There’s a quiet pressure in ecommerce that’s hard to ignore. Every week there’s a new channel worth testing. A new platform gaining traction. A competitor showing up somewhere you’re not. And before long, “we should be there too” starts to feel less like a question and more like a requirement.

But what if that instinct is actually slowing you down?

That’s exactly what Jaimee Vilela, Managing Director of Cooki Haircare, pushed back against. After acquiring the brand as a lifestyle business, Jaimee and her partner scaled from $179K to over $3 million in revenue in just two years, using just two core channels: Meta and Klaviyo.

In this Playbook:

• How Cooki Haircare scaled from $179K to $3M using just two core marketing channels
• Why “channel addiction” is one of the most expensive mistakes in ecommerce
• How focusing on fewer channels can actually increase clarity and performance
• Why more channels often lead to worse attribution, not better data
• And how building depth in one channel creates a defensible competitive advantage

Visit StudioHawk to learn more.

Connect with Jaimee
Explore Cooki Haircare
Cooki Haircare’s episode
Krumbled Group’s episode
Pet Circle’s episode
Motto’s Fashion’s episode
Kakadu Plumb’s episode
King Kong’s episode

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Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
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Sam Moore, founder of PYRA, has built one of Australia’s most exciting challenger brands by blending technical outdoor apparel with streetwear DNA. After early roles at General Pants and Culture Kings, and a first brand that didn’t quite go to plan, Sam launched PYRA with a clear vision: bridge the gap between performance gear and fashion. What followed was rapid growth inside Culture Kings, a complex buyback, and a full reset into a DTC-first global brand.

Today, we're discussing:

• Building PYRA inside Culture Kings and buying it back
• The shift from wholesale to a 90% DTC model
• Why niche positioning beats broad appeal in ecommerce
• Turning a brand into a UGC machine
• Using entry products (like hats) to drive LTV Scaling globally through Meta and Shopify
• Markets Product development in technical apparel
• Managing supply chain, 3PL, and global logistics

Connect with Sam
Explore PYRA

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Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
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Danielle Pearce, founder of Merry People, has avoided discounting for over a decade. In more than 12 years of building her premium gumboot brand, she hasn’t run a single sale. Not once.

By making pricing part of the brand, she removed hesitation. By attracting the right customers, she built loyalty instead of chasing volume. And by backing it all with a product that holds its own, she made full price feel justified, not risky.

In today's Playbook:

• How Merry People built a premium brand by never discounting in over 12 years
• Why removing promotions can actually increase trust and conversion
• How discounting shapes the type of customers your brand attracts
• Why the best brands break free from the promotional calendar
• And what it takes to build a product that can hold full price long-term

Connect with Danny
Explore Merry People
Merry People’s main episode
Culture King’s main episode
Outland Denim’s main episode

SMS us to request a guest!

Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
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Brooke Eichhorn from Behamics joins Johan Nyberg, Chief Digital Officer at Elite Supps, to unpack how one of Australia’s fastest-growing supplement retailers is increasing conversion without leaning on discounts. With over 140 stores and rapid global expansion, Elite Supps isn’t short on traffic: the real challenge is helping customers make better decisions once they land on site.

In today’s exclusive episode, the conversation goes deeper than traditional CRO. It’s not about tweaking buttons or shaving seconds off checkout. It’s about understanding why customers hesitate, and using behavioural science, powered by AI, to respond in real time.

Today, we're discussing:

• How Elite Supps increased conversion without relying on discounts
• Why most ecommerce nudges lose effectiveness over time
• The difference between static CRO tactics and dynamic personalisation
• What “causal AI” means (and why it matters for ecommerce)
• How to reduce hesitation instead of just chasing more traffic
• Why first-time vs returning customers is too simplistic
• Where the real revenue opportunities are hiding in your funnel

Explore Behamics
Connect with Brooke
Explore Elite Supps
Connect with Johan

SMS us to request a guest!

Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
Contact Add To Cart
Join the Community

Five years ago, Mike Halligan joined Add To Cart from a hotel room during COVID lockdown, sharing how Scratch was disrupting the dog food category with a simple but powerful idea: healthier food, delivered on subscription, built on trust rather than tactics.

Fast forward to today, and Scratch is still grounded in that same philosophy. But behind the scenes, the business has evolved significantly.

Today, we're discussing:

• Why Scratch remains subscription-only despite the pressure to drive one-off sales
• What happened when Scratch tried to build a dog-owner community and real-world activations
• The moment Mike finally admitted defeat and embraced Meta ads
• The AI workflow Mike built using Claude to analyse reviews and generate ad concepts
• Why Scratch focuses purely on new customer acquisition on Meta
• How AI now helps Mike build internal tools without hiring developers
• Why the next year at Scratch is about calming the chaos and executing better

Connect with Mike
Explore Scratch

SMS us to request a guest!

Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
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Most ecommerce brands think sales happen at the end of the journey: checkout, payments, abandoned carts. But by the time a customer gets there, the decision is already made.

The brands generating real word of mouth aren’t the ones with the slickest checkout. They’re the ones that made the journey to checkout feel like something. Something personal. Something memorable. Something worth telling a friend about.

That’s exactly what Maheer Shah, founder of Dr. Grillz, has built. What looks like friction (consultations, fittings, wait times) has become his biggest marketing advantage.

In today's Playbook:

• How Dr. Grillz turns customer fittings into content and word-of-mouth moments
• Why pre-purchase experience matters more than checkout optimisation
• How “positive friction” can actually increase trust and conversions
• Why making it harder to buy can turn purchases into stories customers share
• How brands recreate in-store experiences to drive confidence and conversion

Connect with Dr. Maheer Shah
Explore Dr. Grillz
Dt. Grillz' episode
Preezie's episode
Culture Kings' episode
Try With Mirra's episode

SMS us to request a guest!

Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
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Guy Nappa, co-founder and COO of Oz Hair & Beauty, joins Bushy fresh off being named the #1 person in the Top 50 People in Ecommerce Australia for the second consecutive year, one of the highest recognitions in the Australian ecommerce industry.

In today's episode, Guy shares what it actually takes to scale a modern retail business: from warehouse upgrades and faster dispatch operations to building a culture that empowers teams to make decisions and keep momentum in a fast-growing company.

Today, we're discussing:

• Why Oz Hair & Beauty moved from pure ecommerce into physical retail
• The operational upgrades behind their famously fast delivery
• How starting on eBay shaped their obsession with customer reviews
• Why investors encouraged the business to expand into retail
• How to write a winning submission for the Top 50 People in Ecommerce list
• The challenges of running a true omnichannel business across ecommerce and stores

Connect with Guy
Explore Oz Hair & Beauty

SMS us to request a guest!

Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
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Join the Community

Everyone says they’re building a community. But very few brands actually are.

In this Add To Cart Playbook, we break down what it really takes to turn customers into a community that drives loyalty, repeat purchases and word of mouth.

Featuring insights from Tara McKeon (Proud Poppy), Briony Kennedy (Adorn Cosmetics), Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis (Retail Doctor Group) and Laura Thompson & Sarah Sheridan (Clothing The Gaps), this episode explores why the brands winning today aren’t just building audiences: they’re building belonging.

In Today's Playbook:

• How Tara McKeon built a 22,000-member community around Proud Poppy that drives repeat purchases
• Why the strongest ecommerce brands focus on community before conversion
• How letting customers lead the conversation can create deeper loyalty than any campaign
• Why status and belonging can outperform discounts in loyalty programs
• How brands like Clothing The Gaps turn customers into participants in a community-driven mission

Connect with Tara
Explore Proud Poppy
Tara's main episode
Adorn Cosmetic's main episode
Clothing the Gaps' main episode

SMS us to request a guest!

Support the show

Want to level up your ecommerce game? Come hang out in the Add To Cart Community. We’re talking deep dives, smart events, and real-world inspo for operators who are in it for the long haul.

Connect with Nathan Bush
Contact Add To Cart
Join the Community