eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection

In today’s episode, my guest is Robin Smith, the CEO, and Co-Founder of VL OMNI. They are an Integration platform for managed iPaaS data integration, that helps empower Shopify businesses to accelerate growth by integrating their systems, channels, partners, and applications together based on their needs.

These integrations are point-to-multipoint, meaning data from a single application can be sent to multiple targets in a single workflow, giving your Shopify online business the flexibility to grow without any interruptions or the need to manipulate data at either end of the integration.

VL OMNI handles integration projects from initial design and implementation of a solution to maintenance and new partner onboarding.

This is a great conversation with timely learnings as Shopify brands look to make investments to accelerate growth through scalable managed iPaaS data integrations.

Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.

LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com

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Growth Mindset? Invest In Yourself Today!

Being an entrepreneur truly is a life of learning. All it would take is a new idea, a strategy, a Shopify app, or a marketing platform to be the next thing you need to improve efficiencies, drive more revenue, and build lifetime customer loyalty for your Shopify brand.

My guest in today’s episode is Eric Netsch, the Founder and CEO from Tapcart. They are a mobile commerce SaaS platform that integrates directly with Shopify which enables brands to quickly and easily build a native mobile app for their eCommerce store. The company is trusted by over 20,000+ Shopify brands including Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet, FIGS, The Hundreds, and more.

Tapcart has also been recently been listed as a Shopify Plus Certified App Partner, so you know they have the technology and scale to help your brand with mobile commerce.

What You Will Learn Today

• Why traditional “mobile-friendly” websites aren't providing the conversion and retention brands need today.
• Why having a mobile app gives you full control over the end-to-end shopping experience.
• How to implement real-time communication to generate a steady stream of sales.
• How to engage with shoppers with your blog, lookbook, and video content directly in your native iOS and Android app.

Links And Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• Tapcart - 30-day free trial
• Tapcart Shopify App
• Shopify Plus Certified Apps
• Heap

Thank You For Listening

I truly appreciate you choosing to listen today and for supporting the podcast and it's sponsors. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

I would also be so grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in iTunes. They’re extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and I read each and every one personally!

New Strategies Each Week To Help You Build And Scale Lifetime Customer Loyalty. SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Being an entrepreneur is a life of learning. All it would take is a new idea, strategy, Shopify app, or marketing platform to be the next thing you need to drive more revenue and lifetime loyalty for your Shopify store. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify and don’t miss a single episode!

REWIND : EPISODE SPONSOR

Automated Backups. Painless Recovery.

Accidents can happen and it can have major financial impact on your business. What happens when you install an app and it messed up your theme? Or you upload a product catalog with errors or a store collaborator deleted product images by mistake.

Common myth; Shopify has a backup that you can use when something goes wrong with your store. Untrue! Myth busted. Shopify has no native backups.

So what do you do? You use Rewind to protect your Shopify store with automated backups.

Rewind should be the first app you install to protect your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad. It’s like having your very own magic undo button.

The Rewind App is trusted by over 30,000 businesses from side hustles to the biggest online retailers like Gatorade and MVMT Watches.

Best of all? Respond to any of their welcome emails and mention the eCommerce Fastlane Podcast and you’ll get your first month of backups absolutely free.

Protect your business and get p...

Are tariffs and supply chain chaos keeping you up at night? Not sure how to forecast inventory or manage cash flow when every shipment from China seems to come with a new surprise fee? If you’re a Shopify merchant importing from overseas, you’ve probably felt the sting of trade wars, unpredictable costs, and the pressure to deliver a seamless customer experience-without draining your bank account.

You’re definitely not alone. Today’s DTC reality is throwing curveballs at every direct-to-consumer brand, especially those navigating the ever-evolving landscape of tariffs and global fulfillment. That’s why I’m excited to welcome back Izzy Rosenzweig, founder of Portless, for his encore appearance on the show. Izzy has been in the trenches with hundreds of brands, helping them crack the code on cash flow, inventory agility, and tariff mitigation—especially in this turbulent era of trade wars and shifting global manufacturing.

