Two Shopify Partners get real in an AMA packed with listener questions. Store spying tricks, AI fails, bold 2025 predictions, a garage full of jacked-up cars, and a sneak peek at their next app.

What you’ll learn:

• How to spy on Shopify stores using public endpoints and browser tools
• What’s broken (and what’s promising) in Shopify’s new AI tools
• How devs actually use ChatGPT to write Shopify code
• Email marketing best practices, including double opt-in insights
• A look behind the scenes at a new Shopify app in development

Sponsors:

• Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels: http://zipify.com/KURT
• Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
• Viralsweep – Run sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways: https://www.viralsweep.com/

Show Links:

• Liquid Weekly: https://liquidweekly.com/
• Editions.dev: https://editions.dev/pages/editions-dev
• Tactical Baby Gear: https://tacticalbabygear.com/
• Shopify AI Store Setup Tool: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/ai-store-generator-tool
• Copy All URLs Chrome Extension: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/copy-all-urls/djdmadneanknadilpjiknlnanaolmbfk?hl=en
• Store Leads: https://storeleads.app/reports/shopify

Work with Kurt:

• Grow your Shopify store with me → https://ethercycle.com/apply
• See our client results → https://ethercycle.com/work
• Join my newsletter → https://kurtelster.com/

Lady Gaga has a new Shopify site. But this isn’t just a merch store. It’s a stage, a story, a digital home—built to evolve as fast as she does.

Her team needed something different. A site that could change overnight and feel as immersive as her albums. So they went headless, partnering with Commerce-UI, a Shopify agency known for pushing boundaries.

In this episode, Shopify Partner Michal Klim takes us inside the build:

• How Hydrogen and Oxygen power a site that never stands still.
• Why merch sales weren’t the top priority—and what was.
• Why a “conversion-first” mindset wouldn’t work here—and what did.

It’s a story about what happens when a global superstar takes Shopify beyond ecommerce best practices.

🎧 Listen now on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is made by possible by our sponsors:

• Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
• Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
• Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors & costs

Special thanks to our friends at Shopify and to our listeners.

Show Links

• Lady Gaga’s Shopify Store – See the site in action
• Abracadabra! Building Lady Gaga's magical storefront experience on Hydrogen - Shopify Newsroom article
• Commerce-UI – The agency behind Lady Gaga’s Shopify site
• Shopify Hydrogen – Build headless commerce experiences
• Shopify Oxygen – Deploy Hydrogen storefronts on Shopify’s infrastructure
• Sanity CMS – Headless CMS used for editorial content

Work with Kurt

Want to optimize your Shopify store and grow your business? I help Shopify merchants like you increase conversions, streamline operations, and build standout online experiences.

Apply to work with me: Ethercycle
See how I’ve helped other brands: Recent Client Successes
Get my best Shopify insights: Join My Newsletter

Let’s make your Shopify store better, faster, and more profitable.

Megan Smalley didn’t plan to build a powerhouse ecommerce brand. Scarlet & Gold started as a creative side project—until she got laid off.

Fast forward 12 years, and Scarlet & Gold is one of the only women-owned businesses licensed for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) merch on Shopify. This March, their Shopify sales are up 74.2% year-over-year—with over 53.6% of those sales tied to March Madness merchandise.

And here’s the kicker: 69.5% of their basketball sales come from just two NIL deals.

So how did she do it? What makes NIL merch so powerful? And what’s it really like running an ecommerce business that lives and dies by game-day hype?

That’s what we’re talking about today.

👉 Read more from Shopify’s newsroom: shopify.com/news/march-madness-entrepreneurs

🔗 Check out Scarlet & Gold → scarletandgoldshop.com
🔗 Need custom merch? → scarletandgoldcustom.com

📌 Sponsors:

• Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
• Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
• Address Validator – Reduce delivery errors & costs

🎧 Enjoyed this episode?
Subscribe & leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

💡 Want to grow your Shopify store? Work with Kurt:

• Apply for a strategy session → ethercycle.com/apply
• See what we’ve built → ethercycle.com/work
• Get my best Shopify insights → kurtelster.com

👥 Join Our Private Facebook Group:
Connect with other Shopify entrepreneurs → facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast

This is a story about ecommerce, sports, and the weird world of NIL merch.
It’s about how one Shopify store turned athlete partnerships into real growth.
And it’s about what happens when you take a risk—and it actually works.