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

Growth Mindset? Invest In Yourself Today!Being an entrepreneur truly is a life of learning. All it would take is a new idea, a strategy, a Shopify app, or a marketing platform to be the next thing you need to improve efficiencies, drive more revenue, and build lifetime customer loyalty for your Shopify brand.My guest in today’s episode is Alex Markov the CEO of Refersion. They are a Certified Shopify Plus Technology Partner that helps Shopify brands to manage, track, and grow their affiliate and influencer marketing programs. If you’ve not implemented an affiliate or influencer program yet, this episode will educate you on why this strategy is incredibly important today and the tech stack to make it all happen.What You Will Learn TodayHow brands can reduce their customer acquisition costs (CAC) with performance-based affiliate marketing.Why influencer marketing is entering its next stage of maturity.Why brands are starting to align themselves with influencers that reflect their value (ethos) through long-term, direct relationships.How to get free access to a network of qualified affiliates and publishers ready to market your products.Links And Resources Mentioned In This EpisodeRefersionRefersion Shopify App30-Day Free Trial Live Walkthrough Demonstrating The Refersion PlatformShrimp and Grits KidsThank You For ListeningI truly appreciate you choosing to listen today and for supporting the podcast and it's sponsors. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.I would also be so grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in iTunes. They’re extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and I read each and every one personally!New Strategies Each Week To Help You Build And Scale Lifetime Customer Loyalty. SUBSCRIBE HERE!Being an entrepreneur is a life of learning. All it would take is a new idea, strategy, Shopify app, or marketing platform to be the next thing you need to drive more revenue and lifetime loyalty for your Shopify store. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify and don’t miss a single episode!REWIND : EPISODE SPONSORAutomated Backups. Painless Recovery.Accidents can happen and it can have major financial impact on your business. What happens when you install an app and it messed up your theme? Or you upload a product catalog with errors or a store collaborator deleted product images by mistake.Common myth; Shopify has a backup that you can use when something goes wrong with your store. Untrue! Myth busted. Shopify has no native backups.So what do you do? You use Rewind to protect your Shopify store with automated backups.Rewind should be the first app you install to protect your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad. It’s like having your very own magic undo button.The Rewind App is trusted by over 30,000 businesses from side hustles to the biggest online retailers like Gatorade and MVMT Watches.Best of all? Respond to any of their welcome emails and mention the eCommerce Fastlane Podcast and you’ll get your first month of backups absolutely free.Protect your business and get peace of mind with Rewind Backups.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes

Growth Mindset? Invest In Yourself Today!
Being an entrepreneur truly is a life of learning. All it would take is a new idea, a strategy, a Shopify app, or a marketing platform to be the next thing you need to improve efficiencies, drive more revenue, and build lifetime customer loyalty for your Shopify brand.
My guest in today’s episode is Alex Markov the CEO of Refersion. They are a Certified Shopify Plus Technology Partner that helps Shopify brands to manage, track, and grow their affiliate and influencer marketing programs. 
If you’ve not implemented an affiliate or influencer program yet, this episode will educate you on why this strategy is incredibly important today and the tech stack to make it all happen.
What You Will Learn Today
  • How brands can reduce their customer acquisition costs (CAC) with performance-based affiliate marketing.
  • Why influencer marketing is entering its next stage of maturity.
  • Why brands are starting to align themselves with influencers that reflect their value (ethos) through long-term, direct relationships.
  • How to get free access to a network of qualified affiliates and publishers ready to market your products.
Links And Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Shrimp and Grits Kids
Thank You For Listening
I truly appreciate you choosing to listen today and for supporting the podcast and it's sponsors. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
I would also be so grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in iTunes. They’re extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and I read each and every one personally!
New Strategies Each Week To Help You Build And Scale Lifetime Customer Loyalty. SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Being an entrepreneur is a life of learning. All it would take is a new idea, strategy, Shopify app, or marketing platform to be the next thing you need to drive more revenue and lifetime loyalty for your Shopify store. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify and don’t miss a single episode!
REWIND : EPISODE SPONSOR
Automated Backups. Painless Recovery.
Accidents can happen and it can have major financial impact on your business. What happens when you install an app and it messed up your theme? Or you upload a product catalog with errors or a store collaborator deleted product images by mistake.
Common myth; Shopify has a backup that you can use when something goes wrong with your store. Untrue! Myth busted. Shopify has no native backups.
So what do you do? You use Rewind to protect your Shopify store with automated backups.
Rewind should be the first app you install to protect your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad. It’s like having your very own magic undo button.
The Rewind App is trusted by over 30,000 businesses from side hustles to the biggest online retailers like Gatorade and MVMT Watches.
Best of all? Respond to any of their welcome emails and mention the eCommerce Fastlane Podcast and you’ll get your first month of backups absolutely free.
Protect your business and get peace of mind with Rewind Backups. 

 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

Find Us Online
Website: eCommerceFastlane.com
Newsletter: FastlaneInsider.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shutt
X: x.com/stevenhutt
Instagram: instagram.com/ecommercefastlane
Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com