Pre‑order Ads Succeed only for Truly Unique Products
I had a friend recently ask me if he should run ads for pre-orders while he's out of stock until March. His raw material sources are backed up from Chinese New Year, and he can't manufacture again for weeks. But when it comes to preorders, your success completely depends on how unique your product is. When The Oodie was at its peak, we ran pre-orders with delivery windows up to 6 months out. People still bought because there was nothing else like it, and they couldn't get it anywhere else, so they waited. But if your product is commoditised, even a 2 week wait is a stretch. Customers will just buy from someone who has it in stock. His product falls into the second category. So running ads to pre-orders with a mid-May delivery date is going to crush his margins and spike his CPA. The real fix for this problem is not getting caught in the first place. When I was starting I would have repeating calendar warnings in October, January, and one even earlier. Just a reminder that says "Chinese New Year is coming, get your shit together." Because when your head's in the business, you forget. And it tends to happen every single year. For inventory forecasting, you need a spreadsheet that accounts for the full lead time broken out properly. → Manufacturing time → Shipping time (especially if you're using sea freight) → Inbound to 3PL time → Time for the 3PL to actually list and make it available All of these get extended around CNY. Factories knock off one to two weeks before the official dates. This means that raw materials get backed up, and shipping containers get delayed. If you're only placing three or four orders a year, there’s a basic sanity check you can do. Screenshot your inventory forecast, paste it into ChatGPT, and ask "Does this make sense? Have I considered Chinese New Year? How many units do I need to order?" It sounds simple, but it'll catch the obvious gaps. You will never regret having better systems around inventory. Build the warning, build the buffer, and don't get caught.
Purpose over Features: Simpler Product Drives Massive Sales
Bombas made $100M selling socks with ONE differentiator: donate one pair per purchase. Meanwhile you're adding 15 features nobody asked for. That's the gap.
AI Fashion Tools Must Cut Returns, Not Just Show Off
NRF is drowning in “AI for fashion” demos, from styling assistants like Ask Ralph to one-click shopping via Copilot/Gemini/ChatGPT. Do customers want this… or is it just retail tech cosplay? If AI doesn’t reduce returns or improve trust, it’s innovation theater. https://t.co/Lym3BLrso4
Data Beats Confidence: Test Everything, Scale Fast
I've run 300+ ad campaigns. Here's the pattern: Campaigns I thought would 'crush' died day 2. Campaigns I 'threw together' scaled to 6 figures. Your confidence doesn't matter. The data does. Test everything. Trust nothing.
Glossier Grew on Community, Not Ad Spend
Glossier spent $0 on ads for their first 2 years. Just UGC and community. Meanwhile you're burning budget on cold traffic. That's the gap.
Creative Mastery Replaces Media Buyers in Modern Ecom
Hiring technical media buyers is completely outdated now. The ecom world has moved on from having that as a dedicated role. When you're hiring for paid acquisition, you should only focus on the following: - Creative management - Understanding why something...
Stop Excuses, Start Authentic Storytelling for Your Brand
You are the interesting “part” stop 🛑 with the excuses of equipment or lighting ot all the other stuff u come up with that’s an excuse to authenticity & consistency .. Start telling your story Start telling your company’s story Start making...
Test, Don't Trust Theories: Real Market Wins
I lost $8k testing a pet product 'experts' said was saturated. It's now doing $40k/month. I spent $12k on a 'blue ocean' product. Dead in 3 weeks. The market doesn't care about theories. Test everything.
ChatGPT Drives Shopify Sales, Adds 4% Fee for Merchants
so chatgpt can help you with buying Shopify products, but the merchant will pay 4% more, which goes to openai (edited an earlier mistake) given current user base, Shopify merchants should be happy to get additional traffic combined w ads, kinda feels...
Feb 18 Massive Drop: Grab a $99 Box
Feb 18th massive drop - who wants to get a box for $99 ? https://t.co/SD4EAUIWbq https://t.co/nBnCxaq8Q3
Ecom Founders Work Weekends, Chasing Ad Scaling
Everyone on Friday: Thank God it's the weekend. Ecom founders on Friday: Which ads scaled this week? Different mindset. Different life.
Cheap AI Stack Enables New Millionaires This Year
Claude + Nano Banana is going to make multiple millionaires this year. This is the same as when people figured out Facebook ads in 2016-2017. People were making millions with terrible websites and average products just because they figured out the traffic...
Move Social Proof Above the Fold, Earn Millions
Gymshark made $2.1M from ONE homepage change: moving social proof above the fold. Meanwhile you're debating font sizes. That's the gap.
Walmart Deploys AI to Pre‑Position Stock Before Storm
Walmart is using AI forecasting + simulation to reroute inventory ahead of a winter storm so essentials are in the right stores before roads turn into a mess. This is the future of retail ops. Not “supply chain resilience” as a slogan,...
Use Copywriting Frameworks to Write 10× Faster
The Holy Grail of Copywriting Frameworks: Never write from scratch again ❌ Use one of these frameworks below to “assemble” your copy. Writing is 10x easier when you do this. — If you found this helpful, please leave a comment and let me know....
Invest in Expert Guides to Boost AI SEO Authority
💰 Ecommerce: Stop overlooking informational content investment, especially now with AI platforms. This is content that should be used not only for a comprehensive “learn” or “inspirational” section, with tips written by real experts and based on experience. This is particularly...
Automation Flows Boost Email Revenue 30% in 2025
Automations drove 30% of email revenue in 2025. From 2% of sends. But most of the brands we audit still treat flows like a set-it-and-forget-it checkbox. On Feb 3rd, @yojimmykim and I are walking through how we actually structure retention. 8 flows. Real segmentation. A 90-day...
AI Agents Erase Traditional Brand Loyalty Forever
AI Agents Are Killing Brand Loyalty — And Reshaping How We Shop AI driven personalisation and recommendations are changing consumer habits — the article argues we may be witnessing the end of traditional brand loyalty. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eKJxW8du #AI...
Use AI for Summaries, Not Autopilot Guides
🤖 Let’s talk about good AI content use cases: Although AI-generated content is used in many scenarios, in some cases it doesn’t make sense and can do more harm than good (eg. writing guides on autopilot, without real human experience...
Web3 AI Powers Low‑Fee, Global Crypto E‑Commerce
How is Web 3.0 (blockchain and decentralized Web) and AI mixing to make new kinds of businesses possible? I sat down with the founders of @BasaltHQ to learn about its new store (Shopify competitor) that uses blockchain-based cryptocurrencies to reduce...
Shopify Partners Record In‑person Podcast Episode Next Month
Two smart @Shopify partners coming to the studio next month to record in person for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. IRL hits different. https://t.co/F9J0BU4qre
UCP Proxy Connects Any E‑commerce System to Shopping Agents
We build UCP Proxy to take any ecommerce system and expose it via UCP to shopping agents. Make commerce better for everyone.
7 Essential Marketing Metrics You Should Actually Track
Most marketers track a lot of metrics. Very few know which ones actually matter. Here are 7 worth paying attention to, plus how to improve each one: (bookmark this) https://t.co/fPpNrpzoB1
Consistent, Realistic AI Video Ads Transform Ecommerce
How To Create Viral AI Video Ads In 2026 (this feels illegal) Watch Here 👉 https://t.co/W58gL5fDW9 In this video, I break down how to create freakishly realistic AI video ads using Kling 2.6 Motion. This is a game-changer for ecommerce because it...
Own Your Money: Monthly Spot-Checks Prevent Financial Disasters
Financial Commandment #1: Your money, your responsibility. Running @ecomfuelco for 12+ years, I've watched hundreds of store owners behind the scenes. The ones who blow up often have one thing in common: they're mentally checked-out financially. Not the work. The ownership. Big...
400+ Tax Rate Changes Demand New Compliance Checklist
The first week of 2026 brought over 400 sales tax rate changes across the U.S. That alone should tell you something: whatever setup worked last year probably isn’t enough anymore. Here’s the checklist I’d use to make sure compliance doesn’t become a...
Agency's Year-Long Shopify Migration Finally Completed
The cobbler's children have no shoes. Our agency site re-migration to Shopify has taken over a year because client work keeps jumping the queue. Finally crossing the finish line. https://t.co/Gq4c1fQJKU
Copywriting Works When You Tap Human Emotions
Effective copywriting isn’t about clever words. It’s about understanding human emotion. Once you know what drives people, you can write copy that actually moves them to act. Clayton Makepeace broke this down into 16 dominant emotions. Bookmark this and use it as a reference....
Stay Unc: Blend Kids' Energy with Business Mastery
Being unc in business is great You get to show up, hang with the kids and learn some cool shit, teach them some important lessons and then bounce back to your own ecosystem Let me explain… Most “DTC” people are 30+ Most of these...
DTC Brands Falter; Dropship Black‑hats Dominate—Learn DR
Name a "cool brand" on DTC twitter in 2019-2023... Most of these brands never cracked nine figures, and most of them are really struggling. Meanwhile, in 2026, the dropship black-hat boys are blowing the doors off of everyone else. Learn DR or die.
Use 3 of 7 Persuasion Principles for High-Converting Emails
Every high-converting email I've written uses at least 3 of these. These 7 Principles of Persuasion are how humans actually make decisions. Understand them, and your marketing will feel helpful instead of pushy. Save this. You'll reference it more than you think. https://t.co/Tfv3nlT8IK
Prioritize Free Cash Flow Over EBITDA and Revenue
A massively underrated assessment for choosing a business model is the capacity to produce money in your pocket. FCF > EBITDA > Revenue
Six Proven Copywriting Formulas for Better Ads
Marketers, Here’s a table with 6 copywriting formulas for writing effective ads: Bookmark this 🔖 https://t.co/peT25TnbwV
Scale Your Systems to Match Business Stage
I see founders running their $50k business with $5M systems while others try to run $5M operations with $50k hustle. Both businesses will die if they don’t change. Make sure you know your stage and stay in your lane.
Universal Commerce Protocol: Open Standard for Agentic Commerce
Agentic Commerce should be a open and consistent standard. And I think the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is the proper start. • Open Standard for Agentic Commerce • Interoperable • Customizable • Compatible with A2A, AP2 What else? https://t.co/YJZlqapnxn
Google Launches AI-Driven Platform for Shopping Agents
Google bolsters bet on #AI-powered commerce with new platform for shopping agents by Jennifer Elias @CNBC Learn more: https://t.co/1C6sB9oc2F #GenerativeAI #LLM #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning https://t.co/mUHAItPkrY