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THE MILK BOTTLE ECOMMERCE SHOW · 53 EPISODES
The Shopify App Store has over 8,000 apps. The right three or four apps, properly configured and integrated, can fundamentally change what a store is capable of. The wrong ten apps, poorly set up, slow your store down and create data conflicts that are harder to untangle than the problem they were supposed to solve.
The apps that deliver the most consistent ROI for Shopify merchants tend to cluster around a few use cases: customer reviews and social proof, post-purchase and subscription flows, returns and fulfilment automation, personalisation and product recommendations, and data connectors that make your marketing stack actually work together. The evaluation question is always the same: does this app solve a real problem at scale, or does it add complexity without proportionate benefit?
Integration quality matters as much as feature set. An app that syncs with Shopify's order webhooks in real time is fundamentally different from one that polls every hour. An app that writes to Shopify metafields in a structured way is easier to build on than one with a proprietary data model. These aren't details that appear in app listing screenshots — they surface in implementation and in the support tickets you file six months later.
On this podcast, we've interviewed the founders of some of the best-regarded Shopify apps: Loox (photo reviews), Rewind (store backup), Zapiet (pickup and delivery), Gorgias (customer support), Smartrr (subscriptions), Reviews.io, SparkLayer (B2B), Order Editing, and many more. These conversations go beyond the feature list — they get into why the app was built, what problem it actually solves, and what good implementation looks like from the people who built it.
EPISODES
Episode #112
Hamish McKay built Order Editing after fielding thousands of post-purchase change requests a month. The result is a self-service platform running on 1,600+ Shopify stores — including Gymshark, TOMS and Mejuri — that lets shoppers fix their own orders before fulfilment and generates upsell revenue in the process.
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Episode #108
John Readman, CEO and Founder of Ask Bosco, joins Keith to share his vision for transforming e-commerce marketing through AI-powered intelligence. With his extensive background in digital marketing, John understands firsthand the frustrations businesses face when trying to make sense of their market
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Episode #107
Keith Matthews and Andrew Power from Vially discuss the European Accessibility Act. They explore its implications for digital businesses, comparing it to GDPR, and emphasizing accessibility's importance for individuals with disabilities. The chat also details affected digital products, compliance st
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Episode #105
SparkLayer is a B2B eCommerce platform that integrates with existing online stores, providing a self-service portal for wholesale customers. Alex Weston shares the product's features and how it's changing the B2B space.
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Episode #103
Rebuy is an AI-powered personalisation platform for Shopify, designed to enhance e-commerce experiences. It's fast becoming the go-to personalisation app for thousands of store owners. Today we chat with Rich Matukaitis on how he ended up in REBUY and how the app is boosting sales for Shopify store
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Episode #102
Today, we're thrilled to have Harry Willis, the visionary behind the revolutionary Relo app, joining us for an enlightening conversation. In this episode, we'll explore the journey of Relo, a game-changing application that has transformed how businesses connect with their customers in the digital ag
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Episode #98
Gavin Ballard is a long-time friend of the team at Milk Bottle. He's the mastermind behind Disco Labs, a pioneering firm dedicated to crafting software that empowers Shopify stores. Not only has Gavin penned 'The Definitive Guide to Shopify Themes,' but he's also one of the most respected Shopify te
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Episode #97
In today's episode, we're talking to Michael Storan and Ian Madigan from Dataships. Dataships helps eCommerce businesses optimise their email marketing consent collection for growth and compliance. Michael and Ian have a combined experience of over 20 years in the data analytics industry. Keith chat
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Episode #93
Join us as we sit down with Leigh Marcum Phelps, a prominent figure in the world of SMS marketing and customer engagement. Leigh is a senior manager at Attentive, a leading SMS provider that revolutionises the way eCommerce brands connect with their customers.
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Episode #92
Kausambi Manjita is an award-winning founder and serial product builder based in Bangalore. As the current CPO of Mason, Kausambi discusses the use of AI to generate sales in your eCommerce store.
