The Commerce Collective Podcast - podcast cover

The Commerce Collective Podcast

Whether you're on your first venture into the ecommerce world or you've been navigating the digital marketplace since 'shopping cart' meant a trip to the grocery store, this is the podcast for you. Every episode our Host Emma Irwin and her revolving panel of industry experts dive into the latest strategies, tools and insights to drive performance across the largest ecommerce platforms with content spanning the entire commerce ecosystem. Ecommerce is a rapidly evolving industry, and the Commerce Collective Podcast from Flywheel (formerly known as Mastering Metail*) is here to provide the knowledge and resources needed to stay ahead of the curve. Subscribe now to elevate your eCommerce mastery, impress your peers, and have fun along the way. *Prior to October 23rd, 2023, The Commerce Collective Podcast was known as Mastering Metail, and all episodes prior to this date still reference the Mastering Metail title and the concept of winning in ecommerce requiring continued mastery of media + retail elements. Be sure to scroll down for full seasons covering Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, Target, & APAC!

Episodes

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - AI drives zero-click shopping, what shoppers want out of ecommerce deliveries, & tariffs

In this episode Patrick and Emma first cover what a zero-click shopping world driven by generative AI and LLMs means for shoppers, advertisers, and retailers. This is followed by a discussion on what consumers in 2025 want out of ecommerce deliveries (hint: it's not always speed) and then quick coverage of the impending tariffs.

Mar 04, 202520 minSeason 7Ep. 57

AMC Helped Glanbia Unlock Key Insights on Top Items & Tentpole Events

In this episode Jamie Williams, Retail Media Lead at Glanbia walks through two specific AMC analyses conducted in partnership with the Flywheel team. We start with using AMC to help answer questions around how top items in the portfolio drive NTB, profitability, and loyalty and conclude with talking through a tentpole analysis done to dig into how the brand performs across different tentpole events in order to evaluate future investments. From the objective to the analysis to the results and fol...

Feb 17, 202518 minSeason 7Ep. 56

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - AMC 5-year lookback, Amazon Ads Retail Ad Services, & AI agents

The year is off to a booming start and Emma and Patrick cover it all. This episode first touches on Flywheel's first-to-market agreement with Amazon to extend the AMC purchase data lookback window to 5 years and of course what this actually means and unlocks for brands. Next, they cover Amazon selling its adtech to other retailers and where it makes sense for brands to test and learn. And lastly, they cover the buzz around AI agents and the impact there may or may not be on the future of commerc...

Feb 03, 202522 minSeason 7Ep. 55

Digital Commerce Trends for 2025

Hannah Donoghue, SVP Consulting at Flywheel breaks down everything that’s going to shape the commerce landscape in 2025. From supply chain transformation to social commerce to retail media to AI, listening to this episode will leave you prepared for what’s to come.

Jan 13, 202536 minSeason 7Ep. 54

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - BFCM & 2024 Recap

In this episode (our last episode of the year!), Patrick & Emma cover what happened during BFCM 2024 and what it means for brands and retailers - think personalization vs. discovery, low-cost marketplaces, and the competition between the biggest retailer players. You'll want to stick around for the end - where we get into a rapid-fire style, full-year recap. Happy holidays and we'll see you next year!

Dec 17, 202423 minSeason 7Ep. 53

Take a Hike Through the Modern Content Landscape with Matt Leigh of Syndigo

Matt Leigh, VP Retail Operations at Syndigo breaks down the current state of digital content in this episode - looking at increasing regulatory pressures and how brands need to adapt, what motivates retailer data upload methods and requirements, and the need for sophisticated and specialized content data management and expertise.

Nov 18, 202430 minSeason 7Ep. 52

Retailer Financial Reporting Decoded for Brands w/ Eamon Kelly of Edgewater Research Company

You might hear "retailer earnings" and think about investors, but you shouldn't underestimate the power of understanding the important pieces of a retailer earnings report and how each quarter's performance can impact your business. In this episode, Eamon Kelly of Edgewater Research Company joins us to teach us how to decode the critical elements of these reports as a brand or agency and understand what actually drives share prices for retailers.

Nov 05, 202423 minSeason 7Ep. 51

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - Temu, Amazon, & Shein: Tax Exemptions and What It Means to Be a Low-Cost Brand in the Marketplace

This month’s episode is continued coverage on the competitive low-cost marketplace environment. Patrick and Emma discuss Shein’s struggles to IPO, Temu’s mission to sign on as many merchants as possible while navigating a potential end to the De Minimus tax exemption, and Amazon’s shadowboxing to stay in the game. But with prices so low sellers will have to determine when it’s time to invest in growing as a brand (or not).

