CartStars

CartStars is the most exclusive friendwork for eCommerce’s top 5%—a curated space where leaders build, learn, and scale together.

What Makes CartStars Different
- Invitation-only—membership is earned through participation, not fees.
- Peer-driven—no sales pitches, just trusted advice from industry leaders.
- Curated vendor ecosystem—only partners recommended by members.
- Beyond digital—private platform, local meetups, and executive retreats.

Why It Matters
Great businesses aren’t built alone. CartStars brings together the brightest minds in retail and eCommerce—leaders who are shaping the future and willing to share what they know.

Know a CartStars member? Ask them for an invite.

Founder & CEO

Diversity Plug

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Founder

Inveterate, Inc

 Director Of Partnerships

Gladly

Trusted by hundreds of companies including Crate & Barrel, Ralph Lauren, and Warby Parker, Gladly is the people-centric CX platform that puts customers and agents at the center of every conversation to kickstart and nurture more natural relationships, driving long-term brand loyalty, revenue, and support efficiency.

Based in San Francisco, Gladly was founded in 2014 and is privately backed by industry leaders including Greylock, GGV Capital, NEA, Glynn Capital, FutureFund, and JetBlue Ventures.

Manager, Strategic Partner Program

dotdigital

The dotdigital platform is an omnichannel marketing solution for B2C, B2B, and NFP marketers in the Americas. Import data, build segments and triggers and create relevant marketing campaigns that engage your customers on their favorite channels. Don’t limit yourself to email marketing; personalize your marketing messages across SMS, push notifications, live chat, and social ads.

Speed and ease of use are at the core of what we do, so our omnichannel marketing features can help you reach your goals faster. If you want to increase marketing ROI, boost sales revenue, drive more qualified leads, or boost donor growth – dotdigital is the single-sign-on platform you need.

Sr. Enterprise Account Executive

SAG-AFTRA

Actress

Demandforce

The Demandforce software-as-a-service application is used by thousands of customers to grow revenue, keep clients coming back, and manage operations more effectively. Demandforce connects Demandforce clients to over 100 million consumers via email communications, text messaging, and online services. Demandforce has achieved 26 quarters of over 80% year-over-year quarterly growth and is led by a management team with over a decade of experience developing and delivering web-based applications that drive real, tangible business value. As of February 2016, Demandforce is proud to now be a part of the Internet Brands family.

Senior Account Executive

Yelp

Account Executive

Lion Management Group, Inc.

CEO at CartStars | Cultivating an Empathetic & Resilient Community for eCommerce Leaders

Two years ago, I had a lightbulb moment.

As a newly minted Director of Partnerships, I gathered seven experienced colleagues to get their honest feedback on a tech solution I was evaluating. No agendas. No sales pitches. Just real advice from people who understood my KPIs.

Their insights saved me $40,000 and a year of frustration.

That’s when it hit me:
 In an industry with 8,000+ tech tools and 4x as many agencies, leaders don’t need more noise. They need trusted, agenda-free connections.

That’s why I built CartStars.

CartStars is the exclusive friendwork for eCommerce’s top 5%—a curated, high-trust space where senior brand, retail, and eCommerce leaders ($10M+ revenue) connect with peers to share insights, solve challenges, and build real relationships.

What makes CartStars different?
✅ Invitation-only—membership is earned through contribution.
✅ No sales pitches—just real, peer-driven conversations.
✅ A curated partner ecosystem—only solutions recommended by members.
✅ Digital + in-person—our platform and executive events create real impact.
✅ Your friendwork in your pocket—get answers instantly from trusted peers.

We believe the best executives don’t scale alone. They grow by building relationships with other smart, kind, and engaged leaders—without wasted time, bad deals, or endless sales cycles.

CartStars is invite-only. If you know a member, ask them to invite you.

🔗 Learn more at CartStars.com

Debbie Kemunto Pearce

No one owes you anything.


Not their time.
Not their trust.
Not their belief in what you’re building.

I learned that early.

Maybe that’s why the last three years have meant so much to me.

Because the only reason CartStars works,
is that the best service providers in this industry decided to give us something they didn’t have to:
Their partnership.
Their excellence.
And their reputation… long before we had one of our own.

Every partner who has ever worked with us was recommended by our members.
Which means before they ever worked with CartStars, they worked with you.
They earned your trust first.
We simply inherited it.
And I don’t take that lightly.

So today I just want to say thank you.

To every team that showed up for our members, solved real problems, and made this ecosystem better.

So here’s to the partners who have been part of this journey,
past, present, and now officially, 2026.

85SIXTY, AB Tasty, Absolute Web, adMixt, AthenaHQ, Bark-Ai, BTR Media, CommerceNext, Flexport, Friendbuy, Instant, Intelligems, Keynes Digital, Kimonix, Klaviyo, KODIF, LettrLabs, Loop, Loop Subscriptions, ShipHero, Nishe, Nostra, Oceans Talent, Opensend, OrderProtection.com, Passport, Poplar/ Share Local Media, Power Digital Marketing, Redo, Retention.com, Rise.ai, Rivo, SARAL - The Influencer OS, SiteVibes, Skio, Stay AI, Stord, & the rest in the comments!

We see you.
We appreciate you.
And CartStars is better because of you.

If you’re reading this and you’ve worked with any of them,
tag them below.
They deserve it.

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #trust #partnerships

Founder, CartStars | Building the room where top retail and eCommerce minds grow together.

You can’t buy this.


“So what’s the difference between a sponsorship and a partnership at CartStars?”

I get why they ask.

From the outside, the difference looks cosmetic.
A nicer word.
A softer label.

But I’ve never liked soft labels.

A sponsorship is transactional.
You pay. You get visibility. Your logo shows up somewhere it wasn’t yesterday.
Fair enough.

But a partnership is different.
A partnership is work.
An agreement to grow together.

Our partners show up for our members.
We show up for their teams.
Both sides bring something the other can’t.

That is why we are so strict about who becomes a partner here.
You are not buying a list.
You are entering an ecosystem.

If you are here only to take, you will hate it.
If you are here to give, you will feel at home.

Because you don’t get anywhere good by taking without giving.
Not in this industry. Not in this community.

And for CartStars, “partner” is not a nicer word for sponsor.
It’s a promise.

You bring your best work.
We bring our best people.

And when both sides grow from that,
It doesn’t need to be defined. It's felt.

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #partnership #thoughtleadership #growth

Speed over space. 


If something didn’t click quickly,
I assumed it was wrong.
Or I was.

So I’d look at people who welcomed a slow start and feel almost envious.
They got time.
Time to build processes.
Time to make mistakes without an audience.
Time to breathe before they had to prove anything.

But CartStars never gave me that.
It felt like a long, quiet hallway.
No hockey stick.
No “we blew up overnight” story to tell on a podcast.

At first, I thought that meant we were behind.
But now, the view from the climb feels different. 

Like The Pillars of the Earth.
Ken Follett spent ten years on that book.
ten years tracing every stone,
every choice,
every consequence.

A world built slowly enough that the foundation actually holds.

It’s the kind of story you can’t speed through,
because it wasn’t written that way.

CartStars unfolded the same way.
Carved into place, not rushed into existence.

That’s why I’m grateful we did not get everything we wanted quickly.

You can engineer speed.
But you can’t fake depth.
And depth is what we’re here for.
So I plan to take my time.

Because overnight success is a fallacy.

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #growth #journey #thoughtleadership

We've heard the whispers. 


"CartStars has too many rules." 
"Other platforms get 6X the sponsorship."

But here's what we keep hearing: "Other rooms don't feel the same."

Because vendors can't pay to be in the room. 
They have to be recommended by members who've used them. 

And they don't make astronomical investments, which means there's air.

Not pressure and pitches.

This year, Allison Gagnon from Tibi sat next to the Videowise team at Torrisi.
No topic. Just dinner.

Twenty-seven live shopping episodes later: $2 million in sales.

Everyone wins. 
Leaders discover what works from peers. 
Vendors doing great work grow. 

And we get to keep building the room.

Receipts in comments :)

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce

Can we fight about it?


When Justin texts you with:
“Hey… what about a boxing match for charity?”

You know something that sounds unhinged,
is about to make perfect sense.

Raising $1,000,000 for charity, 
across clean water, emergency medical care, and cancer research.
That kind of purpose has a way of settling everything into place.

So here we are.
Eight exhibition matches.
Sixteen brave (or slightly unhinged) eCommerce leaders.
Five hundred people in the audience.

All of us trying to do something that looks a little impossible.
And therefore all the more worth it.

I’m part of the donations and boxers team alongside
Anas Hoque at Klaviyo and Bradley Johnston at Opensend.

And yes…
I may or may not be stepping into the ring myself.
You’ll have to show up to find out.

Huge thanks to the incredible group making this real:
Justin Silver (our fearless Chair),
Ben Walter, Emmanuel Kamau, Alexander Lazoff,
Jess Cervellon, Bryce Alsten, Lauren Sawyer ☀️,
Ian Korer, Grace Nicklas,
Bill Murphy, and Josh Garellek!

