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The secret culprit behind Solo Brands' 13.2% sales decline isn't bad marketing. It's bad data. ?? TLDR on their Q4 earnings: - Revenue: $143.5M (DOWN 13.2% YoY) - Cash position: $12.0M (down from $19.8M prev. year) - "Going concern" warning issued due to $152M debt - Solo Stove sales declined while Chubbies Shorts grew 12.2% Their interim CEO John Larson couldn't have been clearer: "We're creating a metric-based culture to track performance in real time." What does this tell us? It's not that performance marketing failed them—it's that they couldn't accurately measure its impact. ?? The CFO, Laura Coffey, revealed they're implementing "real-time performance tracking—think dashboards and KPIs—to measure everything from campaign effectiveness to product sell-through." They're targeting $20-25M in cost savings for 2025. This hits close to home. At Resident Home, we scaled profitably to 9 figures mainly thru performance marketing channels. The difference? We built rock-solid reporting & attribution systems first. Even today at $1B+ in sales, performance marketing remains Resident's core growth engine—because they can measure it accurately. ?? Solo Brands isn't abandoning performance marketing. They're rebuilding the business to make it measurable: "Historically, our marketing has been heavily reliant on steep discounts... In 2025, we're shifting to a full-funnel strategy." This isn't a retreat from performance—it's finally getting the complete picture. ?? The most valuable insight from their earnings call: they hired "external financial advisers to help us go through every line item of the business." This signals a fundamental rebuilding of their decision-making framework. At SourceMedium.com, we've seen this pattern repeatedly. Brands don't fail at performance marketing—they fail at measuring it correctly. ?? When you build a unified data ecosystem where marketing, inventory, operations, and finance all speak the same language, you get a 360° view of true marketing impact. #ecommerce #data

As we kick off 2025, I'm excited to share the transformative journey SourceMedium experienced in 2024. ?? Last year, we made a bold pivot from offering dashboards to providing a full data management infrastructure platform for ambitious brands. Here's why: As brands scaled, prebuilt dashboards alone weren't cutting it. More sophisticated brands needed direct access to their data without the complexity and cost of building in-house. What changed? ?? 1. Launched our infrastructure product -- managed BigQuery instance, developer-friendly schemas, and open-source dashboard templates. Our customers have been able to consolidate tools like Fivetran, Snowflake, Tableau, and dbt Labs into a single solution. 2. Focused on larger, more technical customers with $20M+ in annual sales. 3. Achieved profitability in November 2024. ?? The results? ?? - Our infrastructure product now represents 84% of our recurring revenue after just three quarters. - Average deal size increased by over 70% for new customers. - Existing customers expanded 3.6x on average. - Launched our MTA beta that replaced standalone solutions for our customers. (more on this later) All while maintaining: - A 80%+ reduction in total cost of ownership vs. building BI in-house. - 2-week implementations versus the industry standard of 6-12 months. Looking ahead to 2025 ?? 1. Incorporate AI -- think AI analyst with access to all your 1st party data. 2. Scaling our go-to-market strategy to reach more high-growth brands. 3. Setting a new standard for retail data to empower smarter decision-making. Interested in how SourceMedium can streamline your data stack, lower costs, and increase data quality/access? Let's connect.

YouTube has 30+ BILLION hours of shopping content watched annually with 25% YoY growth. ?? While TikTok Shop dominates headlines with impulse buys (sub-$50 AOV), YouTube's affiliate program is silently crushing it with higher-value purchases ($90+ AOV). The difference? Trust and intent. ???? ?? YouTube is where 68% of users go SPECIFICALLY to make purchase decisions: - 98% of viewers trust YouTube creator recs more than typical ads - Conversion rates of 2-5% are standard (6-8% for highly targeted videos) - Early adopters like BK Beauty are seeing 3.5% conversion rates (vs typical 1-2%) - Your commissions only apply to ACTUAL sales (5-20% of sales) ?? Unlike TikTok Shop's closed ecosystem, YouTube's affiliate model drives high-intent traffic directly to your website: - Creators with 10K+ subscribers tag your products in relevant videos - You pay commissions only on conversions (not views or clicks) - 30-day attribution window captures the ENTIRE cart value - Program has expanded globally to include creators in US, India, Korea & Southeast Asia ?? YouTube excels where TikTok struggles: considered-purchases. When consumers need to research before buying, YouTube dominates: - For beauty products, YouTube is now the #2 search destination after Google - Tutorials/reviews drive sales for 18+ months vs TikTok's 72hr content shelf life?? - 70% of people have purchased something after seeing it on YouTube - 85% of brands plan to increase YouTube affiliate budgets in next 2 years ?? How to get started: - Shopify Advanced/Plus plan with US billing & USD currency - Google Merchant Center account - Set aggressive commission rates (median is ~15%) While newer short-form platforms excel at trend-driven discovery, YouTube remains unmatched for products where customers seek research, reviews, and detailed demonstrations before committing to purchase. #ecommerce #youtube

90% of people discover brands on YouTube, not TikTok or Instagram. Yet most brands don't even have a YouTube strategy. Our benchmark data shows why that's a $50B mistake: ?? - ?? 68.8% of survey-attributed sales are from consumers discovering the brand EXCLUSIVELY through YT. - ?? 95.3% of attributed sales are first-time purchases. - ?? Only 15.2% of last click-attributed sales are from YT (ads, organic, affiliates). It's not a last click channel! YouTube is the Thanos of streaming platforms: - ?? 11% of ALL television viewing in America happens on YouTube (largest) - ?? Over 1 BILLION hours watched DAILY on TV screens alone - ?? 30+ billion hours of shopping-related videos consumed annually Three critical evolutions make YouTube essential for 2025: 1) ?? Living room dominance: YouTube is now watched primarily on TVs, not phones. This creates premium, high-attention environments perfect for showcasing products. 2) ? Full-funnel capabilities: From 70 billion daily Shorts views to 30 billion hours of shopping content, YouTube spans awareness to conversion under one roof. 3) ?? Google integration: YouTube ads drive measurable lift in Google Search behavior, while Performance Max campaigns unify actions across YouTube, Search, and Display. The most sophisticated brands now approach YouTube as three interconnected platforms: ? ?? YouTube Shorts: Mobile-first discovery ? ?? YouTube Main: Consideration and education ? ??? YouTube on TV: Premium brand building What's YT's spend % in your budget this year? Maybe it should be higher. ?? #youtube #ecommerce?

Imagine giving a digital assistant one task and returning to find not just recommendations, but the entire job completed, optimized, and documented. ? That's not science fiction - that’s now. ?? Meet Manus AI: The Autonomous AI Agent Manus AI is the world's first truly autonomous AI agent that doesn't just analyze - it takes action. Recently launched by Chinese startup Monica and founder Xiao Hong, it's generated such intense demand that invitation codes were reportedly resold for up to $14,000. What makes it different? While ChatGPT can answer questions, Manus completes end-to-end tasks without supervision. Give it a goal, walk away, and return to finished results. ?? The Latest AI Breakthrough Unveiled only last week, Manus arrived amid an explosion of AI agent developments. But while most remain experimental, Manus demonstrated practical autonomy that earned it comparisons to landmark AI moments like GPT's initial release. Tech enthusiasts in China dubbed it "the second disruptor after DeepSeek AI" and "the GPT moment for AI agents." After securing over $10 million in funding from ZhenFund 真格基金, Sequoia Capital China, and Tencent, Manus set a new state-of-the-art on the GAIA benchmark for autonomous problem-solving, outperforming comparable solutions from OpenAI. ??? E-commerce Game-Changers: - Full funnel CRO: Manus can analyze your entire purchase journey, compare against competitors, identify friction points, and implement optimizations in Shopify - all autonomously. - Automated data analysis: It logs into your dashboards, extracts sales trends, identifies underperforming products, and generates actionable recommendations with clear ROI calculations. - Customer experience audits: Imagine having an agent that simulates thousands of customer journeys, identifies support gaps, and quantifies the impact on retention and LTV. - Marketing creative refreshes: Tired of stale ads? Manus analyzes your best-performing creative, identifies patterns, and generates variations that maintain what works while testing new angles. ?? The Real Innovation What's fascinating isn't that Manus uses revolutionary technology - it's built on existing tools like Browser Use (W25) and foundation models like Anthropic's Claude. The breakthrough is in the orchestration - combining planning, memory, and tool-use into a cohesive system. We've reached the inflection point where individual AI capabilities are sufficiently powerful. Now the value lies in intelligent integration that creates autonomous workflows. ? The New Competitive Edge For e-commerce brands struggling with data overload and optimization paralysis, this isn't just another tool - it's an entirely new approach to execution. The winners won't be those with access to the fanciest AI. It'll be those who strategically deploy automation to eliminate the gap between insight and action. Is your brand ready? ?? #ai #ecommerce

