Introducing The Ecomm Manager Podcast

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Becca Banyard: Hello everyone and welcome to The Ecomm Manager Podcast. I'm Becca Banyard, the podcast producer here. 

And today is a very special day, this is our first ever episode of the show. I'm gonna be introducing and interviewing our very own Francois Marchand. He is the Editor and now Podcast Host of The Ecomm Manager, really the brains behind this whole production, this whole publication. And he's gonna be sharing about The Ecomm Manager podcast and why you will want to be tuning in on a regular basis. 

So with that being said, welcome Francois! 

Francois Marchand: Hello. Hello. So excited. This is awesome and special, and we are launching this podcast. How crazy is this? 

Becca Banyard: So where I wanna start is, who is Francois? Tell me a little bit about your background, your career leading up to this point and your role at The Ecomm Manager. 

Francois Marchand: Sure. So I've been working in marketing, communications, journalism for two decades or so. Really converted from being a reporter and an editor into ecommerce and marketing over the past two or three years working for organizations like Vancouver Film School and Unbounce, where I was the managing editor there for a bit. And really became fascinated with ecommerce as I took on this role with The Ecomm Manager, as the editor and the content strategy person here.

And really, this is what I do. I help organize the content on ECM and I try to make it as engaging and fun and as insightful a resource as possible. And really that's what I like to do. I like to teach, I like to inform, I like to illuminate and that's gonna be the goal of the ECM podcast going forward.

Becca Banyard: It's so good. I think you're gonna be such an incredible host because you can take that journalistic approach and really dive into the questions that our audience has around creating a successful ecomm business, but also just all the other fringe topics within the world of ecommerce. So I think you're gonna do an amazing job at that. 

But I'd love to know what gets you excited about ecommerce? 

Francois Marchand: I think it's been interesting, like ecommerce is now becoming more like the face of commerce. Period. I think the pandemic changed the face of retail. I think we've all been through it. We were all faced with being stuck at home for a while and shopping on our phones and going on our computers and experiencing brands in a different way. And that's sticking.

As we're evolving in this kind of like "post pandemic world", we're still as consumers, as shoppers experiencing retail online through our social channels, through various brands websites like we shop for shoes online and shop for clothes online. Technology is helping retailers transform their businesses, and I think that's what really gets me going is that it's growing and it's going to keep growing in the next few years.

And like I said from the jump, ecommerce is commerce and it's going to stay that way for a long time, in my opinion. And there's just more and more possibilities for retailers and ecommerce managers and entrepreneurs out there to get in the game and to learn how to do things better. 

Becca Banyard: So tell me a little bit about The Ecomm Manager podcast. What can listeners expect when they tune into the show?

Francois Marchand: So I think one of the things we want to do with the podcast is take what we've been producing on The Ecomm Manager website in terms of resources, articles, interviews, and put it in an audio format for people to listen to on the go, or to take with them in their downtime.

So what we want to do is make it entertaining. We wanna make it fun conversations with ecommerce experts in the field doing the work. And providing those priceless kind of like little tidbits of information, actionable insights that can help those business operators, retailers succeed. So we are going to feature a range of experts that'll come on the show as guests and discuss aspects of their ecommerce business in a clear, engaging way.

So, like I said, we want the podcast to be fun, to provide clear, actionable advice that can make your ecommerce business better. And we are going to talk to the real pros. Get the real juicy details about how ecommerce works in 2023 and beyond. 

Becca Banyard: I love that. We want the juicy details of ecommerce.

Francois Marchand: Yes. 

Becca Banyard: So there are a lot of ecommerce podcasts out there. How is this one gonna be different from those? What can people expect to get from this podcast that they can't get from other podcasts? 

Francois Marchand: There's a lot of ecommerce podcasts out there and I'm not going to say anything negative about them. There's so many of them. They're all very good. But I think what we want to make different with our podcast is not assume that anybody listening to this podcast knows everything about ecommerce, cuz they don't. I don't. Even as a host, as an editor, as I'm always learning. So I take ECM and The ECM podcast as a learning opportunity.

So we are going to ask the right questions to get the best answers. We're going to select topics that are top of mind for ecommerce managers across the industry, and we're going to present all that information in a very kind of clear way. And if we have questions about certain things, if there are things that we don't understand properly, that could be a reflection of what the audience is also asking about.

We're going to make sure we have the information readily available. We're going to compliment that with articles on our website and other resources that we'll put in the show notes. So it'll become this kind of mini audio interview magazine, if you wanna put it that way. So I'd like to think about The ECM podcast as being ecommerce ecosystem agnostic. 

So I'm using big words here, but really what I want to say is that again, we don't assume that we know everything, but we don't treat you like you don't know anything. So you know, it's really a finding that balance of an engaging conversation, something that you can learn, but also treating you like the professionals that you are when you're listening to this podcast.

Becca Banyard: So let's switch gears a little bit and talk about ecommerce specifically. Let's look at ecommerce as a whole. So how has ecommerce changed over the last few years? I know earlier you mentioned COVID and the pandemic and how that's really influenced, but overall, how has it changed? 

