Building a Customer-Obsessed Ecommerce Operation | Flowspace

About this episode

Most ecommerce operations don't fail loudly. They leak quietly. A shipment goes out late. An order never leaves the warehouse. A customer reaches out days later, and by then, the damage is already done.

In this episode, Chad Brinton, founder of Roger AI and former Head of Ecommerce Operations at Made In Cookware and True Classic, breaks down what he learned scaling DTC fulfillment from the ground up—from joining Made In as employee #5 to managing the operational complexity of one of the fastest-moving brands in apparel. He also shares why he built Roger AI to help ecommerce brands find lost revenue and close the gap between fulfillment and customer service before customers ever have to reach out.

Key takeaways

About the Guest

Chad Brinton is the founder of Roger AI, a Shopify-native tool that helps ecommerce brands identify lost revenue and detect operational issues before customers do. Prior to founding Roger AI, Chad led ecommerce operations at Made In Cookware and True Classic, scaling fulfillment, customer service, and supply chain across two of the fastest-growing DTC brands in the country. Earlier in his career, he held ecommerce operations roles at Walmart and Deloitte Consulting. Chad brings a finance-forward, customer-obsessed approach to ecommerce operations, and a track record of building lean, high-performing teams that scale.

Ben Eachus (00:02.182)

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ben Hiss and I am the co-founder and CEO of Flowspace, a fulfillment platform that helps fast growing brands scale their operations. Joining me on the well-delivered podcast is Chad Brinton, who's the former head of operations at True Classic and Made In, and prior to that worked at Walmart E-commerce and Deloitte Consulting. He is now the founder of Roger AI.

Chad Brinton (00:36.012)

Yeah, thanks for having me, Ben. Appreciate it. Good to see you again. Happy to have this conversation today.

Ben Eachus (00:39.94)

You too. So Chad, I ask everyone who comes on the podcast, you started your career in consulting. How did you get into the dark world of operations and fulfillment?

Chad Brinton (00:51.842)

Yeah, you know, it's funny. I think that I had a grand plan the whole time. One day I woke up, from my time at Deloitte in operations consulting, and I said to myself, I'd really like to get into customer online e-commerce logistics, final mile supply chain. And like a week later, I had an inbound LinkedIn message from a Walmart recruiter. My plan in taking that job was I was going to build the resume and cut my teeth and hope to take over operations at a direct consumer startup one day. A friend from grad school reached out and asked if I wanted to take the role at Made In.

Ben Eachus (01:45.98)

So you go from working at one of the biggest e-commerce companies to joining a startup super early on. Maybe tell us a little about what was Made In like when you joined.

Chad Brinton (02:00.163)

I joined as the fifth employee at Made In. Surprisingly, the core problems from a logistics perspective were similar to those at Walmart. The challenge was fulfilling orders in a single box, balancing cost and speed to make the customer happy. The level of accountability when there are only five people is intense. If you're not the one who gets things done, it's not going to get done.

Ben Eachus (03:19.238)

I think one of my favorite expressions is there's no one coming, right? This is your problem.

Chad Brinton (03:26.164)

Exactly.

Ben Eachus (03:47.312)

What metrics did you track to ensure that you were meeting customer expectations?

Chad Brinton (04:01.622)

We tracked all the usual metrics for a DTC brand like on-time fulfillment percentages, time to second purchase, and lifetime value. A 99% on-time fulfillment percentage sounds great, but when fulfilling thousands of orders daily, that 1% equates to many individual experiences that could be negative.

Ben Eachus (05:36.557)

The hospitality level focus was something coined by a co-founder at Made In, emphasizing a unique approach for every customer interaction. We would sometimes buy out-of-stock items on Amazon just to fulfill a customer's need, reflecting our customer-centric philosophy.

Ben Eachus (08:07.984)

The transition from Made In to True Classic presented unique challenges, particularly with the volatility of tariffs affecting apparel manufacturing.

Chad Brinton (10:19.228)

True Classic excels at moving quickly and capitalizing on opportunities, which is essential in today’s fast-paced environment.

Chad Brinton (11:10.476)

I'm a believer in an operational playbook, but it’s about understanding where a business is in its growth cycle and customizing strategies accordingly.

Ben Eachus (12:29.574)

The evolution of the operations role has shifted towards understanding broader business functions like merchandising and finance supporting customer satisfaction and service.

Chad Brinton (13:11.766)

The ecosystem around e-commerce has changed massively, so it’s crucial for operators to leverage software and partner support rather than solve problems in isolation.

Chad Brinton (16:06.947)

I look for generalists who can adapt quickly and learn on the job, along with executional players who can own specific areas of the business.

Chad Brinton (21:45.836)

I was driven to address time and bandwidth consumption in customer service regarding order tracking and fulfillment at Roger AI, which helps identify lost revenue and operational issues before customers must complain.

Ben Eachus (23:49.987)

Congratulations on the launch of the product, Roger AI, which addresses essential pain points in e-commerce fulfillment and customer service.