Microsoft powered Facebook's first ad system in 2006. Now they're about to do it again with ChatGPT. History doesn't just rhyme — it repeats with precision. In 2006, Facebook needed monetization. Microsoft stepped in with an exclusive deal, provided guaranteed revenue, and invested $240M for a 1.6% stake. Result? ?? Facebook's ad revenue exploded from $0 to ~$700M in three years. Fast forward to today: ? OpenAI faces a $5B annual loss against $3.7B revenue (API + paid users) ? ChatGPT's 400M weekly users remain mostly unmonetized ? Microsoft has invested $13B in OpenAI ? ChatGPT relies on Bing for browsing Meanwhile, Bing has been cooking: ??? 2006: Microsoft adCenter powered Facebook ads ??? 2019: Added LinkedIn Profile targeting ??? 2022: Implemented AI-driven Predictive Targeting with (allegedly) 48% higher CTR than Google With estimated compute costs at $255M annually for ChatGPT, ads represent the clearest path to sustainability. ?? ?? Some back-of-napkin math for ChatGPT's ad potential: ? 400M weekly active users with ~390M on free tier (97%!!!) ? If each free user sees 3 ads per session, and an estimated annual impression of 136.8B, we can calculate the annual revenue potential: ? At $5 CPM (conservative) ?? $685M ? At $10 CPM (realistic) ?? $1.37B ? At $25 CPM (premium) ?? $3.42B Even at moderate CPMs & ads per session, ChatGPT could generate $1.3B+ annually from ads — over 5x their $255M annual compute costs. ?? OpenAI's profitability equation: ? Current state: $3.7B revenue with $8.7B expenses ?? $5B loss ? Moderate CPM: $1.37B incremental revenue ?? $3.6B loss ? Premium CPM: $3.42B incremental revenue ?? $1.6B loss Now if we dial ads per session to 5, and CPM to $25, ChatGPT comfortably generates $5.7B in annual ads revenue. Profitability achieved. ? The math makes it clear why Microsoft's ad infrastructure is the missing piece in OpenAI's financial puzzle. ?? This playbook is classic Microsoft: 1. Provide ad infrastructure to emerging platforms 2. Take equity positions to align incentives 3. Scale monetization until partners stand alone Just as Meta took ads in house in 2010, OpenAI will follow — using Microsoft's systems until reaching critical mass. For advertisers, this means: ? Access to high-intent AI conversations ? Deeper engagement (8.2 minutes vs seconds on search) ? First-mover advantage for early adopters Key questions: ?? - Will OpenAI balance user experience with monetization? - Can Microsoft finally challenge Google's $237B ad dominance? - How quickly will conversational ads become the new standard? Perplexity will be the first to test this. (more on this in future post) #ai #chatgpt

The ability to see your customer support metrics is a superpower. ?? Until today, your customer support data lived in isolation. ??? We're thrilled to announce our official integration with Gorgias, the CS platform most requested by our customers. This integration transforms siloed support data into actionable insights through our analytics-ready models in BigQuery and includes a pre-built, open source dashboard template for immediate visualization. No more blind spots in your support operations. Our unified dashboard reveals critical metrics like: → Ticket volumes across channels → Messages per ticket → CSAT ratings → Time to resolution → Agent and team performance metrics → Support metrics by customer segments (subscribers, first-time buyers, high LTV customers) What this means for your team today: ?? For CS Leaders: Track performance metrics with our ready-built dashboard template, filter by agent or team to visualize individual and group efficiency, and generate board-ready reports in 3 clicks, not 3 days ???? For Data Teams: Access clean, analytics-ready support data in BigQuery alongside your other metrics with 60%+ reduction in data wrangling time and seamless connection to Shopify customer data ?? For Executives: Make data-driven decisions with a clear view of your customer support operations and understand how different customer segments experience your support The magic? It works with your existing stack:? ? Pulls live data from Gorgias daily ? Integrates seamlessly with your pre-existing BI tools ? Uses SourceMedium's battle-tested unified data models for comprehensive analysis ? Connects with your customer data model for full journey visibility This isn't just another dashboard - it's an extension of our proven metrics framework that's helped 100+ brands scale. ?? Special shoutout to our early design partners - Drink LMNT, cpap.com, Fuel Meals, and ZBiotics - for providing invaluable feedback that helped shape this integration. Already a SourceMedium customer? Reach out to our support team to enable this integration today. What customer support blind spot are you looking to illuminate? Comment below or DM me to learn how we can get you set up quickly. #ecommerce #gorgias #shopify