See you in Vegas on March 24th at The Space.
Let’s make this count. 🥊


#retail #ecommerce #charity #fightforcharity #shoptalk #shoptalk2026

I said yes.


To new ideas.
New experiments.
A few questionable decisions I’m still pretending were strategic.

Eventually, the team started saying I was “subscribing” to everything.
And honestly… fair.
My credit card has been through character development this year. 😬

But when our members started nominating their picks for the 2026 CartStars partnerships in the subscription category,
something unusual happened.
No noise.
No debate.
No fourteen-way tie.
(If you’ve been in eCom long enough, you know that alone is a miracle.)

So if you lean in closely,
I’ll tell you what I’m subscribing to next year:
Skio and Loop Subscriptions!

Chosen by members who don’t just plug into a stack.
They stay in it. 
With skin in the game.
And receipts in their dashboards.

So…yes, I’ve said yes to a lot this year.
But this is the subscription I’d sign twice!
Everything else can stay on free trial 😏


#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #partnerships #subscription

Shopline US

Head of Partnerships

Tech Job Placement

Started a non profit focusing on helping low income and underserved populations get alternative training and placement into tech jobs. Centered on non-technical roles such as Customer Success, Partnerships, Biz Dev and Sales.

President

Retention.com

Senior Partner Manager

Dynamic Yield

-Revived and revised Channel Partnership program including program structure, focus targets and partner types
-Managed and owned all technology partnerships in the NA/APAC region (ecomm platform, CMS, CDP, ESP, etc.)
-Managed and owned all Agency partnerships in the NA/APAC region
-Achieved 100% of target in 2021 as an IC

Channel Director

Overdose.

-Prospected, pitched and closed a book of business in the PST region
-Managed P&L for the business unit
-Established new processes for the LA Office within Overdose Global
-Managed Clients spanning Strategy, Paid Marketing, Project Management, SEO and Email 
-Exceeded sales targets ahead of schedule for 2020/2021 YTD
-Contributed to training and Client Success guidelines
-Developed Scoping Process for Site Builds
-Supported Partnerships and Marketing team vetting new technology partners and networking
-Created inter-department collaboration workflows to streamline services and client facing interaction

Commercial Director

Loop

-Built entire partnership program from scratch including the
strategy, incentives and requirements
-Led the Official Shopify Plus Certified App Status process to
completion. Achieved one of two Returns solutions approved by
Shopify Plus.
-Identified key list of target partners segmented by Technology,
Agency and Logistics
-Signed official partnerships with top tier Partners leveraging
personal network including: Klarna, Yotpo, RubyHas,
PitneyBowes, Celigo, Gorgias, Omnisend, MuiteSix, Zehner
Group and others
-Brought on 30 partners in less than one quarter
-Increased partner referrals from 0 to 20 a month in Q1
-Created Strategic Vision for integrations to increase presence
and promote connectivity with common tech stacks
-Prospected, out-bounded, and contributed to building a pipeline
of clients totaling $300k ARR during a worldwide crisis
-Closed one of the largest contracts in Loop's history and a key
logo steal from direct competitor

Sales Executive

Common Thread Collective

-Built technology partner network with top tier solutions (Dynamic Yield, Klarna, Shopify Plus, Nosto, FullStory and more)
-Obtained Official Shopify Plus Partner status within 2 months
-Created and implemented cross departmental processes and workflows to increase collaboration and efficiency (AGILE, Resource Management)
-Created product offerings for business unit including: Shopify Plus builds and support, Email Services, Web Design Services, CRO/Personalization
-Created Service packages, pricing, sales and marketing collateral
-Prospected, pitched and supported Business Development and Sales teams 
-Account Management and Client relationship owner
-Forecasting, Revenue Modeling, Business Planning

Ecommerce Director

Corra

Director, Optimization & Personalization

-Revamped entire Optimization and Personalization Services program in less than 6 months
-Developed and established cross department processes and workflows
-Completely turned the program around and increased revenue by 300% in less than 6 months
-Created service packages, pricing, sales and marketing collateral 
-Closed largest client contracts in department's history 
-Built a robust pipeline of prospects leveraging partners, marketing and sales teams from scratch
-Manage diverse portfolio of clients across multiple verticals in client facing roles
-Helping to establish Corra as a thought leader in the Personalization space via Blog Articles, Panel appearance and speaking engagements
-Proficient in Magento and Shopify Plus platforms
-Expert in Dynamic Yield, Monetate, VWO, Adobe Target and other similar platforms

