013 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 138: Isaiah & Tim's Prediction For 2025 B2B eCommerceSend us a textCo-host Isaiah Bollinger, and Timothy Peterson host our first 2025 Solocast where we cover they key trends we are seeing in B2B eCommerce. We make our top 5 predictions such as how AI will impact B2B eCommerce and much more. Predictions are always and don't always come trust but one thing we know for certain is that being setup to be flexible and pivot as the market changes is key to winning in manufacturing & distribution.
2025-02-051h 01B2B Commerce UnCut Podcast: The Unvarnished Truth About B2B eCommerceTalking AI and B2B eCommerce (and Everything In Between) with Isaiah Bollinger of TrellisIn this episode, we’re joined by Isaiah Bollinger, Co-Founder and CEO of Trellis, to explore the changing landscape of B2B commerce. Isaiah shares insights on the challenges facing distributors and manufacturers in adopting digital strategies, including ERP integration and eCommerce implementation. He also discusses the potential of AI in streamlining operations and how companies can make strategic decisions for long-term success.Key Takeaways:(02:09) Isaiah’s journey into founding Trellis.(06:40) COVID’s impact on B2B eCommerce adoption.(08:30) Challenges in quantifying B2B eC...
2024-10-2942 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 117: Timothy Peterson & Isaiah Bollinger On The Future Of B2B eCommerceSend us a textTimothy and Isaiah have been doing eCommerce projects for over 30 years combined. After 4 years of running the podcast, we have a pretty good idea of whats coming next for B2B eCommerce. Hear our predictions and ideas about what we believe the future of B2B eCommerce will be like.
2024-02-2112 min
Shaping eCommerce with IronPlaneGet the Most Out of Your Agency Feat. Trellis Co-Founder and CEO, Isaiah BollingerIn this episode of Shaping eCommerce host Tim Bucciarelli welcomes back Isaiah Bollinger from Trellis to discuss optimizing the client-agency relationships. Key topics discussed in the podcast conversation are:eCommerce Agency Specialization and Services: The discussion focuses on how some agencies choose to maintain a narrow focus on their area of expertise, while others like Trellis transitioned from niche areas to becoming full-service, addressing strategy and marketing in addition to eCommerce platform design, development and implementation.What is a Full-Service Agency?: The concept of a "full-service" agency is explored, with Isaiah explaining the se...
2023-07-0644 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 96: (Building The Right Team Structure For B2B eCommerce)Send us a textTimothy Peterson and Isaiah Bollinger are back for a solo episode on how to craft the right team for B2B eCommerce. B2B eCommerce is complex because it requires integration and leveraging multiple pieces of enterprise software, and interdepartmental collaboration. We discuss which people and departments need to be involved to make B2B eCommerce successful.
2023-06-211h 00
Xperts In The RoomE-commerce The Hard Truth - Isaiah BollingerIn the final episode of season 1, Experts in the Room host, Will Hansen, is joined the founder of Trellis, Isaiah Bollinger, one of the biggest B2B eCommerce marketing agencies in the United States. Will and Isaiah talk all things partnerships, running an agency, and the dos and don'ts for businesses entering the B2C and B2B markets.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2023-03-1343 min
Shaping eCommerce with IronPlaneFuture of eCommerce series: Isaiah BollingerIsaiah is the CEO of Trellis, an eCommerce digital agency that partners with Magento, BigCommerce, and Shopify. Isaiah started Trellis in 2012 and has served dozens of clients ever since.In his interview with Tim, he predicts that:- Only more mature companies will move to headless in the short-term - lots of older systems like ERPs aren't ready for the transition- Generally, platforms are going to have more and more tools OOTB- #AdobeCommerce will eventually be100% headless and have multiple microservices- Shopify is going upmarket, and the space in...
2023-01-1645 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 83: Isaiah Fritz, CEO of Online Selling Partners (Amazon Marketplace)Send us a textIsaiah Fritz is the CEO of a unique Amazon reseller company that focuses on actually buying the product from their partners instead of just charging them for services.
2022-11-091h 10The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceLess Is More When Selling On Amazon With Hymie ZebedeSend us a textHymie Zebede has been selling on Amazon for well over a decade now. At first, he used to do it himself and source products but quickly realized his skill was on the Amazon platform itself, and not sourcing products. He now partners with clients to help them sell better on Amazon. What he learned is that it's far more effective to narrow in on a handful of top products and get those listings to high volume, than to try and list thousands of products that barely get any sales. He can show you...
2022-08-031h 01The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceUnilog - A Distribution First B2B eCommerce Platform With Brian LombardoSend us a textBrian Lombardo, SVP Channels and Partners at Unilog, has been in B2B distribution for nearly three decades now. First at a major distributor, then at Infor, a leading distribution ERP, and now at Unilog, a B2B eCommerce platform. We talk about the challenges of getting distribution onto eCommerce and how to overcome them with product data, erp integrations, and unifying culture with salespeople. Brian and Unilog have worked with both small and larger distributors and continue to innovate in B2B eCommerce with their platform Unilog which can provide product data, P...
