Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth
Common Thread Collective
2020 transformed the world of ecommerce forever. For the modern DTC brand, the rewards have never been greater. But the waters have also never been choppier, and the way forward has never been more uncertain. So how do you navigate this dangerous new reality? No matter how you do it, you’d better not do it alone. That’s where the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast comes in — join Common Thread Collective’s Taylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin as they bring you guiding insights from across CTC’s portfolio of growing DTC businesses. Whether you need a clear view on the macro issues affecting the world of ecommerce, or want to reorient your business around groundbreaking new big-picture strategies, Taylor & Richard are here to help answer the tough questions about what it takes to scale — and sustain — an ecommerce business.
Recent Episodes
20 episodesWhy September Is the Most Important Month of Your Q4
Black Friday is not won in November. According to CTC data, brands that grow their active customer file by 10% or more this year have a 77% chance of beating last year's BFCM — with a median result of 40% growth. The brands that hold back in September are the ones that underperform in Q4.Topics covered in this episode:Why your active customer file is the single biggest predictor of BFCM performanceThe data: 77%, 50%, and 30% — what your customer file growth tells you right nowHow CTC defines and measures the active customer file across Shopify brandsWhy short-term LTV peaks in the first 30 to 60 days after acquisitionWhy that window gets heightened heading into BFCM, not reducedThe case for leaning into acquisition spend now rather than saving it for NovemberHow to measure the incremental impact of your media spend in September vs. BFCMWhat incrementality factors are and how CTC has seen them across brandsThe step-by-step September playbook: file, scenarios, moments, measurementWhy the fear of pulling revenue forward or confusing your BFCM offer is overblownShow Notes:Q4 waits for no one. AppLovin is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to applovin.com/ctc to set up your first campaignExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
The Supplement Industry Is Broken, Sports Cheating Is Rational, and Influence Is Misunderstood
Taylor and Andrew dig into three topics that have more in common than you think: why the supplement industry struggles to build real moats, whether the Dodgers and Clippers crossed ethical and legal lines, and the most important marketing distinction almost nobody is making between influencers and creators.Topics covered in this episode: Why no supplement brand has a defensible customer acquisition costAG1, Gruns, and how a form factor change can destroy a cohortIMA's billion-dollar debt facility built specifically to fund CACWhere the real moats in health and wellness actually are: hardware, data, and telehealthMark Walter, insurance float allegations, and the Dodgers cheating scandalThe Clippers punishment: $30M and five first-round picksParity in sports: why big markets winning is actually better for the productJoy as the delta between expectation and realityCreators vs. influencers: why this distinction matters more than your entire creative strategyThe Mark Dowdle and Rapid hat story: what real influence actually looks likeHow to approach influencer marketing at $0 vs. 8-figure revenueEquity deals, embedded influencers, and the Jason Khalipa modelDHH on AI: the most optimistic take Taylor has heardAgency cash management: should you hold reserves or get a revolver?Show Notes:Visit eCapital to see how much working capital you may qualify for: https://bit.ly/4xO3VDdExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
The Re-Hire Nobody Saw Coming
One of CTC's earliest hires just returned after years away. He left to build his own media agency, acquired a major email and retention agency, then co-founded a beverage company where mastering subscription economics was the only path to survival. Now he is back, and the skills he forged along the way make him a different kind of asset for 7-to-9-figure ecommerce brands than when he first walked in the door.Our guest today is a returning member of the CTC family — a media buyer turned agency founder turned beverage entrepreneur, now rejoining as a senior leader focused on retention strategy, media, and industry events. Find out who it is in this episode.Topics covered:The original CTC hiring story and what early platform arbitrage taught him about finding edgesWhy he left CTC and what he set out to prove by building his own agencyAcquiring a top email and retention agency and what running lifecycle marketing for real clients taught himCo-founding a beverage company and what subscription economics looks like from inside a real P&LWhy Statlas and CTC's current scale made returning the obvious moveThe financial forecast connection: why email revenue expectations must be tied to the paid calendarWhere offer-to-ad-to-landing-page continuity breaks down at most brandsDeep storytelling vs. volume tactics: a real example of what actually drives conversionActive vs. lapsed customer strategy and the economics of subscription reactivationCommerce Roundtable events and Hyrox Anaheim Dec 3-4Show Notes:Go to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two monthsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
The Service That Turned a Brand's Worst Summer Into Its Best.
