The World's Best Email and Retention Podcast

Plan your Black Friday email marketing with a checklist covering automated flows, discount codes, segmentation, and send frequency. Pilothouse’s Jordan Gordon explains how to prepare your BFCM campaigns, expand your sending audience, and keep your main offer visible throughout the sale. Jordan also shares his analysis of Black Friday buyer behavior. The most common purchase path he found involved opening one email before ordering. He explains how that finding shapes email design, offer repetition, and the timing of your sale. Topics covered: Updating welcome emails, abandoned cart flows, pop-ups, and sale banners Testing discount codes before campaigns go live Planning subject line tests Expanding segments using purchase history, clicks, and site visits Choosing how many emails to send on Black Friday Narrowing your audience across multiple daily sends Estimating revenue using revenue per email sent Comparing SMS costs with paid retargeting Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Three priorities for Black Friday email preparation 02:50 Update automated flows and welcome offers 03:47 Countdown timers and sale pages 05:16 Test discount codes and adjust abandonment emails 06:40 Update pop-ups and review list suppressions 11:02 Build your subject line testing plan 13:55 Plan your Black Friday sending volume 15:52 Separate buyers and prospects 17:21 Expand segments using purchases, clicks, and visits 20:12 How many emails to send on Black Friday 21:40 Narrow your audience across multiple sends 25:05 Estimate Black Friday email revenue 26:01 Plan SMS segments and compare costs 26:54 Research: when to start your Black Friday sale 29:44 Research: how many emails buyers open 33:08 Build each email around your core offer The World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast is part of the DTC Podcast Network and features insights from the Pilothouse email and customer retention team. Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Which email segmentation signals bring in more revenue? Jordan Gordon shares Pilothouse’s latest research on purchase history, Apple Privacy Opens, true opens, clicks, and bot activity. Expanding the buyer window produced the strongest revenue gain with a small engagement hit. Extending the true-open window added almost no revenue and dragged down engagement. Inside this episode of the World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast: How to test segment changes against your core mailable list The revenue and engagement tradeoffs of Apple Privacy Opens Why buyers and prospects need separate segments What recent site visitors reveal about campaign revenue How evergreen flows can take on more of your campaign schedule In the analysis Jordan shares, 75% of campaign revenue came from subscribers who had visited the site within 90 days. He explains what that means for your flows and segmentation windows. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction and episode preview 01:22 More segmentation research 01:52 AI segmentation tools and campaign coverage 05:38 Deliverability on large, established lists 09:01 The engagement signals tested 10:01 Testing changes against your mailable list 11:28 Purchase history: more revenue, small engagement hit 12:24 Apple Privacy Opens: revenue and engagement tradeoffs 16:15 Expanding your buyer window 17:11 Separating buyers and prospects 17:41 True opens: almost no added revenue 20:03 What happens when you expand the click window 21:04 Bot clicks and campaign performance 22:09 Recent site visitors drove 75% of campaign revenue 22:31 Moving more campaign content into flows 23:27 Including visitors who haven’t clicked an email 24:42 Keeping site-activity windows tight 25:12 Non-clicking visitors drove roughly 20% of campaign revenue 26:09 Closing thoughts Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

A conversation about his son’s Hot Wheels sent Jordan down a Formula 1 rabbit hole. A Walmart purchase, Red Bull videos, and a Google search eventually led him to create an F1 account and download the app. In this episode of the World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan traces the touchpoints that pulled him in and the opportunities to turn that interest into paid streaming. He covers word of mouth that your attribution tools miss, content that builds interest across channels, and a voting experience that captures email addresses without a discount. Plus, a look at F1’s app onboarding: push notification permissions, tracking consent, and clear controls that let users change their preferences. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Email and CRO for ecommerce revenue 00:29 Episode preview 01:23 How Jordan got marketed to 02:20 Understanding the customer persona 06:13 The Hot Wheels conversation that started it 06:42 Word of mouth your attribution tools miss 08:36 Turning a recommendation into a Walmart purchase 10:02 Red Bull videos and the YouTube rabbit hole 11:30 Exploring F1’s business model 13:49 Google search and the F1 website 14:46 The path toward paid streaming 15:38 Capturing leads without a discount 17:08 App downloads and push notifications 18:04 Walking through F1’s app onboarding 19:30 Permission controls and subscription retention 21:20 Final thoughts Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

