ASMR Coffee, $1BN Retail Tech & Robotic Fulfilment

5-minute marketing newsletter providing you latest events across eCommerce, creative ads, culture & more every Wednesday morning.

September 21, 2022

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5-minute marketing newsletter providing you latest events across eCommerce, creative ads, culture & more every Wednesday morning.

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🤖 eCommerce news:

“Much of the shopping technology focuses on e-commerce, but Swiftly’s technology taps into that online shopping experience to make shopping at a brick-and-mortar store just as engaging and easy. It also provides analytics and advertising, so that those stores can compete against e-commerce retailers using their operational strength without being disadvantaged by an aging or non-existing technology platform.”

“Meta is going all in to expand the reach of its short video products. In the latest step to those offerings widely reachable, the company is launching a Facebook Reels API for developers to integrate into their apps. This will allow users to directly share Reels on Facebook pages from third-party apps using the “Share to Reels” feature.”

“Instacart announced today that it’s launching Connected Stores, a suite of new and existing technologies that aim to help retailers create a personalized experience both online and in-store. The company has been piloting the new technologies with select retailers, and is now opening them up to stores across the United States and Canada. The suite of tools includes a new version of Instacart’s AI-powered Caper Carts, the ability to sync shopping lists to the carts, scan and pay, department orders, out of stock insights and more.”

“Walmart shoppers will now be able to virtually try on clothes from the comfort of their own homes using AR technology in the retailer’s app. The new Be Your Own Model experience requires customers to upload a full-body photo of themselves to create a realistic simulation of what an item of clothing would look like on their own bodies. The feature is capable of recognizing where the fabric should drape and shadows should fall, made possible by the company’s acquisition of the Zeekit virtual try-on platform last year.”

“Amazon’s live radio app Amp is launching a new creator fund that is designed to reward creators who create engaging shows and build loyal audiences. A spokesperson from Amazon told TechCrunch that Amp has allocated “millions of dollars” to pay creators through monthly rewards but didn’t provide an exact figure. The company says the range of payments for each creator varies based on different factors and that the number of creators it rewards each month may change.”

“Facebook is introducing new Pages features that are designed to help creators get discovered and connect with their followers, the company announced on Tuesday. Most notably, the social network is rolling out a new setting for creators that makes content exclusively available to top fans and subscribers. Creators can select the option by going into their Audience settings and selecting the “Top fans” option when sharing a new post. In the future, Facebook plans to roll out a new setting for creators that will allow them to give some fans early access to special content.”

“In addition to the groundbreaking news that YouTube would begin to monetize Shorts videos and revamp its Partner Program, the company today also announced a new offering for creators who leverage music to back their videos: Creator Music, now in beta testing. This new destination will introduce a large catalog of songs that creators can browse through, search and purchase, with the terms of the music rights spelled out in simple terms so they understand the costs. They’ll also be able to opt for tracks with new revenue-sharing option where both creators and music rights holders earn money from their content.”

📈 Hot Trends:

Robotic fulfilment

“On-demand delivery startups like Getir and Gopuff operate hundreds of dark stores within the cities they service — one analysis projects that there will be 45,000 dark stores in operation by 2030. But while the storefronts decrease delivery times, sky-high rents and staffing requirements make them expensive to maintain — eating away at revenues.

Eyal Yair proposes an alternative in the form of robotic “nano-fulfilment” centers. He’s the co-founder and CEO of 1MRobotics, which takes an automation-first approach to deploying dark stores for rapid delivery. The company today launched out of stealth with $16.5 million in Series A funding led by Ibex Investors with participation from Emerge VC, Target Global and INT3, as well as collaborations with brands including Nespresso, AB InBev and REEF Technology.”

“Earlier this summer, a Google exec admitted that TikTok was eating into its core Search business, particularly among younger users. But that’s not all TikTok is now being used for, a new Pew Research Center study indicates. According to the findings from a report that examined Americans’ use of social media for news consumption, 33% of TikTok users now say they regularly get their news on the social video app, up from just 22% in 2020.”

🐵 NFT download of the week:

“As the speculative side of the NFT market cools, utility has cemented itself as a defining factor of successful NFT drops. And in the music industry specifically, where NFTs empower artists to unlock unprecedented opportunities for fan connection and collaboration, utility has never been more critical.

As explained by green NFT platform OneOf’s co-founder Adam Fell, NFTs have upended the traditional role of a fan as a passive listener and consumer. Now, in place of a typical Web2 fan club comes a smaller but mightier Web3 street team composed of an artist’s most genuine fans who are mutually aligned and incentivized in the artist’s success.

Ultimately, defining the right utility for an NFT comes by identifying what an artist’s most loyal fans really want and then going above and beyond to deliver on these desires.”

Notorious BIG: Sky’s the Limit Collection

Grind Coffee ASMR x Tik Tok

Grind Coffee:

“Grind is a hospitality company that lives in London. Since opening Shoreditch Grind in 2011, the brand has expanded across London with restaurants and café-bars, burning the candle at both ends to serve coffee, food and cocktails to a killer soundtrack. As well as a state-of-the-art recording studio, we have a coffee roastery in Grind HQ in Shoreditch.”

Why is this ad good?

✅ ASMR - The extremely satisfying sounds throughout the video hooked me in and kept me engaged throughout the video. ASMR videos are hot property on Tik Tok currently, excited to see how brands execute this going forward.

✅ Transitions - The editing on this video leaves the perfect amount of time before switching from shot to shot in their unboxing, setting up and pouring of the Grind Coffee & accompanying machine.

✅ Subtle but powerful brand placement - No words are spoken during this advert but yet throughout the advert the brand is shown & highlighted eloquently in the whole video. @Jack.Designs has mastered this style of video 👌

🐦 Twitter thread of the week:

How to grow a 500k newsletter right here

  1. Simplify

  2. Lengthen your timeline

  3. Good content wins

  4. Solve problems

  5. Keep it concise

  6. Meet people where they are

  7. Show don’t tell

  8. Become a habit

  9. Hire experts

  10. Consistency compounds

  11. Just start

Link to read the detail & thread in full here

Happy Existing 👋