Welcome to your personal shopping assistants

The next era of shopping is here.

Just this past week, Google announced a major update to AI search and the Gemini app, incorporating much more comprehensive AI shopping features.

It feels like the biggest thing in ecommerce since OpenAI’s Instant Checkout announcement.

In a nutshell — Google’s bringing the heat.

Conversational shopping experiences in Google AI mode. Shopping features in the Gemini app (which I keep forgetting is a thing). AI agents that can find products in stock near you (even calling stores on your behalf!!). Automated price tracking that lets you get a notification when a product you’re looking for drops below a certain price.

It’s insane to think about what online shopping is going to look like in 5 years, 2 years, even just one year from now.

No matter how optimistic or pessimistic you are about AI, everyone has to admit that big changes will happen to consumer behavior.

Ignore these changes, you’re going to end up like the neighborhood video store still renting out DVDs.

Is On-Site Marketing Dead?

The trendy thing is to say that on-site stuff like copywriting, CRO, headlines, product pages are dead.

But are they? Or did copywriting just become more important?

I’ve found AI to be very suggestible; it feels easier to convince ChatGPT that your product is the “best fish oil for dogs” than a human.

Some parts of AI & agentic shopping bypasses the PDP; product feeds, etc. But there are also AI agents that comb the net (and your site) to learn what you’ve got to offer.

Your site is the one thing you control the most. You have full control over the messaging, storytelling, what you publish, and how much.

Don’t ignore this and think that metadata is now the only thing that matters.

Death of the Category Leader

For years, being #1 in Google or Amazon was everything.

The top result got something like a third of all clicks. And the gap between #1 and #3 was bigger than the entire rest of the page combined.

Now? Not so much.

Two reasons —

One, when shoppers ask an assistant for “the best vitamin C serum” or “a durable carry-on under $300,” there’s no clear-cut #1 anymore. It’s a group of contenders, and the main goal is to be part of the conversation.

And second, the “rankings” change so often, you just can’t rely on being the #1 result.

Ultimately, it’s easier to enter the conversation — but harder to own a category (in terms of organic reach, at least).

Promotion Strategies Will Evolve

The most interesting part for me; automated price drop notifications.

It makes promotion arbitrage very easy. You’ll get people who get notified when the product they want is on sale, and only ever buy when that happens.

Very notable for groceries, household essentials, supplements. It becomes easy for someone to restock whenever there’s a sale.

So is this a good thing or bad thing for brands?

You could see this as a positive.

We worry about people who only buy on sale. But that’s only true if your promos are loss leaders.

If your margins can handle it, promos suddenly become a built-in distribution engine.

Drop price; AI blasts the news; a wave of customers shows up instantly.

It’s like having an email list you don’t have to build.

More Value-Add & Exclusive Promos?

Some brands don’t want a flood of customers who only buy on sale.

If that’s you, you might have to rethink how you discount.

Straight “15% off” promos become easily exploited by price-tracking agents.

In response, you might see more promos built around extra value (gift with purchase, loyalty multipliers, cashback) rather than straight up “get this for a cheaper price” promos.

Exclusivity also becomes big. VIP-only offers, app-only codes, loyalty-tier perks — stuff that isn’t visible in public pricing feeds.

These promo types let brands reward their best customers without teaching the entire world (and every AI assistant) to wait for discounts.

Post-Purchase Becomes the Candy Shelf at the Checkout

If more purchases happen inside Google, Gemini, or ChatGPT, you lose a ton of surface area for impulse add-ons.

The checkout is changing. There are no more candy bars staring at you while the cashier scans your groceries at one item per minute.

For ecom brands, you lose the opportunity to upsell customers in the cart drawer/checkout.

So the upsell moment shifts to after the purchase.

Post-purchase flows become the new candy shelf — the place where you nudge people toward that extra item, refill, or upgrade.

Email, SMS, app notifications, and thank-you page funnels pick up the work your PDP used to do.

Ecommerce is Becoming More of a Black Box

The more AI takes over, the harder it becomes to reverse-engineer.

AI assistants blend signals from everywhere — search, reviews, social, product specs, price history, Reddit threads.

More signals, more intelligence. More like a live brain than an algorithm that can be figured out.

Sure, you’ve got 1000s of people in your LinkedIn feed claiming they can sell you the formula for LLM SEO (”just comment GOTCHA and I’ll send it over”). But I don’t buy it.

You can’t afford to ignore LLMs & AI; but you can’t afford to put all your eggs in their basket, either. It’s just too much of an unknown.