2022-07-271h 09The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceLeveraging B2B eCommerce To Sell Parts As A Manufacturer With Kristina HarringtonSend us a textKristina Harrington is the President of Gen Alpha, a B2B eCommerce platform that specializes in OEMs, specialty vehicles & aftermarket organizations. They have interactive parts manuals and allow you to sell parts with the entire suite of products to allow customers to return what they need if necessary. Parts can get very complex for large vehicles and equipment and you need a robust system to handle all the use cases that might come up when selling parts to service them. Kristina talks about all the things they have seen to help manufacturers over t...
2022-07-131h 06The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceOnboarding B2B Customers To eCommerce With Head of B2B Marketing At BigCommerce Fiona NortonSend us a textFiona Norton is the head of product marketing for B2B eCommerce at BigCommerce. BigCommerce is massively accelerating their B2B roadmap due to so much demand for their product and acquired two companies, BundleB2B and QuoteNinja, B2B apps on their marketplace to speed up the process. Fiona has done market research showing that the number one problem facing B2B is actually onboarding their customers to use eCommerce. Building it is simply not enough. Sales teams and customer services teams need to work hand in hand with the organization to...
2022-07-061h 01The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBuilding B2B eCommerce Infrastructure With TJ Gamble - CEO of JamersonSend us a textTJ Gamble started his digital agency, Jamerson, over two decades ago, to help businesses with eCommerce. Jamerson specializes in software development for Magento and BigCommerce. In the early days, B2B eCommerce was not a major focus of platforms like Magento and BigCommerce, but over the past few years has become a central focus of both Jamerson and most major eCommerce platforms. TJ has helped companies scale B2B eCommerce by ensuring their technical infrastructure is ready to scale to new heights. He has developed many popular Youtube videos showcasing his knowledge of...
2022-06-291h 12The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceScaling A B2B eCommerce Marketplace With Gil Bar Lev - CEO of HomeRootsSend us a textGil Bar Lev eCommerce career goes back to the early days of Toy's R Us and Amazon! Fast forward 20+ years and he is now growing a B2B marketplace called HomeRoots that is tackling the complexity of the furniture industry. Furniture is highly complex and is currently difficult for businesses to get into their hands at reasonable B2B prices. HomeRoots solves this by taking international companies and directly bringing their products to US-based businesses. We talk about how to solve the complexity of B2B at scale and what it takes to...
2022-06-221h 10The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceAutomating Pricing & Promotions With Tal Rotman of NamogooSend us a textTal Rotman is the VP of alliances at Namogoo, a company founded on its ability to eliminate customer hijacking on the Internet. A significant base of customers gets hijacked by bad actors and businesses lose conversions due to false advertising. Namogoo solves this problem, and in doing so has developed an incredible AI engine that can do much more. With their engine, they can predict customer intent and even automate and optimize pricing for margin so that you get the higher price when customers are ready to buy or a lower price when t...
2022-06-151h 04The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceUsing Net Terms To Grow B2B eCommerce With Rumbleship CEO Alex LugoschSend us a textAlex Lugosch is CEO of Rumbleship, which is an eCommerce platform plugin that lets you easily offer terms to your wholesale buyers and get paid when you want, without fear of invoice delinquency. Alex has seen every type of B2B eCommerce business, from small to large, and finds that there is a massive gap in how most approach eCommerce. The most sophisticated eCommerce businesses in B2B are constantly innovating and adding new features, while the majority are stuck in their ways as legacy providers.
2022-05-251h 26The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceWhy Agile Process Is So Important For B2B eCommerce With Ben SharirSend us a textBen Sharir has been in eCommerce for decades and helped many companies scale to incredible sizes in eCommerce. He is currently the director of B2B eCommerce for Estee Lauder, one of the largest CPG firms in the world. Ben Sharir believes that agile is critical to the growth of B2B eCommerce because it can actually de-risk projects by either failing fast or figuring out key problems early on. This can lead to much better outcomes versus the analysis paralysis that often comes with waterfall-based projects.
2022-04-2052 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceDigitally Assisted Sales For B2B eCommerce With Paul do FornoSend us a textPaul do Forno is one of the leading B2B eCommerce experts in the world and is the Commerce practice lead for Deloitte Digital, the world's largest eCommerce agency. He is a repeat guest in which we go deep into how eCommerce for B2B is so much more than simply bringing people to eCommerce and is really about assisting sales reps and helping companies become more omnichannel. There are so many ways to sell digitally that B2B eCommerce really needs to be about opening up flexibility to sell in many different...
2022-04-1352 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceHow Integrating With Trade Partners Is Critical To B2B eCommerce GrowthSend us a textOur latest guest, Troy Lynch, CEO of PunchOut2Go, soon to be TradeCentric has seen thousands of B2B integrations. Their customers range on every major B2B eCommerce platform and do everything from Punch-Out to integrating with clients' ERP and e-procurement systems. Troy talks about the difference between companies that strategically develop these integrations versus doing them as a last resort because clients require them.
