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We're exactly 50 days out from Black Friday—which means if your supply chain, AI strategy, or growth playbook isn't locked in yet, the clock is officially ticking.
But here's the good news: this week's edition is packed with the exact moves top Shopify brands are making right now to set themselves up for a killer Q4 (and beyond).
Here's what we're diving into today:
🛠️ This Week's Podcast – Sourcing is the last big bottleneck holding brands back from real scale. I sat down with Anthony Sardain, CEO of Cavela, to break down how AI-powered sourcing agents are cutting product costs by 37%, automating supplier vetting, and turning supply chains from a headache into a competitive advantage.
⚡ AI for BFCM 2025 – Forget chasing every shiny AI tool. This knowledge drop reveals the four AI plays that actually move the needle when traffic spikes and margins matter most.
🚀 Creator-Led Growth – Steven Bartlett just unpacked the exact principles that made Diary of a CEO YouTube's #1 show—and they translate directly to DTC growth. We're talking about increasing your failure rate, sweating the 1% details, and building ecosystems that compound.
🔥 How Lenny & Larry's 11x'd Their Amazon Sales – Stack Influence helped this brand absolutely crush it with creator-driven growth on Amazon. If you're sleeping on creator partnerships, this case study is your wake-up call.
📡 Industry Pulse – Plus, this week's must-reads from across the ecommerce world, curated so you don't have to dig through the noise.
Let's get into it. 👇
How Lenny & Larry’s 11X Amazon Sales
Most Amazon sellers hit the wall: ad spend keeps rising, rankings don't budge, and reviews trickle in too slowly. That's exactly what happened to Lenny & Larry’s - they were stuck at ~1,000 units per month.
We activated 1,560 influencers in a 12-month campaign. Each one bought the product on Amazon (a verified purchase), shared authentically on social media, and left organic UGC.
The outcome? 11× recurring sales, ⭐ 525 reviews, 2.3M impressions - momentum that ads alone couldn’t buy.
⭐ See How It Works Here ⭐
🎧 New Podcast Episode! 🎧
🛠️ Sourcing Chaos? There's Finally a Fix
Let's be honest—while AI has been transforming customer service, inventory management, and marketing for Shopify brands, there's one area that's been stuck in the dark ages: product sourcing.
Midnight WhatsApp messages with suppliers. Lost-in-translation emails across time zones. Sketchy Alibaba listings with thousands of options and zero clarity. Sample delays that stretch for months. And once brands finally land on a supplier? They stick with them forever—even if they're overpaying by 40%—because the thought of going through that nightmare again is just too much.
Here's what most founders won't admit: sourcing is still one of the biggest growth bottlenecks in ecommerce, and it's quietly costing brands speed, margin, and market share.
That changes now.
This week, I sat down with Anthony Sardain, founder and CEO of Cavela—the world's first fully automated virtual sourcing agent. His mission? Turn supply chains from a profit-draining headache into a competitive advantage.
Here's what we unpacked:
AI Agents That Actually Work While You Sleep – Cavela's platform automates everything from supplier vetting and spec creation to quote negotiations and third-party QA. No more chasing suppliers across messaging apps or trying to decipher compliance certifications at 2 AM.
From "Set It and Forget It" to Agile Supply – Most brands settle for their first decent supplier and never look back. Anthony explains why that mindset is costing serious money—and how to build flexibility into sourcing so switching regions or suppliers takes days, not months.
37% Average Cost Reduction – That's not a typo. Cavela users are cutting landed product costs by an average of 37%—without sacrificing quality. Some brands are even paying less with tariffs now than they were before without them.
The China-Plus-One Strategy – With tariffs back in the spotlight, Anthony breaks down how to build contingency into sourcing with backup suppliers in India, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Mexico—so volatility doesn't hold growth hostage.
Real Brand Wins – One technical workwear brand cut costs by 40%, unlocked wholesale distribution, and upgraded compliance—all by letting Cavela handle their supply chain pivot.
If nailing product-market fit was the hard part and now sourcing is the bottleneck holding back scale, this conversation is going to open doors.
Don't let another quarter slip by because supply chain inefficiencies are quietly killing margin and speed.
LISTEN NOW → Hear how top DTC brands are automating sourcing and finally winning the supply chain game.
💡 Knowledge Drops of the Week 💡
⚡ AI for BFCM 2025: What Actually Wins
Every October, the "AI will save your BFCM" marketing machine kicks into overdrive. But when Black Friday morning hits and your site's slammed with traffic? Only a handful of AI plays actually move the needle.
Here's the thing most brands won't tell you: 54% of shoppers plan to use AI this BFCM—comparing prices, hunting deals, and getting personalized recommendations. While your customers are getting smarter with AI, are you?
The brands crushing it aren't chasing every shiny tool. They're using AI strategically—for speed, personalization, and ruthless margin protection—at the exact moments that matter most.
Here's what's actually working:
Instant Answers = Saved Carts – When shoppers are deciding in seconds, AI chat that feels human solves problems, answers questions, and clears friction before they bounce.
