The Ecommerce Newsletter
Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shopify, and AI search, written by an agency that runs the playbooks on its own brand.
Each issue is one topic, the numbers behind it, and the links to do it yourself: the guides we just published, the change Amazon or TikTok just made, the test we just ran on Bear Basics. No digest of headlines, no "10 tips." One thing, done properly.
What arrives
A single-topic issue with the data, a short list of new guides, and one free resource. Under a five-minute read.
What does not
No daily sends, no affiliate pitches, no selling your address. Unsubscribe in one click at the bottom of any issue.
What We Sent This Summer
A sample of recent topics, so you know what you are signing up for. Each one linked out to the guides that go deeper.
Our own results: where the leads actually come from
Which channels sent our leads, how organic traffic tripled without ad spend, and why daily publishing and a WordPress content investment did it. The combined WordPress and Shopify setup we use on Bear Basics as the proof case. Guides: how AI citations compound.
ChatGPT and local search
What the assistant referral numbers look like, why the local business guide became our most-cited page, and the checklist for getting a service business recommended. Guide: local business AI search.
Q4: video, TikTok Shop, and email
Video as the Q4 engine, TikTok Shop as table stakes, YouTube as the neglected channel, creators as the volume solution, and the operational prep most brands leave until November. Guides: 7 TikTok Shop strategies, email flows.
AI search and Shopify citations
Why Shopify's own data on AI-referred sessions matters, a 20-query ranking check you can run in an afternoon, and what to change on Shopify and Amazon listings. Guides: the AI visibility playbook, how to rank on ChatGPT.
The TikTok Shop affiliate playbook
Commission settings, open collabs, targeted invites, sample rules, and the scorecard that stops free product going to creators who never post. Guide: the creator affiliate program.
Prime Day prep
Deal submission timing, inventory, the listing changes that matter before traffic spikes, and what to do with the customers afterward. Guide: the launch checklist.
Operators, Not a Content Team
Written by the people doing the work
Ian Smith and the three-person Evolve Media team. In ecommerce since 2015, running Amazon, Shopify, and TikTok Shop channels for clients and for our own brand every week. Read about Ian on the about page.
Built on numbers we can show
Our own GA4, our own Seller Center, our own tests. When an issue quotes a figure, it says where it came from, and when we cannot isolate a cause we say that too.
Backed by 200+ free guides
Every issue points to long-form guides on this site so you can go as deep as you want. Nothing is gated. Browse the growth guides or the AI Search Hub.
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