Industry
In 2025, being a visionary founder isn’t always enough. Across Shopify’s mid-size DTC landscape, a clear shift is underway: beloved founder-led brands are bringing in seasoned operators to lead the next phase. Function of Beauty just appointed CPG veteran Monica Belsito as CEO after years of executive churn
Strategies
In 2025, subscription commerce is facing its reckoning. What used to be a growth engine for DTC brands—set-it-and-forget-it replenishment—is now under pressure from inflation-weary consumers, tightening FTC rules, and rising churn. But the brands thriving this year aren’t abandoning subscriptions. They’re rewriting the rules. According to
Industry
Quince didn’t just defy the DTC downturn—it blew right past it. In late July, the brand behind $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters and minimalist Instagram ads announced a $200 million funding round led by Iconiq Capital. The round values Quince at over $4.5 billion—more than double its
Industry
Shopify isn’t waiting for AI agents to become a problem—it’s setting the rules before things get messy. In mid-July, Shopify quietly added a line to the robots.txt file on all 1.8 million+ merchant storefronts, explicitly prohibiting fully autonomous “buy-for-me” agents from completing checkouts without human
Strategies
DTC founders aren’t just media buyers anymore—they’re creative ops managers. In 2025, the smartest brands on Shopify aren’t scaling with one great ad. They’re scaling by launching 30–50 new creatives per week. “What got Obvi to $100M in lifetime revenue would bankrupt most brands
Industry
TikTok isn’t just in trouble—it’s running out of time. With 59 days left on the clock, Shopify brands are scrambling to protect their cheapest and most viral customer acquisition channel. A looming U.S. ban, triggered by ByteDance’s failure to divest TikTok’s American operations, now
Industry
Tiny bottles, big momentum. That’s the story emerging from the wellness aisle this July, as functional “health shots”—2oz drinks targeting energy, immunity, focus, gut health, and relaxation—shift from niche novelty to mainstream habit. New data shows functional shots are compounding at +22% YoY in the Natural Channel,
Strategies
Mid-July might be a slow month for DTC sales, but it’s turning into prime time for product launches. In the last seven days, Shopify-native brands famous for their hero SKUs rolled out major line extensions: MUD\WTR dropped a mushroom-infused protein shake positioned as a “mental wellness” supplement (LinkedIn)
Industry
In 2025, the DTC brands making headlines aren’t new—they’re just finally getting noticed. At a recent industry awards gala, the buzziest winners were companies like Kitsch and Dude Wipes. Not exactly fresh launches. Most were 8 to 12 years old. As one founder put it: “It takes
Analysis
Shipping just got more expensive—and DTC operators are already feeling it in their P&Ls. On July 13, USPS rolled out its second rate increase of the year, raising Ground Advantage by 7.1% and adding a new $4 surcharge on “nonstandard” packages like poster tubes, large boxes,
Industry
OpenAI Just Put a Sales Rep Inside Your Shopify Store Last week, OpenAI and Shopify quietly rolled out something with big implications: a native AI shopping assistant that can live on your storefront, answer product questions, guide discovery, and complete purchases—all in natural language. It uses Shopify’s Storefront
Industry
Meta’s latest Shopify integration just handed DTC brands a new lever for better post-purchase CX: native WhatsApp order tracking. Rolled out July 11 at Meta’s Conversations 2025 event, the update lets Shopify stores send real-time shipping updates and confirmations through WhatsApp—marking the first time U.S. brands