Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

In this episode of the Podcast, Richard and Luke break down the uncomfortable truth most brands ignore: your marketing calendar not your spreadsheet—is the real driver of revenue. We walk through why forecasts consistently miss, how spending power actually shifts month to month, and the system top DTC brands use to tie marketing actions directly to revenue outcomes.

You’ll learn how to:

• Build forecasts rooted in real marketing behavior

• Use spending power and event effect models to predict revenue accurately

• Diagnose why actuals diverge from plan (and what actions to take next)

• Align finance and marketing so both teams finally speak the same language

If you want predictable revenue, tighter forecasts, and a clearer view of how marketing really moves the business, this episode is your blueprint.

Show Notes:

In this episode, Taylor and Joy break down the real 2026 playbook for 7-figure ecommerce brands, and why copying 9-figure operators is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

Coming off BFCM, they unpack what actually happened for small brands and what it signals heading into the new year.

You’ll learn:

• How to create “four peaks a month” using trends, cultural moments, and audience overlaps

• Why forecasting is an execution system not a prediction tool

• How aMER becomes your most reliable metric at the 7-figure stage

• The traps that stall growth (SKU bloat, premature channel expansion, bad benchmarks)

• What separates the 7-figure brands that scale from the ones that don’t

If you’re aiming to reach 8 figures in 2026, this episode outlines the roadmap.

Plus: How CTC’s Profit System and Global Accelerator help founders build predictable, scalable growth.

Show Notes:

How do high-performing ecommerce brands turn campaigns into predictable cash flow?

In this episode, we break down the exact forecasting process we use at Common Thread Collective to consistently land within 0–10% of goal across dozens of brands.

Growth Strategy Manager Brian Sakansky joins Richard to unpack how CTC builds forecasts, operationalizes them, and uses daily expectations to make real-time decisions that drive revenue and contribution margin.

You’ll learn:

• Why most forecasts fail—and how to fix yours

• How CTC turns marketing calendars into financial plans

• The daily system our team uses to hit targets with confidence

• How to identify the “real” problem in your data (AOV, CAC, CVR, etc.)

• The contingency planning that keeps brands on track when things go sideways

•  How smaller operators can build this same process with nothing more than a spreadsheet

If you want forecasting to be more than a spreadsheet…

If you want it to actually guide your decisions…

And if you want to turn campaigns into reliable cash flow…

Show Notes:

In this episode of the Podcast, we break down the real story of BFCM 2025—from forecasting accuracy to media buying chaos, offer pivots, AppLovin’s breakout performance, and what this year’s results say about the broader consumer economy.

Richard and Taylor walk through:

• The full BFCM data recap: +7% total revenue, +10% new customers, +13% contribution margin

• Why Saturday became the surprise winner of the weekend

• AppLovin outperforming expectations by 100%+

• Meta delivery volatility, and why it’s part of the game

• Tactical offer changes that saved entire BFCM weekends

• The rise of BNPL and concerning consumer financial behavior

• What this all means for 2026 planning

If you’re preparing for the year ahead, this episode breaks down the numbers, the lessons, and the trends shaping how brands should think about forecasting, spending, and customer acquisition going into 2026.

Show Notes:

Black Friday is three days away but there’s still time to tighten your strategy and avoid costly mistakes. In this episode of the podcast, the CTC team breaks down the 5 essential last-minute BFCM fixes every brand needs before the biggest weekend of the year.

Whether you're behind on creative, unsure about spend pacing, or just want to sanity-check your plan…this is the checklist that will save your BFCM.

What we cover:

• Locking spend to aMER targets

• Auditing & refreshing creative without producing anything new

• Simplifying your offer across the entire customer journey

• Operational readiness (don’t ruin a good sale!)

• Hour-by-hour tracking & how to take action quickly

If you want a clean, no-nonsense guide to surviving Black Friday/Cyber Monday (and setting yourself up for your best one yet), this is the episode.

Show Notes: