Show Notes
Most agencies promise results. Few can show you the system behind them. In this episode, Randall Thompson sits down with Jar, a Profit Engineer at CTC who previously built and scaled a multi-7-figure apparel brand, to break down exactly what the Profit Engineer role looks like day to day. From daily contribution margin targets inside Statlas to the 4 levers that actually move paid media performance, this is an inside look at how CTC drives predictable, profitable growth across 7-figure and 8-figure ecommerce brands. Topics covered: What a Profit Engineer does every morning (and why contribution margin comes first)
The 3 forecasting models inside Statlas: Spending Power, Retention, and Event Effect
How to diagnose a volume problem vs. an efficiency problem
The 4 levers of paid media: Creative, Offers, CRO, and Marketing Moments
How Statlas Jams work and why collective knowledge across 170+ brands matters
Base plans vs. stretch goals and how to beat the model
What separates CTC from agencies that promise big and deliver small
CTC stat: $3B in GMV managed, within 3% of forecast target, 40%+ contribution margin growth, 30%+ revenue growth (2025). Show Notes: Q4 waits for no one. AppLovin is offering $5K ad credit when you spend $5K. Go to https://applovin.com/en/ad-experience?referralCode=CTC to set up your first campaign
Explore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engine
The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at [email protected] to ask us any questions you might have
More from Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth
Profitable ecommerce growth gets harder when repeat purchases are limited. In his Commerce Roundtable San Diego keynote, Taylor Holiday examines how Skullcandy, The Normal Brand, and Spiral Bible are growing with low customer lifetime value (LTV) and a need to make customer acquisition profitable on the first order. Taylor walks through changes to distribution, creative production costs, and campaign planning that helped these brands find room to scale. He also shares CTC’s research on ad performance to explain why the cost of finding successful creative matters. In this episode: Skullcandy: TikTok Shop reached 4.3x its January level by August, while ecommerce reached 2.7x its January level. He explains how creator content can generate demand that converts across the website, Amazon, and retail.
Black Friday ad spend can generate a different incremental return than it does during a typical sales period. Luke Austin, President of Common Thread Collective, joins Richard Gaffin to explain how incrementality testing can help you decide where your holiday budget belongs. They discuss what CTC has observed in promotional-period tests and why your usual return on ad spend (ROAS) target may need adjusting during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). The goal is to understand which sales your ads generate beyond what would have happened without them, then use that information to guide spending. From there, Luke explores where brands could reinvest if the results support a change, including offers that evolve throughout the day and a larger role for creators in promoting them. He shares examples brands have already tried and outlines his proposal for coordinating offers across larger creator networks. In this episode: Why Black Friday ad spend can be more or less incremental than spending during a typical sales period
Luke Austin, President of Common Thread Collective, joins Richard Gaffin to explain how to keep shoppers engaged after your Black Friday sale goes live. They break down the Power 30, the holiday window that accounts for 55% of Q4 website revenue in the data discussed, and the offer decisions that deserve attention throughout it. Luke shares examples of brands using VIP hours, featured-product flash sales, and changing gifts with purchase to give customers fresh reasons to visit and buy. The conversation covers how to prepare those moments, adapt to sales and inventory, and keep each offer easy for shoppers to understand. In this episode: Building a holiday calendar around early access, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the shipping cutoff
Joy Sharma, who leads CTC's seven-figure service offering, joins Richard with one goal: give every 7-figure ecommerce brand a clear BFCM prep playbook before the season hits. They walk through five areas in order from least to most impact. Housekeeping: Make sure your ad account billing limit is higher than your expected spend. Check your Commerce Manager, confirm your pixel is firing with 90%+ match rate, and clear any blockages before November.
By the time Black Friday arrives, Skullcandy wants customers ready to buy. Evin Catlett, Skullcandy’s Global VP of Ecommerce and Growth Marketing, joins Taylor Holiday live at Commerce Roundtable in San Diego to explain how the brand uses TikTok Shop and creator content to build demand ahead of its holiday promotions. She shares what helped TikTok Shop gain traction after a slow start and how her team selects products for creator campaigns that support sales across Skullcandy’s website, Amazon, and retail stores. In this episode: Building a digital growth strategy inside a brand with extensive retail distribution