CTC's Marketing Moments service is built to create new revenue spikes for 7-figure brands through structured offer testing, targeted landing pages, and high-volume creative. In this episode, host Richard Gaffin sits down with Roberto Fink, Profit Engineer at CTC, to break down exactly how the service works and why every brand that has signed up has seen at least one meaningful unlock.In this episode:What Marketing Moments is and the COAL framework behind it (Content, Offer, Acquisition funnel, Landers)What each brand gets: 2 marketing moments per month, 1 landing page + 20-25 creatives eachHow the program evolved from calendar-event hooks to evergreen offer testing year-roundThe 100% hit rate: every enrolled brand has unlocked incremental spend, better efficiency, or higher AOVWhy CTC's view of a brand's P&L and margin profile lets it engineer offers that improve margin AND unlock higher CPA bidsThe men's grooming brand that had its first ever profitable summer, with offer campaigns driving 75% of account spendShow Notes:Go to https://bit.ly/4cbihFx to Claim $25,000 in Lutiq platform creditsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
What a Profit Engineer Does Every Day at CTC
Most agencies promise results. Few can show you the system behind them. In this episode, Randall Thompson sits down with Jar, a Profit Engineer at CTC who previously built and scaled a multi-7-figure apparel brand, to break down exactly what the Profit Engineer role looks like day to day.From daily contribution margin targets inside Statlas to the 4 levers that actually move paid media performance, this is an inside look at how CTC drives predictable, profitable growth across 7-figure and 8-figure ecommerce brands.Topics covered:What a Profit Engineer does every morning (and why contribution margin comes first)The 3 forecasting models inside Statlas: Spending Power, Retention, and Event EffectHow to diagnose a volume problem vs. an efficiency problemThe 4 levers of paid media: Creative, Offers, CRO, and Marketing MomentsHow Statlas Jams work and why collective knowledge across 170+ brands mattersBase plans vs. stretch goals and how to beat the modelWhat separates CTC from agencies that promise big and deliver smallCTC stat: $3B in GMV managed, within 3% of forecast target, 40%+ contribution margin growth, 30%+ revenue growth (2025).Show Notes:Q4 waits for no one. AppLovin is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to https://applovin.com/en/ad-experience?referralCode=CTC to set up your first campaignExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Why Your Email Strategy Is Not a Content Calendar
In this episode Luke breaks down the complete CTC email methodology as part of the Canon series. This is the framework CTC uses to build email programs that generate a median of 22% of total store revenue, with the scaffolding to push well beyond that for brands operating at the highest level.What you will learn:Why an email plan is a revenue forecast commitment, not a content calendarThe three-act framework: hit the forecast, expand volume, add segmentationAll 10 core flows and how to tier them by priorityThe 4 campaign types CTC uses and when to deploy eachMoment orchestration across standard days, promo days, launch days, and sales eventsWhy revenue per recipient decays with volume but total profit keeps growingEngagement and lifecycle segmentation dimensions and how to combine themAttribution settings: 3-day click, exclude opensThe Statlas Email Plan and how it connects email to the revenue forecastKey stat: Email delivers 22% of total store revenue (median) across CTC-managed brands, with range from sub-10% all the way to 65%.Show Notes:Visit eCapital to see how much working capital you may qualify for: https://bit.ly/4xO3VDdExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Diversify Now: The 6-Week Q4 Window Closing Fast
Richard and Luke (newly promoted President at CTC) break down why channel diversification is no longer optional for 8-figure ecommerce brands heading into Q4 and what creative diversification actually means when you need 1,000-plus ads per month from 100-plus creators. This episode covers the exact tools, platforms, and testing frameworks that changed CTC's position on scaling beyond Meta and Google.What we cover:Why CTC reversed its position on channel diversificationHow Statlas automation now pushes thousands of ads per monthWhy geo holdout incrementality testing is now in-house at CTCCreative diversification as production source diversity, not format diversityThe 3-4 production source minimum before Q4Why 3% of ads drive 80-plus percent of spendFinding your top 20-30 creators before the September window closesAppLovin, TikTok GMV Max, and YouTube Demand Gen entering Q4CTC's Mountain partnership for Connected TV geo holdout testingKey stat: 3% of ads drive more than 80% of spend. Find your outliers before Q4 locks in.Show Notes:Go to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two monthsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
We Analyzed $1.5 Billion in Meta Spend. Here's What We Found.
