Wednesday, September 13

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#1 - 🚨 TikTok Shop is here!

📰 TL;DR - TikTok Shop has officially launched in the US to quite a lot of press coverage. That means users will now see a dedicated shop tab on the home screen, as well video shopping, shippable ads, and a comprehensive affiliate program. I chose this article in particular because it comes with some screenshots of TikTok Shop. If you’re already on the app and join in, you can make your own product catalog accessible from your profile. This is different from past TikTok shopping experiments because the whole shopping experience takes place in the app.

💡 Insight - I’ve been thinking a lot of who should and who shouldn’t try out TikTok Shop. If your marketing program relies heavily on influencers and affiliate sales, this seems like a no-brainer thing to sign up for. If you’re a stickler about keeping your data all to yourself, you might be less interested. If you’re on the fence, I don’t think there’s any harm in taking a breath and checking out what’s already going on. Find a similar brand to yours, or one you admire, and keep tabs on how they use TikTok Shop and leverage influencers. You might get inspired — or you may decide it’s not for you. Either way, this is a first-of-its-kind offering in the US and it may be the thing that finally makes social commerce a hit.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#2 - ⛓️ Amazon launches supply chain service

📰 TL;DR - On Tuesday, Amazon announced “Supply Chain by Amazon,” a new service that does a ton of the heavy lifting for e-comm merchants. The end-to-end service is available to third-party sellers, including those outside of Amazon. The service handles picking up inventory, shipping across borders, customs clearance, ground transportation, storage, replenishment… kind of everything. It’s like a complement to Amazon’s fulfillment services.

💡 Insight - Sounds like Amazon is basically prepared to handle all the most complex tasks of being an online merchant. I predicted that we were going to see more white glove services like this. A lot of people are drawn to the promises of e-commerce, but not as many want to deal with all the headaches. With a service like this, anyone with the money to do it can get a full e-commerce business off the ground pretty fast. Again though, it’s gonna cost you. It also sounds like you can pick and choose what aspects of this service you want, so you can only offload the processes you hate the most.

➡️ You can read the article here...

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#3 - 🧴 Neutrogena’s very smart TikTok strategy

📰 TL;DR - This piece breaks down skincare brand Neutrogena’s approach to TikTok: education. Rather than simply pushing products or chasing reviews, they’ve taken a skincare education approach, leveraging experts. What’s smart about that is it recognizes how Gen Z actually uses TikTok. People don’t want to see an endless stream of ads, they want to be entertained and educated. Plus, the truly smart thing is this approach understands that Gen Z also uses TikTok as a search platform.

💡 Insight - Education is a smart strategy for content, whether we’re talking content or your own blog. It’s the best way, IMO, to earn backlinks and search traffic beyond product pages. It also makes your TikTok feed more engaging. Look, people are only going to engage with so many cookie cutter UGC-style posts — offer something with more substance.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

💥 SOCIAL - Speaking of using social media for search, here’s a guide on how to optimize for that.

🤔 PRODUCTS - Here’s a rundown of the latest e-commerce product release and updates.

📚 BOOKS - Here are all the best e-commerce books coming out this fall.

💸 CRYPTO - Should e-comm sits be offering crypto payment options? These people certainly think so.

🔎 SEARCH - Search Engine Land has some tips for how to prepare for 2024.

#5 - 👕 Threadless comes to Roblox

📰 TL;DR - Threadless, known for their artist-designed tees, is bringing those designs to Roblox. Players will be able to purchase and wear Threadless designs on their avatars. It also comes with a tech twist, using Spaceport’s blockchain-based licensing protocol. Artists will receive royalties when a design is purchased.

💡 Insight - I maintain that Roblox is really the most viable entryway into the metaverse space, and also a great way to connect with Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Releasing digital clothes it’s probably the most practical way in — they can be sold in the game and they’re a huge part of the experience. Something to think about if you sell apparel.

➡️ You can read the article here...