Ecommerce On Tap

Taylor Guitars builds guitars in El Cajon, California and Tecate, Mexico, about 45 minutes apart, and runs the two plants as one factory. Host Aaron Alpeter and cohost Daniel Scharff follow what the border costs it: how a USMCA certificate of origin decides whether the same guitar pays 0% or 25%, how a 2017 rosewood listing stopped parts at the same crossing, and how employee ownership shapes the company's decisions.

Daniel Scharff is the founder of Startup CPG, a community for consumer packaged goods founders

Aaron Alpeter sits down with Margarita Bello, who leads client work and strategy at Izba and used to be VP of Operations at Next Century Spirits, to talk about Patrón and a rule that keeps tequila in Mexico. In February 2025 the Consejo Regulador del Tequila suspended Patrón's export certification for about four days over a US ad campaign. They get into how a regulator can do that, how Patrón still makes tequila by hand, where the money goes in a bottle of spirits, and what a new brand needs to survive.

Aaron Alpeter and Casey Armstrong of ShipBob break down Ben & Frank, a profitable Mexican eyewear brand with 100+ stores that copied Warby Parker, then launched a half-price second brand, Bomba Vista, to compete with itself. They also cover why Mexico is mobile-first and cash-heavy, how to test the market before building a storefront, and how ShipBob chooses which channels to chase.

Casey Armstrong is the Chief Business Officer at ShipBob, a global fulfillment network with 60+ facilities. Aaron Alpeter hosts Ecommerce on Tap.

DeWalt operates a fully vertically integrated, 500,000-square-foot factory in Reynosa, Mexico, and by the company's own account, less than a third of what it makes there qualifies for USMCA's duty-free treatment. Aaron Alpeter and Hugh Dixson, founder and CEO of the supply chain integration platform Switchboard, break down why Regional Value Content, not final assembly location, decides USMCA qualification, and what that means for any brand weighing a move to Mexico.

Hugh Dixson is the founder and CEO of Switchboard, a Sydney-based supply chain integration platform connecting ERP, warehouse, and transportation systems.

Kicking off our Mexico season with Javier Zarazúa Ruiz, Managing Partner of JL Nearshoring Mexico and a 25-year veteran of manufacturing operations at Caterpillar and Adient. Everyone assumes brands are moving to Mexico for cheap labor — the real gap is about a dollar an hour. Javier and Aaron break down what's actually driving the shift: tariffs, transit time, and 60 years of industrial infrastructure most people think started in 2018.

Dr. Martens built a boot designed to outlive its owner. So why did a company built on permanence need you to buy five more pairs? This week we trace the 1460 from a broken foot in postwar Munich to a £3.7B IPO — and the identity crisis in between.

This season on Ecommerce on Tap, we've been going deep on footwear — Birkenstock, Rothy's, New Balance, and now one of the most recognizable boots in the world: Dr. Martens.

Aaron is joined by returning co-host Daniel Barkin (Supply Chain Lead at The Flex Company, formerly Groun...

New Balance spent most of its 120-year history as a punchline: the gray suede sneaker your dad wore with white crew socks and a phone holster. On this episode of Ecommerce on Tap, Aaron Alpeter is joined by cohost Becca Oden, VP of Supply Chain for a portfolio of women's health brands and former operator at Uqora, to reverse-engineer how New Balance went from a 1906 arch-support company to a $7.6B privately-held athletic brand courting a $25B valuation. They trace the company through founder William Riley's chicken-foot origin story, its unusual width-based manufacturing complexity, its domestic factories in Maine and...

Two years ago we recorded an episode on On Running. This week we're re-airing it, and it holds up better than I expected.

When we recorded it in 2024, On had just crossed two billion in revenue and was making big promises about margins and innovation. Since then they passed three billion, hit the margins they were targeting, and their LightSpray technology can now build a shoe in about three minutes.

But the part of the story I keep coming back to isn't the growth. It's 2011.

Three weeks before Chinese New Year, their factory...

Veja is usually filed under "sustainable sneaker brand." That label is true and far too small. In this footwear-season episode of Ecommerce on Tap, Aaron Alpeter sits down with Divya Demato of GoodOps to break down how Veja built a brand by inverting the P&L, spending on the supply chain instead of advertising.

We get into the five models of sustainability in footwear, why Veja bet everything on transparency, how it sources cotton and wild Amazonian rubber directly from producers, why it manufactures in Brazil, and the hard question of whether a brand this operationally specific...

Rothy's is known for sustainable shoes made from recycled plastic bottles. But that's not actually what they built.

In this episode, Aaron and co-host Barb Almeida (Superbloom Insights) break down the real story behind Rothy's — a programmable knitting system that two outsiders spent four years and $2 million developing before they ever sold a single pair of shoes.

