This episode is a full-on tour of what’s now and next in ecommerce, starting with the team being genuinely stunned by Shopify Winter Editions (and calling the Editions landing page a straight-up work of interactive art). We break down the biggest product drops and why they matter for real operators:
Sidekick leveling up into a “do-it-for-me” assistant that can edit themes instantly, adjust copy, combine assets, and even generate product shots / change backgrounds—basically compressing multi-day dev + design cycles into minutes.
Rollouts + AI simulation testing: schedule changes, run A/B tests against AI shopper agents before going live, and reduce the cost (and risk) of conversion testing dramatically.
Tinker, Shopify’s “all the AI tools in one place” hub, vetted tools and workflows that make the one-person brand more powerful than ever.
Agentic commerce: how Shopify plans to help brands control how they show up inside AI shopping chats (ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, and more).
A big take: the future belongs to AI-savvy marketers—generalists who can ship fast, test faster, and win with leverage.
Then we shift into commerce culture and brand news:
Quince expanding into wine and why it feels like a “quiet luxury” DTC version of Target (Tar-jay energy, but online and logo-free).
Maisley corn milk (yes, corn milk) and why “no seed oils” might be the differentiator that actually matters—as long as it tastes good.
The growing wave of AI-generated commercials (Coca-Cola, McDonald’s backlash) and why the controversy is mostly noise—because the flood is coming and you won’t stop it.
Gap x Summer Fridays and why legacy retailers stay cool by collaborating with DTC darlings and culture engines (TikTok trends, pop collabs, and smart distribution plays).
Bottom line: Shopify is arming the rebels, AI is rewriting the rules, and the brands that adapt fastest, without getting emotionally derailed by the comment section, are going to own 2026.