Oct 30, 202418 minSeason 7Ep. 50

unBoxed Episode 4 - Sponsored Ads for the Whole Funnel, Eligibility Challenges, and Where to Actually Invest w/ Gabe Fishbein

In this episode recorded live from unBoxed 2024, Gabe Fishbein, VP Product at Flywheel covers the power of Sponsored Ads across the full funnel, which has come to life in new ways due to changes in how Amazon calculates advertising eligibility. This change forces advertisers to re-evaluate their profitability matrix and ad type mix, which overall provides an opportunity to further seek deterministic measurement all the way down the funnel.

Oct 21, 202414 minSeason 7Ep. 49

unBoxed Episode 3 - Megababe and Flywheel's Full Funnel Approach to Drive NTB Growth & Win the Amazon Ads Challenger Partner Award

Recorded live at Amazon unBoxed 2024, this episode features Kiersten Smith, Director of Marketing at Megababe who covers how Flywheel helped strategize a full funnel approach to increase NTB sales, marketshare, and brand awareness utilizing a variety of Amazon Ads products. Listen in for how this challenger brand, in a tough category, with finite resources was able to meet its goals.

Oct 21, 202412 minSeason 7Ep. 48

unBoxed Episode 2 - AMC Tool Launches At Lightspeed w/ Donte McCrary-McClain, VP Amazon Media at Flywheel

In this quick episode of the Commerce Collective Podcast’s unBoxed coverage, Donte McCrary-McClain gives us a speedy overview of multiple new product launches related to AMC, some of which Flywheel had the opportunity to beta test prior to the conference. We’ll cover bid boosting for SP and SB with the help of AMC and a variety of measurement enhancements to AMC itself. Tune in to learn more about what these products are, how to strategically use them, and how Flywheel has been able to...

Oct 18, 202410 minSeason 7Ep. 47

unBoxed Episode 1 - The Interoperable Ecosystem of Amazon DSP w/ Amazon Ads’ Kelly MacLean

Recorded live from unBoxed 2024 in Austin, we talk to Kelly MacLean, VP Amazon DSP at Amazon Ads about finding relevant audiences with ADSP, what we mean by relevance, and the power that exists for advertisers when AMC audiences and APC signals overlay - and we’ll even touch on all of that in relation to CTV buys. You won’t want to miss listening in to this episode, and be sure to check out every episode we publish from unBoxed 2024!

Oct 17, 202421 minSeason 7Ep. 46

Your Brand Should Be Digging Into eB2B - And Here’s Why

eB2B is one of the fastest-growing ecommerce channels - currently growing faster than eB2C itself! This means that now is the time to research this channel, seek out opportunities, and begin investing in test and learn opportunities. Nick Everitt, Director of Consulting at Flywheel teaches us about the foundations of eB2B, the main platforms, and how brands should be approaching their eB2B channel strategy.

Oct 08, 202428 minSeason 7Ep. 45

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - Determinism vs. Probabilism

This month’s episode is a brief yet deep dive into a critical element of advertising measurement that everyone in commerce should have their heads wrapped around - and that is determinism vs. probabilism. How do these two concepts differ, and what approach is the best for a multifaceted enterprise brand? Tune in for your monthly dose of topical ecommerce insights and walk away ready to impress your colleagues with this new and/or enhanced knowledge.

Sep 30, 202415 minSeason 7Ep. 44

Ecomm Investments Are Slowing Down, but Why? Featuring Sri Rajagopalan

Sri Rajagopalan - who you might know from The CPG Guys - joins the Commerce Collective podcast to talk about the trend of ecomm investment slowdown that he has been observing from brands, specifically across retail media. What is causing brands to pull back and shift who leads the retail media charge? And is this a mistake? Listen in to hear Sri’s take on the matter and his advice for brands considering what could be a significant missed opportunity. Pulling back investments is easy, but recover...

Sep 23, 202426 minSeason 7Ep. 43

Breakthrough Brands: What’s Driving Liquid I.V.’s Digital Dominance and Deal Event Success?

In this exciting episode, Aaron Jones, VP of eCommerce and media at Liquid I.V.® (a Unilever brand) discusses the origins of Liquid I.V.® and how growing up in the digital sphere has allowed the brand to invent and continue to own the powdered hydration category. Aaron also highlights what has led to incredibly successful Prime Days the past two years (Liquid I.V.® had the 3rd highest-selling product on Amazon in terms of units sold this past Prime Day), and provides insight into treating each d...