They cover why footwear is one of the most waste-intensive consumer categories, how Rothy's designed waste out of the manufacturing process before they designed the product, why Nike never sued them despite using similar technology, and what Alpargatas wa...

Birkenstock is one of the most recognizable footwear brands in the world.

But what most people don't realize is that the company spent over 200 years building the system that made its success possible.

In this episode of Ecommerce On Tap, Aaron Alpeter is joined by Niket Shah of Acceler8 Labs to explore the history, supply chain, biomechanics, manufacturing strategy, and growth story behind Birkenstock.

They discuss:

• How a German shoemaking family evolved into a global brand
• Why foot biomechanics became the foundation of the company
• The role cork plays in Bir...

Why did a strange-looking running shoe with giant foam soles become a billion-dollar brand?

This week on Ecommerce on Tap, Aaron Alpeter and Mark Riskowitz break down the story of Hoka—from its origins in the French Alps to becoming one of the fastest-growing footwear brands in the world.

We cover:

• Why Hoka ignored industry trends

• The biomechanics behind running shoes

• Manufacturing challenges most consumers never see

• Why founders sometimes need to leave incumbents

• How Deckers scaled Hoka into a powerhouse

In this kickoff episode of the new Ecommerce on Tap footwear season, Aaron Alpeter sits down with footwear founder Daniella to unpack the hidden complexity behind one of the world’s most misunderstood industries.

What looks like a simple branding category on the surface is actually a deeply technical, globally fragmented, operationally unforgiving system underneath.

They cover:

Grüns didn’t just build a supplement brand — they redefined how people consume greens.

In less than 3 years, they went from launch to a $1.2 billion acquisition by Unilever — one of the most aggressive buyers in health & wellness.

In this episode of Ecommerce on Tap, we break down:

If you’re building a CPG brand, this is a masterclass in:

Fragrance is no longer just a luxury — it’s becoming a daily ritual.

In this episode of Ecommerce on Tap, Aaron Alpeter sits down with 5 SENS founder Divya Gugnani to break down the massive shift happening in the fragrance industry.

They cover:

If you're building in beauty, DTC, or consumer brands — this is a must-watch.

$1B in sales… and Ari by Ariana Grande barely owns it.

• Why Ari by Ariana Grande scaled to $1B through licensing instead of ownership

• How “Cloud” became a hero SKU by riding luxury fragrance dupe demand

• The real unit economics behind a $70 perfume bottle

• How Sephora and Ulta distribution turned it into a global brand

Aaron Alpeter is a supply chain operator who has worked with 200+ brands. He breaks down how Ari by Ariana Grande built their supply chain to support billion-dollar retail scale.

Luxury brands used to take centuries to build. But Byredo did it in less than 20 years.

In this episode of Ecommerce on Tap, we break down how Byredo went from a niche fragrance startup in Stockholm to one of the most respected luxury brands in the world — eventually selling a majority stake to Puig.

We cover:

• How a former basketball player founded Byredo

• Why luxury brands succeed through culture, not price

• The four engines of modern luxury brands

• How distribution shapes brand perception

• Why Burberry nearly destr...

Prestige fragrance is one of the most structurally gated industries in consumer beauty. Four compounding houses control formulation. Retailers decide survival based on velocity per door. Most brands never break through.

So how did Kayali — an influencer-born, Middle Eastern-positioned fragrance brand — scale globally through Sephora?

In this episode of eCommerce on Tap, Aaron Alpeter and Nathan Resnick break down:

• Why Middle Eastern fragrance historically struggled in North America

• How Huda Beauty built the infrastructure first

• Why Vanilla 28 became the hero SKU

• The impact of TikTok and COVID on fragrance...

Le Labo didn’t scale the way fragrance brands were supposed to — and that’s exactly why it worked.

In this episode of Ecommerce On Tap, we break down how Le Labo rejected celebrity launches, mass distribution, and growth theater to build one of the most culturally defensible brands in modern beauty — and why its acquisition by Estée Lauder permanently changed how acquirers think about fragrance.

We cover:
Why “restraint” became Le Labo’s unfair advantage
How in-store compounding and ritual created real brand moats
What this deal taught acquirers about authenticity, t...

Fragrance didn’t fail because people wanted fewer options.
It failed because it forced certainty in a world that isn’t.

In this episode of Ecommerce on Tap, Nathan Resnick and Aaron Alpeter break down how DedCool quietly rebuilt fragrance by questioning its most basic assumptions: gendered scents, signature bottles, and permanence.

We explore:
Why smell is learned, not universal
How fragrance became a social signal (not just a product)
Why layering reduces risk instead of creating confusion
How DedCool grew from a solo founder with an Instagram page into a $2...

