🛍 DTC Daily - Monday, Jan 30

🥦 1 - Prime won't apply to some Amazon grocery deliveries

📰 TL;DR - Amazon will start charging Prime members for delivery of grocery orders under $150. The fees, which kick in on February 28, are pretty small: $3.95 for orders from $100 and $150. They go up from there for smaller orders. A spokesperson said the change is meant to keep prices low.

💡 Insight - Amazon's Prime membership has completely changed e-commerce. It created the expectation of free and fast delivery, which has been nothing but annoying for smaller brands that simply can't match that promise. While this looks like a small admission that Prime isn't totally sustainable for Amazon, I wouldn't expect the need to compete with Prime to die anytime soon.

➡️You can read the article here...

💄 2 - The mascara controversy tearing TikTok apart

📰 TL;DR - Glossy has a great deep dive into the latest scandal rocking the world of beauty influencers. TikTok influencer Mikayla Nogueira has been accused of using false lashes in a sponsored post for L’Oréal Paris’s Telescopic Lift mascara, which is obviously a big no-no. Other influencers have weighed in, many TikTOk duets have been posted, and it's becoming a whole thing.

💡 Insight - There's a big lesson here for anyone who works with influencers. I don't know whether Mikayla was wearing false lashes or not, but the fervor of the accusations means it doesn't make a difference at this point. Both Mikayla and L'Oreal come off looking not great in all this. So if you work with influencers, ensure you're setting expectations of how they showcase your product and make your own advertising standards crystal clear.

➡️You can read the article here...

🤖 3 - How ChatGPT can be used for e-comm

📰 TL;DR - You've probably heard of ChatGPT but may not know how you can use it for your own business. PracticalEcommerce has a handy guide on how you can use the program to punch up your copy and drive conversions. For example: livening up product descriptions, personalizing customer service responses, or crafting social media posts.

💡 Insight - Okay so maybe as a writer I find ChatGPT slightly threatening but even I can admit that it has a wide range of uses, especially if you don't have the budget for copywriters or want to train yourself to write better. This guide has some ideas that are definitely worth giving a try.

➡️You can read the article here...

🤑 4 - E-commerce passes $1 trillion in a year for the first time

📰 TL;DR - According to Comscore, e-commerce passed the $1 trillion mark in 2022, which is the first time that's happened. The last quarter accounted for nearly a third of that, probably thanks to holiday shopping. For all the talk of DTC troubles and shoppers reigning in spending, it's certainly nice to hear.

💡 Insight - The big takeaway from this article is that all this growth was primarily driven by mobile shopping, which grew twice as fast as desktop shopping. Mobile now accounts for nearly 40% of e-commerce sales. That means that if your site isn't optimized for mobile, you're leaving money on the table. Further, developing a dedicated shopping app for your brand could be a big win.

➡️You can read the article here...

👯‍♀️ 5 - How to build a community for your brand

📰 TL;DR - Over on the Shopify blog, there's a guide on how to build a community for your brand, including a Q&A with menswear brand Blackstock & Weber. Tips include leaning into your niche, creating IRL experiences, and collaborating with complimentary brands.

💡 Insight - I keep seeing "build a community" as advice to DTC brands. Which sounds nice, right? But how the hell do you actually do that? The truth is that brands that have curated community have done so with intention — they didn't just create a product and hope for fans to come together organically. This guide is a good starting point to getting your own community off the ground.

➡️You can read the article here...

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