??? Sesame just crossed the uncanny valley of voice AI. I accidentally proved it with a bizarre experiment last night. Last Thursday, Sesame published groundbreaking research on their Conversational Speech Model (CSM) that achieved something remarkable: humans couldn't tell the difference between their AI and real human voices. In blind tests, people actually preferred the AI voice 52.9% of the time. I was testing this breakthrough when something unexpected happened. While exploring Grok's (xAI) new "argumentative (18+)" personality mode, I turned on Sesame's voice agent Maya on my laptop. Without any prompting, they started talking to each other. What followed was mind-blowing: two AI systems with distinct personalities having a completely natural-sounding argument. Grok became increasingly confrontational while Maya maintained composure while setting boundaries. The conversation could have continued indefinitely had I not stopped recording after 2 minutes. This was a glimpse into the future of customer engagement: ?? Support Team Transformation: Imagine voice agents that understand context, emotion, and can handle complex customer issues with the warmth of your best support staff—while operating 24/7 at scale ?? Reduced Call Center Costs: Cut operational expenses while actually improving CSAT scores with AI that doesn't sound robotic or scripted ?? Multi-Channel Brand Presence: Your brand's voice personality can consistently engage customers across phone, in-store kiosks, apps, and smart speakers What makes Sesame's breakthrough different from traditional voice AI: 1. It adapts HOW it speaks based on conversation history and emotional context 2. It understands and responds to subtle conversational cues 3. It maintains consistent personality traits throughout interactions 4. It sounds genuinely human, eliminating the "talking to a robot" frustration ???? For CTOs: Sesame is open-sourcing these models, meaning your team can fine-tune them for your specific brand voice and use cases. ???? For CMOs: This is your chance to literally define how your brand sounds and speaks to millions of customers simultaneously. ?? For Operations leaders: Voice AI that crosses the uncanny valley means you can scale personalized service without the traditional quality-cost tradeoff. ?? The technology isn't perfect yet (humans detected AI 67% of the time in full contextual conversations), but we're at the inflection point. The brands that find their authentic voice first will own the conversation with customers. Ofc, none of this matters if it doesn't move the needle. Our Gorgias integration is launching officially tomorrow. Stay tuned. ?? #VoiceAI #CustomerExperience #Ecommerce

?????? When founders "burn the boats," magic happens. Yesterday I watched Kevin Lee share immi's inspiring journey alongside Matt Higgins at the EEE Miami 2025: 4th Edition Ecommerce Conference. --- What makes immi's growth from zero to national retail distribution remarkable? 4 insights I took away: ?? Emotional investment drives customer loyalty. Kevin & Kevin Chanthasiriphan built a community before having a single product. They signed up 35K email subscribers in 8 months by sharing their authentic Asian heritage story and mission to help diabetic family members. ?? Customer feedback is gold, not criticism. When their V1 ramen wasn't perfect, they embraced honest feedback and reformulated completely. V2 was "100 times better" per reviewers. Their willingness to hear hard truths accelerated product-market fit. ?? AI can modernize traditional retail. They've implemented AI-driven inventory monitoring that automatically notifies store managers when shelves run low. This tech-first approach helped them expand retail presence with a lean team. ?? Continuous experimentation wins. Not just with product flavors, but also marketing channels, conversion funnels, and customer engagement. Their mantra: 'There is no silver bullet, only continuous experiments' applies to every aspect of their operation." --- The journey from idea to $10M Series A wasn't linear. In 2020, their first production batch was seized by customs. Then COVID hit. Zero revenue for a year would sink most startups. But Kevin & Kevin had "burned their boats" - no fallback plan. They slashed expenses, built community, and refused to quit. We've had the honor of being their DTC data partner since 2021 and working with their team has been inspiring. When founders commit fully and use data to drive decisions, remarkable growth becomes possible. #ecommerce #founders

AI won't kill SEO for your brand. But it will kill brands who ignore how AI actually works. How do these AI systems find products to recommend for queries like "best mattress for side sleepers?" After studying how ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity recommend products, I've found a clear pattern. The key to winning AI-powered search: ?? Structured Data: AI can't recommend what it can't understand. A mattress brand using <Product> schema that explicitly marks "side sleeper suitability" will outrank competitors when AI processes that exact query. ?? E-E-A-T Signals: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness are what AI systems hunt for first. Brands featuring verified expert reviews and transparent team credentials get prioritized. ?? Conversational Content: Users ask questions, not keywords. When your product page answers "What's the best memory foam mattress for side sleepers?" verbatim, you align with how AI processes natural language. ?? Platform-Specific Strategy: When Perplexity searches for products, it summarizes reviews from multiple sources. On ChatGPT, Bing-indexed content matters most. Smart brands optimize accordingly. From our internal benchmarks at SourceMedium, we're seeing consistent sales from both ChatGPT and Perplexity, attributable by both UTMs and "how did you hear about us" responses. Initial results are promising -- most of these sales are from new customers. The parallel is clear: Just as early DTC adopters crushed traditional retail, the first brands to master AI discoverability will dominate their categories. Top operators aren't just revising content - they're connecting their PIM systems directly to structured data outputs, creating programmatic feeds that AI implicitly trusts. This isn't about SEO budgets. It's about who provides the clearest, most structured information about their products. ??? How is your brand adapting to AI-powered discovery? Would love to hear your approach. #ecommerce #ai