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

Welcome to Episode 14. On today’s episode, I sat down and had a chat with Matt Goodman the co-founder of Okendo. A platform you may not have heard of yet but they have developed a compelling solution that adds the “like” and “trust” factor to your Shopify product pages in the form of ratings and reviews that builds excitement and creates a compelling reason for the site visitor to click the BUY button. Along with a host of other features including user-generated photos and videos, highlights of your products unique selling points and key value drivers. An extremely powerful multi-channel marketing section to extend the value of your customer-generated content. Inline SEO, rich snippets (which shows review metadata next to your product page links), Google shopping (pushing review data to your shopping feeds to increase conversion), Facebook, dynamic and lookalike audiences ad serving and much more. Regardless if you are using a competitive solution to generate reviews you owe it yourself to see what you are missing. Innovation is happening now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 14. On today’s episode, I sat down and had a chat with Matt Goodman the co-founder of Okendo. A platform you may not have heard of yet but they have developed a compelling solution that adds the “like” and “trust” factor to your Shopify product pages in the form of ratings and reviews that builds excitement and creates a compelling reason for the site visitor to click the BUY button. Along with a host of other features including user-generated photos and videos, highlights of your products unique selling points and key value drivers. An extremely powerful multi-channel marketing section to extend the value of your customer-generated content. Inline SEO, rich snippets (which shows review metadata next to your product page links), Google shopping (pushing review data to your shopping feeds to increase conversion), Facebook, dynamic and lookalike audiences ad serving and much more. Regardless if you are using a competitive solution to generate reviews you owe it yourself to see what you are missing. Innovation is happening now!
 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 from my garage, to co-founding and scaling VisionPros.com (an optical DTC startup) through to a successful exit, then spending 6+ years as a Shopify Merchant Success Manager helping 100+ brands from startup to enterprise scale, including working with 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, scaling, and successfully exiting my own ecommerce businesses taught me what actually works when your money and reputation are on the line. That combination of insider access plus real operator experience gives you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

Since 2018, eCommerce Fastlane has delivered over 430 episodes and more than 2 million downloads to ambitious Shopify founders and marketers. Every week, I chat 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 dig into Shopify apps, digital marketing, retention tactics, AI tools, and the operational stuff that actually reduces overwhelm—while building customer loyalty that lasts.

You'll learn how to leverage emerging tech without losing what makes your brand unique. You'll also hear real founder stories, including lessons from my own journey building and exiting a DTC brand, plus insights from guests across 430+ episodes who've been exactly where you are.

This isn't content for content's sake. It's what you'd get sitting at a mastermind table with someone who's built, scaled, and exited—and helped hundreds of others do the same.

Ready to grow smarter, not just faster? Join thousands of founders and marketers 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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Website: eCommerceFastlane.com
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Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com