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From Bondi Markets to 13 Stores: Arms of Eve's eCommerce & Retail Growth Playbook

eCommerce Australia · with Kerryn and Aaron Langer · August 1, 2026 · 51 min

Summary

This episode unveils Arms of Eve's journey from a market stall to a multi-million dollar omnichannel brand with 13 stores and a booming e-commerce presence. Learn how they strategically integrated physical retail to create a "halo effect" boosting online sales, navigated marketplace complexities, and optimized their tech stack and content strategy for rapid DTC growth. A must-listen for Shopify merchants eyeing retail expansion.

Key takeaways

Themes

shopify & ecommerce platformsdtc strategyretail & omnichannelbrand & content

Topics covered

omnichannel retail strategydtc scalinge-commerce tech stackcontent marketing evolutionmarketplace strategyretail halo effectprofitability analyticscustomer reviews

Episode description

If you're building a Shopify store, a DTC label, or an omnichannel ecommerce brand in Australia, this episode is your blueprint.From selling jewellery at Bondi markets to 13 stores and a booming ecommerce business, Arms of Eve co-founders Kerryn and Aaron Langer show how an Australian DTC brand scales retail without losing its ecommerce edge. Kerryn and Aaron Langer turned a market stall and a pile of leftover merino wool offcuts into Arms of Eve, now a nine-store (soon to be 13) Australian jewellery and lifestyle brand that's scaled past $20 million in revenue on the back of a genuinely direct-to-consumer ecommerce model. In this episode of eCommerce Australia, Ryan Martin sits down with the husband-and-wife founders to unpack how they walked away from the traditional wholesale/indent model, why The Iconic marketplace became their unlikely proving ground, and how COVID-era demand for jewellery (turns out that's the only accessory that shows up on a Zoom call) turned a side category into 80% of the business.For Shopify merchants and ecommerce operators thinking about opening a physical store, this conversation is a masterclass in getting the sequencing right. Aaron was convinced retail was dead, until their "little experiment" Bondi Beach store proved the opposite, creating a measurable halo effect that lifts online sales in a 10km radius around every new location. They talk candidly about the tech stack behind a fast-scaling DTC ecommerce brand (Starshipit for fulfilment, Okendo for reviews, Profit Peak for profitability data, and an in-house team now "vibe coding" their own dashboards), how they balance agency support with in-house performance marketing, and why their content strategy has swung from polished campaign shoots to raw, iPhone-shot, Tolstoy-powered video that converts better than the highly produced stuff ever did.There's also a genuinely useful nugget for anyone running e

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Frequently asked about this episode

What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Physical retail stores can create a "halo effect," significantly increasing online sales in the surrounding geographic area, as demonstrated by Arms of Eve's 10km radius uplift.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Strategic use of marketplaces like The Iconic can serve as an effective proving ground and growth channel, even for brands moving away from traditional wholesale models.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Prioritize a lean, data-driven tech stack for scalability, including solutions for fulfillment (Starshipit), reviews (Okendo), and profitability analytics (Profit Peak).
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Shift content strategy towards authentic, raw, and even iPhone-shot video content ("Tolstoy-powered") as it can convert better than highly polished, expensive productions.
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
For DTC brands, carefully sequence retail expansion; an "experiment" with one store can validate the omnichannel model before scaling to multiple locations.

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