📦 - The More The Merrier

Nav Optimization, Secret Content Hack, Amazon Q3 Earnings, Google Visibility Friday, November 3, 2023 In this newsletter, you’ll find: - 📦 Add this one section to your nav bar to increase revenue per user - 📦 The big highlights and what’s next after Amazon’s Q3 earnings - 📦 Want to increase your small business visibility this holiday season? Google has you covered Let’s dive in: 👇 OPTIMIZATION 🛍️ The More Info You Give Shoppers Upfront, The Better [Cody Plofker, CMO of DTC brand Jones Road Beauty, recently shared a website win]( that we thought was too good not to share with you. Inspired by a page Cody saw on [Kizik’s website](, Jones Road added a ‘Returns & Exchanges’ tab to their nav bar. 🧠 Here’s why this is next level thinking: It’s Q4, shoppers are shopping for themselves, but they’re also buying gifts for others. Listing your returns and exchanges info upfront and center helps break down any objections buyers may have. Think about this: if a shopper was looking to buy a pair of shoes for their partner but when they gifted them the shoes didn’t fit, they’d already know exactly how your returns process works. They rest easy knowing the details and you get a happy, educated customer that’s confident in their buying decision. Since adding this page to their nav bar, Cody reported that Jones Road has seen an 11.1% increase in revenue per visitor. Add this to your list of site optimizations asap. 🏆 CREATORS 🤫 DTC Brands Love This Secret Content Hack* In Ads, Emails, Organic Posts, Websites, and everywhere in between, you've likely seen a [minisocial]( asset in 2023. Your brand + minisocial micro-influencers = explosive content and visibility at half the cost. minisocial creators stand out because they're booked for YOU by their expert team, not AI or software, so you can feel confident that you're getting the right creators for your brand with a team behind you who has been partnering brands with creators since 2018 😱 Their micro-influencer also post on their feeds, giving you a boatload of exposure 🚢 for [half the cost of a traditional influencer push.]( There's a reason top brands like Wild One, KitchenAid, Krave Beauty, Hydrant, and immi trust minisocial. [Start your campaign and get ready for a massive Q4]( 🎉 [Kickstart Your Campaign Now!]( AMAZON 💰 Q3 Earnings Are Here! Here’s What You Need to Know It's that time of year again, Amazon’s earnings time! We asked the [Pilothouse Amazon team]( to sum up their learnings and give up some quick insights, and oh boy did they deliver. 👇 📈 Revenue up 13% year over year — $127B ▶️ $143B - 6% growth in online stores - 18% growth in "3rd party seller services" (seller fees of course) - 13% growth in subscription services (Prime) - 25% growth in Advertising services 📈 Profit up 338% year over year — $2.5B ▶️ $11.2B - The North American segment (virtually all NA stores, including physical (Whole Foods, etc), subscriptions, ads, and whatnot) showed $4.3B in profit compared to a $412M loss in Q3 2022. - International Segment - $95M loss compared to $2.5B loss Q3 2022 - AWS - $7B profit compared to $5.4B Q3 2022. - Now at the point where their NA segment is very close to as much profit as AWS. That's a big deal. 🎉 The team took some notes during the call, here are some notable points 1️⃣ During Prime Big Deal Day, U.S. Prime members purchased more than 25M items with Same-Day or Next-Day Delivery, with hundreds of thousands of items delivered within four hours of purchase. 2️⃣ Amazon announced that they will hire 250,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees in the U.S. this holiday season. This is a 67% jump compared to last years seasonal hires. 3️⃣ Additionally, Amazon is currently sitting on ~$50B in cold hard CASH. The team wouldn’t be shocked to see some acquisition/expansion plays in the near future. 4️⃣ “The benefits of moving from a single national fulfillment network in the U.S. to eight distinct regions are exceeding our optimistic expectations, and perhaps most importantly, putting us on pace to deliver the fastest delivery speeds for Prime customers in our 29-year history." 5️⃣ In response to a question, Amazon mentioned that they’re making further investments in improving machine learning in sponsored products and other on-platform placements. What could this mean for the ad delivery/relevance algorithm?! 🤔 That’s all for Amazon Q3 earnings. Anything specific standing out to you? Here’s to a strong Q4 for all you DTC Amazon sellers. 🫡 🚨 Time is running out. If you’re serious about scaling your Amazon shop this holiday season and beyond, the time to take action is now. [Reach out today.]( GOOGLE 🎁 Looking For New Ways to Stand Out On Google This Holiday Season? If you’re a small business struggling to stand out from the big dogs on Google, you’re going to want to hear this update. Google just introduced three new features to help you stand out this holiday season. 1️⃣ Small Business Attribute: You’ll now be able to identify yourself on Google with a “small business” attribute on search and maps. This tag makes it easier for shoppers to identify small or local businesses to support. You can add this attribute to your accounts, and Google may automatically add it to some listings based on factors like product offerings, locations, and web traffic. 2️⃣ Product Studio: Google is rolling out Product Studio, a set of AI tools, to help create and manage product imagery. This includes an AI-powered scene generation feature that can place products into creative scenes, along with holiday-themed prompts and image enhancements. 3️⃣ Enhanced Business Information: Google is expanding the information displayed in the knowledge panel for retailer searches. In select countries, the panel will show details such as current deals, shipping and return policies, customer service information, and ratings and reviews to build trust with shoppers. For more info on the new features and some additional AI specific Google tips, [checkout the full update from Google here](. SPONSOR DTC 📥 Promote your product to 160,000 digital marketing professionals DTC Newsletter + Podcast reaches a highly qualified audience of Shopify merchants, eCommerce founders, and digital marketers. [Talk to our team to learn more](. ⚡ QUICK HITS ✖️ [Could gifs be making a return]( for X profile images? X engineer Andra Conway recently sent out a poll to gauge user interest in the matter. 🌴 [Unredacted Amazon documents reveal]( “Project Nessie” made the tech giant a whopping $1.4B in revenue. Project Nessie has been under scrutiny as the algorithm that caused unnecessary price hikes in various industries. 💰 [Budget tracking app Mint is shutting down]( and funneling its customers over to Intuit Credit Karma. The official shutdown date is slated for January 1st, 2024. 🧵 [Threads devs are reaching out to the community]( for feedback and ideas on how to implement a content publishing API. Get your ideas heard by responding directly to the thread here. 🪟 [Microsoft is upgrading its security]( after a significant Azure cloud scare. The new push will have AI scanning and testing Microsoft security systems to find vulnerabilities. 👀 BANTER Me: “Yes! I work well under pressure” Also me: 🥲 😢 🥹 😭 Have you heard our latest podcasts? - ⚖️ [Balancing Wellness & Nightlife](: Nishal Kumar of 'No Days Wasted' on DTC Strategy and Building Brand Communities. - 📚 [AKNF 348](: Unlock the Secrets of Profitable Meta Ads: Scale School Is Back! - 🌧️ [Owning the Weather and Scaling Through Nine Figures]( - Vessi's Tony Yu and Mikaella Go - 🚗 [AKNF 346](: Maximize Your Road to Q4 - 💋 [Form, Function, and Fragrance](: Cosmetic Industry Vet Sherry Jharwar on her Beautiful Journey in DTC Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) Got an awesome DTC brand story to tell? Calling all brand-side founders and team leaders! Fancy joining us on the DTC Podcast as a guest? [Tap the link to toss in your application](. DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Michael Venditti](. Edited by [Claire Beveridge]( and [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. NEED MORE DTC? 🚀 [Advertise]( in DTC Newsletter. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](