2022-04-061h 08The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceHow Augmented & Virtual Reality Can Work For B2B eCommerceSend us a textWe brought on Daniel Esrig, Co-Founder and CTO of LevAR.io, a new AR / VR company that allows for an affordable modern experience for eCommerce businesses. LevAR allows any company to use 3d models with seamless AR / VR capabilities on their website with the simple installation of an app and very little onboarding to get started. It's very clear that as experiences improve, customers in B2B will expect more robust product pages and products experiences to better understand how products work and behave in real life.
2022-03-301h 02The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceHow The B2B eCommerce Platform Ecosystem Has Evolved With Jordan KnappSend us a textJordan Knapp has worked at Oracle Commerce, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify. He has intimate knowledge of many eCommerce platforms beyond the big three he worked at and has seen the evolution of eCommerce platforms over the last two years. We talk about where we are in the cycle and which platforms he thinks are winning the B2B eCommerce world in 2022 and beyond.
2022-03-231h 00The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceThe B2B eCommerce Landscape And Outlook With Mark BrohanSend us a textMark Brohan is the leading researcher on B2B eCommerce and Vice President at Digital Commerce 360 who reports on all things eCommerce. B2B eCommerce is now accounting for a significant portion of all B2B sales and is driving innovation in many B2B organizations. Mark believes that B2B eCommerce is in a similar state to when B2C eCommerce was becoming a critical part of retail in the 2010s. This means its that critical for B2B organizations to get it right or become what the legacy retailers became who...
2022-03-021h 06The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceOmnichannel Marketing For B2B eCommerce With Kenneth GraySend us a textOur latest guest, Kenneth Gray, is the owner of Grayt Media LLC, a Digital Marketing agency with the mission to scale revenues, boost brand awareness, and enhance the user experience for their customers. We discuss how modern B2B marketing requires so many touch points and channels to be effective such as Linkedin, Google ads, SEO, email marketing, and even in-person events and direct outreach. Kenneth talks about the best ways to deploy a multi-channel strategy to address many channels at once.
2022-02-2358 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceB2B Marketing Has Changed Forever & Its Not Going Back With Mark DonniganSend us a textWe have the luxury of speaking with Mark Donnigan about the changes in B2B marketing and how the industry has completely changed over the last decade. Especially with covid, in person, and one on one marketing techniques such as covid are less and less effective. Today's B2B businesses need to be building brand and content in the digital world where buyers are researching via social, SEO, and many other articles that might lead them to your business.
2022-01-191h 14The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBalancing The Technology & People In B2B eCommerce With Mike KingSend us a textMike King is the Director of Global B2C Commerce at Slalom, specializing in implementing highly robust and complex Salesforce solutions. In this episode, we discuss how to lay the groundwork to leverage eCommerce technology to empower power instead of letting people get in the way of what technology can do. Mike King has worked on multiple enterprise Salesforce Commerce Cloud implementations with a variety of agencies, implementing large eCommerce solutions, and has been at the intersection of technology and people for over a decade.
2022-01-121h 05The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEliminating Passwords & Improving Security With The CEO Of StytchSend us a textReed McGinley-Stempel spent a long time at payment startup Plaid and realized there was not a great solution to the challenges of passwords and the security risks they posed. He developed a new company Stytch that allows any company to use their technology to use other tools instead of passwords such as Magic links and tokens to reduce security implications of stolen passwords and massively increase conversions. It's a must-see technology you should consider for eCommerce!
2022-01-051h 02The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce2022 B2B eCommerce Trends & Changes In The LandscapeSend us a textAs we approach 2022 a lot has changed since Covid. Clearly, the buying process has moved more online for both B2C and B2B customers. Businesses need to develop a strong digital strategy to sell to other businesses online, especially in the distribution space or it might become too late. More and more experts on our podcast are making this clear to us. We talk about what to expect and how to think about moving into 2022 with B2B eCommerce.
2021-12-291h 01The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceThe Time Is Now For B2B eCommerce Or It Will Be Too Late!Send us a textAndrew Johnson is a supply chain innovator and the CEO of Shelf Aware a modern fulfillment SaaS company to help distributors improve operations. Andrew Johnson has grown up in B2B his whole life with his family company. He sincerely believes that the time for eCommerce is now for B2B or it will become too late for many companies, especially smaller ones, to adapt to it in the future. His company Shelf Aware is an innovative new tool that can automate that buying process for in-person B2B sales, that can help...
2021-11-301h 01The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceHelping Distributors Leverage eCommerce With Steven Javor Of Schneider ElectricSend us a textSteven Javor is the Global eCommerce Director, North America, Energy Managment of Schneider Electric. He is currently focused on helping the 400 main distributors in North America improve their eCommerce to better sell Schneider Electric products. This can range from large sophisticated eCommerce companies to ones with almost no presence online. Steven talks about how it's so important distributors get better at eCommerce or they may become obsolete to their manufacturing partners.
