The 2026 eCom Trends Report
Top Report Findings: This is our sixth Trends Report with 300 owners representing $3.5...
Kurt Elster is the man behind Ethercycle.com, a Shopify agency that specializes exclusively—and very successfully—in helping Shopify store owners generate massive revenue growth. Not only does he put out some really amazing websites on Shopify, but he also hosts The Unofficial Shopify Podcast and has a bunch of really cool apps that we talk about in this episode.
Listen in as we dive into all things Shopify, including what store owners need to stop asking for on their sites, the one thing that Kurt has done that has really moved the needle for his clients, and the must-haves on any Shopify site that increase conversion and engagement. Kurt also shares the top three apps that get put on every site he builds to reduce friction for consumers, and in turn, increase revenue for store owners.
You’ll learn:
- The birth of Ethercycle. (6:30)
- Where Shopify is from a public perception standpoint. (9:20)
- Shopify’s viable competitors. (12:00)
- The perks of Shopify Plus. (15:00)
- Recent changes to Shopify and how Kurt approaches his strategy. (17:35)
- The must-haves on a website. (25:10)
- What store owners need to stop doing. (27:20)
- The easiest ways to run a website test these days. (35:00)
- The top three apps that Kurt can’t live without. (36:00)
- What Ethercycle does and who they work with. (42:00)
- Lightning round with Kurt. (45:00)
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | Amazon
(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Kurt Elster of Ethercycle.com)
What Was Mentioned
- Kurt Elster: Website | Podcast
- Shopify Marketing Resources
- Google Optimize
- Honeycomb
- Frequently Bought Together
- Bold Bundles
- Rewind Backups
- Matixify
- Crowdfunder
- Hooligan.com
- eCommerceFuel Forum
- One Click Upsell – Increase Sales 15%+ with Pre-and Post-purchase Upsells. (On average, Shopify users increase sales 15% immediately after installing the app!)
- A2X – Simplify your bookkeeping, eliminate the guesswork, and automate.
Image credit to Roberto Cortese from Unsplash.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“The marketing efforts that worked in the past don’t necessarily work anymore.” - Kurt Elster Tweet this “Can we tell that authentic story without a bunch of nonsense?” - Kurt Elster Tweet this “Anything I can do to increase average order value is exciting to me.” - Kurt Elster Tweet this
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
