What a week for the e-commerce ecosystem!

Two big shifts happened this week:

One on the backend.
One on the frontend.

→ Shopify is moving toward faster, AI-driven execution.
→ Instagram is doubling down on creators as a performance channel.

Things are getting faster. And more integrated.

Here’s what you need to understand before everyone else catches up.

Topics we'll cover today:
💠 Shopify Just Opened the Door to AI-Driven Execution
💠 Instagram is Catching Up to TikTok Shop
💠 Latest news in the DTC space

Shopify just released its AI Toolkit.

And for the first time, they’re natively integrating with tools like:

Instead of developers jumping between:

These tools can now plug directly into Shopify’s system, understand how it works, and help execute changes with much more context.

Here are a few practical examples of what this unlocks:

Not by replacing developers.
But by giving them leverage.

It’s also important to understand how this is different from what Shopify already has.

You might be thinking about Sidekick.

Sidekick lives inside Shopify.
You ask it for help, it suggests changes, and you approve them.

It’s built for merchants.

The AI Toolkit is different.

It's built for developers, and lives outside Shopify.

It connects external AI tools directly to Shopify’s system and helps execute work faster at the development level.

Shopify is laying the groundwork for a world where execution is no longer the limiting factor.

And when that happens, growth becomes a function of how well you decide what to execute, not how long it takes to do it.

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If you need an experienced growth partner to help your brand grow in Q2, let’s chat.

Over the past few months, we’ve audited over 50 7fig+ brands. 

Most weren’t struggling to grow.
They were struggling to grow efficiently. 

Revenue was there.
Profit wasn’t. 

And in many cases, the same patterns kept showing up:

That’s what keeps brands stuck in plateaus, even while spending more.

Q2 is where this compounds.

You either fix the system…
Or you pay more to get the same results. 

At BSR, we work with 7- and 8-figure brands to identify where profit is leaking across ads, email, and the customer journey, and build a clear roadmap to scale efficiently.

If you’re planning to push growth in Q2, this is the moment to get the foundation right.

This was inevitable.

(And I'm still not sure why it didn't happen earlier.)

Instagram just rolled out native affiliate commissions for Reels.

Creators can now add affiliate links directly to their content and earn a commission on sales, without leaving the platform.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this before.

TikTok built this exact model with TikTok Shop back in 2023.

Creators promote products.
They earn commissions.
Content drives sales natively inside the platform.

It worked.

And now Instagram is following the same playbook.

But there are important differences. ⚠

TikTok Shop is a full commerce ecosystem.

It handles:

It’s designed to close the entire transaction loop natively.

Instagram is not there yet.

With Reels affiliate links:

Before, if you wanted to run influencer or affiliate campaigns on Instagram:

You had to manage everything externally.
Track links manually.
Handle payments off-platform.

Now:

→ Discovery, content, and conversion happen in one place.
→ Creators are directly incentivized to sell.
→ The platform closes the loop.

This is already live in:

What this means for brands is simple:

The creator as a sales channel is no longer a TikTok-only opportunity.

It’s becoming a standard model across platforms.

And here’s where most brands will get it wrong.

They’ll treat this like influencer marketing or paid partnerships.

Instead of what it actually is:
A performance channel.

Because the playbook is already proven:

→ Recruit a high volume of micro creators.
→ Give them real economic upside, commissions, not flat fees.
→ Let content do the selling.

The brands that already figured this out on TikTok are ahead.

Because they don’t need to learn a new strategy.

They just need to deploy it on another platform.

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Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR, 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.

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