Show notes
Bill and I are joined by Kailin Noivo to mix up a NA cocktail and talk about eCommerce analytics and what is happening ‘for realz’ with Answer Engine traffic and impact today.Kailin is the co-founder and President of Noibu, where he leads the company’s mission to help eCommerce businesses identify and eliminate both small and large problems that impact traffic, conversion and bounce rates. Since launching in 2017, Noibu has grown quickly into a trusted platform used by many leading global retailers and brands. Prior to founding Noibu, Kailin worked in software engineering and product roles that gave him a first-hand view of the hidden costs of undiagnosed website issues.Bill and I wanted to connect with Kailin and understand his perspective on the market and what he is hearing from the many merchants leveraging the Noibu solution.So please pour yourself something to sip along with us and enjoy our fascinating conversation with Kailin.Cheers!Episode Chapters:* Welcome and The Paper Crane: NA riffs, maple syrup, and a Kyoto memory.* Hey Kai! Explaining Noibu, making online shopping easy with that extra cocktail.* The Noibu founders story: From VR shopping to finding the real problems on eCommerce sites.* Hypergrowth and humility: From fastest-growing to a decade of incremental progress.* Inside the eCom leader’s brain: Profitable growth, consolidation, and AI confusion.* Answer engines impact in the real world, vaguely futuristic fallacy?* AI vs Apps vs the web: Declining site traffic, surging native app sessions, and the emphasis on push notifications* ROAS reality check: Rising CAC, softening conversion, and the “s**t cocktail”.* Earned media and micro-influencers: Life after Facebook ads* The challenge of attribution in the AI era: Black boxes, missing analytics, and what brands actually know.* Commerce analytics is just different: Vertical data and last-click tuning.* eCom business-building for the next 3–5 years: Own the channel, own the data, own the relationship.* AI on the inside: Automating redundant, laborious work so merchants and marketers can gain higher leverage.* Structuring data for “magic”: When analytics experiments actually start to feel like sorcery* The perfect end-of-day drink: Whiskey sour with a real egg (no shortcuts!)Please subscribe to our Substack! We want to be sure you make it to the next party! Cheers!This week’s cocktail: Paper CraneThe Paper Crane is a contemplative, non-alcoholic riff on the modern-classic Paper Plane. The Paper Plane was created by mixology legend Sam Ross for the influential - but unfortunately now shuttered - Chicago bar called The Violet Hour in the late 2000s. Of course, as is often the case, the Paper Plane itself was a riff - off the equal parts wonder that is the Last Word. Ross originally used equal parts bourbon, Amaro Nonino, Campari, and lemon juice - and only later did Aperol somehow find it’s way into the drink instead of Campari (F**k Aperol!).In this C&C spirit-free interpretation, the Paper Crane we replaced the bourbon with a robust, spicy NA whiskey and swapped in a bitter non-alcoholic aperitif for the Amaro Nonino. We then added maple syrup to add warmth, woodsy sweetness, and mouthfeel. The result is a surprisingly well-balanced cocktail that can easily trick the palate into forgetting it is non-alcoholic. It’s great!As for the name, we were thinking of something to make clear this NA wonder was a nod to the Paper Plane when I looked down at my desk at a paper crane I found on the ground in Kyoto - right after this picture was taken in November at the former Imperial Palace, looking out at the Emperor’s private garden.Paper Crane Cocktail Spec3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - NA Whiskey (Free Spirits “The Spirit of Bourbon” recommended)3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - NA Appertif Roots Divino Appertif Rosso3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - Fresh lemon juice3/4 oz. (~20-25 ml.) - Maple syrupGarnish - Paper Crane (Optional)Steps:Add NA bourbon, Roots aperitif, lemon juice, and maple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Add ice to top, and shake vigorously until your hands scream from the cold. Strain into a cocktail glass. (Optional, garish with a paper crane.)Try this the next time you are looking for a solid NA cocktail to make at home, it’s great!Cheers!Please share! There is plenty of room for others at the cocktail party! Why not share a drink and an interesting perspective to talk about while you enjoy it! Please share with you network or workplace today. Thank you!As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.Be well, drink well, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & BillCocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cocktailsand.substack.com