Insights

UK marketplace VAT could change your ERP mapping
The UK is considering wider marketplace VAT liability for domestic sellers. Audit your ERP, tax-owner fields and settlements before rules change. Read more...
ERP systems integration illustration
Shopify shipping APIs can succeed while your rates stay wrong
Shopify is moving merchant shipping rules into Markets. The real risk is not a visible API failure, but integrations that keep reporting success while reading stale rates or changing nothing. Read more...
AI is changing hiring first. What it means for e-commerce
US data show no AI layoff wave yet. The first measurable signal is weaker hiring into highly exposed early-career roles. Read more...
A trial is not a customer. The second payment is.
Trial starts look like growth. Second payments are the business. What AppsFlyer data on 2,900 subscription apps means for D2C subscription brands. Read more...
Comparison card: the AI agent hype with 40% of apps adding agents and full autonomy on the left, the work with 40% of projects cancelled, an owner per agent, a written stop condition and business liability on the right.
AI agents don't replace people. They replace the job description.
AI agents automate tasks, not jobs, and the oversight they need is new work. Before the first agent, write down who owns it, what it can touch and when it... Read more...
Comparison card: the enterprise answer with PIM, middleware and 145,000-SKU case studies on the left, the owner's order with one clean catalogue, prices per customer, Shopify B2B with ERP sync and then automation on the right.
B2B buyers want self-service. They don't need a six-month platform project.
B2B buyers already order online. Most owner-run distributors still retype emails into the ERP. The fix is one catalogue, per-customer terms and one self-service channel, in that order. Read more...
Comparison card: "somewhat ready" data with empty attributes and three prices per SKU on the left, a ready catalogue with one price, attributes per channel and then the AI model on the right.
"Somewhat ready" is the most expensive answer in AI.
Only 22% of executives called their data very ready for AI in 2024. The model got better since. The catalogue did not. Read more...
Comparison card: acquisition on the left, with the iOS acquisition share of ad spend falling from 23% to 8% and installs down; re-engagement on the right, with remarketing at 92% of iOS spend and the customer file as the audience.
The funnel is narrowing. 92% of iOS ad spend now chases users brands already have.
Acquisition got priced out, and 92% of iOS ad spend now goes to users brands already have. For a store without an app, the installed base is the customer file. Read more...
Comparison card: the agency model with six specialists, six reports and gaps nobody owns on the left, the operator model with one operator, one number, no handoffs and a maximum of five brands on the right.
Specialized is a credential. Specific is what you are actually hiring.
Six specialists produce six reports. The number that pays the bills lives between them, and nobody is hired to read across the gaps. Read more...