2021-11-241h 05The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceSelling Across Many Digital Channels With Sean Donovan of MSA - The Safety CompanySend us a textSean Donovan is the Digital Channel Manager of Americas at MSA - The Safety Company. He is currently tasked with figuring out how to optimize eCommerce across their own website, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay as well as other channels like EDI and distribution. The balance of optimizing on all the new digital channels while also keeping legacy channels alive is a challenge Sean knows at a global level and can help other B2B companies learn from.
2021-11-1755 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceUsing Data Science To Grow B2B eCommerce With Chief Data Officer Garrett EasthamSend us a textGarrett Eastham is a veteran data scientist and executive at high tech companies such as Bazaar Voice that have pioneered aspects of eCommerce over the last two decades. Garrett Eastham discusses how data and data science have such a massive influence over eCommerce and how B2B companies should be using data to make better decisions. We discuss everything from reviews to ERP data and how to make the most of your data as a B2B organization in today's modern world.
2021-11-031h 05The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBecoming A Modern Sales Organization With David Ledgerwood of Add1ZeroSend us a textIn episode 54, we have the pleasure of interviewing David Ledgerwood a veteran sales leader for tech-enabled B2B services firms. David has gone from a programmer to a leader in sales showing his depth of understanding of many aspects of a business. David believes strongly in modernizing sales and how B2B organizations can become digitally enabled via eCommerce and other modern digital tools.
2021-10-2754 min
Business Legacy49-B2B E-Commerce with Isaiah BollingerIn this episode CEO of Trellis INC. Isaiah Bollinger talks about his lessons learned while building INC5000's fastest-growing companies. Along with his thoughts on leadership and analyzing how to deploy his resources.
2021-10-2525 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceOptimizing Payments For B2B eCommerce With Balance CEO Bar GeronSend us a textWe have the luxury of bringing on Bar Geron, CEO of Balance, a new breed of payment technology designed specifically for B2B eCommerce. Balance can do it all, including accepting checks, wires, net terms, factoring on invoices, credit cards, and other types of unique B2B payments. Bar talks about how critical it is for B2B companies to move faster into eCommerce because there are major VC and private equity investments in B2B eCommerce that are going to make legacy B2B companies obsolete in the coming years.
2021-10-201h 00
Kalen's Podcast#15 The Advantages Of Being An Independent Mid-Sized Agency w/ Isaiah BollingerIsaiah Bollinger is the CEO of Trellis, an eCommerce Digital Agency.
In this episode we talk about:
00:00 "The Letter"
06:04 Shogun headless and other headless eCommerce options
11:04 Being 10x better to drive adoption
11:55 A new headless design tool in stealth mode
15:12 The challenge of taking money to build SaaS as an agency
16:35 The challenge of B2B merchants moving slowly
20:59 The under-supply of good developers and agencies
24:27 MeetSales.io and other B2B SaaS tech
26:35 Acquisitions and the advantage of being an independent agency
33:41 Keeping yourself motivated...
2021-10-1849 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceScaling B2B eCommerce To New Heights With Ian Leslie of Industry West & BoltSend us a textIan Leslie has been in marketing for nearly two decades and the past seven years of his career, have been in eCommerce. As CMO of Industry West, Ian helped turn a startup into a leading eCommerce provider of furniture to both B2C and B2B markets online. In this episode, we talk about all the things that lead to their success online on the Magento platform and how they evolved with the market. Ian is now a brand ambassador at Bolt, helping merchants get best-in-class payment technology with Bolt's new checkout operating...
2021-10-1352 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceFixing Unauthorized Reseller Problems With Joe Kovacs CEO of Brand GaurdeSend us a textJoe Kovacs has found a niche in which many unwarranted sellers are destroying brand loyalty and brand reputations on marketplaces. He founded, Brand Guarde, which has dedicated the last 3 years to helping companies of all sizes successfully regain control of their distribution and presence on marketplaces like Amazon. We talk about how brands can take control of their distribution, pricing, and processes to reduce bad actors that may harm their pricing models and brand reputation.
2021-10-061h 02The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceWhy ERP Integration Is Critical To B2B eCommerce Success With Sam Bayer From CorevistSend us a textIn our very special 50th episode, CEO of Corevist, Sam Bayer, joins us to discuss his journey in B2B around SAP. Sam has been working in software most of his career, and has over 20 years of experience with SAP. SAP has the strongest ERP offering and touches most of the major companies in the world. That is why he developed an ERP first B2B eCommerce offering, Corevist, that is tightly integrated with SAP's S4/HANA. We discuss why an ERP 1st approach to eCommerce is so important and why you need...
2021-09-291h 05The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceDigitizing B2B Orders In The Food Industry With Notch CEO Jordan HuckSend us a textIn this episode, we get the please of speaking with Jordan Huck who has taken on the difficult task of trying to modernize the restaurant and food industry. In this multi-trillion-dollar industry, most things are done manually and even chefs are up late at night trying to prepare for their food needs in the coming days and weeks. Jordan Huck has developed a B2B eCommerce platform, Notch, that helps restaurants and food industry companies automate many of these things. They can integrate directly into your POS to automatically place orders and replenish...