We connected Claude to our Statlas database and analyzed $1.5 billion in Meta spend across 320 accounts and $100 million in Google spend across 134 stores. The question: do platform bid controls actually deliver what they promise?Tony Chopp, CTC's VP of Media Investment, walks through what we found — and what it means for how you build your paid media foundation.Min ROAS hits its target. Cost per result does not.On Meta, cost per result goal achieved its target less than half the time.On Google, tROAS ran above target at 1.3x. tCPA ran below at 0.8x.ROAS-based bidding gives the algorithm more flexibility to find high-value buyers.TikTok's GMV Max budget scaling solves the liquidity vs. predictability tension.The brands willing to spend the most to acquire a customer win the auction.The takeaway: build your paid media foundation on ROAS-based bidding. Not because it's a rule — because the data says it gives you the best chance to thread the needle between maximum investment and margin protection.Show Notes:Go to https://bit.ly/4cbihFx to Claim $25,000 in Lutiq platform creditsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Ecommerce Growth With a Money-Back Guarantee
Our newest ecommerce growth offer comes with a money-back guarantee and a data advantage built in: visibility into what competitors in the same industry are actually bidding and converting at.In this episode, Taylor Holiday and Joy Sharma, who runs this offer for CTC's seven-figure clients, break down what's included: unlimited landing pages and creative tested until they beat CTC's own conversion-rate benchmark data, exclusive access to a top-tier creator network at no added cost, and a guarantee that ties CTC's own accountability directly to the outcome.Tune in if you've ever wondered what your competitors are actually paying to acquire a customer, or wanted an agency willing to put its own money on the line.In this episode, we cover: Why CTC ties this offer to a money-back guarantee instead of just a strategy handoffHow CTC's data shows exactly what competitors are bidding and converting atWhat's included in CTC's newest offer for seven-figure ecommerce brandsHow unlimited landing page testing works against real conversion-rate benchmarksWhy the exclusive Refunnel creator network comes at no added costWhy CTC believes strategy and production can't stay separate anymoreWant CTC to guarantee your growth the same way? Visit www.commonthreadco.com Show Notes:Axon is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to https://axon.ai/en/ctc to set up your first campaign.Get 20% more Meta Growth https://commonthreadco-global.com/ytThe 7-Figure Growth Workshop https://commonthreadco.com/pages/sept-26-eventExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Ecommerce Growth: The 3-Pillar Framework We Use
Our President, Luke Austin, just got back from a 3-day fishing trip in Sitka, Alaska: 90 lbs of salmon, halibut, and black cod, with orcas circling the boat the whole time. But the real story is what it taught him about growing ecommerce brands.In this episode, he breaks down the three things that have to be true for any ecommerce brand to know if it's actually winning: a single reliable source of truth for your data, a shared definition of success across your team, and relentless execution against the plan. It's the same framework CTC uses with every brand we partner with, and the standard we just recommitted to internally for H2.In this episode, we cover: Why most ecommerce brands can't clearly answer if they're winning or losingBuilding a single source of truth for your financial, marketing, and order dataWhy a shared definition of success matters more than more dashboardsHow contribution margin and daily targets keep teams alignedWhat relentless execution actually looks like: ad plans, email plans, creative testing, MMM, and incrementalityWhy brands skip straight to execution, and what it costs themWant help building this system for your brand? Visit www.commonthreadco.com Show Notes:Visit eCapital to see how much working capital you may qualify for: https://bit.ly/4xO3VDdThe 7-Figure Growth Workshop https://commonthreadco.com/pages/sept-26-eventExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Do This to Scale Your CPG Brand — Guaranteed
