Ethan Giffin has spent nearly two decades helping mid-market manufacturers and distributors modernize how their customers buy. He founded Groove Commerce in 2007, relaunched it as The B2B eCommerce Agency in Baltimore, and wrote Closing the Digital Revenue Gap.

Justin King sat down with him to dig into a question many manufacturers haven't asked themselves: if the factory floor runs on sensors and AI, why do orders still come in on notepads, spreadsheets, and fax machines?

They get into revenue blind spots, the friction that quietly sends customers to suppliers who are easier to buy from. By Ethan's estimate, a phone order can cost $50 to $70 to process, while the same order placed online costs $3 to $5. Ethan explains why he gets IT, marketing, finance, operations, and sales into one room before any technology is chosen. He also shares why customer service leaders often tell stories the CEO has never heard. The conversation closes on AI, where Ethan points to real returns in catalog building and product search, and Justin makes the case that AI can't be a separate strategy.

Key idea: digital commerce is a revenue channel that touches every department, and it works when the whole company is aligned before the build starts.