Web Design, Technology
The Unofficial Shopify Podcast
Kurt Elster, Paul Reda
NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY, SUBSCRIBE FOR UNBEATABLE ECOM RECON – Every Tuesday since 2014, host Kurt Elster shares the Shopify success stories that nobody tells you about, straight from the entrepreneurs living it. Subscribe for a raw look at what it really takes to succeed on Shopify.
5.0
44 min
0.5%
10 episodes
1
Buff Clucks: From Homework Assignment to 7-Figure Chicken Brand
48 min
311/18/2025So there's this moment in 2022 where Celia Hatch wakes up from a dream about chicken supplements called "Chicken Spice." She thinks it's ridiculous. Fast forward to today, and she's running a seven-figure business serving America's 13% of households with backyard chickens.The twist is it started as her teenage son's eighth-grade homework assignment. He made $500 selling herbs in craft bags, then quit. Ms. Hatch, a serial entrepreneur with 16 businesses behind her, picked it up and scaled Buff Clucks to seven figures in 18 months using Meta advertising, landing pages, and subscription bundling.This is a story about accidental entrepreneurship, the growing market of premium pet owners willing to double their feed costs, and why sometimes the best business ideas come to you in your sleep. Along the way, Celia reveals why their Shopify store is the "neglected child" of their operation, how a "sneeze warning" became genius marketing, and why she wishes she'd built a proper Shopify store from day one.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSBuff Clucks: https://www.buffclucks.com/Buff Clucks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buff_clucks/Funnelish (tool they use): https://funnelish.com/SEMrush: https://www.semrush.com/Ubersuggest: https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/WORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
2
What's New in Shopify: November 2025
35 min
311/18/2025Shopify just went from 100 variants per product to 2,048. Shopify Partners Kurt Elster and Paul Reda tested it and found out there's a secret limit at 250 where everything changes. Your theme might work perfectly, it might half-work, or it might completely break depending on when it was built.They also dig into the new VS Code-based theme editor (developers love it, merchants hate it), the "unlisted" product status that's perfect for hiding free gifts and private sales, and Kurt reveals the one homepage element that gets clicked more than anything else—you're probably not using it right.This is pure Shopify platform talk that's more entertaining than it should be.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSUnofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unofficialshopifyWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
3
Black Friday Starts Early: The 3-Week Email Strategy
50 min
311/18/2025Kurt and Filip break down buy-two-get-two offers that crush percentage discounts, why five emails on Black Friday is actually conservative, and the three-week framework 8-figure brands use to win Q4. If you're planning to send a couple emails on Cyber Monday and call it done, this episode will make you rethink everything.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSFilip Pejic on X: https://x.com/BallinFilBedford Marketing: https://www.bedfordmarketing.co/The Paper Boy Newsletter: https://thepaperboy.beehiiv.com/WORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
4
Accessibility: Bet Hannon's 4-Step Fix
44 min
311/18/2025"These tools rely on automation that only catches 30% of issues. And for blind users with screen readers? The overlays often conflict with their assistive tech—making the site harder to use."Bet Hannon runs AccessiCart, an agency that fixes accessibility problems for e-commerce stores—usually right after they've been sued. We talked about why "quick fix" overlay plugins are making the problem worse, the four accessibility issues you can fix right now, and what the European Accessibility Act's €100K fines mean for US-based stores.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSAccessiCart: https://accessicart.comBet on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bethannonWAVE Accessibility Tool: https://wave.webaim.orgOverlay Fact Sheet: https://overlayfactsheet.comWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
5
Smart Marketer Live 2025
57 min
311/18/2025I spent three days at Smart Marketer Live in Denver, capturing raw conversations with agency owners, brand founders, and Meta reps about what's actually working in 2025.This isn't your typical conference recap. We're talking about Meta's Andromeda update that killed everyone's ad performance over the summer, why TikTok Shop might be a trap, and how a chicken supplement business owner plans to poach employees like she's manifesting herbs.Featuring Beav Brodie (Tactical Baby Gear), Brett Curry (OMG Commerce), Attila from Smart Marketer, and Celia Hatch (Buff Clucks).SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSTactical Baby Gear: https://tacticalbabygear.comFight Soap: https://fightsoap.usBuff Clucks: https://buffclucks.comOMG Commerce: https://omgcommerce.comSmart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.comWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
6
Jomboy's 3-in-1 Store + ChatGPT Shopping Arrives
40 min
311/18/2025So there's this baseball media company. They make shirts about guys with nicknames like "The Big Dumper." And they needed three different store experiences, but only wanted to use one store. What our co-host Paul Reda figured out next is either brilliant or insane. Maybe both.Today on the show, we're asking: when does a hack become a feature? When does one store become three? And why would anyone voluntarily remove every frontend app from their Shopify store? Plus, ChatGPT can now sell your products directly. No, really. We'll explain how that works and why Kurt thinks automated fraud prevention might actually matter this time.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSJomboy Media Shop: https://shop.jomboymedia.com/ChatGPT Shopping Signup: https://shopify.com/chatgptCustomer Category Segmentation: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/segment-customers-based-on-the-product-categories-they-ve-browsed-or-boughtAutomated Fraud Prevention: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/fraud-prevention/indexUnofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast/WORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
7
SEO Is Dead. Long Live GEO. w/ Domaine's Mac King
51 min
311/18/2025"ChatGPT is not that sophisticated yet. So for marketers, what that means is there are real ways right now for arbitrage in this short period of time before ChatGPT gets good enough to say, no, we're only showing the proper result."Mac King from Domaine breaks down why merchants are seeing ChatGPT and Perplexity show up as referral sources in their analytics—and what to do about it. We talked about the terminology wars (GEO vs AEO vs AI search optimization), why AI engines favor content from Google's 10th page, and the Reddit strategies that actually work without getting banned.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSDomaine AI Commerce Suite: https://www.meetdomaine.com/insights/domaine-news/domaine-launches-ai-commerce-suiteMac King on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenziepking/Mac King on Twitter: https://x.com/MacKing/Profound (tracking tool): https://www.tryprofound.com/Shopify Knowledge Base app: https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-knowledge-baseSEOFOMO newsletter: https://seofomo.co/Commerce GPT newsletter: https://www.yotpo.com/commerce-gpt/WORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
8
Jamil Bhuya: Why Store Owners Can't See Conversion Killers
49 min
311/18/2025Jamil Bhuya has scaled businesses across three wildly different industries: restaurants, beauty, and now Shopify agencies. That multi-industry perspective gives him a unique superpower—he can spot the conversion killers that store owners become blind to. We talked about why fresh eyes matter more than fancy tools, the psychology behind purchase objections, and how being too close to your business destroys your ability to see what customers actually need.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSOther Half Studio: https://otherhalf.studioJamil on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jamil-bhuyaWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
9
Bots, Fraud, & Other Online Store BS
43 min
311/18/2025We're seeing 10x more bots than humans on client stores. Fraudsters are buying your cheapest items to test stolen credit cards. Your SEO agency wants 150 new collections.This week, we dig into the actual problems hitting Shopify stores right now. Not theory, not best practices, but the real BS we're fixing for clients. We break down why your analytics are lying, how to stop credit card testers, and whether more granular SEO collections are brilliant or idiotic.Plus: The free Shopify app that caught a critical launch mistake, proof that ChatGPT drives revenue, and beta access to our new Promo Party app.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLINKSShopify Launch CheckMicrosoft ClarityFraud ControlCheckout BlocksBeta test Promo Party: Contact Kurt via newsletter or LinkedInWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.
10
The $720K Exit That Disappeared
43 min
311/18/2025"I'm not very good at success. That's something I learned as part of this."Ben Knegendorf went from forklift operator at Walmart to selling his stake in an indoor golf business for $720,000. Then he watched most of it disappear through lifestyle creep, speculative investments, and financial ignorance. His second exit was different - and his brutal honesty about where the money went offers real lessons for entrepreneurs facing their first big payday.SponsorsSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.com/unofficialZipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURTLinksBen Knegendorf: https://www.benknegendorf.com/Dropship Breakthrough: https://dropshipbreakthru.com/Ben's 2022 Episode: https://unofficialshopifypodcast.com/episodes/ben-knegendorf-dropships-FLGufeLEJohn Murphy's Episode: https://unofficialshopifypodcast.com/episodes/john-murphy-ebikegeneration-IcHgGRVaWork with KurtApply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/applySee Our Results ethercycle.com/workFree Newsletter kurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.