Fragrance didn’t suddenly work online—it needed a new translator.
For decades, fragrance was built around authority, aspiration, and department store counters. Then Phlur quietly broke the rules.

In this episode of Ecommerce on Tap, we break down:
Why fragrance failed early DTC
How Phlur’s founders built a credible but plateaued clean fragrance brand
Why selling “clean” wasn’t enough to scale
How TikTok changed fragrance discovery
The strategic reboot behind Phlur’s breakout product Missing Person
Why Phlur’s supply chain, manufacturing strategy, and channel mix look nothing like leg...

Welcome to ECommerce On Tap, where Aaron and Nathan dive deep into the inner workings of the world’s most dynamic consumer categories. This season, they’re unraveling the mysteries of fragrance—from the basics of what constitutes a scent, to the rich history that took fragrance from ancient rituals to global luxury status. Whether you’re curious about the science behind a great perfume, the complexities of launching a fragrance brand, or the trends shaping the $50+ billion global market, this episode sets the stage for it all.

Join our hosts as they cover how fragrances are made, wh...

This week, host Aaron sits down with James Klein, a true veteran of the supplement industry who’s been shaping the space for over 25 years. From the early days of garage operations and bodybuilder-backed brands, to today's landscape dominated by eCommerce giants and stringent compliance requirements, James Klein shares a candid insider perspective on how regulation, technology, and consumer trust have transformed the supplement market.

In this episode, you’ll learn how the birth of eCommerce upended traditional retail, why compliance is now as much about payment processors as government agencies, and what pitfalls and opportunities await foun...

In this episode, Aaron and Nathan dive deep into the fascinating world of supplements, spotlighting a true disruptor in the probiotic space: Seed. Known for its research-driven approach, Seed has transformed a crowded wellness category by prioritizing science over hype, building its brand on education and clinical validation rather than marketing gimmicks.

In this episode, hosts Nathan and Aaron dive deep into the rise of Grüns—the supplement brand shaking up the greens category with their innovative gummy format. You'll hear how founder Chad Janis blended his experience in venture capital with cutting-edge supply chain know-how to transform a simple insight (everyone prefers gummies over powders or pills) into a $100 million powerhouse in record time. From the evolution of gummy manufacturing and the hurdles of bringing a high-active, low-sugar supplement to market, to the challenges of rapid retail expansion and fierce industry competition, this episode is packed with lessons for asp...

Aaron and Nathan reveal how Bloom Nutrition went from a niche pre-workout brand founded by Mari Llewellyn and Greg LaVacchia to Amazon’s best-selling greens powder, all by tapping into untapped audiences and making strategic moves that AG1 missed. You’ll hear how Bloom leveraged social media influence, taste innovation, and multi-channel growth to win over wellness consumers, landing partnerships with big-box retailers like Target and Walmart, and securing a minority stake sale to Nutrabolt at an impressive valuation.

From pioneering candy-flavored protein and pre-workout supplements through collaborations with household names like Warheads and Mondelez, to expanding into energy drinks, cereals, and snacks, Ghost has become more than just a supplement company—it’s a lifestyle brand that captures the spirit of an entire community.

Aaron and Nathan dove into the fascinating growth story of Nutrafol, the supplement brand that’s redefining hair wellness. We explored how three founders, each with their own hair loss journey, built trust through clinical trials and strategic partnerships with dermatologists, then scaled to a massive Unilever acquisition. We unpacked lessons on positioning, subscription business models, and how to expand your brand by leaning into science-backed results. If you’re building in ecommerce or supplements, Nutrafol’s journey is packed with actionable insights.

We’re kicking off an exciting new category—supplements! We dive deep into the origins, evolution, and explosive growth of the supplement industry in America, taking you from its roots in traditional medicine and early 20th century vitamin discovery, through the postwar boom of multivitamins, the bodybuilding and counterculture movements, and all the way to the modern era of influencer-led brands and trend-driven innovation.

Vacation was founded by a pair of beach-loving creatives who teamed up with the mastermind behind PoolSuite FM, an internet radio station obsessed with retro leisure vibes. Together, they built a brand that’s as much about playful escapism as it is about serious sun protection. From recreating the iconic Orange Gelee tanning gel to launching Instagram-worthy whipped sunscreen, Vacation’s journey is a masterclass on community-driven branding, product innovation, and leveraging cultural nostalgia for explosive growth.

Nathan and Aaron break down the science behind sunscreen, the regulatory hurdles for global expansion, and how Vacation has gone from...

