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The TL;DR:

• Let’s Chat D2C: Fedex fdx - Fedex launches a new digital platform to help companies optimize fulfillment and streamline returns.

• What I’m Thinking about this Week: NRF Takeaways, including Shopify All-In on Enterprise and B2B Composable Commerce.

• The D2Z Podcast: In this week’s episode, I sat down with Maier Bianchi, Founder of Bemeir, a digital commerce and UX design agency. This one was HEAVY on the evolving landscape of online commerce.

• App Highlight: PostPilot - Leverage direct mail across prospecting, retargeting, and retention.

• Upcoming Events: EEE Miami - use my code BRANDON20 for 20% off! Reach out to me directly if you’re a brand doing $5M+/year.

Let’s Chat D2C - Fedex fdx

During NRF, Fedex announced a new digital platform, fdx, to help companies optimize fulfillment and streamline returns. I went and got a demo of the product at their booth on the last day of the show, and let’s say I was IMPRESSED. I’m also very concerned that this product will compete head-to-head with some of the existing Shopify app players.

While a public launch date hasn’t been announced, there are already merchants in beta with fdx and they are targeting a fall release.

Transactional + Returns

I’ve been saying for a while now that Loop should merge with Malomo or Wonderment, and this recent announcement from Fedex only reinforces that belief. You can essentially think of Fedex’s fdx as Loop + Malomo, providing a returns experience for customers and all transactional communications. They also mentioned Narvar and Aftership as two companies they will be competing directly against.

Two interesting tidbits I took away from the booth:

• fdx will support other carrier information and data, making it a complete solution for brands who don’t use Fedex for all shipping

• fdx will have access to over 40+ scans that happen on a package from order creation to delivery, opening up significantly more triggers for transactional communications than what currently exists in the market.

What I’m Thinking About This Week - NRF Takeaways, including Shopify All-In on Enterprise and B2B Composable Commerce

Aside from thousands and thousands of booths with AI written all over them, one big takeaway stood out to me: composable commerce, specifically Shopify’s investment in it to move upmarket.

Composable Commerce

Shopify's investment in composable commerce, particularly through its product "Commerce Components by Shopify," is a strategic move to address the evolving needs of enterprise-level ecommerce. This shift signifies Shopify's recognition of the trend towards more flexible, modular ecommerce architectures, especially among larger retailers.

Composable commerce offers a modular approach, allowing ecommerce brands to pick and choose parts of their tech stack. This approach is particularly beneficial for enterprise-level brands that require a more tailored ecommerce experience while being less expensive and resource-intensive than building every component from scratch.

Commerce Components

"Commerce Components by Shopify" allows enterprise retailers to integrate Shopify's high-performing components with their existing systems. This solution includes components distributed across major categories like storefront, cart and checkout, core commerce, data and compliance, shipping and logistics, and omnichannel.

The introduction of Commerce Components by Shopify marks its continual evolution toward a more flexible and adaptable offering, strengthening Shopify's position to compete against highly customizable but cost-ridden platforms such as Salesforce and Magento.

For Shopify, this move is about recognizing the need for a less risky, smaller switch for brands, especially those at the enterprise level. It allows these brands to integrate components like Shopify's highly efficient checkout system, Shop Pay, into their existing tech stack without migrating to Shopify's entire platform.

In essence, Shopify's venture into composable commerce reflects a strategic adaptation to the needs of larger, more complex ecommerce operations, offering them the flexibility and modularity necessary in today's fast-evolving digital marketplace.

This Week’s The D2Z Podcast

#90 – Ecommerce Revolution with Maier Bianchi

🎧 Listen Now 🎧

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Maier Bianchi, Founder of Bemeir, a digital commerce and UX design agency. This one was HEAVY on the evolving landscape of online commerce. Specifically, we explored the following:

💰 The shifting dynamics between ecommerce platforms and why Shopify still isn’t necessarily the right fit for everyone.

📲 How to stay ahead in the ever-changing world of ecommerce.

😎 How to create loyalty and membership programs that actually build strong customer communities.

🚀 Maier’s Hearts of Commerce project is dedicated to raising awareness about congenital heart disease.

App Highlight - PostPilot

What is it: Direct mail for DTC/ecommerce - think Klaviyo for postcards.
Differentiator: PostPilot's full-service offering, from strategy to design to implementation, means your team doesn't have to lift a finger. And our affordable, transparent pricing delivers killer ROI.
Starting Price: Subscription plans are from $0 to $499/month (no contracts), and per-card prices are from $0.49/piece.
How we use it: PostPilot is a must for amplifying retention and lifecycle messaging, especially for your email suppression list. You can send one-off or automated campaigns powered by Shopify purchase data or PostPilot's native Klaviyo integration. We use it for:

Prospecting

• Targeting: Lookalike Audiences & Life Events/Attributes. PostPilot’s AI models target prospects who share traits with your best customers (i.e., placed an order 5 times or more), and with their thousands of proprietary attributes on US consumers, they can market to life events such as expecting parents, newly married couples, recently located professionals, and more.

• Creative: Cardalogs & Shared Cardalogs. Showcase your brand and products by themselves or join a shared cardalog where you get the cost-benefit of a shared mailer alongside brands targeting similar customers.

Retargeting

• MailMatch: Only have an email address? PostPilot’s MailMatch software matches email addresses to physical addresses so you can target these prospects with direct mail.

• SiteMatch: Convert anonymous website visitors into customers with direct mail.

• CartMatch: Target cart abandoners with direct mail.

Retention

• Reactivation: Connect with customers who canceled subscriptions or disengaged from your brand. The best part? You can even target past customers no longer subscribed to email or SMS marketing.

• Replenishment Reminder: Supercharge repeat sales with automatic reminders for customers to re-up on their favorite products.

• Win-Back: Bring back lapsed customers with personalized campaigns.

• Cross-Sell: Promote complementary products and increase LTV with spacious trifold Cardalogs.

• VIP: Delight your VIP customers with premium postcards and even handwritten notes.

• Second Purchase: Tackle the “one-time buyer” problem head-on and target your first-time customers with specific messaging to incentivize a repeat purchase.

Upcoming Events

I’m super excited for EEE Miami on February 22nd in my backyard in Miami! Last year was my first year at the conference, and it was by far the most insightful and tactical event I attended all year.

Take 20% off your EEE ticket with the code BRANDON20. And if you’re a brand doing more than $5M in revenue per year, email me!

I’ll also be heading out to:

• Vinexpo: Feb 12 - Feb 14 in Paris

• ShopTalk: Mar 17 - Mar 20 in Vegas

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