Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

Black Friday ad spend can generate a different incremental return than it does during a typical sales period. Luke Austin, President of Common Thread Collective, joins Richard Gaffin to explain how incrementality testing can help you decide where your holiday budget belongs.
They discuss what CTC has observed in promotional-period tests and why your usual return on ad spend (ROAS) target may need adjusting during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). The goal is to understand which sales your ads generate beyond what would have happened without them, then use that information to guide spending.
From there, Luke explores where brands could reinvest if the results support a change, including offers that evolve throughout the day and a larger role for creators in promoting them. He shares examples brands have already tried and outlines his proposal for coordinating offers across larger creator networks.
In this episode:
Why Black Friday ad spend can be more or less incremental than spending during a typical sales period

Using conversion lift studies and holdout tests to measure additional sales

Applying incrementality findings to Meta and Google ad budgets and ROAS targets

Giving shoppers new reasons to buy through flash sales and changing gifts with purchase

Equipping creators with approved offers, inventory updates, and financial limits

Giving creators room to develop their own messaging while preserving essential product requirements

Show Notes:
Go to https://www.universalads.com/middleman and use code UACTC to get $2,500 in matched ad credits when you spend $2,500.

Learn more: https://commonthreadco.com

Track your brand’s performance: https://statlas.io

Work with us: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact

Have a question for the Ecommerce Playbook? Email podcast@commonthreadco.com

Luke Austin, President of Common Thread Collective, joins Richard Gaffin to explain how to keep shoppers engaged after your Black Friday sale goes live.
They break down the Power 30, the holiday window that accounts for 55% of Q4 website revenue in the data discussed, and the offer decisions that deserve attention throughout it. Luke shares examples of brands using VIP hours, featured-product flash sales, and changing gifts with purchase to give customers fresh reasons to visit and buy.
The conversation covers how to prepare those moments, adapt to sales and inventory, and keep each offer easy for shoppers to understand.
In this episode:
Building a holiday calendar around early access, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the shipping cutoff

Why Luke prioritizes offer strategy alongside the media plan during peak shopping days

What happened when one brand added its bestselling product line back into its holiday offer

Planning fresh offers and messages within a single day

Using inventory, margins, and minimum order values to shape gifts with purchase

Keeping a consistent promotional theme as individual offers change

Show Notes:
Q4 waits for no one. AppLovin is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to applovin.com/ctc to set up your first campaign

Learn more: https://commonthreadco.com

Track your brand’s performance: https://statlas.io

Work with us: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact

Have a question for the Ecommerce Playbook? Email podcast@commonthreadco.com

Joy Sharma, who leads CTC's seven-figure service offering, joins Richard with one goal: give every 7-figure ecommerce brand a clear BFCM prep playbook before the season hits.
They walk through five areas in order from least to most impact.
Housekeeping: Make sure your ad account billing limit is higher than your expected spend. Check your Commerce Manager, confirm your pixel is firing with 90%+ match rate, and clear any blockages before November.

Offer: Your discount needs to be 20% or higher. Anything below that doesn't register. Simplify it — no tiered structures, no math for the customer. If your BFCM customers have weak LTV, build bundles around AOV instead of chasing subscriptions. And have something for your whales — Joy has sold $1,000 bundles for brands with $50 products. People don't realize how rich their best customers are.

Email and SMS: Run at least three emails a week during the pre-Black Friday period. One email a day during Black Friday week. Up to three emails on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Immediately after Cyber Monday, run a two-day extension. Then shift to a free shipping cutoff sale. Most brands stop on Cyber Monday. That last window has a lot of revenue left in it. Send on your peak hours — use your historical data to find them.

Landing page: The homepage is the hero. Run your ads there. Add a countdown timer, a sticky bar, slashed prices in a different color, and at least three product blocks (bestsellers, highest AOV, highest margin). Build a whale bundle. Turn off your evergreen first-time-buyer pop-ups.

Creative (highest impact): CTC's research across hundreds of brands found that BFCM-specific ads drive only 30% of total Meta spend during the holiday period. Evergreen carries 70%. Don't sacrifice October ad production to make more November ads — October ads spend 50% more over Q4. But nobody makes enough Black Friday ads. One brand went from $5K a day to $55K a day by making 1,500 ads. Creative hierarchy: frames first, then catalogs with sale creative, then statics with offers overlaid, then video remixes of top performers, then new creator content if you have capacity.

BLACK FRIDAY AD RESEARCH: https://commonthreadco-global.com/bfcm
Show Notes:
Go to https://www.universalads.com/middleman and use code UACTC to get $2,500 in matched ad credits when you spend $2,500.

Learn more: https://commonthreadco.com

Track your brand’s performance: https://statlas.io

Work with us: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact

Have a question for the Ecommerce Playbook? Email podcast@commonthreadco.com

By the time Black Friday arrives, Skullcandy wants customers ready to buy.
Evin Catlett, Skullcandy’s Global VP of Ecommerce and Growth Marketing, joins Taylor Holiday live at Commerce Roundtable in San Diego to explain how the brand uses TikTok Shop and creator content to build demand ahead of its holiday promotions. She shares what helped TikTok Shop gain traction after a slow start and how her team selects products for creator campaigns that support sales across Skullcandy’s website, Amazon, and retail stores.
In this episode:
Building a digital growth strategy inside a brand with extensive retail distribution

Why Skullcandy kept investing in TikTok Shop after a slow launch

The role of creator content in generating demand across sales channels

Coordinating Black Friday offers across DTC, Amazon, and retail

Evin’s approach to investing before the sale so customers are ready to purchase

Giving shoppers reasons to buy directly through loyalty benefits and exclusive products

Planning for holiday sales through Christmas and the end of the year

Key takeaway: Evin reports seeing retail sales of specific products move within weeks of creator campaigns. Measuring the full impact across channels remains a work in progress.
This episode is brought to you by:
- Trybe: https://bit.ly/4xXvD08
- Alia: https://bit.ly/4yuP8ON
- Bill: https://bit.ly/4e9JQQm
Show Notes:
Go to http://outersignal.com/thread to get 50% off your first two months

Learn more: https://commonthreadco.com

Track your brand’s performance: https://statlas.io

Work with us: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact

Have a question for the Ecommerce Playbook? Email podcast@commonthreadco.com

Justin Palmer, Founder & CEO of Home Life Brands, joins Taylor Holiday live at Commerce Roundtable in San Diego to discuss Black Friday customer retention and turning holiday shoppers into customers who stay.After 12 years in pet ecommerce, the company behind iHeartDogs and The Hero Company prioritizes acquiring customers in September and October, when they’re more likely to buy again during the holidays. Justin explains how member discounts, early product access, and daily inventory planning shape the brand’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategy.For DTC brands preparing for BFCM 2026, Justin shares an approach to driving repeat purchases and building membership revenue around products customers don’t need every month. Charitable experiences and personal impact updates give members an ongoing reason to engage beyond the initial discount.In this episode:- Why September and October acquisitions tend to return during the holidays, while November and December buyers are more often one-time gift shoppers- Finding the intersection of three customer interests to develop more specific products and ad creative- Building membership revenue around products with limited natural repeat purchase frequency- Giving members early access and discounted pricing before Black Friday- Testing product concepts with existing customers and cold audiences before ordering inventory- Using daily inventory projections to adjust pricing and ad spend ahead of the shipping cutoff- Giving iHeartDogs members a reason to stay through meal donations, monthly rescue flights, and personal impact dashboards- Producing AI ad creative at scale when predicting winners is increasingly difficult- Building toward automated offers, from a discount idea to a landing page and published ad creative- Why Meta remains the primary acquisition channel, and where TikTok Shop, Amazon, and AppLovin fit- Moving media buyer compensation toward contribution margin rather than last-click revenue aloneKey stat: Justin says memberships account for roughly 25% of the business’s revenue, helping provide stability outside the holiday season.Community impact: The Hero Company has also funded more than $2 million in donations to organizations that match veterans with service dogs.This episode is brought to you by:- Trybe: https://bit.ly/4xXvD08- Alia: https://bit.ly/4yuP8ON- Bill: https://bit.ly/4e9JQQmShow Notes: Go to ⁠https://www.universalads.com/middleman ⁠and use code UACTC to get $2,500 in matched ad credits when you spend $2,500.- Learn more: https://commonthreadco.com- Track your brand’s performance: https://statlas.io- Work with us: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact- Have a question for the Ecommerce Playbook? Email podcast@commonthreadco.com