How much campaign content are you rebuilding every week? And how many steps do shoppers take before they can buy? Jordan Gordon walks through four digital asset reframes that change how your emails and site pages work together: • Email campaigns as homepages, with a fresh feature up top and reusable sections below • Homepages that combine discovery, product details, and purchasing • Collection pages with useful blog and video content beneath the products • PDPs that introduce your brand to shoppers landing there for the first time Using examples from Anthropologie and Grüns, Jordan explains how these changes can reduce campaign production work and shorten the path to checkout. For help with email, retention, and CRO, visit https://www.pilothouse.co and ask to speak with Jordan. 00:00 Driving revenue through email and CRO 00:29 Episode preview 01:23 Four digital assets to rethink 02:20 The problems with campaigns, homepages, collections, and PDPs 04:43 Reframe 1: Treat email campaigns like homepages 08:06 Anthropologie’s reusable email sections 09:05 Reframe 2: Combine homepage, collection, and PDP 09:35 Grüns’ homepage breakdown 11:03 Reframe 3: Treat collection pages like content pages 13:00 Reframe 4: Treat PDPs like homepages 13:56 How the reframes change your customer journey 17:17 Closing thoughts Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

From the archive: Jordan Gordon breaks down how to use the first purchase to encourage a second one. He walks through a post-purchase flow that starts with a relevant cross-sell, then introduces a broader offer that can also appear in paid ads and package inserts. The examples cover how to choose a product to feature, set an order minimum, and coordinate the offer across channels. The episode was recorded earlier in the show’s run. Some platform setup details have changed since then, so check your current tracking and audience setup before applying the tactics. In this episode: • Specific cross-sell offers and broader order-value offers • Why Jordan recommends introducing a different product category • How email, paid ads, and package inserts can support the same offer • What to consider when using a shared coupon code across channels 00:00 Why the second purchase matters 02:24 Where email revenue comes from 07:09 Four ways to grow email revenue 11:31 Building a post-purchase flow 12:57 Specific vs. broad offers 16:27 Cross-selling into another product category 18:26 Adding an accessories offer 19:25 Setting a minimum-spend offer 21:51 Coupon codes across channels 22:20 Bringing paid ads into the campaign 24:19 Adding an offer to the package 26:18 Recap Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Four brands. Four different ecommerce problems. Four ways email and website design can help solve them. In this visual episode, Jordan breaks down how Lack of Color, Devon + Lang, DÔEN, and Netrition shape their emails, product pages, and category pages around the way customers actually shop. You’ll see how: Lack of Color uses large product grids to help shoppers find a highly personal style Devon + Lang treats its PDP as a shoppable homepage DÔEN reinforces exclusivity through editorial category pages and sold-out products Netrition organizes a massive catalog by product type, dietary goal, and discovery content Jordan also covers mobile email layouts, dark mode issues, PDP fold-one essentials, click-flow testing, product galleries, size guides, and dynamic email sections. This is a visual episode, so open the video for the full email and website walkthrough. Want help generating more revenue from your existing traffic and customer base? Visit Pilothouse and ask to speak with the Email and Retention team. Key Timestamps 00:00 How email and CRO unlock revenue from existing traffic 01:23 Four brands and four ecommerce challenges 02:50 Lack of Color’s product-heavy email strategy 07:09 What its product page leaves unclear 08:36 Devon + Lang’s shoppable-homepage PDP 12:31 Bundles, size guides, video, and product comparisons 15:00 How DÔEN sells high-priced apparel online 16:28 Why its email sends shoppers to a category page 18:53 Building an editorial category-page experience 22:39 Why DÔEN keeps sold-out products visible 24:36 How Netrition organizes a massive food catalog 28:30 Using discovery content, recommendations, and education 30:26 Shopping by category and dietary goal 31:52 Final takeaways Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

