Shopifreaks

Wix unveils a new AI assistant named Astro

Wix released a new chat-based AI assistant named Astro designed to simplify site operations and business tasks and give users faster access to tools and insights for their website. ie: Wix's answer to Shopify's Sidekick. Here's what Astro can do:  Track site...

Automattic launches an AI website builder on WordPress.com

Automattic rolled out an early access version of its new AI Site Builder, a tool designed to help users create full websites in minutes by using a simple chatbot interface. Here's how it works:  The user indicates whether they are creating a personal blog, a business...

US Tariff Updates – Week of April 14th, 2025

Every week when I inevitably have to report on the what's happened with tariffs, I get frustrated and feel angry on behalf of all consumers and small business owners who have to deal with this ridiculousness. These tariffs are creating an economic stalemate, where...

Amazon Haul expands to become Amazon again

Amazon is expanding its Haul store to offer a wider variety of goods, including name-brand items that it ships from its own US warehouses. Previously, Haul only offered unbranded products from outside sellers that shipped products directly from China with delivery...

“Careless People” author testifies against Meta before Congress

Sarah Wynn-Williams, the lawyer and former Director of Global Public Policy at Facebook who authored “Careless People,” a tell-all memoir that shares her account of working at Facebook for seven years, testified before Congress on Wednesday alleging Facebook’s close...

Walmart asks brands to increase ad spend by 25% or else…

Walmart is pushing brands to increase their retail media spending by at least 25% YoY or risk losing key benefits in their supplier relationship with the company such as Walmart DSP data fee discounts, onsite sponsorship deals, and early access to reporting, according...

BeReal launches an ad platform in the US

BeReal, a social media platform that encourages users to share unfiltered, spontaneous moments by prompting them once daily to capture and post photos within a two-minute window, is rolling out advertising in the US. The move comes almost a year after the app sold for...

Shopify fully expects employees to use AI in their day-to-day work

Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke told employees in a leaked memo that they’ll have to show jobs can’t be performed by AI before asking for more headcount and resources, and that there's a “fundamental expectation” that employees are using AI in their day-to-day work. The memo...

#221 – Shopify demands AI use, BeReal ads, & Walmart’s big ask

#221 – Shopify demands AI use, BeReal ads, & Walmart’s big ask

Hi Shopifreaks I hope you've had a great week. My family and I are finishing up our second week in the Galapagos, currently on Santa Cruz island. On Saturday we went on nature hikes and got to visit the island's famous tortoises up close and personal, and tomorrow...

Amazon is getting more expensive for buyers and sellers

Amazon's average prices for sponsored product ads were 48% higher in Q1 2025 than in Q1 2019, compared to a 41% rise on Google ad prices, a 37% rise on Instagram, and a 24% decrease on Facebook, according to data from the Tinuiti ad agency. The increase in ad prices,...

Spotify debuts new advertising tools and partnerships

Spotify introduced a new programmatic offering called Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX), which allows advertisers to reach its logged-in users via real-time auctions of its audio, video, and display formats across music, with podcast support on the way. A programmatic ad...

Affirm said “whatever” to Walmart’s business

Affirm's COO Michael Linford said the company wasn't interested in competing with Klarna for Walmart's business because doing so wouldn't have made economic sense, as Walmart accounts for only a sliver of its business. Lindford told a William Blair analyst, “We felt...

TikTok lives on. Amazon wants to buy it, but Walmart does not.

Well, it's April 7th — two days past the April 5th deadline to secure a deal with an American company to purchase TikTok. No deal has been struck, and I'm still using the app. Let's take a look at what happened last week:  On April 4th, 2025, President Trump signed an...

Does TikTok profit from people’s misery?

The UN accused TikTok of “profiting from people's misery” by taking fees and commission of up to 70% on digital gifts given to children who beg on the platform via TikTok Live. Olivier de Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, urged...

Amazon launches an agentic “Buy for Me” feature

Amazon has begun testing a new AI-powered feature called “Buy for Me,” which allows its app to make purchases for you from other websites. Here's how it works: When a customer searches Amazon for an item from a particular brand, they may see a section of results...

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