Shows
The 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 01The 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 minThe Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 85: Chase Clymer CEO of Electric Eye (B2B eCommerce For Shopify)Send us a textChase Clymer is the CEO and founder of Electric Eye, a Shopify-focused agency. Historically, Shopify was not viewed as a viable b2b eCommerce platform, and most companies would look at other options. Fast forward to 2023, Shopify now has better native b2b features and options for B2B businesses. Whether you want to build a separate b2b site or have it within the same b2c website, there are many ways to use Shopify for b2b, and the options are only improving. We talk about this and also what were...2023-01-251h 00
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 84: Arno Ham, CPO at Sana Commerce (ERP First eCommerce)Send us a textArno Ham has been at Sana Commerce for over 17 years and has seen the evolution of B2B eCommerce firsthand. Sana Commerce has developed into a robust B2B eCommerce provider for distributors, brands, and manufacturers looking to sell online that use Microsoft Dynamics or SAP. They have an ERP-first approach that allows them to use all the ERP data in real-time on the frontend of the eCommerce store, which is critical for B2B eCommerce.2022-11-161h 02The 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 eCommerceEpisode 82: Mark Simon, VP of Strategy of Celigo (Integrations)Send us a textMark Simon is the VP of Strategy at Celigo, and has extensive experience at other companies scaling their business. At Celigo, they are building the future of automation and constantly working with B2B companies to modernize their infrastructure. Most B2B companies are way behind when it comes to automation and eCommerce, and they lack the expertise to implement an iPaaS solution like Celigo. Mark believes simply focusing on the key best practices like order entry is the place to start with automation.2022-11-021h 03The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceEpisode 81: Jack Freeman, Partner at PeakSpan (B2B Investments)Send us a textJack Freeman is a partner at PeakSpan capital, a venture and PE firm focused on technology that impacts B2B businesses through SaaS, fintech, and more. He his actively investing and helping companies grow that are evolving the B2B ecommerce space such as Shiphawk, Sales Layer, and more. The B2B eCommerce market is still so new that there is a lot to accomplish in order to help modernize the market, and Jack is solely focused on investing in this. He brings expertise on both the vendor and client sides.2022-10-261h 03The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceDistribution B2B eCommerce Challenges & Solutions With Jason HeinSend us a textJason Hein is the Principal B2B Visionary at Bloomreach, and has extensive experience in B2B eCommerce. Jason B2B experience goes back to McMaster-Carr, where he eventually landed at Amazon, to develop their B2B offering. Having helped develop what is now the largest B2B eCommerce site in the world, Amazon, Jason went on to do consulting for distributors. He has extensive experience helping distributors with B2B eCommerce and helping them overcome the challenges they face.2022-09-071h 12The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceLogistics, Supply Chain, & 3PL With Harry DrajpuchSend us a textHarry Drajpuch is the CEO at Amware Fulfillment, a national 3PL fulfillment provider that specializes in scalable solutions for companies that are beyond the start-up phase and in need of professional advice and execution for high-volume fulfillment operations. With distribution centers located across the U.S., Amware enables 1-2 day delivery to 95% of the U.S. The company is equally adept at operating B2C and B2B fulfillment environments, providing one logistics partner for all sales channels.2022-08-311h 01The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerceHow To Leverage Retail In B2B eCommerceSend us a textTim Swindle is the CEO of Paddle Smash, a new CPG company. He previously exited a software company another CPG company he founded. Tim has extensive experience leveraging retail and using B2B sales to grow a business. We discuss the mix that retail plays in business and how to properly mix retail, eCommerce, and other channels. We believe a mix of channels is best and using eCommerce to facilitate those channels can be extremely effective and a huge competitive advantage.2022-08-101h 01The 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 min