How healthy is your Klaviyo account? Jordan Gordon walks through the 12-point inspection he uses to assess Klaviyo accounts in 10 to 15 minutes. The inspection covers revenue, clicks, audience growth, campaign frequency, send volume, and flows, with a second check for every metric that can be distorted by attribution settings, privacy opens, or bot clicks. You’ll learn how to: • Compare Shopify revenue growth with Klaviyo revenue growth • Check whether Klaviyo’s attributed revenue is trustworthy • Compare Shopify sessions with unique email and SMS clicks • use Gmail performance to spot reporting or inboxing problems • Measure list growth without Apple Privacy Opens inflating the audience • Audit campaign frequency, headlines, and design quality • Evaluate your campaign-to-flow revenue split • Use your first welcome email as an account-wide health check Need help generating more revenue from your existing traffic and customers? Visit CHAPTERS: 00:00 Why email and CRO are the fastest revenue opportunities 00:29 The 12-point Klaviyo inspection 01:24 Introduction 02:23 How the inspection works 02:52 Revenue growth and attribution settings 05:49 Unique clicks and Shopify sessions 07:45 Checking Gmail performance 11:11 Measuring list and audience health 14:05 Forms, subscribers, and unsubscribes 16:02 Campaign frequency and creative quality 18:01 Send volume and campaign open rates 20:24 Flow revenue and welcome email health 21:54 The complete 12-point recap Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠ https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Should DTC brands really avoid paid ads until they hit $5M to $10M in revenue? A viral Cody Sanchez take sparked that debate, so Eric Dyck sits down with Pilothouse’s Jordan and Raf for the first edition of The DTC Rundown: a rapid-fire breakdown of the arguments, strategies, and problems DTC operators are talking about right now. They dig into when paid acquisition actually makes sense, why brands can end up spending money advertising to customers who were already going to buy, and why healthier growth can sometimes make your marketing metrics look worse. They also break down what changes as brands move past the early growth stage, including the shift from capturing existing demand to creating new demand, balancing evergreen marketing with bigger campaign moments, and keeping Meta and Klaviyo audience signals clean enough to know whether you’re actually acquiring new customers. Plus, two real examples from the trenches show what happens when a website is designed around existing customers, an acquisition funnel creates too much friction, and a brand keeps using the same playbook long after the market around it has changed. Key timestamps: 00:00 Why email and CRO can unlock revenue without more ad spend 02:21 Should brands really avoid paid ads until $5M–$10M? 10:09 The hidden ad spend wasted on existing customers 12:02 Evergreen vs. campaigns as brands scale 20:06 Why clean audience definitions matter on Meta 23:23 What slowing growth actually looks like inside the numbers 31:04 When your website is built for existing customers 38:41 The conversion funnel mistake costing one brand sales Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

What do you fix when your email program has a 0.25% click-through rate and deliverability isn’t the problem? This week, Jordan breaks down a pattern he sees across larger DTC brands: daily campaigns, oversized automated flow systems, low engagement, and plenty of attributed revenue that makes the program look healthier than it really is. He walks through how to find your real click-through rate, strip out bot activity, identify which flow messages are actually generating revenue, and figure out where relevance can still create meaningful lift. Jordan also explains why attributed revenue rewards brands for sending more email, even when those sends may have little incremental impact. Then he gets into the fix: build a true control group, simplify bloated flow systems, concentrate automated messaging around high-intent windows, reduce broad campaign frequency, and measure whether email is actually increasing customer spend across channels. Key Timestamps: 01:23 The 0.25% CTR problem 03:20 How to find your real click-through rate 05:13 The 80/20 test for bloated flow systems 07:09 How to rule out deliverability as the problem 09:33 Finding the audience where relevance matters most 13:24 Why attributed revenue rewards sending more email 15:51 Building a control group to measure incremental lift 20:10 How to simplify flows and reduce campaign volume Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

