Thursday, June 29

⚰️ Did Shein just kill influencer brand trips?

📰 TL;DR - The other day I linked a story about the backlash to Shein’s influencer trip. The summary is they invited influencers to tour a facility in China and the influencers fawned over it — despite Shein’s track record of poor labor conditions. This piece is a follow-up to that, asking if this marks a marked turn in brand-sponsored influencer trips. As one expert said: “I think that Shein has maybe set a precedent for what brands now think they'll be able to do with influencers.”

💡 Insight - My take is that influencer trips aren’t going anywhere — they’re still massively popular, especially for makeup and apparel brands. What has changed is that skepticism of influencers is at an all-time high, as is awareness surrounding ethics in e-commerce. The deinfluencing trend already had people wary of traditional influencers to some extent, and the Shein trip really underscored how when people are paid or given trips, you can’t really trust what they say. So by all means do influencer trips, but don’t use them to sugarcoat anything — people will notice.

➡️ You can read the article here...

🚫 Most consumer brands get THIS wrong about seeding products to influencers

The old tactic of ""no commitment"" influencer seeding does not work anymore. It creates unrealistic expectations and uses bait-&-switch to get creators to promote you.

Meanwhile, there are some brands that seem to just get it. Why? They're doing something different... something unique... something that is not commonly shared on Twitter.

In this private document, made specifically for Growth Daily readers, a former agency owner shares what really works with influencer seeding. The doc has all his playbooks, templates, and follow-along videos. Use it to get endless influencers promoting you on auto-pilot.

PS: If you need their team to come up with a custom influencer strategy for your brand, book a call here.

📦 2-day delivery is king

📰 TL;DR - We all know fast delivery is what every customer wants — nay, demands! But what is a reasonable speed? According to this article, many large retailers are planning to invest in two-day delivery specifically. 72% of them, in fact. And 59% want to use fast delivery as a way to differentiate their brand. That all marks an increase in retailers chasing the dragon of fast delivery.

💡 Insight - Well at least two-day delivery is less taxing than one-day delivery? Look, the truth is that the more big retailers set the precedent of fast delivery, and specifically two-day delivery, the more pressure there will be on indie brands to do that same. Which, I know, is annoying. It’s way easier for Walmart or Target to pull that off than someone operating out of their garage. Which is why I’ll remind you that research shows that predictable delivery is also important to shoppers. So if you can’t be lightning fast, aim to at least give shoppers an accurate delivery window.

➡️ You can read the article here...

🛍️ TikTok’s e-comm ambitions coming to the US soon?

📰 TL;DR - We now know that TikTok is testing its own e-commerce store in the UK, called Trendy Beat. According to a new report, that could be coming to the US sooner rather than later. What this article notes is that this will exist alongside TikTok Shop, which by all accounts hasn’t been doing so hot in the US. It’ll all be in a dedicated e-commerce tab.

💡 Insight - I think this is good news if you’re interested in TikTok Shop but are unsure. Having TikTok’s trendy (probably junky?) products in there too will boost the visibility of brands in TikTok Shop, even if they’re competing. And there’s always the possibility, I assume, that TikTok may look at acquiring brands that do well in Shop. Whether this will all work is still a big question mark, though. We know that US shoppers love to use social media for shopping inspo, but complete actual purchases elsewhere. Could TikTok be the app that finally changes that?

➡️ You can read the article here...

🛠️ Things worth checking out

🚀 VIDEO - Spacebar provides engaging explainer videos from your content. Boost engagement, drive traffic, and generate leads. Get your first video FREE here.

🤖 AI - This piece looks at how ChatGPT and other AI applications can be used with a Shopify store. Check it out here.

🔥 PRIME DAY - Just over half of consumers plan to shop on Amazon Prime Day. That and more stats here.

🐊 CROCS - Crocs is the latest brand to launch a virtual store with Obsess, focused on Jibbitz. Read more here.

🎁 LOYALTY - Sephora runs a very popular loyalty program, but how do they keep it fresh? Read about it here.

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