eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection

On today’s episode, I’m chatting with Sam Henning, the Co-founder of Union Works. They are a Shopify App Partner with 7 apps including the Happy Birthday App that we discuss today.Building strong relationships with your customers is vital to the long term success of your business. Birthdays represent a unique opportunity to get in touch with your loyal customers and offer them a great reason to revisit and buy from your store.The Happy Birthday App is a great retention strategy!It can Increase your brand's visibility — Birthday campaigns are a great way to remind your customers of your store and your productsReward loyalty — Say thank you to your loyal and regular customers with a special birthday offerDrive repeat business — Unlike BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday), birthdays happen all year round and are a great way to encourage repeat businessImprove your store's conversion rate — Data proves that birthday email campaigns are one of the best-converting marketing campaigns available to merchants today.…let’s jump into the show and learn more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes

On today’s episode, I’m chatting with Sam Henning, the Co-founder of Union Works. They are a Shopify App Partner with 7 apps including the Happy Birthday App that we discuss today.


Building strong relationships with your customers is vital to the long term success of your business. Birthdays represent a unique opportunity to get in touch with your loyal customers and offer them a great reason to revisit and buy from your store.


The Happy Birthday App is a great retention strategy!


  • It can Increase your brand's visibility — Birthday campaigns are a great way to remind your customers of your store and your products
  • Reward loyalty — Say thank you to your loyal and regular customers with a special birthday offer
  • Drive repeat business — Unlike BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday), birthdays happen all year round and are a great way to encourage repeat business
  • Improve your store's conversion rate — Data proves that birthday email campaigns are one of the best-converting marketing campaigns available to merchants today.


…let’s jump into the show and learn more!


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection?

Running a Shopify store? You already know success isn't about finding the right app—it's about knowing which strategies actually work at your specific stage of growth.

I'm Steve Hutt, and I've lived every level of the ecommerce journey—from eBay Power Seller shipping products myself to Shopify Merchant Success Manager helping 100+ brands from startup to enterprise scale, including working with the teams at Tentree, Dr. Squatch, Bulletproof Coffee, Salt & Straw Ice Cream, MUD/WTR, Bokksu, and many more.

Here's what makes this podcast different: I've been on both sides of the table.

6+ years working inside Shopify gave me access to what's coming before most merchants know it exists. Building and scaling my own businesses taught me what actually works when your money and reputation are on the line. That combination—insider access plus real operator experience—gives you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

Since 2016, eCommerce Fastlane has delivered over 420 episodes and more than 2 million downloads to ambitious Shopify founders and marketers. Every week, I sit down with operators, developers, and experts who share what's actually moving the needle right now—not theory, but patterns I've seen work consistently across dozens of brands at multiple stages.

Whether you're launching your first store or scaling past seven figures, every episode gives you stage-aware strategies you can implement this week. We cover Shopify apps and best practices, digital marketing and retention tactics, AI and automation tools, as well as operations and logistics that reduce overwhelm while building lasting customer loyalty.

You'll discover how to leverage emerging tech without losing what makes your brand unique, and you'll hear real founder stories—including lessons from my own journey and insights from 400+ industry leaders who've been exactly where you are.

This isn't content for content's sake. It's the insight you'd get sitting at a mastermind table with someone who's succeeded at every level, helped hundreds of others do the same, and has the pattern recognition to show you what actually works at your current stage.

Ready to grow smarter, not just faster? Join 30,000+ merchants in the eCommerce Fastlane community through our podcast, newsletter, blog, and forthcoming book "Thriving with Shopify."

Steve Hutt
DTC Founder | Podcast Host

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Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com