The customers that got your brand to its current size may not be the customers who take it to the next stage of growth. This week, Jordan is joined by Pilothouse’s Rafael Gi to break down a pattern they’re seeing across brands at very different stages: the customer base, acquisition strategy, and messaging that once worked can eventually become a ceiling. They walk through three real brand scenarios, including a skincare company where 80% of free-sample buyers never purchased again, a sports brand that had outgrown its parent-focused positioning, and a sunglasses brand seeing its higher-AOV customer segment grow while its traditional core market declined. Jordan and Raf discuss how to spot these shifts early, what your new-to-repeat customer mix can tell you, why revenue per email sent matters, how acquisition platforms get trained on the customers you attract, and how to realign your ads, website, and retention strategy around the customers with the most future value. In this episode: How to tell when you’re marketing to the wrong customers Why growing brands can outgrow their original customer segment The danger of training Meta and Google to find discount buyers Why 80% of one brand’s free-sample customers never purchased again How to analyze new vs. repeat customer cohorts Revenue per email sent as an early warning signal Matching PDP messaging to the audience landing there How to shift toward a more valuable customer segment without losing your existing base 01:22 Why your current customers may be holding back your next stage of growth 03:39 Three brands facing the same customer-segment problem 08:00 How to tell when you’re marketing to the wrong people 09:29 Using Shopify cohorts to diagnose customer quality 10:27 Revenue per email sent as an early warning signal 11:52 When your PDP is speaking to the wrong customer 16:39 How discount acquisition can train Meta and Google on the wrong buyers 20:57 When a higher-value customer segment starts replacing your core market Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Jordan is in the middle of rewarming an email account that Gmail was sending straight to spam, so this week he’s taking you inside the process. He breaks down what damaged the account’s sending reputation, the engagement segments he’s using to rebuild it, why static send size matters during a rewarm, and how he’s using Gmail-specific data, GlockApps, and Postmaster Tools to tell when it’s safe to scale back up. Jordan also explains why your reported email revenue may be inflated by Apple Privacy Opens, why list size is one of the most misleading metrics in email, and what brands should watch before a struggling program gets this far. In this episode: The email trilemma: traffic, inboxing, and list growth What 100% Gmail spam actually means The segments Jordan uses during a rewarm Why engaged senders should ramp volume slowly The problem with Apple Privacy Opens and email attribution Why prospect-only campaigns can hurt engagement How to use Google Postmaster Tools during recovery When to start expanding your audience again If your email performance looks healthy on paper while clicks and inbox placement tell a different story, this episode shows you where to look. 01:24 Why this email account needs a rewarm 02:22 The email trilemma: traffic, inboxing, and list growth 05:13 Inside an account hitting 100% Gmail spam 08:08 How Apple Privacy Opens can inflate email revenue 11:05 The exact segments Jordan uses to rewarm an account 14:02 Why static send size matters during a rewarm 20:54 GlockApps, Gmail segments, and Google Postmaster Tools 24:12 Using high-engagement promos to rebuild sending reputation Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Jordan has a new favourite email program, and it breaks a lot of the rules marketers usually follow. In this episode of The World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan breaks down Dôen’s email program, from its layered photo grids and behind-the-scenes creative to tiny copy, cursive fonts, and understated CTAs. The program assumes its audience actually wants to spend time with the brand. That matters when your emails are competing inside a promotions tab packed with dozens of other brands. Jordan also catches one mistake in Dôen’s otherwise excellent program: two different abandonment emails landing within four minutes of each other. He explains why overlapping cart, checkout, site abandonment, and third-party identification flows can cause this, plus the waterfall exclusions he uses to prevent it. What you’ll learn: Why Dôen has become Jordan’s new favourite email program How behind-the-scenes content helps pull customers deeper into a brand’s world Why intentional creative can make subscribers actively look for your emails How to use photo grids, GIFs, location shoots, and community content The abandonment-flow mistake Jordan found in his own inbox How to structure exclusions across checkout, cart, site abandonment, and third-party triggers Why winning an individual CRO test can still degrade the overall brand experience How email design, copy, CTAs, and creative work together as one system 00:00 – Why email + CRO are the fastest path to more ecommerce revenue 01:25 – Jordan’s new favourite email program: Dôen 04:15 – Why Dôen designs for an intentional reader 08:01 – The behind-the-scenes email that immediately got Jordan to open 09:00 – How to stand out in a completely stuffed Promotions tab 12:52 – Jordan finds a mistake 15:49 – The abandonment flow waterfall that prevents duplicate emails 17:17 – Why a “winning” CRO test can slowly degrade your brand Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