2021-09-2255 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceOptimizing For Multi Channel Selling With Tim Reintgen - Head of Partnerships At PlytixSend us a textTim Reintgen has seen a large variety of clients using Plytix across many channels such as marketplaces, selling to distributors, retailers, and direct-to-consumer eCommerce. Plytix is an SMB focused PIM (Product Information Management) solution that allows for anyone, even very small companies to get started with modern data management best practices. Tim helps us navigate the complexity of channel management and where B2B companies should be investing their time to grow new channels without cannibalizing or hurting existing channels.
2021-09-0156 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEDI & B2B eCommerce Integrations With Chris Bidleman of CeligoSend us a textChris Bidleman has been building integrations for B2B eCommerce for over a decade and has seen everything from legacy technology like EDI that is still widely adopted today to newer GraphQL based integrations. Integrations are a key backbone and issue that often stops B2B companies from moving forward with eCommerce. We discuss how to get over those hurdles and leverage modern technologies to move forward in a positive direction that may include both EDI and other more modern approaches.
2021-08-1858 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBuilding A B2B Marketplace With Josh Penfold - CEO of GooseSend us a textJosh Penfold has been in eCommerce and B2B for 20 years. He has worked on both the brand side and built his own eCommerce website. In doing so he realized how many challenges come up in B2B eCommerce and that there isn't really a great solution for the customer B2B needs to buy online. That is where he came up with Goose, a B2B focused marketplace that takes away the complexity and hassle of buying or finding B2B goods online.
2021-07-2159 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEnterprise B2B eCommerce With Dan Renda - Head of Global eCommerce at Siemens HealthineersSend us a textDan Renda has an impressive eCommerce background. He started out on the agency side managing eCommerce projects and then transitioned into B2B eCommerce at Siemens Healthcare. Dan Renda has helped scale Siemens to billions of dollars in eCommerce via a combination of EDI, digitizing payments, invoices, and of course through eCommerce via multiple platforms like SAP, Bigcommerce, and more!
2021-07-071h 00The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceUsing Data & Analytics To Grow eCommerce With Nick Amabile - CEO Of Das42Send us a textMany companies struggle with the idea that their data and analytics hold the key to growing their business. Nick Amabile can unlock business growth with that key. Between unifying and organizing all key data in one place or analyzing the path to purchase, Nick and Das42 have been able to help many businesses leverage data to grow their business. Often times the simple drop-off of sales from the homepage, category page, product page, or other parts of the website are the key reasons eCommerce is failing.
2021-06-231h 02The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceWhy Culture Is The Most Critical Aspect Of B2B eCommerce With Bill MirabitoSend us a textIn episode 43 we break down what Bill Mirabito has been seeing in the eCommerce industry over the past two decades. His experience has led him to work with some of the largest and most successful eCommerce businesses in the world and he continues to help major enterprise companies grow eCommerce. What was most interesting about his experience was that the single biggest issue he found was that the culture in companies not succeeding with eCommerce was often the biggest issue. A losing culture allowed companies to maintain and not grow and thus under-invest...
2021-06-161h 04The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceFunding Inventory As You Scale Your Business With CEO of Kickfurther Sean De ClercqSend us a textSean De Clercq started his eCommerce business years ago and went from a small profitable startup to a struggling scaling business because it was simply too hard to fund larger inventory purchases. Thus, he started Kickfurther which can help businesses fund inventory without massive interest or loan costs. Scaling inventory funding is critical when your business grows in B2B and requires fulfilling larger purchase orders for larger business buyers. We discuss how to scale your inventory to become a bigger B2B organization.
2021-06-0246 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBuilding A B2B eCommerce Brand With Staples Vice President of Brand & Product Management Daniel ReillySend us a textDaniel Reilly joins us to discuss his growth as a B2B leader at Staples and how he has seen the industry evolve from a focus on direct-to-consumer eCommerce to B2B eCommerce. We discuss the complexities of selling to small businesses, medium-size businesses, and large enterprises and how their buying habits may differ. Daniel helps us break down the areas to focus to capture online sales from a wide variety of types of B2B buyers.
2021-05-261h 08The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceThe B2B eCommerce Market In 2021 With Mark Brohan From Digital Commerce 360Send us a textMark Brohan from Digital Commerce 360 is the ultimate B2B eCommerce researcher. He has done more research to quantify the industry than anyone else in the world. We are lucky to have him back on the podcast to discuss his latest finding on the industry and all that has changed after one year of Coronavirus.
2021-05-1255 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceGoing Headless With B2B eCommerce & Nessim BteshSend us a textNessim Btesh is our first second appearance guest and impressed us with his incredible transformation of his family B2B business to 100% digital sales during the height of covid. Since then, Nessim has added many features to their Headless B2B eCommerce website and is also seeing a better balance between in-person and online sales with Covid ramping down. Nessim is one of the most innovative technology leaders in the B2B eCommerce space and is constantly pushing the limits of what can be done.