Sep 12, 202426 minSeason 7Ep. 42

The Definitive Guide to TikTok Shop w/ Molly O’Bryen & Deren Baker

With TikTok Shop, shoppers can now go from inspiration to purchase within seconds. This emerging marketplace unlocks a huge opportunity to drive incremental growth. In this episode, Molly O’Bryen and Deren Baker discuss what sets TikTok Shop apart from other marketplaces and the creator economy. Plus they share tips on how to build a winning strategy.

Aug 26, 202428 minSeason 7Ep. 40

Amazon’s Stable EU Profitability & a Decline in POs

In this episode Kelly Miller, VP Commerce, EMEA at Flywheel highlights her research on declining POs and decreased weeks of cover in the EU and what it means for vendors adjusting to Amazon’s rebalancing now that stable profitability has been reached for the first time since the pandemic.

Aug 07, 202418 minSeason 7Ep. 38

AVNs - Maybe a Good Thing? Featuring Russ Dieringer of Stratably

The ecommerce industry usually dreads the process of AVNs, but in this episode, Russ Dieringer of Stratably provides a counterpoint on how AVNs can actually be a good thing when you’re prepared. Listen in to learn more about the purpose and significance of AVNs, what Stratably’s research uncovered from this past year, and recommendations for how brands should approach the next round of AVNs. Read Stratably’s report here: https://stratably.com/deep-dive-2024-amazon-avn-wrap-up/

Jul 15, 202427 minSeason 7Ep. 36

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - The Big Shift

This month’s episode of Above the Fold is a special edition covering Flywheel’s recently published whitepaper titled “The Big Shift.” Patrick and Emma cover the inspiration for the report, highlight key points, and discuss recent announcements that tie back to the paper. You can download the paper here (but be sure to listen to the episode for additional insights!). https://www.flywheeldigital.com/guides/the-big-shift-retail-power-dynamics?utm_medium=announcementemail&utm_source=slack&ut...

Jul 02, 202422 minSeason 7Ep. 35

Live from Cannes: The Future of Addressability with Amazon Ads' Brian Tomasette

The Commerce Collective Podcast is back in Cannes and is excited to launch this episode featuring Brian Tomasette - Director of Product, DSP, Amazon Ads that covers the future of addressability. We break it down into three segments, creating relevancy in a cookiesless world, simplification of controls for transparency, and upper funnel solutions for an increasingly fragmented landscape.

Jun 20, 202417 minSeason 7Ep. 34

What Clients Want w/ Andrea Lennon of Omnicom

Andrea Lennon, Chief Client Officer at Omnicom joins the podcast to discuss what clients want, what clients need, and how clients and agencies can best work together to achieve their shared goals. What clients want can be broken down into three key themes, and Andrea educates us on how Omnicom approaches large client relationships at the holding company level.

Jun 13, 202424 minSeason 7Ep. 33

This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - Instacart + Uber Eats, SKU Sharing, & TV Advertising

The Commerce Collective Podcast’s monthly series, This Month Above the Fold, covers the most important eCommerce headlines each month broken down by none other than Patrick Miller, co-founder of Flywheel. For May 2024 we cover Instacart partnering with Uber Eats for restaurant delivery, SKU sharing across marketplaces, and the fate of TV advertising.

May 29, 202417 minSeason 7Ep. 32

Is There a Single Global Source of Truth in eCommerce?

What makes understanding the opportunity of ecommerce so difficult is that finding a global single source of truth can be incredibly difficult, but we think we have the closest answer. In this episode, Michael Rogosa of Flywheel Consulting joins us to showcase how Flywheel’s Consulting team approaches helping clients understand the opportunities that await and how to set ambitious enough goals that will drive their businesses forward.

May 06, 202423 minSeason 7Ep. 30

Across the Pond - EU Omnichannel Media

In the second episode from the Commerce Collective’s trip to Europe, James Hanscomb, EMEA DSP & Omnichannel Lead, educates us on omnichannel media strategies across the EU. The fragmented retailer ecosystem in Europe means it can be tough to understand where it makes the most sense to invest in the developing retail media networks especially considering the differences in consumer behavior and shopping options throughout the EU (think smaller format grocery stores vs. Walmart and how a ...

Apr 15, 202425 minSeason 7Ep. 28