Nathan and Aaron dissect Medik8’s unique “CSA” framework (Vitamin C in the morning, Sunscreen by day, Vitamin A at night), explaining how clear, habit-forming routines became a cornerstone for consumer loyalty and retention. The episode unpacks Medik8’s growth strategy, including their unconventional start through professional channels like medispas and dermatologists, the transition to retail and D2C, and their eventual partnership with private equity for rapid expansion into the US.

Glow Recipe. From their origins as ambitious executives at L'Oréal to becoming founders who redefined how the West thinks about skincare, Christine Chang and Sarah Lee's journey is packed with bold decisions, cultural insight, and some seriously impressive growth.

Nathan and Aaron unpack Glow Recipe’s evolution—from a K-beauty curation website born out of a mere $50,000 investment, to a fruit-forward, community-driven skincare powerhouse that’s become a best-seller in Sephora and pulled in over $300 million in revenue. They break down what made Glow Recipe stand out (hint: it’s not just watermelon masks) and discuss the smart...

In this episode of Ecommerce On Tap, hosts Aaron Alpeter and Nathan Resnick take you through the incredible journey of Curology—the team that managed to build a $200 million brand not once, but twice. 🎉

We dive deep into:

The founding story of Curology and its breakthrough in prescription teledermatology

The complex regulatory and compliance hurdles of launching in the healthcare industry

How Curology scaled from a niche telemedicine offering to a DTC powerhouse, and eventually, to major retail shelves like Target, CVS, Walmart, and Amazon

The company’s remarkable post-pand...

Starting from a college dorm room, Topicals quickly evolved into Sephora's fastest-growing skincare line, selling a product every minute at its peak. This isn't just a story of impressive growth—it's about challenging the historic blind spots of the beauty industry, championing cultural representation, and the tenacity of two founders determined to serve overlooked communities.

Nathan and Aaron walk us through Topicals' rapid journey: their unique approach to brand-building, the grit required to raise funds, how they cracked the code to a coveted Sephora partnership, and what happens when hypergrowth meets the realities of scale. Beyond Topicals, th...

On this episode of Ecommerce On Tap, we broke down how Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand, Rhode, achieved a billion-dollar valuation in just three years—with less than ten products, no paid celebrity endorsements, and a viral waitlist strategy. We looked at why authenticity and hands-on founder involvement mattered more than just lending a celebrity name, how tactical storytelling and minimalism fueled insane demand, and what founders can learn about operational excellence, keeping product lines focused, and preparing for a massive exit.

Welcome to a new season of Ecommerce On Tap, brought to you by Sourcify! In this exciting category kickoff episode, hosts Nathan Resnick and Aaron Alpeter dive deep into the world of skincare—a market that’s grown from ancient rituals and status symbols into a multi-billion dollar industry shaped by science, social media, and a global consumer base.

Nathan and Aaron trace the fascinating evolution of skincare, from Cleopatra’s milk baths and rice water in ancient China to today’s biotech formulations and viral TikTok routines. They explore how skincare’s meaning has shifted through history—fr...

Did you know the athleisure supply chain is still almost entirely Asia-based, and moving production elsewhere is insanely tough due to the complexity of technical fabrics? (Shoutout Beyond Yoga for doing it in LA!) Plus, just a decade ago, wearing your gym clothes to dinner was unthinkable. Now, multi-billion dollar brands like Lululemon and Gymshark have made “sporty chic” the new normal.

On this episode of Ecommerce On Tap, we unpacked the inspiring story behind Beyond Yoga—a DTC athleisure brand that bootstrapped their way from humble beginnings to a massive $400 million acquisition by Levi’s. We broke down how founders Michelle and Jodi championed body positivity, inclusive sizing, and buttery-soft fabrics, all while manufacturing locally in L.A. Their secret? Resisting industry norms, building real community, and letting their product fanbase fuel organic growth.

In this episode, Nathan and Aaron take us inside the journey of Adanola, the quietly confident UK-based athleisure brand making serious waves after years of flying under the radar. It’s a tale that starts with failure: two brothers, Hyrum and Josh Cook, first launched Zeven Media, an ambitious photo booth startup that ultimately collapsed despite a high-profile run on the UK’s Dragons' Den. But instead of calling it quits, Hyrum dusted himself off, doubled down on a side passion project, and spent years in the trenches perfecting what would become Adanola’s signature product—its Ultimate Leggings.

We’...

Today on Ecommerce On Tap, we dove deep into the story of Rhone—a premium activewear brand redefining men’s athleisure by blending high-tech fabrics with a real commitment to mental health and authentic values. We broke down their unique approach to supply chain innovation, how they built a dedicated community before spending a single dollar on ads, and their bold move to buy back shares from their PE investor to preserve their mission. Rhone proves you can scale a brand with integrity, staying true to your purpose every step of the way.