2021-04-2851 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceScaling B2B eCommerce With Deloitte Digital Managing Director of Commerce and Content Paul Do Forno.Send us a textPaul do Forno is considered a top 100 eCommerce influence in the world and has worked on some of the largest B2B eCommerce projects out there. Paul is a Managing Director at Deloitte Digital, the Gartner leader in the Commerce and Content space. He brings more than 25 years of experience in strategy, digital experience, consulting, technology, and digital. We talk about how to break down enterprise projects into smaller more effective projects that can be done in phases and how to leverage the right platforms to do so.
2021-04-2156 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceModernizing Sales With B2B eCommerce And CRM Best PracticesSend us a textIn, season 2, episode 18, we bring on sales experts Sean Doyle Co-Founder of Fitzmartin, and their Director of Revenue Operations, Will Riley. FitzMartin is a specialized marketing and sales communications firm that helps clients solve complex sales and marketing problems. What we have uncovered is that building a more unified CRM process that aligns with B2B eCommerce and empowers sales reps to actually sell versus spending too much time processing orders or doing mundane CRM tasks can vastly improve performance. B2B eCommerce is really an extension of sales capabilities and should align...
2021-04-1456 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommercePricing & Coupons For B2B eCommerceSend us a textKathleen Booth has been in B2B for two decades now and has been in both the agency and SaaS world for many years. Recently she has been specializing in coupons and the problems with pricing, coupon cannibalization, and other issues around pricing at Clean.io. We discuss the complexity of pricing, coupons, and how to implement best practices with things like coupons for B2B eCommerce.
2021-04-0753 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceerpCommerce with Pixafy Practice Director Adam GoldschmiedtSend us a textAdam Goldschmiedt has transformed and rebuilt the Pixafy eCommerce practice to focus on ERP first eCommerce in the B2B space. Their parent company Net@Work had a very strong Sage and ERP practice and offered a unique value to their customers in eCommerce. Adam formed a unique integration product called ErpCommerce that connects SageX3 and Magento so that you can use a modern eCommerce platform like Magento with all the data and functionality you need from your ERP. We discuss the importance of unifying your operations through a strategy like ErpCommerce and...
2021-03-3149 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBranding & Video Marketing For B2B eCommerce With Guy BauerSend us a textGuy Bauer is the Founder and Creative Director of Umault, an agency that makes wildly creative B2B video marketing campaigns people actually want to watch. Guy has been making commercial videos for over 20 years and is the author of Death to the Corporate Video: A Modern Approach that Works. In this episode, we discuss how B2B companies need to simplify and improve the communication of their brand to stand out. Many companies simply look the same in the B2B space and fail to communicate their unique selling proposition through video...
2021-03-2457 min
What Makes Them Tip21 - Simplifying eCommerce with Trellis's Isaiah BollingerIn this episode, your host, Timmy Bauer speaks with the founder and CEO of Trellis, Isaiah Bollinger about eCommerce, profitability, making strategic deals, and more.
2021-03-1117 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBuilding A B2B eCommerce Community With Brett SinclairSend us a textBrett Sinclair has been in B2B eCommerce for a lot of his career and has developed a wide range of understanding of the industry. In doing so he realized education was the key missing link companies needed to get better at eCommerce in the B2B space. He started The B2B eCommerce Association of Australia and has seen tremendous success with companies growing through education and networking with other B2B specialized vendors and experts. We talk all things B2B and how to get over the education hump into important...
2021-03-101h 00The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceUnifying B2B eCommerce Operations With Pepperi CEO Ofer YourvexelSend us a textOfer Yourvexel is an Israeli entrepreneur with decades of technology experience. He founded a company that eventually turned into Pepperi, a B2B eCommerce platform that can also help you with sales reps mobile ordering, and other B2B functions. Ofer found that the B2B eCommerce market lacked a unifying solution that allowed businesses to provide their sales reps a native mobile app solution for taking in-person orders, customer service to take over the phone orders, and a B2B eCommerce platform all tied together via one system. Pepperi is one of...
2021-02-241h 03The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceAutomating 100% Of B2B Orders With Ray Grady - CEO of ConexiomSend us a textRay Grady is a B2B eCommerce veteran with multiple decades working in services and software supporting B2B companies. He has found that automation is key to making B2B companies successful so they can free up their vital employees from mundane order taking tasks and focus on upselling and value-added tasks. Ray has some incredible insight in this podcast on how to optimize and automate orders via three methods, EDI, Conexiom, and B2B eCommerce. This is a must-listen episode if you want to get to the next level!
2021-02-0354 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceThe Future Of B2B eCommerce In 2021Send us a textIn Episode 30 we discuss the future of B2B eCommerce. What does this mean for businesses going into this new year and a new decade? We discuss the transformational shift from 2020 to 2030 -- just as we saw for retail from 2010 to 2020, but now for B2B going online. B2B is lagging retail in eCommerce capabilities because it is more complex and difficult to effectively implement but that excuse will not hold up much longer. How you are going to transform your operations to digital via digitizing your business practices so that customers can...