Personalize Without Racing to the Bottom – Smart AI spots real buying intent and makes offers feel tailored, not desperate. Keep loyal customers engaged while protecting the margins you worked all year to build.
Guard Your Profits Like a Hawk – Competitors are watching you, and shoppers are price-checking everything. Let AI monitor, adjust, and keep you competitive without joining the discount death spiral.
Turn Weekend Warriors Into Year-Round Buyers – Post-purchase AI flows surprise customers with perfectly-timed deals and spot-on recommendations long after the checkout chaos ends.
Bottom line: If your AI strategy isn't built to answer faster, personalize smarter, and protect profit margins, you're just adding noise to the busiest weekend of the year.
READ THE GUIDE → The tested playbook Shopify brands are using to win BFCM—and keep the momentum rolling into December.
🚀 Creator-Led Growth: The 2025 Shopify Edge
While most brands are still playing the old game—quarterly ad budgets, big product drops, waiting months for results—the Shopify brands pulling away in 2025 are running creator playbooks.
They move fast. They stack small wins weekly. And they let community, not just ad spend, fuel compounding growth.
Steven Bartlett just broke down exactly how he turned Diary of a CEO into YouTube's #1 show—and the principles translate directly to Shopify growth.
Here's what's working:
Incentivize Failure, Not Success – Steven literally hired a "Head of Failure" to run experiments constantly. The goal? Get it wrong as many times as possible—because that's how you get it right. More failures mean more feedback, more learning, and faster innovation. For Shopify brands, this means testing relentlessly across ads, site UX, and email—not waiting for perfect.
Sweat the Small Stuff (The 1% Rule) – A 10-second change in Steven's call-to-action language tripled subscriber growth. Big breakthroughs come from tiny, overlooked details that compound over time. Are you obsessing over the small stuff? That button color, that headline, that checkout flow tweak? That's where the edge is.
Push on Paper Walls – Most "rules" in ecommerce are just outdated habits someone told you to follow. Question everything. Test different ad formats, unconventional hooks, surprising product bundles. What feels risky might be the breakthrough your competitors are too scared to try.
Be Romantic About Winning, Not Being Right – Detach from ego. If the data says your original idea isn't working, pivot fast. Clinging to "being right" blinds you to what customers actually want. The brands scaling right now follow signals, not egos.
Celebrate Tiny Gains That Compound – Stop chasing viral moments. Focus on the consistent inputs—daily experiments, small improvements, weekly learning cycles. Compounding beats home runs every single time.
Here's the truth: Creator-first growth isn't a fad. It's how modern DTC brands scale sustainably. Shopify teams winning in 2025 aren't just running campaigns—they're building ecosystems that keep sales growing week after week, powered by experimentation and relentless improvement.
SEE THE FULL PRINCIPLES GUIDE → Build the machine before your competitors do.
📡 Industry Pulse 📡
Every week, I come across strategies and insights that are just too good not to share. Here's what caught my attention this week.
Coupon sites quietly eating into your margins? This breakdown shows exactly how aggregators like Honey and RetailMeNot are affecting DTC profits—and what top brands are doing to fight back without alienating customers.
👉 Read: Coupon Aggregators & DTC Profit
Thinking about launching a private label skincare line but don't know where to start? This guide walks through sourcing, formulation, compliance, and positioning—everything needed to go from concept to launch without the usual headaches.
👉 Read: How to Launch Private Label Skincare Brand
Amazon PPC feeling like a money pit lately? If your campaigns are burning cash without delivering results, this piece breaks down the most common struggles brands face and the tactical fixes that actually move the needle.
👉 Read: Amazon PPC Struggles
🔥 Tool of the Week 🔥
NLPearl AI — The 24/7 voice agent that's turning missed calls into closed sales
Here's what keeps most Shopify owners up at night: 80% of customers who hit voicemail never call back. They just Google your competitor instead.
But what if every single call to your store was answered in under 2 seconds — at 3am, during the holidays, or when your team's swamped? And what if that "agent" could look up orders in real-time, handle returns, upsell products, speak 18+ languages, and even call back abandoned carts?
That's exactly what brands are doing with NLPearl's AI voice agents. No robotic menus. No hold music. Just human-like conversations that actually convert. Think of it as a call center that never takes a break, never has a bad day, and costs a fraction of what you're spending now.
The early adopters? They're already seeing 30-40% improvements in customer experience while cutting call center costs in half. Some are handling 1,000+ calls per day without adding headcount. The kicker? It integrates with your Shopify store in under 10 minutes, starts at just $49/month, and includes a 7-day free trial.
👉 Try NLPearl free for 7 days and see what you've been missing
Until Next Thursday
Thanks for being here…
Nearly 32,000 founders and marketers trust this newsletter every week, and that's not something I take lightly. Every edition is built with one goal: give you insights, tools, and strategies that actually move your business forward.
Whether you're deep in supply chain optimization, testing AI plays for BFCM, or building creator ecosystems that scale—you're not alone in this. We're all figuring it out together, one Thursday at a time.
If something in today's edition resonated, hit reply and let me know. I read every single one.
Keep growing. Keep showing up.
Cheers!
— Steve