I tend to harp on this, but every day I feel owning your traffic and your audience becomes more important.

You need direct relationships with your customers; loyalty; and the kind of connection to your customers where they go to you first, before going to AI.

Final Thoughts

We’re heading into a weird, exciting, slightly chaotic new era of ecommerce. The tools are getting smarter, the buying journey is getting shorter, and the amount of control brands actually have is shrinking by the month. But that doesn’t mean you’re powerless.

If anything, it just raises the bar.

The brands that win in this next wave won’t be the ones trying to game the AI or chase every shiny trick. It’ll be the ones with real customer relationships, strong fundamentals, tight product stories, and a direct line to the people they serve.

AI may reshape how people shop — but it doesn’t change why they buy. And if customers trust you, remember you, and choose you before they choose the AI assistant… you’re going to be fine.

Maybe even better off than before.

Supported by Magestore

We’re happy to partner with Magestore — the most powerful POS solution built for Magento/Adobe Commerce merchants.

Magestore is offering an exclusive year-end deal for our readers:

• Offer: $700 OFF + Free 1-year warranty + Free implementation.

• Period: Until 11:59 PM (UTC+7) on December 15th 2025.

• Eligible Merchants: New merchants who have not used Magestore POS before.

Claim the offer now →

Magestore POS lets you:

• Sell anywhere, on any device — use any hardware you want 

• Manage multiple stores from one system

• Streamline your omnichannel operations

• Run loyalty and promotion programs with ease

• Scale your business (add unlimited stores, users, or devices) — without extra costs

And it’s a one-time payment; you get full ownership of your POS (not something that’s going to shut off during your busy hours because your card expired).

Boost your year-end sales with Magestore’s omnichannel POS. It’s the go-to option for any Magento brand with in-store and online.

Start owning your audience

If you don’t want to rely on a thousand algorithms to stay in front of your buyers, you need a mobile app.

It’s a direct connection to your best customer. And finally lets you own the relationship (no middlemen controlling your reach — no more being forgotten).

MobiLoud turns your existing site into an app, with no rebuilding, nearly no work to maintain, and full feature parity with your website.

Click here to get a free preview of your app

Quick Hits

OpenAI + Target

I wrote up everything for this week’s newsletter… then saw this.

It’s yet another angle on how online shopping is changing and integrating AI In the buying journey.

Target is launching a ChatGPT app. Basically conversational shopping assistant + shopping app that works fully inside ChatGPT.

They’re not the only ones to do this — Instacart has a similar thing. It won’t surprise me if a lot more brands start building inside ChatGPT as well.

Read more →

Amazon Stretches BFCM into 12 Days of Deals

BFCM is not just a long weekend anymore.

Amazon’s sales period starts from November 20th, running through to December 1st — leaning into an extended holiday shopping period.

I’m seeing a ton of DTC brands that have already started their promos. If you’re still treating Cyber Week as Thursday-Monday… perhaps time to rethink for 2026.

Read more →

Why You Need to Launch New Products

Two guys who have had a ton of success in DTC agree here — you need to launch more products.

More products = diversification. More repeat purchase potential. Higher LTV. Bigger business.

Read more →

Expect Lower Discounts this BFCM?

Tariffs and inflation are still looming over us (also higher CACs because attribution is broken).

As a result, market experts are expecting brands to slow down on discounts this holiday season.

Read more →

Consumer Sentiment in 2025

We know things are a little shaky for brands. But how are the shoppers feeling?

The NRF sums it up well: “sentimentally weak but fundamentally strong”.

In short: there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty from consumers right now. Average spending may be slightly less than last year. But the market is not broken — and we can still expect a lot of business to happen over the next month and a half.

Read more →

Rethink Your Mobile Menus

Most of your traffic is on mobile. Yet many mobile menus are broken — driving potential sales away.

This post has some excellent advice on how to optimize your mobile menu. Why you need to think about customer logic, not your logic.

Just a small improvement here could be the easiest win you ever make.

Read more →

That’s all for now.

I’ll be back in touch next week, with more on how successful brands are doing CX and retention right.

If there’s any topic you’d like to see us dive into, for either the newsletter or the podcast, just shoot me a message here.

Until next time,

Pietro and The Retention Edge Team

PS: want to boost retention, revenue and profitability? If so, launching your own app could be the best move you make this year.

See how: go to our website to get a preview of your app for free, or shoot me a DM on LinkedIn to talk about it.