Commerce Untold

Vira Sadlak is a Retention Marketing Strategist at Flowium, a retention-focused agency and Klaviyo Platinum Partner specializing in email, SMS, and lifecycle marketing for e-commerce brands. She works with DTC brands across categories to build the automated systems that turn one-time buyers into long-term customers.Most brands pour their budget into acquisition and go quiet the moment a customer converts. That silence is expensive. This episode gets into exactly what brands are leaving on the table and how to fix it.Eitan and Vira cover the nine foundational flows every brand should have in place, why segmented lists often outperform full sends revenue-wise, and how to build customer journeys that branch based on behavior rather than treating every buyer the same. They also get into the mechanics of growing and identifying your subscriber list, including identity resolution tools and zero-party data collection through quizzes.The conversation goes deep on KPIs that actually matter (open rates are no longer one of them), when and how to layer in SMS, the deliverability mistakes that land you in spam, and where AI fits into retention strategy today. Listeners will walk away with a clear framework for building retention programs that generate consistent revenue without relying on one-off campaigns.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: [email protected] website: https://vimmi.net/commerce-untold/Eitan Koter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eitankoter/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VimmiVideoCommerce/featuredGuest: Vira Sadlak, Retention Marketing Strategist, FlowiumVira Sadlak's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virasadlak/Flowium: https://flowium.comKey Takeaways:• A significant share of second purchases happen within 24 to 48 hours of the first order, before the package even arrives. Not messaging customers in that window is one of the most common and costly retention mistakes.• Open rates are no longer a reliable performance signal. Click rates and conversion by segment tell you far more about whether your emails are actually working.• Sending the same message to your entire list hurts deliverability. Segmented sends consistently produce equal or better revenue while protecting your sender reputation.• Plain text emails outperform designed HTML templates on engagement and inbox placement because email providers do not flag them as promotional material.• Klaviyo and similar platforms function as data collection and analytics tools, not just communication channels. The segment-level insights they produce can inform your broader marketing strategy across every channel.• Identity resolution tools can identify anonymous website visitors and add them to your flows, but they require healthy deliverability and meaningful traffic volume (50,000 or more monthly visits) to be effective.Chapters:[01:20] About Vira Sadlak and Flowium[02:40] The Nine Foundational Retention Flows[07:27] Segmentation and Branching: Why 50 Journeys Is Not Too Many[10:04] What Retention Actually Means[11:05] Growing Your Subscriber List and Identity Resolution[14:11] How to Nurture Leads Who Have Not Purchased Yet[16:05] Why Email and SMS Still Drive 25-30% of Shopify Revenue[17:53] The KPIs That Actually Matter (Open Rates Are Not One of Them)[21:11] Email Cadence, Educational vs. Sales Content, and Preference Pages[24:25] When to Add SMS and How Often to Send[25:34] WhatsApp, Telegram, and RCS: Emerging Channels[27:36] Deliverability: How to Stay Out of Spam[29:26] How Flowium Serves Clients and Where AI Fits In

Cem Atik is the co-founder and CMO of Harucon Ventures, a firm that acquires minority and majority equity stakes in e-commerce and SaaS businesses doing between one and ten million in annual revenue. Rather than operating as an agency or consultancy, Cem and his team get in with capital, take operational control of marketing and finance, and work to make the businesses they partner with structurally profitable.Most e-commerce brands that come to Harucon Ventures have the same underlying problem: they are optimizing for the wrong things. Revenue looks healthy. ROAS looks acceptable. But unit economics are broken, overhead is bloated, and the margin structure makes scaling impossible.In this conversation, Cem walks through exactly how his team diagnoses and fixes that. From cutting ad spend by 1.7 million euros in a single month to replacing a fulfillment provider that was silently overcharging a brand shipping 25,000 packages a day, the fixes are rarely glamorous but consistently high-impact. The conversation also covers his four-engine growth framework: acquisition, retention, conversion, and profit-first optimization, and why founders who lead with ROAS are measuring the wrong thing entirely.Cem also breaks down channel mix strategy, including why Pinterest and Bing Ads are consistently underused, why TikTok affiliate is one of the highest-leverage growth levers available right now, and why the real money in e-commerce is almost always made in retention, not acquisition.Founders who are scaling but not compounding, or growing revenue while watching margins compress, will find this episode unusually direct and useful.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: [email protected] website: https://vimmi.net/commerce-untold/Eitan Koter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eitankoter/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VimmiVideoCommerce/featuredGuest: Cem Atik, Co-Founder & CMO, Harucon VenturesCem Atik's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cem-atikHarucon-Ventures: https://harucon-ventures.com/Key Takeaways:• If a founder cannot state their customer acquisition cost in under 15 seconds, the business does not have a real financial foundation yet.• ROAS tells you how much revenue you generated per dollar spent. It tells you nothing about whether that dollar was profitable. Optimizing for profit on ad spend (POAS) gives you actual control.• Gross margin under 65% makes scaling structurally difficult in the US and UK markets. The margin problem cannot be fixed with better ads.• Agencies are typically three times cheaper than hiring in-house at early stages. Outsource acquisition first, learn from the partner, then bring it in-house once systems are proven.• TikTok affiliate is one of the most capital-efficient acquisition channels available: commission-based, creator-generated content, and scalable without a large internal team.• Pinterest is consistently overlooked despite an audience skewing 25 to 45 years old with average household incomes above $100K, and ROAS between four and six even at modest spend levels.Chapters:[00:00] Introduction: Cem Atik and the Harucon Ventures Model[01:27] The Founders Harucon Typically Partners With[03:45] The Post-Acquisition Audit: First 72 Hours[07:45] Cutting 1.7M Euros in Ad Spend: A Case Study[09:16] Why Gross Margin Under 65% Makes Scaling Nearly Impossible[13:51] The KPIs That Actually Matter: CAC, CLV, MER, EBITDA[18:35] The Four Engines: Acquisition, Retention, Conversion, Profit[24:00] Why ROAS Misleads and POAS Gives Real Control[25:41] Channel Mix: TikTok, Pinterest, Bing, and What Gets Overlooked

Kate Assaraf is the CEO and founder of dip sustainable, a plastic-free haircare brand she launched in 2021 that hit seven figures within 18 months without running a single paid ad. Before starting dip, she spent 20 years inside the beauty industry, long enough to see the deceptive marketing practices that eventually pushed her to build something completely different.Most DTC beauty brands launch with paid social, influencer seeding, and a race to acquire customers fast. Kate did the opposite. She cold-called refill stores, traveled across the country to meet sustainable retailers face to face, and built distribution through brick-and-mortar before she ever thought about digital advertising. Today, dip is carried in all 50 states and has sold over 300,000 bars by word of mouth alone.The conversation covers why Kate chose physical retail over digital-first, how she thinks about authentic customer marketing in a category overrun by sponsored content and AI-generated testimonials, and why she built her own factory after her contract manufacturer went bankrupt. That last decision, vertically integrating manufacturing and fulfillment under one roof, turned out to be the most consequential call she made as a founder.Kate also takes on the sustainability conversation directly, pushing back on the moralizing that she believes drives people away from the movement rather than toward it. Her version of sustainability is inclusive, economics-driven, and grounded in saving customers money, not lecturing them. She explains why the dip conditioner bar, at $32 and lasting close to a year, is a stronger pitch than the environmental argument alone.Founders in CPG, beauty, and retail will come away with a rare perspective: what it actually looks like to build a consumer brand slowly, deliberately, and without the typical playbook.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: [email protected] website: https://vimmi.net/commerce-untold/Eitan Koter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eitankoter/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VimmiVideoCommerce/featuredGuest: Kate Assaraf, CEO & Founder, dip sustainableKate Assaraf's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-assaraf-b25a741a7dip sustainable: https://dipalready.comWatch the full Youtube video here:https://youtu.be/c9hCsejvcX8Key Takeaways:• Seven figures in 18 months, zero paid ads. If the product solves a real problem and you understand the customer from the inside, distribution follows• Real paying customers outperform influencers in haircare and skincare because results are too easy to fake• Moralizing drives people away from sustainability. Framing it as inclusive and economically smart converts more people than shame ever will• The $32 conditioner bar saves customers up to $500 a year. The environmental pitch is secondary to the financial one• Gifting product builds a hollow first wave. Real retention only comes from people who spent their own money• When her contract manufacturer went bankrupt, Kate built her own factory. It removed 3PL costs, protected the formula, and became the best decision she ever made• Returns largely end up in landfills. Local retail reduces return rates and creates accountability that e-commerce cannot replicateChapters:00:00 Seven figures, zero ads00:16 Introducing Kate Assaraf00:54 Values beyond work03:09 Why Kate left the beauty industry04:22 Dip's marketing: real customers only07:59 Fast beauty, sustainability, and unlearning consumerism14:24 Seven figures without a single ad15:36 How Dip launched: refill stores and road trips21:51 Giving back and reinvesting profits25:41 When the contract manufacturer went bankrupt27:51 Advice for founders29:54 Where to find Dip

Ilya Mikin is Vice President of Technology M&A at Corum Group, one of the leading technology M&A advisory firms globally. His background spans more than two decades across enterprise marketing at Intel and Unilever, executive and CEO roles at companies including iHerb, multiple founder exits across AdTech, MarTech, and FinTech, and now advising founders through acquisitions. He has been on every side of the M&A table, which makes his perspective unusually grounded.This episode gets into what has fundamentally changed about how technology and e-commerce companies are built, valued, and sold. The old playbook of raising VC money, growing at all costs, and gunning for IPO has largely collapsed. What replaced it is a market where M&A has become the primary liquidity event for founders, and where the rules for what makes a company attractive have shifted significantly.Eitan and Ilya dig into what acquirers actually look at today: why NRR, GRR, and low churn have become the cornerstones of valuation, why private equity now represents up to 40-50% of buyers in some sectors, and what it means to be an AI-native company versus an AI-enabled one. They also cover the mechanics of the M&A process itself — the four to eight week preparation phase, how Corum builds competitive tension among buyers, why the narrative around a business often matters more than the financials, and the internal deal killers that founders rarely talk about openly.Ilya also shares his take on where shoppable video sits in a world increasingly shaped by agentic AI, why he believes emotional product categories are protected from agent-driven purchasing, and what he is personally watching in the space. Founders who are building toward an exit, or who have never seriously thought about timing one, will find this conversation both practical and clarifying.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: [email protected] Untold: https://vimmi.net/commerce-untold/Eitan Koter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eitankoter/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VimmiVideoCommerce/featuredGuest: Ilya Mikin, Vice President Technology M&A, Corum Group, Ltd.Ilya Mikin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyamikin/Corum Group, Ltd.: https://www.corumgroup.com/Watch the full Youtube video here:https://youtu.be/2lFD9JXIjIgKey Takeaways:VC investment in D2C e-commerce collapsed more than 90% from its 2021 peak, while M&A deals in that same sector grew 47% in 2025 — the exit path has fundamentally shiftedIPO is no longer the default liquidity event for most founders; M&A is now the primary outcome to plan aroundAcquirers today prioritize NRR, GRR, and low churn over raw growth rate — the stickiness and profitability of your customer base drives valuation more than top-line momentumPrivate equity now represents up to 40-50% of buyers in some sectors, and PE buyers lead with EBITDA, not vision — a minimum of $2-3M ARR and $500K EBITDA is roughly where serious interest startsBeing an AI-native company can increase your valuation by 20-30% or more; for true AI-native businesses, multiples can reach up to 20x EVFor AI companies, proprietary data sets matter more than the technology itself — the model is the moatMarket consolidation follows a cycle: the first quartile of a consolidation window has the most buyers, the most competition, and the highest multiples. Waiting too long means the music stopsThe narrative you build around your company matters more than your financials in the early stages of a buyer conversation — buyers need to feel fear of missing outRunning a competitive process with multiple interested buyers is the single most powerful lever a founder has in an M&A negotiation — inbound interest from one buyer puts the founder in a weak positionDeal fatigue and co-founder misalignment are the two most common internal reasons M&A deals collapse before closingAgentic AI will likely commoditize purchasing for basic, emotionally neutral products — but shoppable video remains essential for fashion, luxury, and any category where emotional decision-making drives the purchaseMore than 20% of WallID's customers now come through AI search channels like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, with zero marketing spend — a real signal of how discovery is changingChapters:[00:00] Introduction and Guest Background[00:57] Ilya's Path from Intel and Unilever to E-Commerce and M&A[02:07] How the Approach to Building and Exiting Startups Has Changed[03:29] Why VC Investment Collapsed and M&A Deals Are Rising[04:40] What Acquirers Actually Look at Today: NRR, GRR, and Profitability[05:58] The Rise of Private Equity as a Buyer and What PE Wants[07:20] How AI-Native Companies Command a Valuation Premium[08:47] Where E-Commerce Multiples Stand Today[10:32] The Sell-Side Process: Preparation, Positioning, and Narrative[12:06] The Consolidation Window and Why Timing Your Exit Matters[13:38] How Corum Prepares Founders for Market[14:17] Technology Evaluation: AI vs. Non-AI Companies[17:00] Building the Story, Outreach, and Creating Competitive Tension[20:02] How Long a Typical M&A Process Takes[21:44] Deal Fatigue and Co-Founder Misalignment as Internal Deal Killers[23:28] Shoppable Video and Agentic Commerce: Where Emotion Still Wins[26:09] WallID: Solving Checkout Friction and Fraud at Scale[28:13] Managing Multiple Ventures and the Side-Hustle Mindset[29:44] What Ilya Is Watching in E-Commerce Right Now: Know Your Agent[31:04] How to Connect with Ilya and Corum Group

In this episode of Commerce Untold, host Eitan Koter sits down with Carol Shih, founder of Qode Space, a boutique Shopify agency, and Doraemi, a cross-border consultancy helping international brands enter and grow in the US market.Carol has a background that spans LVMH, Alibaba, and years of working with fashion and beauty brands across multiple continents. She brings a direct, no-nonsense perspective to what it actually takes to succeed in cross-border e-commerce.They get into why so many international brands, including some doing billions in Asia, struggle the moment they try to enter the US. Carol explains that the product is rarely the problem. It usually comes down to self-awareness: knowing your weaknesses before you start spending.The conversation covers what a proper Shopify audit looks like, why pouring money into traffic before your store is ready is one of the most common and expensive mistakes brands make, and how to think about brand positioning before touching paid ads or picking a sales channel.They also talk about the shift toward AI search and what brands need to do now to stay discoverable, why TikTok Shop has changed the beauty category faster than most brands expected, and how Gen Alpha is about to reshape shopping behavior in ways most businesses are not prepared for.Carol also shares how she leads her two businesses, why transparency and community sit at the core of her team culture, and why her ideal clients are usually brands that have already made the expensive mistakes.If you are thinking about cross-border e-commerce, expanding into the US market, or trying to get more out of your Shopify store, this episode is worth your full attention.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: [email protected] website: https://vimmi.net/commerce-untold/Eitan Koter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eitankoter/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VimmiVideoCommerce/featuredGuest: Carol Shih, Founder, Qode Space and DoraemiCarol Shih's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shihcarol/Qode Space: https://qodespace.com/Watch the full Youtube video here:https://youtu.be/ptO--lEfDegTakeaways:Self-awareness is the most overlooked step in cross-border e-commerce expansionDominating your home market does not mean you will succeed in the USA slow, buggy website with spelling errors destroys trust before a sale can happenAmazon drives volume but builds no brand loyalty or long-term competitive edgeShopify store performance must be audited before investing in paid trafficAI search (GEO) is the next layer brands need to prepare for alongside SEOTikTok Shop has already surpassed Sephora in beauty salesGen Alpha will reshape shopping behavior within the next four yearsGreat teams are built on transparency, community and psychological safetyThe best clients to work with are the ones who already understand where they failedChapters:[00:00] Introduction: Meet Carol Shih[01:05] From Taiwan to Australia to the US: The Third-Culture Founder[02:30] Biggest Mistakes Brands Make When Going Global[04:31] The Self-Awareness Problem: You Can't Fix What You Won't See[05:58] What Cross-Border Consulting Actually Looks Like in Practice[07:57] Founder-Led Content and Building Long-Term Authority[09:38] Lessons from Alibaba: Speed, Competition and Work Culture[12:26] The Shopify Audit Process: How to Build a High-Converting Store[14:36] AI in E-Commerce: What Is Real Right Now[16:40] AI Search, GEO and the Click-Less Future[18:04] Go-to-Market for International Brands: Amazon vs TikTok vs DTC[22:10] Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle: Why Carol Keeps Landing Here[23:46] K-Beauty, Gen Z and the TikTokification of Shopping[25:18] Gen Alpha Will Change Everything: Here Is What to Watch[27:10] Leadership, Team Building and Running Two Companies[30:46] Leading With Transparency as a Founder and a Parent[32:01] Carol's Ideal Client: Brands That Have Already Failed[34:05] Where to Find Carol Shih