Going Bananas Won’t Fix Your Growth

Welcome to this issue of The DTC Insider newsletter. 👋

Last week, I had the pleasure of talking shop on the stage of the biggest e-commerce event in Latin America: eCommerce Day.

The topic? AI in e-commerce.

When I said "AI is a tool", someone on the panel jumped in like I’d just said something forbidden.

Because for many, AI isn’t just a tool. It’s the biggest revolution ever.

And I agree.

But here’s the nuance: should I have told the 600+ e-commerce leaders in the room: “AI is here, stop everything you’re doing and focus on that”?

No way.

Don’t get me wrong...I LOVE this new era.

But most brands aren’t struggling because they’re missing AI. They’re struggling because they’re missing the fundamentals. So I think they need to fix that before chasing the next AI thing.

That’s what I’ll dive into in this newsletter. Let’s go.

Topics we'll cover today:

💠 Going Bananas Won’t Fix Your Growth
💠 Calculate the Real ROI From Your Q4 Sales
💠 How a Mother-Daughter Duo Built Luxeire from Scratch

Going Bananas Won’t Fix Your Growth

Last week, Gimini dropped their new Nano Banana model (2.5 Flash).

And the internet went crazy…again. 

 Don’t get me wrong...these AI tools are impressive.

But here’s the thing...every time there’s a shiny new release, brands get sucked into the hype…and forget about the actual levers that move the needle. 

Especially this time of year.

Instead of obsessing over the latest image generator, here’s what will really drive growth for your brand in Q4 and beyond:

🔑 Collect zero-party data

From places like post-purchase surveys, popups, reviews, and quizzes. Own the insights instead of guessing. 

🔎 Find the gaps between marketing and customer behavior

Audit your funnels. Where are people clicking, buying, churning, or ignoring you? Map that against your messaging. The gaps = hidden revenue. 

📈 Tighten up retention flows

Your welcome, post-purchase, and win-back flows are not “set and forget.” They’re growth levers. Refine them constantly.

🛒 Boost AOV with simple mechanics

Bundles, upsells, free-shipping thresholds. These moves quietly add millions without touching your ad account. 

🎯 Create a 90-day roadmap

Don’t jump tactic-to-tactic. Decide what your north star is for the quarter, and align all channels to it.

Play around with Nano Banana if you’d like.

But don’t let it distract you from the boring, unsexy stuff that actually compounds growth.

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👉 Want clarity on where your biggest revenue leaks are? Book your Revenue Gap Analysis and uncover the revenue you’re leaving on the table.

Calculate the Real ROI From Your Q4 Sales

Advertisers want to make the most out of this holiday season.

Yet many of them don't know whether they are "winning" or not.

So, what can they do about it? 🤔

It's always a good practice to analyze how customers behave after BFCM in previous years.

What's the best way to do that on Shopify?

The Customer Cohort Analysis.

What is it about?

It's a chart that shows how your customers have behaved over time since their first order. 

You can see:

💰 How much they spent on previous holiday seasons and in the following months
📈 Customer retention rate over time
👨‍👨‍👦 Number of customers over time
💲 Net and gross sales
💴 AOV 

How does this help you make better decisions?

Well, with the above-mentioned information, you can:

🔮 Predict how your customers will behave in this BFCM if you offer similar deals

📈 Brainstorm ideas to improve last year's performance (ie. increase AOV by offering higher-ticket deals or decrease the time between purchases)

🎯 Filter the data by channel and product name, among other options

Understanding these metrics will help you make better decisions.

Such as spending a certain % of your estimated revenue.

Working on decreasing the time between purchases.

And many more. 

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How a Mother-Daughter Duo Built Luxeire from Scratch

The best brands today aren’t just selling products.

They’re solving real problems for real people.

That’s what Luxeire is doing for professional women who want to look confident and feel comfortable.

In this episode of The DTC Insider, Margot Adams shares how she and her mom:

✅ Built Luxeire into a growing DTC brand
✅ Found their hero product in the Classic Button-Up
✅ Keep customers coming back with quality and personal touch

It’s a powerful story of resilience, creativity, and listening to your customers.

Check it out 👇

We discussed:

👉 The mother-daughter founding story of Luxeire
👉 Early struggles turning a passion project into a real business
👉 Launching the hero product: the Classic Button-Up
👉 Running Meta ads on a shoestring budget and finding product-market fit
👉 Why Margot became the face of the brand
👉 Customer service and the human touch in a lean business
👉 Competing in a crowded apparel space while manufacturing in NYC
👉 Balancing new customer acquisition with customer retention
👉 Operational challenges and the importance of efficiency
👉 What’s next for Luxeire: new fabrics, product categories, and pop-ups

Tune in:
📺 YouTube
🎙️ Spotify
🍏 Apple
🌎 Website

More episodes our listeners love: 

💎 From Garage to $400 Million: The Portland Leather Goods Story with Curtis Matsko
💎 How Black Rifle Coffee Hit $400M with Donny Jensen
💎 How BRĒZ is Disrupting the Beverage Industry with Aaron Nosbisch
💎 Bootstrapping a $100M E-Commerce Empire with Bear Handlon
💎 The Secret Sauce Behind BattlBox's Success with John Roman

Also Happening in the DTC Space

📰 China Won’t Sell TikTok’s Algorithm to US
📰 Google Launches Image-To-Video Tool for Product Promotions
📰 Amazon resumes Google Shopping ads – but not in the U.S.

If you found this interesting, please leave us a review. It’d mean the world to me.

About The Writer

Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR Digital, a growth marketing agency he started in 2013 to help e-commerce brands unlock hidden revenue by identifying misalignments between their marketing and customer behavior. He is also the host of The DTC Insider podcast, where he interviews thought leaders, founders, and directors in the e-commerce space.