What You'll Learn

• Surviving Tariffs: Why trade wars aren’t forever, but smart brands need to adapt now to thrive later.
• Delayed Tariffs, Better Cash Flow: How Portless lets you pay import taxes only when you make a sale-unlocking capital and reducing risk.
• Agile Inventory & Forecasting: Leveraging smaller MOQs and faster restocks to supercharge your inventory turns and avoid costly overstock.
• Factory-to-Door in Days: How Portless delivers a “local” shipping experience from China, Vietnam, and soon India-delighting customers with 3-6 day delivery times.
• Returns, Refurbs, and Realities: Practical strategies for handling returns, QC, and resale in a lean, cross-border supply chain.
• Beyond China: The real pros and cons of shifting manufacturing to Vietnam, India, Mexico, and beyond-and what you need to know before making a move.
• Global Expansion Playbook: Why brands are shifting marketing dollars to tariff-free countries, and how Portless helps you tap into 55+ markets with local delivery experiences.

Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!

Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.

Are you feeling like your Shopify brand could be doing more—maybe you’re struggling to connect the dots between your channels, or you know you’re not getting the most out of your existing customers?

You’re not alone. So many brands sense there’s untapped growth, but with commerce evolving so quickly, it’s tough to know what to prioritize or how to fill those expertise gaps.

That’s why I’m excited to welcome Dennis Yao, co-founder of The Other Group and my former lead at Shopify, to the show. Dennis has spent over 20 years in retail, wholesale, SaaS, and digital marketplaces—he’s helped mid-market and enterprise brands drive billions in revenue, and now he’s on a mission to help omnichannel brands execute smarter and grow faster.

What You'll Learn

• Omnichannel strategy: How to move from buzzwords to practical execution across retail, DTC, wholesale, and marketplaces.
• Retention as a growth engine: Why nurturing “raving fans” is the smartest way to boost profitability and customer lifetime value.
• Social vs. video commerce: What’s working now on TikTok Shop and with shoppable video, and how to resource it.
• Real-world AI adoption: Where Gen AI is actually shifting the game for brands—think content, support, and the future of SEO.
• Bridging the execution gap: How to spot and fix missing pieces in your tech stack, strategy, or team.
• Building authentic community: Simple ways to use content and loyalty to create long-term customer value.

Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!

Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.

Your Business Is A Journey. Invest In Yourself Today.

Being an entrepreneur is a life of learning, implementing, and iterating. All it would take is a new idea, a strategy, a Shopify app, or a marketing platform to be the next thing you need to improve efficiencies, drive more revenue, and build lifetime customer loyalty for your Shopify brand.

Dynamic Yield empowers Shopify brands with the technology they need to deliver personalized and consistent digital customer experiences with greater agility.

My guest in today’s episode is Yaniv Navot, the VP of Global Marketing from Dynamic Yield. They are an Experience Optimization Platform that helps Shopify brands to quickly build and test personalized, optimized, and synchronized digital customer experiences.

They offer a hassle-free deployment of its experience optimization solution through it's Shopify app. Every action on your Shopify store is instantly and automatically fed into Dynamic Yield’s engine, allowing you to achieve and execute your personalization and optimization goals at scale.

What You Will Learn Today

• Why experience optimization is the secret to success for many Shopify brands.
• How one platform is able to increase e-commerce revenue and gain a sustainable competitive advantage.
• Why testing, optimization, and personalization should be part of your larger digital strategy.
• Why the savviest marketers measure their personalization and A/B testing efforts based on average revenue per user (ARPU).

Links And Resources Mentioned

• Dynamic Yield - Learn about Dynamic Yield's Experience Optimization Platform, watch a full product demo, and find resources on personalization.
• Dynamic Yield Free Personalization Assessment - A special, time-limited offer, just for you, eCommerce Fastlane listeners.
• Dynamic Yield XP2 Learning Center - Take your experience optimization knowledge to exponential levels.
• ThirdLove - Read how online underwear retailer saw a 23% increase in average revenue per user from optimizing the bra shopping experience
• Untuckit
• ThirdLove
• Brooklinen
• Dynamic Yield Shopify App (public app coming soon!)

Thank You For Listening

I really appreciate you choosing to listen to the show and for supporting the podcast and it’s sponsors. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

I would also be so grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on iTunes. They’re extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our entrepreneurial audience, and I read each and every one personally!

Growth Mindset?

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Today's Amazing Episode Sponsor: GRIN

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