2021-01-2750 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceLogistics & Overseas Fulfillment With Francois JaffresSend us a textFrancois Jaffres joins us from Noviland, a new technology company focused on helping businesses source products seamlessly from around the world. Currently, they have over 400 manufacturers in south east Asia and are quickly expanding to other countries. Noviland uses their platform as B2B eCommerce system to enhance the sales process and make it easier for their customers to get products from these manufacturers. We discuss the challenges of B2B versus B2C and why companies are hesitant to adopt technologies to aid their sales teams via eCommerce.
2021-01-1354 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceB2B eCommerce With Salesforce Expert Mike JortbergSend us a textIn episode 28 we have the honor of talking to our guest Mike Jortberg who leads the B2B eCommerce at Slalom, a modern consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business transformation. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Seattle, Slalom has organically grown to over 8,000 employees. Mike has a deep background in Salesforce and CRM technologies and now works with Cloudcraze / Salesforce B2B eCommerce to bring eCommerce to the Salesforce ecosystem. We talk all things B2B and why he has been successful with Salesforce B2B eCommerce as an offering in the...
2020-12-1659 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBuilding High Quality Integrations With John Cymerman CTO Of TrellisSend us a textJohn Cymerman is the CTO and technical leader of Trellis. He has worked on many large B2B projects and has pioneered the integration strategy for Trellis. We discuss in-depth 5 different integration techniques and strategies you can deploy depending on your situation. The five are the traditional batch file / ftp approach, SOAP APIs, Rest APIs, GraphQL, and an iPaaS technology such as Celigo or Dell Boomi. There are many ways to approach an integration and that's why its so critical to architect the right approach before beginning an integration project.
2020-12-091h 10The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceLowering Costs With B2B eCommerce SaaS With Amir Hessabi From BigCommerceSend us a textIn Episode 26 we get the pleasure of speaking with Amir Hessabi, Senior Enterprise Solutions Engineer at BigCommerce. We discuss the value of a true SaaS eCommerce solution, BigCommerce, and how that can dramatically lower the cost of ownership for a B2B business. Traditionally B2B companies are used to legacy on-premise solutions and have often not yet adopted a SaaS application like BigCommerce for eCommerce. With SaaS you no longer need to pay for expensive upgrades or worry about software failing because all of that is managed for you...
2020-12-0258 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceManaging Complexity In B2B eCommerce With David Stillson Senior Architect At Lippert ComponentsSend us a textIn Episode 25 we have the pleasure of talking with David Stillson who has over 15 years of experience in Manufacturing, eCommerce, and business systems. David is currently the technical architect and manager of eCommerce Developers in LCI's digital experience team, a multi billion dollar public company. David has experience working with both small and very large B2B eCommerce businesses. We discuss the complexity of B2B from integrations to scaling sales and marketing as well as changing the culture within an organization. David gives great advice for people both new to the journey...
2020-11-2557 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceThe 5 Step Process To Improving B2B eCommerceSend us a textIn episode 24, Tim and Isaiah go through our five-step process towards improving your B2B eCommerce presence. The first thing you should do before getting to step 1 is to make sure you have an internal person qualified to run the project and a platform to build upon such as Magento, BigCommerce, Insite, or Salesforce, etc. Step 1 is to develop robust product data, step 2 is to integrate with internal systems, step 3 is to invest in user experience, step 4 is to have flexible payment and shipping options, and step 5 is to have external integrations with...
2020-11-1800 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceScaling An Enterprise B2B Brand With eCommerceSend us a textOur latest guest, Colleen Romero, has helped several massive companies scale their B2B operation online, such as leading brands like Napa auto parts. We discuss what B2B companies need to do to build and implement a successful B2B eCommerce strategy. We also cover topics such as why do companies struggle with marketing in B2B and how B2B eCommerce marketing is different from B2C. We discuss leading B2B eCommerce platforms and how to working with agencies. We also discuss what Colleen thinks it takes to find good ag...
2020-11-1153 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBuilding Robust Requirements For B2B eCommerce With Jessica WetzelSend us a textJessica Wetzel is an accomplished eCommerce Manager with 16 years of extensive experience providing strategy and growth in the areas of B2B sales, marketing, and eCommerce. In this podcast, we dive deep into how she helped a distributor go from offline to online with a robust eCommerce site that has evolved over the years. She wrote some impressive requirements documents to take the company to the next level and managed many agencies so she knows how to nail down requirements to get the most of your development team. Jessica is a true leader...
2020-11-0452 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceSelecting A Leading B2B eCommerce Platform With Kristin Gray From MagentoSend us a textAdobe's Magento was recently named a leader in the B2B eCommerce Forester report. In episode 21 we discuss why Magento is a leader in the space and how they are working with B2B companies across the spectrum of sophistication. We discuss how change management is the leading problem that companies need to overcome to implement a best in class system like Magento for their B2B business.
2020-10-2852 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceB2B eCommerce Marketing Trends & Tactics With Isaiah & TimothySend us a textIn the first episode of season 2 co hosts, Isaiah Bollinger, and Timothy Peterson discuss our take on B2B eCommerce marketing. We discuss everything from acquisition to conversions to integrating with your sales team. We believe there is so much opportunity in B2B eCommerce to separate from your competition by being innovative in channels other players might not be spending time on. We discuss how social media is not something to ignore in B2B and can be a viable marketing channel for B2B eCommerce.
