Andrew Dowley's Profile
Andrew Dowley
Recent Messages
#tech-stack - July 07, 2025 at 10:09 AM
If you use Klaviyo it offers this.
#expert-led-drop-ins - June 17, 2025 at 07:54 AM
I am away next week, I assume this won't be recorded to watch back based on what you've said above
#venice-newsletter - June 16, 2025 at 04:26 PM
@Andrew Dowley has joined the channel
#expert-led-drop-ins - June 16, 2025 at 04:22 PM
@Andrew Dowley has joined the channel
#all-hands - June 16, 2025 at 04:14 PM
@Andrew Dowley has joined the channel
#ask-the-community - June 06, 2025 at 08:44 AM
If anyone else does struggle with this, I've set it up to pay to the bank card linked to my bank account now. This won't work for large amounts but allows £1k at a time. Bit painful but at least I can draw the cash down now.
#ask-the-community - June 05, 2025 at 09:21 AM
From this I might try and log into desktop, I've been trying on mobile - thanks!
#ask-the-community - June 05, 2025 at 08:26 AM
Has anyone had issues getting money out of PayPal? It seems this week they've decided they don't like transferring to Starling bank accounts..... It's worked for years in the same way previously.....
#meta-ads - April 22, 2025 at 09:19 AM
They do give you someone but they tend to get bored after a month or so and then you get another one. No consistency and certainly not what we need to continue to build momentum.
#meta-ads - April 22, 2025 at 08:18 AM
Once you start spending you get them reaching out to you BUT.... I've found one person out of five useful. They don't give great tips and I find I can generate better return with what I am doing.
You might be better to get someone to manage the account for you, or sign up for a learning programme.
Maybe others have had a different experience.
#growth-and-marketing - April 10, 2025 at 08:25 AM
We used a company called Megantic, they did some great work on our SEO.
#tech-stack - April 08, 2025 at 02:12 PM
Yes, we only use a small portion of their functionality but we have it working well for what we do. I know others have struggled with it and finding something that does the same thing well has been a challenge for us.
#tech-stack - April 08, 2025 at 01:06 PM
I've also seen positive things about this app -
#tech-stack - April 08, 2025 at 01:05 PM
We use Linnworks and it allows us to merge the orders before dispatch so one packing slip.
#ask-the-community - March 26, 2025 at 10:06 AM
I always use 7 day click, if someone has seen the advert it doesn't mean they've engaged. For me a click shows an action and intention to buy rather than scrolling past and not engaging.
#ask-the-community - March 04, 2025 at 03:46 PM
TrustPilot 4x our bill for the same thing, we stopped paying and moved to their free service. We put Judge on the website for product reviews and have a Klaviyo flow that sends people to Trustpilot for service reviews.
#ask-the-community - January 09, 2025 at 05:37 PM
Thanks all for your comments, certainly some options to chase after and investigate.
#ask-the-community - January 09, 2025 at 01:43 PM
Hi all
I am interested in hearing how you are all funding your e-comm businesses in terms of stock purchasing.
We are a seasonable business with our main revenue coming from March to September, at this time of year we need to push suppliers on better purchase prices and we have to stock up for the year.
Previously we’ve used Working Capital loans from PayPal Working Capital, Shopify Capital and more recently Wayflyer which are paid back as a % of our sales.
% of sales works well for us because sales will drop in the winter months being a UK based sailing business.
Any other recommendations?
Thank you in advance.
#growth-and-marketing - December 10, 2024 at 09:21 PM
Thanks all for sharing, a very interesting read.
#meta-ads - December 10, 2024 at 09:09 PM
For us it’s more Google focussed, trying to catch consumers when they have more intent searching for the item rather than popping up in their feed and hoping they will shop.
#ask-the-community - October 30, 2024 at 07:29 AM
Yes please @George
#ask-the-community - October 30, 2024 at 07:28 AM
I had my account hacked last year, it took months to get it back. They wouldn’t reinstate my original FB account so lost everything I had built since ~2007.
The FB ads rep who had been in contact helped me put a support ticket in but it was beyond painful. I had to set up a new FB account and they linked the business account back to that.
All because someone accessed my account and changed it to a celebrity name, it was so obvious what had happened but they wouldn’t give me the original account back. Nightmare.
Good luck!!
#growth-and-marketing - October 18, 2024 at 06:56 AM
I spend just over £14k a year.
Agree with Clay on it being a small percentage of overall spend.
I do always wonder whether it’s worth it or not….
#ask-the-community - October 18, 2024 at 06:54 AM
Has anyone used a Google Ads coach? I am looking for someone who can spend an hour a week with me going through our account and making tweaks. Any recommendations please?
#ask-the-community - October 18, 2024 at 06:53 AM
I’ve started thinking about this over the past couple of weeks. In previous years we’ve used it to clear old stock and have offered discounts to customers to try and get them in.
I am thinking we might do a ‘money back’ scheme in the form of a voucher to spend next time, or free gifts but I can’t help thinking that most people just want a bargain now.
#ask-the-community - October 18, 2024 at 06:52 AM
I would be interested to know if you see an increase in conversion based on this, we ask the customer to pay duties and tax at the point of import but wondering if this is the wrong way to do it.
#ask-the-community - August 02, 2024 at 02:36 PM
@Alex Stewart how was the event, worth going?
#ask-the-community - July 26, 2024 at 12:40 PM
Thank you, all feedback is good feedback.
#ask-the-community - July 25, 2024 at 11:15 AM
Thanks both, we do use Judge reviews, they are just a bit further down.
The challenge we have is that some products don't have reviews yet, so they would show blank - the thought process behind using TP reviews was that we have lots of them, and they are relevant across all products. Will have another think about this one.
I will also have a look at juggling the description up the page.
The button colours, if you mean red text on green button, that's crept in today, our development team are making some changes - will kick them now
Thank you
#ask-the-community - July 24, 2024 at 04:22 PM
Hi all, a cheeky ask from me please.
We've been looking at tweaks to our product page to help increase the conversion rate, we keep tweaking bits here and there but I would love a fresh set of eyes and comments on the page please if you have time.
Here is one of our most popular product pages.
#ask-the-community - July 24, 2024 at 04:21 PM
I've not had this issue. Some days they do overspend but we have busier days in the week with more demand so that's fine, and it balances out.
They always bill us when they get the threshold.
Have you tried changing the threshold and re saving? Might give it a kick.
#ask-the-community - July 24, 2024 at 04:09 PM
It's really helped me on profitability per order. Loads of new features coming all the time too.
#ask-the-community - July 24, 2024 at 04:06 PM
I can't make it but I am working with the guys at Store Hero, it's a fantastic product.
#linkedin-love - July 11, 2024 at 09:01 AM
1 issue is driving sales for us. This year seems like we're struck in treacle, we are around 5% down on last years sales, which I am told is a very good place to be in the current environment and our industry.
#introductions - June 13, 2024 at 01:52 PM
Hi everyone, nice to see you all here. I am the founder at Sailing Chandlery, we are an online sailing shop selling a wide range of items from shackles, to metres of rope, to wetsuits through to boats.
Most of our business comes online and through our Shopify website.