After auditing hundreds of email programs, Jordan Gordon has seen the same mistakes show up again and again. In this episode of The World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast, Jordan runs through 11 common problems that make retention programs harder to manage and less effective, from creating endless Klaviyo segments and bloated flows to mixing too many goals into one post-purchase journey. He also gets into why non-opener resends can hurt your sending reputation, where your best offer should appear in an email, what brands miss when testing dark mode, and why producing more campaigns can leave you with thinner creative. Then he moves beyond the inbox with two CRO mistakes he sees constantly: underdeveloped top product pages and homepages that have accumulated too many competing ideas. What you’ll learn: Why you probably have too many Klaviyo segments How bloated flows create dead weight in your retention program Why each automation should have one clear conversion goal Who you should ask for reviews and UGC Why non-opener double taps can hurt deliverability Where your strongest offer should appear Why every brand should be checking emails in dark mode How too much campaign volume can weaken your creative What your highest-traffic PDP needs above the fold How to clean up an overloaded homepage 00:00 – How Email + CRO Drive More Revenue 01:22 – The Email Mistakes Jordan Sees Every Day 03:19 – Why Too Many Flows Become Dead Weight 06:16 – UGC, Reviews & Post-Purchase Mistakes 10:07 – Give Every Automation One Clear Goal 13:29 – Offers, Non-Opener Resends & Dark Mode 16:22 – When Too Much Email Content Hurts Performance 22:13 – PDP & Homepage CRO Mistakes Work with Pilothouse: ⁠https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

In this episode of The World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan Gordon sits down with Alia founder Shaan Arora to break down what makes a high-converting pop-up work. Shaan shares how Alia grew from a college project to $8 million in revenue before being acquired by Dotdigital for $60 million. He also explains how the company uses behavioral data to personalize pop-ups based on the shopper, timing, creative, and offer. They get into the role of data as a competitive advantage, how AI is changing software development, and why strong e-commerce brands continue testing even after they find a winning variation. What you’ll learn: How Alia grew from two early customers to a $60 million acquisition The four elements behind a “perfect pop-up” How timing, traffic source, and customer history affect conversion Why blanket discounts can quietly reduce margin How customer data creates an advantage that competitors cannot quickly copy Why Alia continues focusing on pop-ups as a core product How continuous A/B testing compounds conversion gains Why flexible software contracts can make experimentation easier 00:41 What makes a “perfect pop-up” 01:48 Alia’s $60 million acquisition 03:13 From college project to $8 million in revenue 08:54 AI, software development, and defensible SaaS moats 12:38 Personalizing the customer, timing, creative, and offer 18:48 Why strong brands never stop testing Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

