Industry
Shopify merchants are facing a new reality: AI shopping assistants are no longer hype—they’re here. OpenAI has launched a built-in shopping feature in ChatGPT, enabling users to discover, compare, and even purchase products directly through chat. For Shopify’s millions of DTC brands, ChatGPT is poised to become
Strategies
In today’s hyper-competitive Shopify DTC landscape, conversion rate is your true north. With digital ad costs climbing and traffic harder to acquire, squeezing more value from every site visit isn’t just smart—it’s survival (Thrive Themes). The upside? You don’t need a bigger ad budget to
Strategies
Shopify’s Summer ’25 Edition brought over 150 new features—from the high-performance Horizon theme to one-page checkout and AI-driven tools. These updates promise to help merchants “scale faster” and “sell smarter.” Early adopters of the one-page checkout are reporting 7.5–30% conversion lifts. It’s tempting to think
Industry
In early August 2025, a new study made one thing crystal clear: Walmart now edges out Amazon in same-day grocery delivery—48% of its grocery customers opt for it vs. 36% for Amazon. Even for mixed carts, Walmart still leads 41% vs. 29% (PYMNTS). Walmart Outpaces Amazon in Same-Day Deal
Industry
Last week, Google rolled out a Chrome desktop feature (U.S., English only) that uses generative AI to summarize store reviews right in the browser sidebar. When a shopper clicks the store reviews icon next to the address bar, they’ll see an AI-generated snippet that pulls feedback from Google
Industry
Just last week, Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney hopped on Instagram Live to announce her return—and she didn’t come back quietly. Once known for its neon color-blocked workout sets, the brand’s latest drop swaps spandex for polished A-line dresses, crisp cotton button-ups, and cashmere cardigans designed to
Industry
Shopify’s latest earnings aren’t just good—they’re a reset on how we talk about DTC in 2025. In Q2, Shopify posted a 31% revenue surge to $2.68B, with GMV up 16% QoQ to $87.8B (Shopify). Most notable: many merchants raised prices without hurting sales. That
Analysis
2025 is forcing DTC operators to grow up fast. If the old game was “how quickly can you scale?,” this year’s proving it’s about how well you run what you already have. New data from Deposco shows 86% of mid-size brands now get up to half their revenue
Strategies
Back-to-school shopping isn’t waiting for the bell. In 2025, families are hitting “buy” weeks ahead of schedule—67% had started by early July, smashing every record and forcing DTC operators to rethink what “peak season” really means (NRF). NRF | Back-to-School Season Begins Early for Majority of ShoppersTwo-thirds of back-to-school
The intelligence every DTC operator needs to build, grow, and scale.
In 2025, being a visionary founder isn’t always enough. Across Shopify’s mid-size DTC landscape, a clear shift is underway: beloved founder-led brands are bringing in seasoned operators to lead the next phase. Function of Beauty just appointed CPG veteran Monica Belsito as CEO after years of executive churn
In 2025, subscription commerce is facing its reckoning. What used to be a growth engine for DTC brands—set-it-and-forget-it replenishment—is now under pressure from inflation-weary consumers, tightening FTC rules, and rising churn. But the brands thriving this year aren’t abandoning subscriptions. They’re rewriting the rules. According to
Quince didn’t just defy the DTC downturn—it blew right past it. In late July, the brand behind $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters and minimalist Instagram ads announced a $200 million funding round led by Iconiq Capital. The round values Quince at over $4.5 billion—more than double its
Shopify isn’t waiting for AI agents to become a problem—it’s setting the rules before things get messy. In mid-July, Shopify quietly added a line to the robots.txt file on all 1.8 million+ merchant storefronts, explicitly prohibiting fully autonomous “buy-for-me” agents from completing checkouts without human
DTC founders aren’t just media buyers anymore—they’re creative ops managers. In 2025, the smartest brands on Shopify aren’t scaling with one great ad. They’re scaling by launching 30–50 new creatives per week. “What got Obvi to $100M in lifetime revenue would bankrupt most brands
TikTok isn’t just in trouble—it’s running out of time. With 59 days left on the clock, Shopify brands are scrambling to protect their cheapest and most viral customer acquisition channel. A looming U.S. ban, triggered by ByteDance’s failure to divest TikTok’s American operations, now
Tiny bottles, big momentum. That’s the story emerging from the wellness aisle this July, as functional “health shots”—2oz drinks targeting energy, immunity, focus, gut health, and relaxation—shift from niche novelty to mainstream habit. New data shows functional shots are compounding at +22% YoY in the Natural Channel,
Mid-July might be a slow month for DTC sales, but it’s turning into prime time for product launches. In the last seven days, Shopify-native brands famous for their hero SKUs rolled out major line extensions: MUD\WTR dropped a mushroom-infused protein shake positioned as a “mental wellness” supplement (LinkedIn)
In 2025, the DTC brands making headlines aren’t new—they’re just finally getting noticed. At a recent industry awards gala, the buzziest winners were companies like Kitsch and Dude Wipes. Not exactly fresh launches. Most were 8 to 12 years old. As one founder put it: “It takes
Shipping just got more expensive—and DTC operators are already feeling it in their P&Ls. On July 13, USPS rolled out its second rate increase of the year, raising Ground Advantage by 7.1% and adding a new $4 surcharge on “nonstandard” packages like poster tubes, large boxes,
OpenAI Just Put a Sales Rep Inside Your Shopify Store Last week, OpenAI and Shopify quietly rolled out something with big implications: a native AI shopping assistant that can live on your storefront, answer product questions, guide discovery, and complete purchases—all in natural language. It uses Shopify’s Storefront
Meta’s latest Shopify integration just handed DTC brands a new lever for better post-purchase CX: native WhatsApp order tracking. Rolled out July 11 at Meta’s Conversations 2025 event, the update lets Shopify stores send real-time shipping updates and confirmations through WhatsApp—marking the first time U.S. brands
