Season 2 of the Statements of Intent Podcast brings bigger guests, more drones, and hilarious bloopers. The host, David Mannheim, will be travelling around the UK to visit senior eCommerce leaders to talk with them about how we might change the perspective of eCommerce for the better. How we measure and treat our customers. How we optimise their experiences. And how we make it all a little more human. Subscribe and share this podcast and turn on post notifications so you never miss an episode. R...
Jun 11, 2024•2 min
It’s the end of Season 1 already?! Well, if you happened to miss any episodes, or just didn’t have the time to watch them all, you’re in luck. In this episode, host David Mannheim reflects on the key lessons and insights gained from the first season of the Statements of Intent podcast. He discusses the common themes that emerged across his conversations with eCommerce leaders, highlighting their shared desire to challenge the status quo and create more human-centric online experiences. Topics Co...
May 22, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In this episode, David Mannheim, founder of Made With Intent, advocates for a shift away from optimising for conversion metrics and page templates. Towards truly understanding and catering to each buyer's individual journey and mindset - what he calls "stages, not pages." Topics Covered: Reasons why retailers tend think in pages not stages Why retailers should think in buying stages over website pages. What is personalisation Why personalisation fails David's solution to create more appropriate ...
May 15, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this episode of Statements of Intent, host David Mannheim talks to Johnny Longden, Group Digital Director at Boohoo, about the pressures faced by eCommerce companies and how a myopic focus on metrics can undermine the customer experience. They discuss the need to balance short-term business goals with long-term customer needs and nurturing loyalty beyond just conversion rates. Jonny has years of experience building and scaling experimentation strategies from scratch for large businesses like ...
May 08, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode, David Mannheim chats to Tim Ryan, Director of Digital at Seasalt, about his thoughts on how eCommerce has evolved over the past 15 years - both the good and the bad. He emphasises the importance of driving relevance over pure personalisation and making online shopping experiences as frictionless as possible for customers. Tim has over 16 years experience working in eCommerce for brands like The Walt Disney Company, Direct Line Group, Lidl GB, Karen Millen… The list goes on! Tim ...
May 01, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In this episode, David Mannheim sits down with Martin Sheerin, Director of Digital Product at N Brown Group. Martin explains how brands will gain more reward by prioritising decisions based on customer needs rather than lagging metrics like conversion. After working for brands like Moneysupermarket, The Co-operative Bank, and Phones4u, Martin has over 16 years of expertise in eCommerce, user experience, and conversion rate optimisation. In this time, he has not only transformed businesses but al...
Apr 24, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In this episode, David is joined by Matthew Gratze, Director of Customer at Signet Jewellers. Matthew shares his perspective on the importance of being relevant to each customer's unique shopping journey and how to deliver personalised, contextual experiences. Matthew holds experience across several sectors from baby & child to jewellery. His leadership in driving major business transformations and digital strategies for brands like Halfords, Ann Summers, and Mothercare has earned him a spot...
Apr 17, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 15
In this episode, host David Mannheim talks to Richard Chappell, Chief Growth Officer & Co-founder of The Growth Foundation, about the importance of replicating the in-store experience online. They discuss Richard's career journey from working on the shop floor to becoming a retail consultant, and why brands need to "walk the store" digitally to better connect with customers. As former Head of Marketing at play.com , Founder & CEO at THG Ingenuity and CMO at Gymshark, Richard helped grow ...
Apr 10, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In this episode, host David Mannheim sits down with Janis Thomas, Managing Director of Look Fabulous Forever. Janis has 25 years experience in delivering multi-million pound marketing and eCommerce projects in high-growth businesses. She has grown diverse brands from The Times Educational Supplement to Playboy. Janis discusses how eCommerce often neglects a significant portion of society—those over 50 years old, who make up 40% of the population. Janis shares her perspective on the importance of...
Apr 03, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week on Statements of Intent, we dive into how personalisation is really about supporting customers' desired intent. Our guest Tom Bailey, VP Product Analytics at Made With Intent, shares his perspective on moving beyond surface-level targeting to truly understand each individual's needs. Tom is an expert when it comes to data and isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions to find practical solutions. Topics Covered: The evolution of personalisation in eCommerce - from Boots loyalty cards to r...
Mar 27, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode, host David Mannheim sits down with Cameron Goldie, Head of eCommerce at Grenade. Cameron has 8 years experience of driving profitable acquisition growth and retention strategies across the UK, Switzerland, and the US. His expertise in leveraging technology to build sustainable infrastructures and his people-first approach have significantly contributed to his ability to navigate complex platforms, optimise customer journeys, and spearhead international marketing campaigns. Camer...