In this episode of The World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan Gordon sits down with Black Crow co-founder Shazad Khan to explore how AI could reshape the ecommerce website. As ad creative, search queries, and retention messages become more personalized, most shoppers still land on the same static product or collection page. Black Crow Storefronts is built to carry the context of each ad through the full post-click experience, creating tailored landing pages, product flows, carts, and upsells for each audience and campaign. Jordan and Shazad break down how AI storefronts work, where they fit into a brand’s marketing stack, and how creative teams, media buyers, and agencies may use them to improve conversion after the click. What you’ll learn: How AI is changing the role of the ecommerce website Why every ad could eventually lead to a unique storefront How Black Crow builds dynamic experiences from landing page to checkout Why post-click relevance can improve conversion and ROAS Which brands are ready to use AI storefronts How Black Crow supports email list growth and abandonment recovery How AI could change the responsibilities of media buyers and creative teams 00:00 How to drive more revenue without increasing ad spend 02:50 What will an ecommerce website look like in 10 years? 04:47 The personalization gap after someone clicks an ad 10:06 Inside Black Crow Storefronts 12:30 How AI builds a unique storefront for every ad 17:48 Controlling which products and audiences AI prioritizes 23:08 How AI changes creative and media buying roles 30:24 Black Crow’s AI tools for email and retention Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠ https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

This week, we're revisiting a listener favourite from early in the TWBERP catalog. If you haven't been around since the beginning, we can assure you this is a good one. On with the show! In this episode, we dive into the art of creating email experiences that both sell and inspire. Join host Jordan Gordon as he explores how heritage brand Filson turns each email into a visual journey, using lifestyle photography, strategic design, and storytelling to craft an aspirational experience for their subscribers. We cover how Filson strikes the perfect balance between content-driven and conversion-focused emails, how they maximize engagement through VIP sign-ups and theme features, and why their approach to seasonal drops keeps customers coming back. Whether you’re an email marketer, brand owner, or design enthusiast, discover actionable tips to elevate your email strategy and create a more loyal audience. 00:00 — Intro 01:00 — The Role of Non-Conversion Emails 02:30 — Filson as a Case Study: Building a Visual Experience 05:00 — Making the Most of Your Best Shots 08:00 — Crafting Seasonal Drops 10:30 — Lifestyle vs. Product Focus: Striking a Balance 13:00 — VIP Sign-Ups: Building Long-Term Engagement 15:30 — Design Choices That Work Across Devices 18:00 — The Power of Theme Features 21:00 — Filson’s Take on Journal-Style Emails 24:00 — Closing Thoughts Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Before anyone talks about LTV, retention curves, or lifecycle marketing, there's one window that matters most: the first 30 days. Thomas Lalas, founder of Art of Ecomm and author of Retention Economics, joins Jordan Gordon to break down why the first month after a customer's purchase has an outsized impact on lifetime value, profitability, and long-term growth. They cover why retention is much bigger than email, how top subscription brands reduce early churn, and the systems they use to turn first-time buyers into loyal customers. In this episode: 00:00 Why email and CRO are the fastest path to profitable growth 01:21 Meet Thomas Lalas and the idea behind Retention Economics 04:40 Why retention is bigger than email marketing 07:00 The first 30 days that determine customer lifetime value 11:44 The three stages of a high-performing retention system 12:14 Pre-delivery: reducing anxiety and increasing perceived value 28:32 Post-delivery: building habits and educating customers 44:13 Rebilling: reducing churn before the next charge 49:27 Why engagement compounds over time 50:26 Agency vs. consultancy: two approaches to retention 51:24 Where to find Thomas and his book Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

