Joseph Sharplin is the Head of eCommerce at AS Colour, the blank apparel brand that’s anything but basic. Born out of New Zealand, AS Colour has grown into a global player with 26 retail stores, six warehouses, and a B2B machine fuelling merch runs for everyone from indie bands to megastars.
In this episode, Joe takes us through his leap from product design into digital leadership and what it really takes to build an online experience that keeps both wholesale giants and everyday shoppers happy. We’re talking thousands of SKUs, colourways that could make your head spin, and the joys of rolling out new features across five different regions. Spoiler: it’s not easy. At all.
Today, we’re discussing…
- How AS Colour scaled B2B eCommerce into a self-service global powerhouse.
- Balancing wholesale and D2C without compromising brand experience.
- The complexity of managing thousands of SKUs, colourways, and product variants.
- Why BigCommerce became the backbone of AS Colour’s tech stack.
- The role of loyalty programs and pricing tiers in B2B growth.
- Global expansion into the US and EU, and the logistics behind it.
6:42 Joe’s Path: From Product Design to E‑commerce
10:41 Balancing B2B and DTC
15:03 Replatforming to BigCommerce
18:34 B2B Features and Customer Groups
23:05 Enhancing Customer Conversations
26:58 Keeping Fresh Product Pages
33:28 Leveraging Search for Better Customer Experience
36:11 Staying Ahead in Ecom
39:27 What’s Next: ERP, Automation, US/EU Growth
41:05 Tariffs, Foresight, and Inventory Strategy
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