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Episode #91
We are thrilled to have Callum McKeefery as our guest. Callum is the CEO and founder of Reviews.io, a widely used eCommerce reviews app that can be integrated into all platforms. But he's not just a successful SAS entrepreneur - Callum is also a proud father, a local employer in Leicester, UK, and a
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Episode #89
We're thrilled to have Gaby Yitzhaek Tegen, the Co-Founder and CEO of Smartrr, on the show. We dive into Smartrr's subscription offering and Gaby shares her history, how Smartrr got started and why Smartrr is a revenue game-changer for Shopify merchants.Businesses given a special mention by Gaby in
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Episode #86
Thomas Gleeson is the founder of StoreHero.ai, a powerful Shopify dashboarding tool offering a unified e-commerce analytics platform for Shopify merchants. It provides Shopify merchants with the clarity they need to optimise their operations and drive margin-based growth.
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Episode #85
Today, we are thrilled to have guest Alan Gormley, the founder of Shopbox.ai, a cutting-edge platform that helps online retailers enhance customer experience and boost revenue effortlessly.
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Episode #83
Mike Potter (Rewind.com), Jay Myers (Bold Commerce) & Björn Forsberg (FORSBERG+two) are the first entrepreneurs to have noticed the opportunity as a Shopify app developer. In this episode, Keith shares excerpts from their previous interviews where they share their journey.
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Episode #82
Keith chats to Ronan Murphy, a conversational commerce champion and co-founder and CEO of Irish c-commerce start-up, Cloda.io. Ronan explains how Cloda connects WhatsApp to access easy repeat sales on your e-commerce store.
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Episode #80
Fran Quilty is a former Accenture data analyst and now serial entrepreneur. He is on a mission to make data analytics accessible to eCommerce with Conjura which works with many scale-up and mid-tier eCommerce operators in the UK, Europe and the US.
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Episode #78
Tommy Kearns is a technology leader and the current CEO and co-founder of Xtremepush, a digital engagement platform that can easily be integrated into Shopify, Salesforce and Magento amonst others. Keith digs a little deeper into the origins of this Irish-based engagement platform.
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Episode #77
Keith interviews Doug Franklin, the CEO of Penny Black, a customer experience platform that allows eCommerce store owners to create a unique unboxing experience, essentially turning your packaging into smart packaging for your commerce store.
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Episode #74
Brendan Hughes is CEO of Optily, a solution for Shopify merchants to manage and optimise advertising across multiple platforms. This episode discusses the complexity of this core part of DTC brand management while Brendan shares his solution.
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Episode #69
Polly Sidoruk is a customer Head of Customer Success and Product with Synder. This cloud based accounting system automates simple back office processes for busy store owners allowing them to focus on the day to day operations.
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Episode #68
Michael 'Djimi' Djibril, Sufio's Tech Support lead, shares how Sufio has been solving very simple challenges for eCommerce merchants. Attractive & timely invoices have an impact on your stores bottom line.
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Episode #67
Anne Thomas is the cofounder of the Design Packs Shopify app, which allows savvy merchants adds new sections and page templates to their Shopify store for a custom look.
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Episode #65
Here is something interesting; a new commerce platform called Popup. We chat to CEO and Co-founder Matteo Grassi to find out more about the only no-code ecommerce platform that enables merchants to visually build and control customer journeys.
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Episode #61
What happens after the customer hits the buy button? Alex Weston from Brightpearl explains how Shopify Plus merchants can grow their online stores with an integrated and order management solution.
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Episode #60
Have you heard of Klarna? Colin Creagh, Head of Klarna Ireland chats about how the Swedish fintech 'buy now pay later' service can benefit your ecommerce business.
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How can you drive sales, avoid discounts and yet build your brand by giving back? Meet Andrew Forman, CEO and co-founder of Givz, a social-impact, growth marketing technology platform for Shopify stores.
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Episode #57
Björn Forsberg, Founder of FORSBERG+two an award-winning Shopify app developer joins us again. Chatting from Denmark, Björn discusses how his side hustle became his bread and butter. This episode will inspire any app developer in the making.
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Episode #52
As an app developer are you overloaded with support tickets that are starting to take up your time? Meet The Support Heroes who offer RTC customer service to Shopify Partners by helping them retain customers and extract more value from them.
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Episode #50
Do you find that you have out of stock items appearing at the top of your collection pages? Daniel Gurevitch CEO & Founder of Kimonix chats to Keith about his slick app that helps Shopify brands optimise and boost their inventory.
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Episode #48
Learn from Edward Upton Founder of Littledata how Shopify merchants can supercharge and solve analytics issues in order to grow faster and smarter.
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Episode #46
A picture paints a thousand words. Or in this case, good product photography gets you a 1000 sales (plus more!) Brian Guidry chats about Pixelz, a Shopify app that gives retailers professional grade photos to guarantee those sales.