Mar 20, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, David Mannheim sits down with Sienne Veit, Founder & Chief Product Officer at Invisible Stuff. Through 20 years in global and UK retail and technology sectors, Sienne has helped notable brands grow like Kingfisher, John Lewis & Partners, M&S, Morrisons, Samsung, and Sony. Constantly utilising new tech, she is passionate about customer centricity and building a brand the right way. Sienne and David discuss the importance of reinventing customer journeys and metrics. T...
Mar 13, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this week's episode, we chat with Nik Fletcher, Head of Digital Experience at Rapha, about the importance of progress over perfection in eCommerce. We discuss why brands fail to authentically connect with shoppers, and how to rebuild trust by embracing vulnerability. Topics Covered: The passion gap between eCommerce practitioners and customers Short-term thinking that overlooks long-term loyalty Why ego and perfectionism hinder customer centricity The role of vulnerability in driving change K...
Feb 28, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In this episode of Statements of Intent, host David Mannheim talks to Sean Ellis, author of 'Hacking Growth' and founder of Qualaroo and Growth Hackers, about improving long-term growth in eCommerce. They discuss the importance of customer satisfaction and delivering value to ensure sustainable growth, the necessity of setting the right objectives, and the balance between focusing on revenue and growth. Ellis emphasises the need for cross-functional team alignment and the shift from short-term t...
Feb 21, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In this episode, host David Mannheim chats with Martin Newman, one of the world's leading authorities on customer centricity, about bringing more empathy and care to customer interactions in eCommerce. Martin is the Founder of The Customer First Group and has worked with brands like Burberry, Ted Baker, Intersport, and Harrods. He also scaled and sold global eCommerce agency Practicology. He is a global speaker and author of 2 books including ‘The Power of Customer Experience’. Topics Covered: T...
Feb 14, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode, Host, David Mannheim, chats with Paul Prior, Head of Digital at Three, about bringing humanity back to the world of eCommerce. Topics Covered: Paul's guiding principle of "No Purpose Left Behind" Why eCommerce focuses too much on technology over people The role of courage and bravery in eCommerce Practical ways to focus on each customer's unique purpose Key Quotes: "Online isn't really about technology, it's about the people that are sitting behind technology, and we are complex...
Feb 07, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode of Statements of Intent, host David Mannheim speaks with Thibaut Pugin, VP of Software Engineering at Gousto, about cultivating human connection and shared moments in eCommerce. Topics Covered: The challenge of balancing data and human connections in business Creating shared experiences and a sense of community Catering to diverse individual preferences Empathising with customers and meeting them where they are Key Quotes: "But for the time being, I think the main difference betw...
Jan 31, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode, host David Mannheim chats with Chris Sheard, eCommerce Director at Castore, about the challenge of maintaining your company's purpose and values as you rapidly scale and grow. Focusing too much on cost efficiencies and revenue growth can slowly erode the customer intimacy and care that attracted people to your brand in the first place. Topics Covered: Balancing business growth with staying true to your original mission and intent The impact of scaling up on customer and employee...
Jan 24, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Host David Mannheim chats with Guest Matthew Lawson, Chief Digital Officer at Ribble Cycles. With over 20 years in eCommerce, Matthew shares his insights on the industry's evolution from capability to efficiency, the tension between short-term and long-term goals, and why the context of wider business objectives and market conditions should inform how brands treat their customers. Topics Covered: The evolution of eCommerce from innovation to efficiency Balancing business KPIs like marketing cost...
Jan 17, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 3
“Put People Before Process” In this episode, former head of customer experience Ed Deason shares his perspective on how businesses lose sight of customer needs amidst internal processes and efficiency drives. He recounts real-life examples of companies prioritising procedure over empathy—and one that gets it right. The key takeaway? Put people before process. Topics Covered: Why companies become process-centric rather than customer-centric Specific examples of poor process-driven customer servic...
Jan 10, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In this debut solo episode, host David Mannheim lays out the premise and purpose behind the "Statements of Intent" podcast and shares his own statement of intent. Topics Covered: David’s statement of intent: "We've lost the person in personalisation." Why David started this podcast and who it's for - a place for eCommerce professionals to share their guiding principles and beliefs (their statement of intent) that challenge the status quo - prioritising growth and metrics over customer care. Davi...
Jan 02, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Welcome to the Statements of Intent podcast, the show that's dedicated to breaking the status quo gripping eCommerce.
Nov 24, 2023•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
