If I had to build a Shopify brand from scratch today, I would do almost everything differently.

Ecommerce has changed. Customer acquisition is more expensive, competition is everywhere, AI is changing how people discover products and the brands that win are no longer just the ones with the best products — they are the ones with the best systems.

In this episode, Nick breaks down exactly how he would build a Shopify brand from zero in 2026, covering everything from finding the right opportunity and creating demand to building a brand that can scale profitably.

This is the blueprint for building a modern ecommerce business — not just a store that generates sales, but a valuable brand with predictable growth, loyal customers and long-term potential.

You’ll learn:

• Why you should start with the customer, not the product
• How to validate demand before investing in inventory and development
• Why distribution matters more than ever in modern ecommerce
• How SEO and AI discovery should shape your strategy from day one
• Why relying purely on paid ads can make your business vulnerable
• How to launch with a focused offer instead of an overwhelming product range
• Why conversion optimisation needs to be built into your brand from the beginning
• How AI can become a powerful advantage for ecommerce teams
• Why retention and customer relationships are key to profitable growth
• How to build a Shopify business that someone would actually want to buy

In this episode:
(00:00) - If I Started a Shopify Brand From Scratch in 2026
(01:09) - 1. Start With the Customer, Not the Product
(05:12) - 2. Validate Demand Before Building Anything
(06:40) - 3. Build Distribution Before Inventory
(09:44) - 4. Obsess Over SEO & AI Discoverability
(12:04) - 5. Don't Become Dependent on Paid Ads
(16:21) - 6. Launch With One Strong Hero Product
(20:50) - 7. Build Conversion Into Your Brand From Day One
(22:58) - 8. Make AI a Member of Your Team
(25:18) - 9. Build Retention Before Chasing Scale
(27:58) - 10. Build a Business Someone Wants to Buy

Nick also shares the mistakes he would avoid, the channels he would prioritise and the strategies he believes will separate successful Shopify brands from everyone else over the next few years.

Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.

Exclusive listener offers:
Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.
Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.
Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.
Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS.
506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS.

About Winning With Shopify
Winning With Shopify is powered by Winning With Shopify, helping ecommerce brands grow through practical Shopify strategies, expert interviews and actionable advice.

Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

SEO is changing. Shopify brands that want to grow need more than keywords — they need search engines and AI platforms to understand, trust and recommend their products.

In this episode, Nick is joined by Alex Moss from Yoast to break down everything Shopify brands need to know about SEO, from the foundations of technical SEO to creating content that drives qualified organic traffic.

Alex explains why successful ecommerce SEO is no longer just about rankings, and why data quality, structured information and trust signals are becoming increasingly important as search continues to evolve.

You’ll learn:

• The SEO fundamentals every Shopify brand needs to get right
• Why technical SEO and data integrity are becoming more important
• How Shopify stores can help search engines better understand their products
• Why content strategy and topical authority matter for ecommerce growth
• The biggest SEO mistakes holding Shopify brands back
• How SEO is evolving alongside AI search and changing customer behaviour

Alex also shares practical advice on building a stronger SEO foundation, improving website trust signals and creating a Shopify store that is easier for both customers and search engines to understand.

In this episode:
(00:00) - Shopify SEO mistakes and content neglect
(03:45) - Fixing Shopify site structure and product discovery
(06:08) - Why you need to keep updating old content
(09:48) - How customer search behaviour is changing
(12:01) - Word of mouth, reviews and AI search
(13:48) - Links vs mentions and citations in the LLM era
(16:21) - Forums, communities and building brand authority
(22:21) - Is Shopify ready for AI and agentic commerce?
(25:12) - How to structure product content for AI
(27:51) - Brand perception in the AI era
(30:52) - How to write content AI can actually use

Useful resources:
Why Data Integrity Is The New Technical SEO: Search Engine Journal
SEO Glossary: Yoast SEO Glossary
Listen to the Yoast Podcast: Yoast Podcast

Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.

Exclusive listener offers:
Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.
Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.
Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.
Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS.
506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS.

About Winning With Shopify
Winning With Shopify is powered by Winning With Shopify, helping ecommerce brands grow through practical Shopify strategies, expert interviews and actionable advice.

Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

Black Friday is broken. Shopify brands can no longer win by simply offering bigger discounts — the future winners will be the brands that AI can find, understand and recommend when customers are ready to buy.

Black Friday and Cyber Weekend are changing. As customers increasingly use AI shopping assistants, personalised recommendations and new search experiences to discover products, Shopify brands need a new strategy to compete.

In this episode, Nick breaks down how AI will transform ecommerce sales, why the old Black Friday playbook is becoming outdated and how smarter brands are using AI to improve discovery, create better offers and turn seasonal shoppers into long-term customers.

You’ll learn:

• How AI shopping assistants could change Black Friday and ecommerce discovery
• Why Shopify brands need to make their products easier for AI to understand and recommend
• How AI can analyse customer behaviour and create personalised offers
• How brands can use real-time data to improve ad creative and campaign performance
• Why the smartest Shopify brands use Black Friday as a customer acquisition opportunity, not just a discount event
• How to convert Black Friday shoppers into repeat customers after Cyber Weekend

Nick also shares five tools Shopify brands can use to prepare for the biggest shopping period of the year, covering AI-powered marketing, ecommerce SEO, conversion optimisation, inventory planning and fulfilment.

In this episode:
(0:00) - Why Black Friday is broken for Shopify brands
(2:15) - The shift from traditional discounts to AI-driven personalization
(5:42) - How AI agents will handle customer shopping in 2026
(8:30) - Predictive inventory: Using AI to prevent stockouts
(12:10) - The "Death of the Storefront" and the rise of headless commerce
(15:45) - Building a brand that survives the AI revolution
(19:20) - Actionable steps to prepare your Shopify store now

Follow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.

Exclusive listener offers:
Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.
Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.
Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.
Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS.
506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS.

About Winning With Shopify
Winning With Shopify is powered by Winning With Shopify, helping ecommerce brands grow through practical Shopify strategies, expert interviews and actionable advice.

Spec Digital is a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.