Acting Director, Personalization and Strategy

-Creating ecommerce optimization strategies for a wide variety of client websites spanning multiple industries and products.
-High end client management focused on Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle vertical
-Interpretation of website analytics data to generate A/B/MVT test ideas to increase/improve key performance metrics.
-Create unique Personalization and Segmentation strategy based on visitor data and site behavior per client. 
-Utilizing Custom CRM Dataset targeting to create highly personal website experiences.
-Product data tagging strategy development. 
-On site merchandising strategy including product recommendations, new vs returning customer product recommendations, customer journeys, personalized product logic.   
-Continual campaign execution and results analysis.
-Support the team with strategic direction for high end clients. 
-Analytics deep dive to generate custom client roadmaps.
-Key platforms include Google Analytics, Monetate, Dynamic Yield, VWO, Optimizely, JIRA
-Creating Process and Communication with Directors of all other departments internally
-Manage Sales Pipelines and Opportunities
-Managing Client Portfolio 
-Establishing Market Partnership Strategy

Sr. Digital Experience Strategist

-Creating ecommerce optimization strategies for a wide variety of client websites spanning multiple industries and products.
-Interpretation of website analytics data to generate A/B/MVT test ideas to increase/improve key performance metrics.
-Created unique Personalization and Segmentation strategy based on visitor behavior per client. 
-Utilizing Custom CRM Dataset targeting to create highly personal website experiences.
-Data tagging strategy and development. 
-On site merchandising strategy. 
-Campaign execution and results analysis.
-Key platforms include Google Analytics, Monetate, Optimizely, JIRA

Digital Experience Strategist

iolo technologies, LLC

-Develop and maintain the product release schedule for all products
-Update and publish company roadmap
-Drive and manage cross-functional/departmental teams to hit all milestones and dates
-Manage projects in JIRA
-Maximize marketing campaigns with Partners
-Monitor and manage each Partner's marketing efforts 
-Identify and launch new programs and optimize to the partner's customer base and lifecycle
-Engage in all facets of campaigns: including initial planning, implementation, completion monitoring, optimization, analysis and reporting.
-Account Management with Fortune 500 companies
-Data analysis using internal reports and Google Analytics
-Forecasting and revenue modeling, ROI analysis
-Managing sales cycle: Prospecting new partners, creating presentations, proposals and contract terms.

Corporate Programs Manager / Partner Marketing Manager

Newegg.com

Responsibilities:
-Liason between Intel account representatives and all departments within Newegg 
-Created/managed/executed a large number of marketing activities online within different Intel related categories 
-Sales data analysis 
-Market data analysis using NPD 
-Generate new ideas for campaigns and marketing activities 
-Product Assortment and forecasting in a cyclical business model
-Built strong relationships with vendors to secure exclusive inventory 
-Product feedback to OEMs to improve products in line with market trends
-Inventory planning and management
-Creating budgets and achieving top and bottom line goals
-Manage projects across multiple departments (Marketing, IT, QA) from end to end

Accomplishments: 
-Original and unique online marketing campaigns for Intel based products
-Intel and Newegg co-branding at major events (PAX, Comic Con, Blizzcon) 
-Executive producer credit for a commercial style video 
-Helped create and manage $1M marketing campaign spanning Q2'13 
-Roadmap forecasting 
-Providing insight to OEMs about products and market trends that came to market 
-Creation of derivative products specific to Newegg's customer base or to fill gaps in product line assortments
-Responsible for over 20% growth YoY in Ultrabooks category for 2013
-Turning a profit in a slim margin category while increasing total revenue per month

Product Manager/Intel Account Manager

Oversee sales and strategy of major computer components and finished goods
categories in a B2B ecommerce segment. 

-Sales and margin tracking
-B2B product portfolio mix, promotions management
-Product planning and execution 
-Creating promotional and educational campaigns aimed at conversion for B2B customers
-Building relationships with manufacturers and vendors
-Multiple category management including (CPU, HDD, MB, VGA, SSD, NAS, Networking)
-Inventory Management

Product Manager

Progressive minded sales professional with a strong management background. 15+ years of experience in management positions varying from retail environments to the corporate level. 

Creative, resourceful and dedicated with the ability to build rapport very quickly and cultivate long sales cycles. I've worked with some of the highest end clientele in the world and am more than comfortable speaking with, presenting to and handling c-level clients and above. 

Online marketing and product development experience, helping to drive brand initiatives to move products. 

Particularly fascinated in revolutionary start up companies that push the boundaries of what we can accomplish with technology in a connected and fast paced world.

taplio

The Battle

Debbie Kemunto Pearce

Albert Liu

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The Battle

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