Thursday, August 31

🗣 Agency owners only, book a time to learn about my new project here

#1 - 🛍️ Buy with Prime now available for Shopify

📰 TL;DR - Just announced on Wednesday, Amazon and Shopify have partnered (!) to make a Buy with Prime app for Shopify merchants. The integration will allow Shopify stores to let Prime members use their membership as a payment option at checkout. They’ll sign in with Prime, pay from it, but the checkout will be completed with Shopify. It’s starting as an invite-only rollout to select merchants this week, but will be available to all US-based merchants who are eligible by the end of September. Reading between the lines, it sounds like you need to be part of Amazon’s fulfillment program to use it. Shopify merchants will also be able to integrate their Amazon data into the Shopify admin.

💡 Insight - Well well well, Shopify and Amazon working together? Who’d have thought? It does make sense when you think about how Shopify sold its logistics arm so perhaps it feels like less competition now. It’s also a 180 from when we were hearing about Shopify merchants being deterred from adding a Prime button. It’s worth noting this is just a press release, so I’m very curious to see further analysis and commentary in the coming days. It certainly seems like exciting news if you sell on both Amazon and Shopify!

➡️ You can read the article here...

#2 - 🔥 RECOMMENDED! What makes a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday season?

📰 TL;DR - Experts predict that this is going to be one of the most competitive shopping seasons of all time. The prize is real. Last year, according to industry research, consumers spent $115.2 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined globally. Missing the mark will not only risk your immediate sales and revenue but also your Repeat Customer Rates and future growth. An expert panel is coming together to help you ace the 2023 Black Friday season. Register now for the webinar, '60 Days to Black Friday: Innovative Best Practices To Get You Ready’.

💡 Insight - You won't want to miss this one! Sep 12th - Expert Panel:

• Joe Spisak, CEO of Fulfill.com, talking about Logistics/Fulfillment

• Eri Watt from Triple Whale, for Analytics/Attribution

• Madena Ghani, Director of Growth at Hawke Media, for Ads/ROAS

• Brian Bird, COO of Aidaptive, for AI/CRO

➡️ Gear up for a successful Q4! REGISTER HERE.

📣 If you want to reach our audience of 10,000+ DTC store owners, tap here 

#3 - 🤔 Why not to join TikTok Shop

📰 TL;DR - For all the hype around TikTok Shop lately, I thought a grain of salt might be nice. This tweet didn’t get much action, but I think it makes some great points. It comes from Connie Cen, a marketing specialist, and she talks about reasons you may not want to join TikTok Shop. The big one is data — if sales are happening on TikTok, you’re not collecting the all-important data that drives your business. That also means you’re not getting emails and phone numbers for marketing. As well, how the heck are you going to retain customers in that scenario? Worth a read!

💡 Insight - I don’t want to personally sway you one way or the other on TikTok Shop — I think it’s a decision that really comes down to the unique parameters of your business. If your target market is Gen Z and you love cashing in on social media hype, maybe it’s more attractive. If nurturing customers is your thing, maybe not. I will suggest there could be a middle ground, though. The same way we’ve seen some brands offer something different or minimal for wholesale or marketplaces, you could try the same with TikTok Shop. Like, selling your marquee item on TikTok but keeping accessories and other goods on your website. Find a solution that works for you.

➡️ You can read the tweet here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

📈 DTC - Well hey, here’s some nice news. DTC sales are looking up in a few categories, according to this report.

😔 FEES - In less nice news, Mastercard and Visa are planning to raise their fees. Read here.

🎃 PUMPKIN SPICE - Trends come and go but pumpkin spice has endured. Here’s how brands are participating and how to get a piece of the (pumpkin) pie.

🏪 WALMART - Walmart is offering new fulfillment and commerce features to third-party sellers. Read here.

✨ TRENDS - Now that we’re well through the year, here are some trends defining e-commerce in 2023.

#5 - 🤖 Are virtual experiences the new norm?

📰 TL;DR - Ralph Lauren is the latest brand to create an online virtual experience with their 888 House virtual showroom. Like ones we’ve seen from Crocs, Tatcha, and ALO Yoga, it’s an immersive, interactive environment where you can peruse goods and make purchases. This piece asks: “Could immersive, interactive virtual experiences like this eventually become the norm for e-commerce? Is it possible that the "metaverse" could eventually reign supreme within this sector?” Well, maybe! This also offers some best practices for making these experiences.

💡 Insight - Maybe this is the metaverse that was promised finally coming to fruition. I will say that these virtual showrooms are not made equal — some have been pulled off better than others, but they’re certainly becoming more common. I can also definitely see that the release of the Apple Vision Pro headset is going to breathe new life into these applications. There’s some buzz that the headset will normalize VR experiences in ways that Oculus failed to, but that remains to be seen. What is definitely true for now is that it’s become easier than ever to make these digital experiences and brands tend to generate some buzz and press when they do.

➡️ You can read the article here...