All the conversion action on your Shopify store happens in a narrow window. Jordan builds out the diagnostic framework to find it, measure it, and fix it. What's covered: Why sessions, scroll depth, and page depth are all brutally short, and why that concentrates the opportunity The 10 power pages to audit: homepage, top 3 category pages by conversions, top 3 PDPs by conversions, top 3 content pages by sessions The four metrics to track per page: sessions, add to cart rate, conversion rate, conversions Entry vs. internal referrer as two distinct analytical lenses Channel segmentation: paid, organic, Klaviyo, direct/other, and why mixing them hides the real signal What healthy funnel shape looks like: PDP add to cart rate higher than category, higher than home Klaviyo benchmarks: 10% of total revenue attributed, 2-3x conversion rate on email entries Sitewide benchmarks: 7.5% add to cart, 2% conversion rate Post-click activities to deploy against specific gaps: pre-sell pages, quizzes, site funnels, category flows, bundle builders, recommendations, subscribe and save Referenced episodes: 69, 70, 73 (retention and email metrics), low-60s series (120-second session framework), recent recommendations flow and essentials flow episodes. Timestamps 00:00 – Why all the action is in the first 2 minutes, 2 folds, 2 pages 03:17 – How to diagnose a Shopify revenue problem 07:37 – The four metrics that matter: sessions, add to cart, conversion rate, conversions 08:34 – Entry vs. internal referrer explained 10:02 – Channel segmentation: paid, organic, Klaviyo, direct 12:28 – The 10 power pages framework 17:22 – What it means when homepage outperforms your top PDP 21:53 – Post-click activities to deploy against site gaps 26:16 – Klaviyo entry benchmarks and what to expect 31:06 – How to link your CRO ideas to needle-moving pages Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠ https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Email segmentation is getting tighter. Here's what our 2025 research found and what we changed going into H2 2026. We cover implied consent windows, why we pulled back from 150-day open segments to 120, the real revenue math on long buyer lookbacks, and how to structure a mailable segment that sits inside every other segment you send to. Key topics: Implied consent: 95-day default vs. the legal maximums Why 150-day open windows caused inboxing problems on some brands Long buyer lookbacks: the $400 on $14,000 reality check Engaged vs. unengaged within mailability First-time vs. repeat buyer segmentation and why it matters for sustainable revenue How to add implied consent directly into existing segments This is the internal lifecycle update Pilothouse publishes before every H2. The direction for 2026: tighter than 2025, across the board. 0:00 - What's required to inbox 2:51 - 2025 segmentation research overview 3:50 - Implied consent windows explained 5:16 - Open window: why we stayed at 120 days 7:15 - Where 85% of campaign revenue comes from 9:15 - Long buyer lookbacks: what the data showed 13:49 - How to establish mailability as your foundation 16:45 - First-time vs repeat buyer segmentation 20:27 - Using segmentation to learn about your business Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast

Your recommendations flow does more than fill inbox space. It introduces your audience to parts of your catalog they haven't seen, replaces a chunk of your campaign volume, and works on autopilot as your catalog changes. This episode breaks down how recommendations and essentials flows work together, why Klaviyo's default 10-recommendation set limits you to three usable emails, and how to split recommendations into specific categories (best sellers, new arrivals, trending, recommended for you) to force more variety and unlock 6-12 emails for the flow. You'll learn why hero shots underperform in these emails, how to structure a two-section layout (shopability plus special interest content), how to schedule sends based on declining intent after a site visit, and how this system frees your campaigns to focus on drops, discounts, and content people actually want. Topics covered: How recommendations and essentials flows split your catalog and trigger off site visits Working around Klaviyo's 10-recommendation default to get more emails out of the flow Building category-specific recommendation emails that tell a story Why product shots beat hero shots in this flow Two-section email structure: shopability and special interest content Scheduling sends based on visit recency and declining intent How this flow reduces the number of campaigns you need to run each month 00:00 - Introduction 03:50 - Core support vs essentials vs recommendations overview 06:46 - What is the recommendations email 09:08 - Klaviyo's 10-recommendation default and email limits 10:36 - Building category-specific recommendation emails 13:58 - Why hero shots underperform 15:52 - Two-section email structure 20:16 - Scheduling based on declining intent Work with Pilothouse: ⁠ https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast⁠ Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: ⁠ https://www.directtoconsumer.co/⁠ Listen to DTC Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast