Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

Common Thread Collective just launched the Prophit Engine to the public—and in this episode, Richard and Taylor break down what it is, why it exists, and how it helps DTC brands forecast more accurately, grow contribution margin, and simplify their growth stack for less cost. 
You’ll hear how CTC is combining data + methodology + AI-enabled tooling into a system (and a new “Profit Engineer” role) that replaces complexity with clear expectations and execution.
What we cover
Why profit + predictability are harder than ever for DTC

What the Prophit Engine is and the outcomes it’s built to deliver

How the Profit Engineer role collapses growth strategy, Meta buying, and creative strategy into one operator

What brands still own vs. what CTC takes off the plate—and who this works best for

In short: this episode introduces CTC’s Prophit Engine as a tech-enabled operating system for growth—built to replace a fragmented stack of people + tools with one clear forecast, tighter execution, and accountability to contribution margin. If you’re trying to run leaner without sacrificing performance, this is the blueprint for how CTC thinks the next era of agency services will work.
Show Notes:
Get Dataships' free A/B test: https://www.dataships.io/demo
Explore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engine
The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have

In this episode, Richard and Taylor Holiday discuss the rise of the “SEANs” — the Software-Enabled AgeNcy — and why it represents a fundamental shift in how eCommerce brands will build growth teams going forward.
Taylor explains how traditional agencies struggle to operationalize institutional knowledge across individuals, leading to inconsistent execution and diffused accountability. The solution? Embedding a clear point of view directly into software, turning ideology into infrastructure. Rather than offering neutral tools like Ads Manager, CTC is building software with an opinion: a system designed to unify marketing and finance around a daily, trackable path to predictable, profitable growth.
The conversation explores:
Why “software with a point of view” is different from open-ended tools

How declining SaaS gross margins and rising customer demands for outcomes are collapsing the line between software and services

Why agencies are becoming more like software companies — and software companies more like agencies

The impact of AI on compressing labor costs and increasing individual output expectations

If you care about the future of growth teams, SaaS economics, and how AI is reshaping both labor and leverage inside eCommerce, this conversation is a must-listen.
Show Notes:
Get Dataships' free A/B test: https://www.dataships.io/demo

Explore the PROPHIT System: http://prophitsystem.com

The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podc

Incrementality tests are “in”… but the real problem is what you do after the read.
In this episode, Taylor sits down with Olivia Kory (Chief Strategy Officer at Haus) and George Davis (CMO at Cozy Earth) to unpack the messiest part of modern measurement: operationalizing incrementality when results swing, channels conflict, and “platform ROAS” can’t be trusted.
If you’ve ever asked:
“Our holdout came back way lower than Meta… now what?”

“Why don’t test results replicate month-to-month?”

“How do I actually use an incrementality factor in real budget decisions?”

“If everything is under 1.0 iROAS… should we cut spend or keep investing?”

…this one is for you.
What we cover
Why incrementality requires a holdout (and why “spend up / spend down” isn’t enough)

The replication problem: why results change even with “clean” tests

The gap between measurement and optimization (platforms optimize for attribution, not incrementality)

How operators use incrementality factors without letting them become a blunt instrument

Why channel vs. channel is often the wrong fight (and why profit thresholds matter more)

iROAS → IMR (Incremental Marginal Return): a more intuitive way to compare performance

Budget cadence: daily realities vs monthly allocation decisions

Long-term effects, “adstock” claims, and why post-treatment windows matter

Practical levers that can improve results: creative, account structure, exclusions, distribution expansion (Amazon/retail)

Got a weird incrementality result? Drop it in the comments. We’ll let you know what we’d do next.
Read this next: CTC Core Methodology Series: Marketing Measurement - https://bit.ly/4tW2JwF
Show Notes:
Axon is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to https://axon.ai/en/ctc to set up your first campaign.

Explore the PROPHIT System: http://prophitsystem.com

The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have

Sales tax feels simple—until you hit nexus.
In this episode, Ryan Pinkham (VP of Go-to-Market at TaxCloud) breaks down why sales tax gets complex fast for growing ecommerce brands, what happens when you cross nexus thresholds in new states, and how ignoring compliance can turn into a painful (and expensive) distraction.
We cover:
What sales tax nexus actually means for ecommerce

The three “buckets” of brands (doing nothing, unhappy with current tools, or knowingly delaying)

Why sales tax is a year-round operational load

How modern brands approach checkout tax vs. filing/registration

The Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) program and why 24 states matter

A simple start-of-year checklist to get compliant and reduce risk

If you had a strong Q4 and expanded into new states, this is your sign to do a quick nexus and tooling review..
Show Notes:
TaxCloud has you covered: https://taxcloud.com/thread/

Explore the PROPHIT System: http://prophitsystem.com

The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have

Acquisition is getting tighter! In this episode, we flip the script and talk about the lever most brands under-invest in: retention + lifecycle marketing.
Taylor is joined by Jennifer Peters, Director of DTC, MarTech & Digital Compliance at OLLY (a Unilever brand), to break down how they think about keeping customers coming back when the brand is sold everywhere — from Target and Walmart to their own DTC site.
We get into what retention really means beyond “subscription,” how to message customers when you don’t want to channel-shift them, and how OLLY is using loyalty (including receipt scanning) to better understand in-store shoppers.
What you’ll learn:
How OLLY drives retention across DTC + retail

Email vs SMS strategy, plus segmentation that prevents “list blasting”

Using loyalty + receipt scanning to understand in-store shoppers

Setting smarter KPIs for promos, launches, and content

Why they chose Attentive, how they handled ESP migration, and where AI actually helps

The first retention moves: audit flows, refresh creative, nail the basics

If you’re running ecommerce for a consumable, CPG, or multi-channel brand, this is a must-watch for building a retention engine that actually scales.
Show Notes:
See how Attentive helps connect people and the brands they love.: https://bit.ly/4ag8oEJ

Explore the PROPHIT System: http://prophitsystem.com

The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have