2020-10-2152 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceB2B eCommerce Payments With Michael Noble CEO Of ApruveSend us a textMichael Noble has spent the last 8 years building a leading B2B payments company Apruve. They can instantly turn your invoices into cash so you don't have to spend countless overhead on accounts receivable. Michael has a fascinating insight into the world of B2B eCommerce payments and has seen both small and large companies succeed in B2B eCommerce. We discuss everything from payments to simply what makes a company succeed or fail in B2B eCommerce.
2020-10-1449 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceMarketing A B2B eCommerce Business As A DistributorSend us a textBeckie and Tyler have worked at Wolf Automation to build up a strong eCommerce backbone for their company to process new customer orders and existing customer B2B orders. They have spent over a decade as a company building an eCommerce infrastructure that is a thriving part of their company culture. They engage in Google ads, SEO, and other modern digital marketing tactics to drive new business and then use their sales team to drive increase engagement with existing customers that buy online. Hear from a distributor making the most out of eCommerce...
2020-10-0758 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommercePenny Wise, Pound Foolish With Ben Rudnick From Fun HatSend us a textIn episode 17, we talk about why distributors and manufacturers need to invest more in eCommerce to stay competitive. Often times going with the cheaper solution or under-investing in eCommerce can cost much more in terms of lost opportunity and growth potential. As manufacturers go direct to consumers there is even more need for distributors to come up with an eCommerce strategy that will make them competitive as the playing field becomes wide open. Ben has worked with distributors and manufacturers for decades in B2B eCommerce and has worked with many platforms like...
2020-09-301h 04The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceReal Time Delivery & B2B eCommerce Expectations With Richard Keller From 1800 BatterySend us a textIn this episode, we speak with Richard Keller about how real-time delivery and real-time information such as pricing and availability in B2b eCommerce is critical to growing your business. Richard Keller has been in the technology space for over two decades building many different applications in the B2B industry. He has spent many years in the ERP business and worked with all sorts of B2B companies such as manufacturers and distributors. His most recent venture is an eCommerce marketplace technology he is using to build marketplaces like 1800 Battery where you c...
2020-09-2352 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceAgile B2B eCommerce On The Right Platform With Lori McdonaldSend us a textIn episode 15, we discuss why you need a mindset of constant improvement and agile project management to scale your B2B eCommerce business. Our guest, Lori Mcdonald, has been running Brilliance Business Solutions for over 20 years helping both manufacturers and distributors with eCommerce. In the beginning they focused on custom solutions but since focused on Episerver, Insite, and BigCommerce. In this episode we discuss why you need the right platform to scale and grow and how you can go about choosing that platform.
2020-09-161h 04The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceThe Evolution Of B2B eCommerce And Where Were Heading With Justin Finnegan of ConexiomSend us a textIn episode 14, we talk with Justin Finnegan about why B2B eCommerce is now a critical requirement to be competitive and that relationships with customers are no longer enough. Justin Finnegan has built three leading digital agencies including most recently, Gorilla Group, one of the largest B2B eCommerce providers in the world. Justin Finnegan has been in B2B eCommerce since its inception in the late 90s and early 2000s and is now at a product company helping automate offline B2B orders, Conexiom. In this episode, we discuss many topics such...
2020-09-0954 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceScaling B2B eCommerce International With Mark Sutherland At Transformation DigitalSend us a textIn Episode 13, Timothy and Isaiah talk with guest Mark Sutherland who has decades of experience in digital and eCommerce on both the client and agency side. He has been in both B2C and B2B eCommerce for small and large companies that have scaled internationally. We hear first hand how he brought a B2B eCommerce business to 8 figures that were previously struggling before he joined. He knows what it takes to scale internationally and how to scale a B2B eCommerce into the tens of millions of dollars.
2020-09-021h 02The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceHow Nessim Btesh Automates 100% Of B2B Sales With eCommerceSend us a textNessim Btesh is based of Panama and transformed their family B2B business to 100% digital sales in one year! Based out of South America they now went from a showroom to complete digital transformation online taking all orders online due to Coronavirus and ramping their business up during a time when many are struggling. Nessim has some amazing insight into why they developed a custom eCommerce solution integrating their many back office systems like their ERP to create a seamless commerce experience. They even have automated shipping capabilities and are working to further...
2020-08-2637 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceBillion Dollar B2B eCommerce With Brian Beck of EnceibaSend us a textBrian Beck and co host Isaiah Bollinger dive into the nitty gritty of B2B eCommerce and why we feel there is so much left on the table. The opportunity is literally billions of dollars, hence the book Brian wrote, Billion Dollar B2B eCommerce. We discuss eCommerce platforms, integrations, and what it takes to scale B2B eCommerce. Brian Beck is a true thought leader in the space that has been in the trenches himself as well as advised many companies so he knows what it takes to grow a B2B...
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