🖥️ Desktop store design

Welcome to Morning Commerce! The weekly newsletter covering the juicy bits of what’s happening in the world of Shopify and DTC.

I’ve been neck-deep in custom app development this week, but here’s what caught my attention in between coding sessions:

• 7 things you need to know about this year's holiday shoppers

• The negative impact of mobile-first web design on desktop

• Shopify files lawsuit against false DMCA claimant

• Youtube’s AI-powered Spotlight Moments

• How to use SEO to build your brand

• POS Terminal launches

— Kyle Tully

ACQUISITION

Youtube’s AI-powered Spotlight Moments

Youtube is adding more AI firepower to its ad offerings, launching “Spotlight Moments” which identifies popular, relevant videos in real time and serves your ads on them.

Sounds dope 🎃

A faceless, voice-over UGC format to test

Ben at Biddyco always comes with the goods when it comes to ad creative.

This faceless, voice-over UGC format is one that would work well for many brands. Especially if you’re camera-shy or just haven’t done your hair.

Check out the full sample here.

CONVERSION

The negative impact of mobile-first web design on desktop

If you’re thinking about a redesign any time soon this thought-provoking article from NN/g is a must-read.

Most modern websites (and themes) are built with a mobile-first approach, and little thought is given to the range of desktop sizes the design must scale to.

The same layout that looks good on a 1440 × 900 laptop often scales horrendously on a 5120 × 2880 retina device.

• Screen-covering images

• Large bloated text

• Excessive negative space

• = long pages and more scrolling

They call this design trend content dispersion.

What to do about it? Read the full study for their design recommendations.

My favourite article of the week 👍

7 things you need to know about this year's holiday shoppers

Sapio Research conducted a survey of 12,000 consumers and 4,800+ businesses in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.

Here’s what they said:

AI drives product discovery for shoppers - 69% said they think AI will make it easier to discover new brands and products, 74% think AI will also help them find deals and special offers.

Tech-enabled shopping = loyal customers + bigger spenders - Shoppers who plan to spend more than $1,200 USD this BFCM are at least twice as likely to use spatial commerce, virtual assistants or chatbots, augmented reality and virtual reality.

Meaningful purchases trump big splurges - 78% of consumers surveyed said they plan to make smaller purchases that give everyday satisfaction.

Bargain hunting is big this year - 84% say they will compare prices to find the best deals and discounts.

Social shopping isn’t niche - 33%, 31%, and 28% said they would be likely to shop directly from Instagram, Facebook, or Tiktok.

Physical stores are a fave for product discovery - 34% of consumers said browsing in a brick-and-mortar store is their favourite way to discover new products.

Shoppers want to see your deals before they start - 71% said it’s important for a brand to communicate with them about their offers ahead of BFCM.

How many of these do you have a strategy for your brand?

SEO

How to use SEO to build your brand

How do you know if your brand is gaining visibility online?

1. Direct traffic.

2. Branded search.

If these numbers are low then it’s safe to say there’s work to be done to grow your presence within your niche.

Adriana Stein over at Moz wrote a nice little article covering exactly how to do this, including how to:

• Build topical authority around topics important for your brand values.

• Integrate your brand within your SEO content strategy.

• Optimize content for brand keywords.

• Promote SEO-driven content across other channels.

If all your SEO efforts so far have been aimed towards BOFU (mostly products and collections) then this is a must-read.

SHOPIFY NEWS

Shopify files lawsuit against false DMCA claimant

False DMCA claims have been a huge drama for some merchants recently, with many reports of legitimate stores being taken down.

A couple of years ago we had an Insta account with 30k followers permanently banned for the same reason, so I feel their pain.

Shopify vowed to do something about it just a few days ago and has already filed its first lawsuit against one of these bad actors. Let’s hope this sends a message.

POS Terminal launches

Five new Shopify updates

• New Stocky transfers extension for the Smart Grid - create native-like experiences using POS UI extensions technology for quick and efficient inventory management workflows in-store.

• POS Terminal - all-new payment device for Shopify POS - Shopify's newest, most powerful payment device for Shopify POS is now available to retail businesses in the US and Canada.

• Shop Pay now redirects to the post-purchase page on merchant's domain - This change enables consistent post-purchase conversion tracking and cookie access for all payment methods.

• Shopify Flow - New subscriptions and delete tasks are available.

• Set a fixed discount amount for Buy X Get Y discounts - You can now create promotions like "Buy 2 items, get $10 off" as an automatic discount or a discount code.

INSPO OF THE WEEK

Cometeer gets the nod this week thanks to their nifty home page animations that draw you into their unique product benefits. First a drop of coffee falls into a pod, then the pod slides into the next section and freezes, before finally moving to the next section and melting into your cup. “Melting is the new making”. Love it.

How we can help…

🔥 Looking for an experienced Shopify Partner to work with? 
Smart ecommerce brands rely on us for innovative design, development, optimisation, and growth strategies to create highly profitable Shopify websites. Work with our consultancy.

🎯 Want to reach our audience? Hit reply to discuss advertising.

Managing Director, YouTube Brand Advertising