Joy Sharma, CTC's Director of Accelerator, walks through a brand-new CPG growth offer backed by a 20% uplift guarantee — or your money back. The strategy combines hourly API-based budget scaling (via a Meta managed service most brands don't know exists) with industry CAC benchmarking from Statlas, full-stack creative and landing page support, and an exclusive influencer whitelist through Refunnel.In this episode:What "hourly API scaling" actually means and why it drives 20–30% compounding spend growthThe Meta managed service that gives CTC budget-scaling access no other agency hasHow Statlas industry CAC data lets CPG brands "cheat" the auctionReal results: $856/day to $20K/day in 90 days at 0.9 ROASWhy "extreme accountability" means CTC puts everything on the line, not just your brandHow Refunnel's top-performing influencer community removes the whitelist bottleneckThe 3-brand invite-only launch: two slots with 20% guarantee, one with 40%This offer is currently invite-only for 3 CPG brands doing $3M–$5M+ annually who want to reach 9 figures as fast as possible. Apply via the link in the show notes.Show Notes:Get 20% more Meta Growth https://commonthreadco-global.com/ytWhat Hourly API Scaling is actually worth https://commonthreadco-global.com/case-studyThe 7-Figure Growth Workshop https://commonthreadco.com/pages/sept-26-eventGo to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two monthsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Why 8-Figure Brands Waste Days Finger-Pointing When Results Miss (And the Fix)
When results miss at an 8-figure or 9-figure ecommerce brand, a familiar pattern kicks in. Someone asks "why did we miss?" There is no clear owner. Every team points somewhere else. Days pass before anyone agrees on what happened, let alone what to fix.Brian Sakansky, Profit Engine Manager at CTC, calls this the finger-pointing problem. It is not a personality issue. It is a structural one. And the structure most agencies use, where performance is measured by channel KPIs like ROAS or CPM, is exactly what creates it.In this episode, Brian walks through how CTC's Prophit Engine eliminates blame cycles entirely by tying the agency contract to business outcomes, specifically contribution margin, not channel metrics. When CTC is accountable to the brand's P&L rather than Meta performance, CTC is no longer defending the ad account. They are solving for the business.Brian also explains how Statlas gives brands a daily green/red view of whether each channel hit its expected target, how Profit Engineers pull the right levers when a channel misses, and what brands can do right now if they are not yet on the Prophit Engine.Show Notes:Your free LTV audit is waiting at smile.io: https://bit.ly/4bKlMCvExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Taylor and Andrew Debate Cost Controls (We Ran the Numbers)
Taylor and Andrew Faris sit down to debate something every performance marketer has an opinion about but almost nobody has actually tested: do Meta cost controls deliver to the bid you set?CTC reviewed $1.5 billion in Meta spend and ran a formal study on $200 million across 253 accounts from March 2025 through July 2026. The results were surprising enough to change CTC's default bidding strategy. This is the first public breakdown of the full findings.KEY TAKEAWAYS:-Min ROAS (highest value optimization) delivered 96.5% of target across the full dataset. It is the most accurate cost control CTC has tested, and the AOV is baked into the signal so you do not have to manually work through SKU-level bid math.-Cost per result goal (cost cap) consistently overshoots by roughly 40%. An average bid of $78 delivered $108 in outcome. SKU complexity makes it very hard to set the right bid, and the algorithm does not compensate for it.-Bid cap delivered 123% of target on a $3M sample and is now CTC's default cost control, replacing cost per result goal.-Stop loss rules for turning off individual ads have no discernible impact on account performance. The time most performance teams spend on that workflow is not moving the needle.-The aggregate accuracy of min ROAS is real — but individual accounts can deviate significantly. 67% of min ROAS accounts were more than 5% below target on an individual basis. The aggregate and the individual account are two different things.This research covers $1.5B reviewed and $200M analyzed across 253 accounts. Read the full study in the show notes.The Common Thread Collective 7-Figure Growth Workshop: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/sept-26-eventhttps://hermod.statlas.io/mcp/report/shared?user=anmar.commonthreadco.com&ts=1785286905https://hermod.statlas.io/mcp/report/shared?user=anmar.commonthreadco.com&ts=1785513697Show Notes:-Axon is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to https://axon.ai/en/ctc to set up your first campaign.-Explore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engine-The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
The Agency Model Is Broken. We Fixed It.
