Podcast

Jan 8, 2026

53:37

Cutting Through the Noise: UX, ROI, and a Straight Razor

with

Aaron Schwartz

Amanda Vogt Peer

Jamie Schreter

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Amanda Vogt Peer (Chief Digital Officer at V’s Barbershop) and Jamie Schreter (Founder & Agency Director at DigitalJAS) break down how a 65-location, franchise barbershop brand is turning a nostalgic in-chair experience into a modern, omnichannel growth engine, without losing its soul.

They discuss:

• Classic chair, modern stack: How V’s uses Shopify, Klaviyo, and booking tools to make an old-school service business feel seamless online

• One brand, many paths: Appointments, products, franchise leads, content: building a UX that lets every visitor “convert” the way they want

• Data from the chair: Connecting POS, walk-ins, and web so barbershop visits fuel smarter marketing instead of messy spreadsheets

• Retention over rush: Why recurring services and trust beat BFCM blasts and discount addiction in a service-led business

• Education as edge: Using “Groom U” content, product pages, and post-cut emails to become the default men’s grooming authority

• AI with boundaries: Where automation helps (cleaner data, smarter segmentation, accessibility) and where human creativity still leads

• Franchise without chaos: How a tiny HQ team keeps 65+ locations on-brand while giving owners room to win locally

• What’s next for 2026: Live shopping, social-first barbers, and the men’s grooming boom that’s reshaping expectations for male consumers

From appointment flows and first-haircut memories to data architecture and AI tooling, this episode is packed with practical ideas for operators juggling physical locations, e-commerce, and franchising, especially if you’re trying to modernize a legacy experience without breaking what made it special.

👥 Meet the guests

Amanda Vogt Peer: Chief Digital Officer at V’s Barbershop

Jamie Schreter: Founder & Agency Director at DigitalJAS

🎙️ Hosted by Aaron Schwartz, Co-founder & Co-CEO at Orita.ai

🎧 Chapters [00:00] From One Shop to 65+ Locations: How V’s Turned Old-School Cuts into a Digital Machine [04:24] E-Comm Meets the Barbershop Chair: Making Omnichannel Actually Work [10:10] Text, Tap, Trim: Designing a Frictionless Grooming Experience Online & In-Store [16:44] Not Just “Buy This Gel”: How V’s Uses Education to Sell Smarter (and Keep Trust) [21:16] The Data Mess Behind the Chair: Wrestling POS, Walk-Ins, and Web into One View [27:33] AI in a Human-Centered Business: Where Automation Helps (and Where It Doesn’t) [31:26] From 2-in-1 to Rituals: Why Men’s Grooming Is Exploding (and What’s Changed) [32:52] Marketing to the New Grooming Guy: What Actually Lands with Gen Z & Beyond [34:05] TikTok Meets the Barbershop: Will Live Social Shopping Be the New QVC for Men? [36:02] Beyond the Fade: Turning Barber–Client Moments into Lifelong Relationships [39:48] When Everyone Sells “Premium”: How V’s Wins on Retention, Not Just Acquisition [42:44] More Than “Book Now”: Building Engagement Before, During, and After the Cut [48:47] Authentic, Not Stuck-in-the-Past: Modernizing a Legacy Brand Without Losing Its Soul

🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast, where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team. Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing, by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.

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