Financial Commandment #1: Your Money, Your Responsibility
In this post you’ll learn: He almost didn’t review his tax return that year....
How accurate were our eCommerce predictions of 2025 and which ones completely missed the mark? In this episode, I sit down with longtime friend of the show and industry heavyweight Bill D’Alessandro. Bill returns to help dissect the biggest themes that shaped 2025 — from tariffs and consumer pockets to platform shifts and advertising pressure.
You’ll learn how global sourcing shifts reshaped margins, why affluent consumers and specific product categories powered through the chaos, and what rising ad auction competitiveness means for every eCommerce business. We also dive into emerging trends like GEO (“SEO for AI”), the real cracks showing in Google’s dominance, shifting offshoring models, and Amazon’s evolving two-tier ecosystem.
You’ll learn:
- How we would sum up 2025. (2:00)
- How tariffs impacted all of us. (3:45)
- Where people are hiring—international vs. local. (5:10)
- How the Trump administration has impacted eCommerce. (8:00)
- Whether AI impacted Google negatively. (13:00)
- Why GEO—SEO for AI—is becoming an important new discovery channel. (21:20)
- Whether Amazon Haul created a two-tier marketplace for cheap vs. vetted products. (27:30)
- How the conversation around Bitcoin has changed. (30:00)
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(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Bill D’Alessandro of FoodScience.com)
What Was Mentioned
- Bill D’Alessandro: Website | X | Instagram | LinkedIn
- FoodScience
- eCommerceFuel Forum
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“40-50% of spending is done by the top 10% of people in terms of income, so they’re powering a disproportionate amount.” - Andrew Youderian Tweet this “If you were selling to an affluent consumer, you probably did great. If you were selling to a middle to lower class consumer, you're probably hurting. If you were sourcing from China, you're probably hurting. If you're sourcing domestically or from Mexico or Canada in categories that dodge those tariffs, you're probably doing pretty well.” - @BillDA Tweet this "As we sit here in early December 2025, I don't think there's a business in the world that looks better positioned for AI than Google does right now.” - @BillDA Tweet this
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