Taylor Holiday and Richard Gaffin break down the Prophit Engine, CTC's system that combines a head of growth, Meta media buyer, and creative strategist into a single profit-engineered role powered by AI, Statlas, and a decade of operational methodology.They cover what you actually get, why it works, what you stop hiring for, and the kind of brand that gets the most out of it.In this episode:Why forecasting within 3% across $3B in GMV is now one person's jobHow the Prophit Engineer role collapses three positions into oneWhat "Push to Build" means for Meta media buying efficiencyThe Creative Demand Plan and how it eliminates creative guessworkThe total technology stack value (and why the price undercuts it by half a million)What the ideal PE8 client actually looks likeWhy the best brands let go of day-to-day and hold CTC accountable to outcomesKey stat: CTC brands that worked with us for all of 2025 grew top-line revenue 35% and contribution margin 41.5%.The Common Thread Collective 7-Figure Growth Workshop: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/sept-26-eventShow Notes:Your free LTV audit is waiting at smile.io: https://bit.ly/4bKlMCvExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
The Math Behind Creative Hits (With Real Spend Data)
Adrianne, VP of Performance Creative at CTC, breaks down the CTC Creative Strategy Canon, the codified methodology behind how 7-figure to 9-figure ecommerce brands structure their creative programs to consistently produce winning ads. This is not a theory session. It is a data-backed framework built from 504 stores, $3.35 billion in Meta ad spend, and years of iterating what actually works.In this episode:Why ad creative is a hits business and what the data provesHit rate benchmarks from Statlas: from creation to whale, 1 in 100The Creative Demand Formula and how to calculate exactly how many ads you needCarry rate explained: what survives, what decays, and what you controlThe 5 Creative Score Metrics that determine your creative efficiencyThree levers to move performance: mine, make, and catalogThe Unified Workflow: a 5-step monthly creative planning processKey stat: Only 0.9% of ads become whales. Top advertisers ship 12-19+ new evergreen creatives per week — and their hit rates are more than double those of smaller accounts.Show Notes:Go to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two monthsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
D2C Brands Grew 15% in H1 (But At What Cost)
In this episode Richard and Steve break down H1 2026 performance data from across the CTC client portfolio, covering brand revenue growth, ad spend efficiency, incrementality testing results by platform, and the latest signals from the D2C Consumer Confidence Index.Topics covered in this episode:Median brand revenue growth of 15.2% in H1 2026Why spend grew 28% while revenue efficiency declinedAppLovin incrementality results across 18 tests (average: 171%)Meta incrementality: average 113.4%, with a wide spread across brandsWhy AOV is a key driver of Meta incrementality outcomesConsumer confidence data: what all-time highs in June mean for H2TikTok Shops, ChatGPT advertising, and Google ROAS trendsHow 7-figure brands can access the sophistication of 9-figure advertisersKey stat: Out of 18 AppLovin incrementality tests, only one came back below 100%. Five returned 225%+ incrementality. The average was 171%.The Common Thread Collective 7-Figure Growth Workshop: http://commonthreadco.com/earlybird26Show Notes:Go to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two monthsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
We're Opening Our Doors to 7-Figure Founders This September
Richard breaks down what's holding most 7-figure brands back from crossing into 8-figure territory, and announces CTC's first in-person workshop designed to close that gap.On September 2nd, 2026, CTC is hosting the Seven-Figure Growth Workshop at our Costa Mesa office. Taylor Holiday will deliver the keynote, and founders will rotate through five hands-on workshops covering forecasting, team building, creative operating systems, paid media, and AI tooling, led by the CTC leaders who run these disciplines every day.Tickets are on sale now. Link in show notes.What you'll get at the workshop:Accurate revenue forecasting that drives confident paid investmentHow to build the right team and keep them (led by Dane, VP of Employee Development)A creative operating system that scales volume without chaos (led by Ally, Dir. of Growth Strategy)Paid social fundamentals and how to build a performing ad account (led by Tony Chopp, VP of Paid Media)How to build scalable AI tools that actually move the needle (led by Anmar, Dir. of Profit Engineering)Direct access to Taylor Holiday + CTC strategy staff throughout the dayNetworking with other 7-figure founders in the same building moment.Show Notes:Axon is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to https://axon.ai/en/ctc to set up your first campaign.Explore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Google Ads: CTC's Complete Playbook
