Hey Cowboys,
Happy Friday! The cowboys are out on the ranch today, so we’re replaying our greatest hits for you.
But don’t worry, we’ve still got some sauce.
Today’s lineup 👇 and stories.
Today’s Squad: Ecomm Cowboy Greatest Hits
We’re replaying 3 of our best conversations today.
Harley Finkelstein - President, Shopify
Bill Rom - Co-Founder, Baseball Lifestyle 101
Sam Nebel - Founder, Goodwipes
Agentic Commerce is Having A Moment
A new RTB House survey of over 1,800 consumers across the US, UK, Japan, and France finds shoppers increasingly trust AI to research, compare, and even purchase on their behalf.
The catch: many still want a human review step before an agent spends their money.
Key points:
42% of American millennials would let AI agents buy items within a $250 budget if purchases could be returned within seven days; without that safeguard, about a third would still allow it
35% of respondents across generations want a human to review transactions before AI agents buy, rising to 44% among baby boomers
AI is climbing the trust hierarchy: 44% of consumers trust AI tools for purchase decisions versus 59% for friends and family, and AI has surpassed influencers, newspapers, major media, TikTok, and Instagram
59% of US consumers credit AI platforms with surfacing brands they didn't know, while 42% say AI actually extends decision time by showing more options
Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT lead US AI shopping tools at 43% each, followed by Claude at 23% and Grok at 21%
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said more than 350 million customers used Alexa for Shopping in the past year, with interactions up fivefold
McKinsey and ICSC project the US agentic commerce market will hit $1 trillion by 2030
The attention-and-instant-checkout era of ecommerce is giving way to AI-mediated discovery, comparison, and purchasing. Consumers are handing over research fully but keeping one hand on the wallet, and the return window is emerging as the trust mechanism that unlocks true agentic buying.
Top Stories: Harley Finkelstein on AI Commerce, Bill Rom on Explosive Growth, and Sam Nebel from Goodwipes
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein joined Ecomm Cowboy to talk about how AI and agentic commerce are reshaping the future of ecommerce. He says that AI discovery will make commerce more merit-based, allowing great products from smaller brands to surface based on fit rather than ad spend or brand recognition. Finkelstein also sees AI agents enabling tiny teams of three to five people to build massive businesses, with agents handling everything from operations to product development.
Bill Rom, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Baseball Lifestyle 101, breaks down the journey from posting baseball content every day to building a business generating hundreds of millions in annual revenue. Bill shares the exact inflection point that changed everything, why understanding finance was more important than improving marketing, how they achieved industry-leading repeat purchase rates, and what actually breaks when a company grows from a small team into hundreds of employees.
Goodwipes co-founder Sam Nebel joined Ecomm Cowboy to break down how the brand turned flushable wipes into a fast-growing CPG business now in 15,000+ retail doors. Nebel detailed the viral OLIPOP x Goodwipes collaboration, which became Goodwipes’ second-best-selling Walmart item and generated seven figures in sales by treating the partnership as a full campaign rather than a one-off social post.
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Ecomm Cowboy is the go-to live show for ecommerce operators, breaking down the latest DTC, retail, and AI news while interviewing the founders and executives building today's fastest-growing brands.
We’re live every Monday to Friday at 12PM CT.
Have questions or want to come on the show? Simply reply to this email, we’re happy to chat.
Made Possible By:
Seguno - the Shopify-native marketing suite for brands that run it themselves.
Insense - The all-in-one UGC and influencer marketing platform.
Postscript - Make more money from every SMS message.
Proxima - Use real conversion data to power your creative briefs.
Northbeam - Measure the “unmeasurable,” make your marketing profitable.
Rokt Aftersell - More profit from the orders you’re already getting.
Universal Ads - TV ads that deliver for performance marketers.
Richpanel - The AI helpdesk that saves you headaches (and money).
SATHI - Affiliate attribution beyond last-click commissions.
Slash - A better business banking platform.
Trendtrack - Track competitors' winning marketing strategies daily.
Tie - The internet’s #1 shopper ID platform.
Proppel - The best recruitment agency for ecom brands and agencies.
See you on the stream,
Ecomm Cowboy Team