Thursday, July 20

#1 - 👙 Skims is now worth $4 billion

📰 TL;DR - You’ve got to hand it to Kim Kardashian, the woman knows how to build a business. Her intimates and shapewear brand Skims is now worth $4 billion after launching in 2019. The DTC brand just raised $270 million in Series C funding. As well, the brand is expected to reach $750 million in net sales in 2023, up from nearly $500 million last year. Some of this new money will be used to push their retail strategy forward, with a flagship store set to open in LA.

💡 Insight - There’s no doubt that Skims benefits a ton from Kim’s name recognition, but it’s also worth pointing out that the site is a case study in all the best things you can do. For the products, they carry a huge size range for every item, something many other apparel brands don’t do. They also frequently release new collections and expand their offerings. They started with shapewear, but now have lounge, active, swimwear, and other categories. The shopping experience is also great — localized currency, free shipping, duties included. Kim offered her name, but her team made one hell of an e-commerce brand. Run though the website and see if there’s anything you want to steal.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#2 - 🔥 Harness the power of AI to find influencers

📰 TL;DR - ChatGPT for Influencer Discovery? Yes! And you can do so much more — use text, image/moodboard, look-alikes or just chat. Find the right influencers in a flash! Save time and effort by leveraging advanced AI algorithms to save 10x time, effort, and money.

💡 Insight - Searching for the right influencers can be a time-consuming challenge and money down the drain if you partner with the wrong creator. But with Magic Search by affable.ai, powered by Google, you can revolutionize your influencer discovery process. Forget using 100 filters, you finally get to just tell a platform what you’re looking for and Magic Search has got you covered.

➡️ Experience the power of effortless influencer marketing with Magic Search. Trusted by 130+ leading global brands and 5000+ data-driven marketers. CLAIM YOUR FREE TRIAL TODAY.

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

#3 - 👀 Chinese livestreamers are eyeing the UK and EU

📰 TL;DR - Live stream shopping has been slow to catch on in the West despite being absolute fire in Asia. And if influencers in those markets don’t want to do it, streamers from Asia certainly will. This report says that some savvy live streamers for e-commerce in Asia are setting up English streams to target shoppers in Europe and the US. They see it as a fresh opportunity and they come armed with the experience to actually make sales.

💡 Insight - I’ve been so fascinated with how huge livestream shopping is in Asia compared to the US. It’s not surprising to see streamers in Asia viewing these markets as an opportunity for growth. What is troubling is that social media apps have been neglecting or just shutting down livestream shopping tech in Western markets. As a novel idea, if you’re interested in giving livestream shopping a try, why not work with someone based in Asia? They’re experienced and many are eager to break into Western markets. At the very least, they are the people to study.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

📆 NEXT WEEK - Learn how Predictive AI and Generative AI can accelerate e-commerce growth. Real use cases. Join expert webinar on July 27th. Register here.

🚨 DEAL ALERT - BREEZY SEO is offering free 7-day trials of their affordable & effective SEO service to help you get more high-intent Google traffic. Check it out here.

👻 TEMU- Here’s a review from someone who bought from Temu, if you’re wondering what all the hype is about.

💥 GOOGLE ADS- Google ads has made some changes impacting brand safety and reporting you should know about. Read here.

📦 OFF-PRIME - More brands are doing Prime Day off-site using Prime checkout. Read more here.

#5 - 🤔 Why people don’t trust influencers

📰 TL;DR - First, the good news. According to this survey, 55% of people are more likely to buy from brands that use influencers. They’re still important! But this also dug into the rising skepticism of influencers — you know, the whole deinfluencing thing. In this, only 48% of people who follow influencers on social media said they trusted them. Why though? As to why they’re not trusted, 40% said they don’t approve of, for example, when a beauty influencer promotes a product but edits photos or has cosmetic enhancements. 37% said they didn’t like how influencers portray their lives as unattainable.

💡 Insight - I would suggest the shift we’re seeing isn’t away from influencers as a concept, but from the ultra-polished, ulta-rich image of influencers who rose to prominence. Think like, YouTube beauty gurus circa 2019. Rather, I think people are craving more authenticity. People who aren’t full-time influencers living a glitzy life but are more average people who happen to be engaging on camera. Keep that in mind as you search for new influencers to work with.

➡️ You can read the article here...