Hosted ByTaylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin

2020 transformed the world of ecommerce forever. For the modern DTC brand, the rewards have never been greater. But the waters have also never been choppier, and the way forward has never been more uncertain. So how do you navigate this dangerous new reality? No matter how you do it, you’d better not do it alone. That’s where the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast comes in — join Common Thread Collective’s Taylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin as they bring you guiding insights from across CTC’s portfolio of growing DTC businesses. Whether you need a clear view on the macro issues affecting the world.

Website

The Ecommerce Playbook | Understanding Spend vs. aMER, and Spending Power

August 14, 2025 00:36:49

The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast

00:00 / 00:36:49

In this episode of the E-Commerce Playbook Podcast, Richard Gaffin is joined by Luke Austin (VP of E-Commerce Strategy at CTC) and Steve Rekuc (Director of Data) to unpack one of CTC’s most powerful forecasting tools: the Spend & aMER Model.

This model reveals whether your brand is overspending past the point of profitability—or underspending and leaving growth on the table. By layering in 40+ predictive models, seasonality, and LTV impacts, it provides the clearest roadmap to profitable growth we’ve ever built.

You’ll learn:

– Why most 8–9 figure brands are shocked when they see their true efficiency curve

– How to quantify the real tradeoff between cutting spend and growing top-line revenue

– The difference between optimizing for contribution margin today vs. maximizing lifetime margin tomorrow

– Why “spending power” is unique to every brand—and how to know yours

Get your FREE mystery shopping report from Stord—compare your CX against two competitors:

https://stord.link/mystery

Explore the Prophit System: https://prophitsystem.com

Have a question for the podcast?

Email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com