Tony Chopp, VP of Paid Media at Common Thread Collective, breaks down CTC's Google Ads Canon, the complete framework we use to turn Google into a true demand-harvesting machine for 7-9 figure ecommerce brands. Learn how to expand your search frontier beyond product queries, set incrementality-adjusted ROAS targets, and structure campaigns for maximum profitable growth.In this episode:Why Google is demand harvesting, not demand creation — and why that distinction changes everythingThe four-quadrant search term framework: mapping competition vs. volume to find untapped intentExpanding your search frontier into problem and use-case queries (the silicone ring example)Landing page strategy: matching page intent to query intent, not defaulting to generic PDPsThe trifecta: smart bidding + broad match + responsive search adsIncrementality-adjusted bidding: Google brand benchmark = 0.27 iROAS, non-brand = 0.6 iROASSix-campaign structure: Brand Search, Non-Brand Search, and PMax/Shopping split by acquisition vs. retentionBrand search defense strategy: when to bid aggressively and when to pull backFeed optimization: complete attributes, optimized titles, daily updates, less than 10% disapproval rateHow Statlas normalizes iROAS across all channels for true apples-to-apples budget allocationKey Stat: Google brand search has an average incrementality benchmark of 0.27 — meaning most of that attributed revenue would have happened anyway. Are you bidding against platform numbers or real incremental numbers?Show Notes:Your free LTV audit is waiting at smile.io: https://bit.ly/4bKlMCvExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Your Unsold Inventory Is Costing You More Than You Think
Most ecommerce brands head into Q4 carrying too much inventory and not enough cash, and those two problems are directly connected. In this episode, Richard Gaffin sits down with Anmar Anmar Abdul Jawad, Director of Profit Engineering at CTC, to walk through the Cashmas in July framework, a four-step process for liquidating slow-moving inventory in Q3 so your brand has the capital and focus it needs to win in Q4.What we cover:Why brands fall into either an execution gap or a strategy gap with inventoryThe real cost of holding inventory, including storage fees and opportunity cost on cashHow cash constraints force brands to pull back spend and miss cohort valueThe four-step liquidation process: SKU identification, financial modeling, operating plan, and asset executionWhy sequencing discounts correctly depends on your brand's historical discount behaviorHow CTC's portfolio-wide data gives brands an edge on ad angles and creative strategyWhy adding a third party for liquidation adds capacity instead of displacing your evergreen businessKey insight: Brands that are cash-constrained in Q3 have to reduce new customer acquisition spend precisely when efficient CAC opportunities are available. Liquidating inventory early funds the cohorts that drive your Q4 contribution margin.Ready to run Cashmas in July for your brand? https://commonthreadco.com/pages/cashmas-in-julyShow Notes:Go to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two monthsExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
Cashmas in July: Turn Q3 Inventory Into Q4 Cash
Stale inventory and thin cash flow are the two things that show up in nearly every Q3 conversation we have with ecommerce brands. In this episode, Richard Gaffin and Randall Thompson break down Cashmas in July, a CTC framework for turning slow-moving inventory into real cash before Q4 bets get expensive.Topics covered:Why Q3 is the lull that destroys Q4 setupThe cash event data: $156K Q3 cash generation led to 42% YoY Q4 growthHow to wrap inventory in a narrative instead of slashing pricesWhat CTC builds in a 30-day Cashmas event (creative, email, media, narrative)The awareness effect: Q3 ad spend primes Q4 buyersWhy the brands that moved inventory early felt momentum, and the ones who waited felt flatKey stat: Brands that ran Q3 cash events saw Q4 growth of 42% to 67% YoY. Brands that did nothing averaged -8% to +11%.Cashmas in July: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/cashmas-in-julyShow Notes:Your free LTV audit is waiting at smile.io: https://bit.ly/4bKlMCvExplore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engineThe Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have