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Episode #45
The Shopify directory is massive, which can be overwhelming for merchants to know if they are choosing the right tool to help their store. Derric Haynie, Founder of Ecommerce Tech chats about how he helps Shopify store owners choose the right technology to add to their store in order to boost sales.
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Episode #42
Do customers love your brand? Raúl Galera from ReferralCandy chats to Keith about how customer referrals can bring more traffic and sales to your Shopify store.
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Episode #36
Messenger marketing can fill the gaps that email marketing leaves. With a 90% open rate, we wanted to learn more about Recart; the #1 Messenger App for Shopify. Keith chats to Nick Romaya from Recart to find out more.
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Episode #35
We catch up with Mike Potter again as his business, Rewind.io, a backup app for your Shopify store, has been busier than ever due to the pandemic. With more businesses focusing online, the need to protect their stores is greater.
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Episode #34
Zapiet has seen its fastest growth ever in response to Covid-19 by giving merchants the ability to offer new services in this unsettled time. In this episode, Keith chats with CEO & Founder of Zapiet, Andrew Cargill.
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Episode #31
In this episode, Keith chats with Yair Miron, CEO and Founder of Rise.ai, an automated Gift Card & Store Credit solution for Shopify stores. With a 55% rise in gift card purchases during Covid-19, it's not an industry to be overlooked.
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Episode #28
Installed in over 400,000 stores, Privy is an app that boosts your marketing game plan. Ben Jabbawy, CEO and Founder of Privy chats about how they're helping small companies convert website visitors into loyal customers.
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Episode #26
Philippe Roireau from Gorgias chats to Keith about how Gorgias can convert general customer service queries into sales. Gorgias is the highest-rated customer service and live chat helpdesk for Shopify stores.
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Episode #23
Mike and his team are leading the way in the resurgence of SMS. SMS is a great tool to communicate with the customer; no wifi connection is needed and there is a 99% open rate compared to other marketing channels.
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Episode #22
Meet Maris Veide, Founder of Matrixify, an app available on Shopify. Where time is money, Maris has managed to save hours of manual work with enabling you to bulk import and export data using Matrixify (Excelify).
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Episode #20
Felix Süllwold chats to Keith about the power of push marketing and how a merchant can send notifications of abandoned carts, shipping notification shipping notifications and back in stock alerts to gain more sales.
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Episode #19
Bold Commerce has helped thousands of Shopify store owners sell more during Black Friday 2019. In part 2 of this wonderful chat with Jay Myers, Jay describes why he loves subscription apps shares solid advice to any up and coming app developer.
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Episode #17
Enda Regan is an Irish based Customer Support team Lead for Shopify's automation tool - Kit. Kit enables busy stores owners to automate tasks so they can focus on growing their online sales. So is a virtual assistant or is it an AI tool? Maybe both.
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Finbarr Taylor is the CEO of Shogun a popular page building app utilised by Shopify store owners across the world. In this episode, Finbarr shares his journey from cool Glasgow to sunny California with some interesting stops along the way.
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Kurt Elster is the host of the most popular Shopify podcast & founder of Ethercycle, a Chicago based Shopify agency. In episode 13 Keith chats to Kurt about how he found Shopify and of course his favourite customer - Jay Leno.
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We chat to Reza Khadjavi co-founder and CEO of Shoelace. Shoelace is an app that believes ad experiences should be more engaging by telling a story which builds an emotional connection to create loyal customers.
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We chat with Holly Cardew Founder of Pixc, a platform that helps ecommerce stores edit and optimise their product images. With a core focus to help the merchants, Holly also shares some helpful photography tips.
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This week we meet Yoni Elbaz founder of the photo reviews app, Loox.io which is installed in over 15,000 Shopify stores. Yoni has an interesting background with a vast range of technology experience gained from a career......
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For episode 2 Keith chats with Björn Forsberg, the Founder of FORSBERG+two an award-winning Shopify app developer. Bjorn shares his journey into Shopify from a side hustle to award-winning development house.
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Announcing our new Shopify eCommerce Podcast. In episode 1, Keith interviews Mike Potter, the founder of Rewind.io, a popular backup app which is growing in popularity amongst Shopify users.
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Milk Bottle Labs is a Shopify agency based in Dublin. We work with Irish and international merchants on apps & integrations — from strategy through to implementation.
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