Francois Marchand: Yeah. So yeah, we did mention COVID and the pandemic and how it's accelerated changes in the retail industry. And those changes were already becoming a reality before the pandemic hit. If we look at how the growth of Amazon and big retailers moving online and offering purchasing options with shipping and delivery and add-ons and other kind of little bonuses to make the experience of retail in a digital space really the future. 

I think now has never been a better time to be an ecommerce business operator or to get started as an ecommerce retailer. If you have a small business, if you're a startup or if you know you're creative and you're making products at home. Anyone can start an ecommerce business. And I think it's democratization of ecommerce. 

That everybody can get involved and there's more tools. And some of the tools are really accessible to most people out there because they're plug and play. Some of them have more customization options if you're more tech savvy.

But you know, look at Shopify, look at Square Online, look at these easy to use platforms that make small businesses able to operate in the ecommerce sphere. So it's really a leveling of the playing field, and I think that's the biggest change in ecommerce over the past few years. Not saying that everybody's going to be competing with Amazon, that's not necessarily the goal.

Or maybe it is, maybe someone out there listening is the next Amazon. We'll see about that. But you're able to get your voice, get your product, and get your brand out there more than ever. So it's an opportunity and I think with that comes challenges for ecommerce retailers, and that's why we are here at ECM to help you overcome these challenges.

Becca Banyard: What are some of those challenges and pain points that ecommerce managers and ecomm professionals are facing today? 

Francois Marchand: There's a few. Actually, there's a lot. It's changing so fast, right? So if we look at the logistics side of things with volume selling and logistics, for example. That's a huge concern for ecommerce retailers right now.

Whether it's offering the best shipping experience, the best delivery experience, because everybody's getting their stuff delivered at home and last mile, for example. Like that last stretch of delivery is so crucial and that's what can costs so much for ecommerce businesses. So things like that.

Logistics is a huge concern. There's always the brand building aspect of it. The marketing. How do you stand out from the competition? Because with that leveling of the playing field comes the increased level of competition with other businesses, right? So you look at whether it's PPC advertising or marketing on social.

How do you make sure that you stand out, that you really get engaged with your audience and that you can get your products in front of eyeballs? The other one is definitely data. It's a big numbers game. So how to understand the data and especially how to use the data that you get, whether it's conversion rates or any other metrics that you can calculate with various tools and dashboards and so on.

How do you action that? There's a lot of information to process, but thankfully we have experts that can help you understand that better. We'll bring them on the show, we'll help you make sense of that. And then of course, the last thing I'll mention is, you know these ever-changing practices as ecommerce becomes commerce, practices will evolve and they change constantly. 

So one big thing that we'll be looking at is best practices for ecommerce businesses. How to stay ahead and get ahead of the game to make sure that you get your revenue increased, that you stay profitable and that you grow as fast as you want or as fast as you can.

Becca Banyard: Yeah. Thanks for sharing those. For anyone listening, as Francois said, these are some of the challenges and pain points that we're gonna be addressing on the show. Digging deep into how to overcome them, how to address them with experienced professionals giving us advice. So stay tuned to the show to learn more.

Now, just to wrap things up, who can we expect to hear from in the first few episodes of The Ecomm Manager podcast? 

Francois Marchand: Oh, I'm so excited about this. So we have an amazing slate of experts helping us launch this podcast. I'll mention a few, but I'll keep some of them as a surprise. 

So, for example, we have Jessica Postiglione. She's the founder of a brand called, Bonny, this amazing fiber product that she sells online. And we'll be talking about branding and humor and how to make your product stand out online and how to make that disruptive in your product category. So that's a super fun conversation we had. I can't wait to share.

We'll also have Matt Ranta from Nimble Gravity on why you should trust the data instead of trusting your guts. Everybody has good business sense, right? But the data really should inform your ecommerce strategy and best practices. So Matt will help us dive into that. 

And also Leah Tu'inukuafe from Motto Fashions on how to personalize your ecommerce website and your customer journey. That is so cool because we're gonna be talking about AI and different new tools that are emerging to really personalize your customer experience. So this is all part of the package. These are the guests that you can expect to provide you with some really juicy insights and advice that you can apply day-to-day in your ecommerce business.

Becca Banyard: Thank you so much, Francois, for giving us a little preview of the juicy interviews we can expect. Very excited and looking forward to the release of them. With that, I am going to pass over the torch of podcast host to you and let you do the wrap. 

Francois Marchand: Awesome. I really just want to say again, I'm so excited about this podcast launch. I think people out there listening will love this podcast. So I want to thank you in advance if you're listening for tuning into this episode of The Ecomm Manager podcast. We appreciate your support early. 

If you like what you heard today, if you're excited about what's coming up, don't be shy. Subscribe to the podcast. Stay tuned. When we have new episodes coming around, we'll publish episodes every other week. So biweekly you'll find us on all the major platforms, including Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, et cetera. 

So, yeah, and if you'd like to stay in touch with all things ecommerce, go to theecm.com and read some of our articles. Get familiar with what we do at The Ecomm Manager, and I'll be happy to answer any of your questions. If you want to send me a quick note, just use the contact form and reach out to me. 

So yeah, until next time. I'm Francois, I'm the editor of The Ecomm Manager, and I wish you all the best in your ecommerce journey. We'll see you next time.