Back
Content

Good morning,
Hereās what youāll find in todayās DTC:
Youāre reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: No Worries Cleaning, Toweltique, and MenoWell. š

āšØ AI-Native Retail Is Here, And Itās Changing Everything.
2026 marks the first true year of AI-native retail, where discovery, checkout, pricing, and returns are shaped by intelligent agents, not traditional funnels. š¤
At the same time, tariffs, global complexity, tightening return economics, and shifting consumer behavior are reconstructing the operational backbone of commerce. š«Ø
Feeling overwhelmed? Donāt be. š
ā” Swapās 2026 Commerce Report distills how brands can stay visible, profitable, and adaptable in this new environment and why unified, AI-powered infrastructure will define the next era of retail.
Discover:
And moreā¦
You canāt afford to miss this if you want to scale in 2026. š
*Ā sponsored
āš ļø Four Instagram Updates You Might Have Missed
If you want to stay ahead of the Instagram algorithm in 2026, you canāt rely on content habits from three months ago.
Pilothouse shares that the brands that adapt the fastest will win engagement and reach.
Here are four updates most brands havenāt fully adopted yet, but should.
1. Carousels Are Surging
Reels dominated most of 2025, but Carousel posts are now getting priority in the feed.
š Start by taking your top-performing Reels and converting them into multi-frame Carousels. Youāll often see them take off a second time.
2. AI-Assisted Captions
Instagramās new AI captioning helps speed up writing and improve accessibility.
š Use it to scale output, polish tone, and save time without sacrificing quality.
3. In-App Story Scheduling
You no longer need third-party tools to plan Stories.
š Batch content directly in Instagram and schedule it for the days you want (this will come in especially during the holiday season, when you need to post but also get your own holiday shopping done!)
4. Auto-Dubbing for Reels
Instagram can now automatically dub your voice into multiple languages while keeping your tone.
It instantly expands your content beyond your native language and is massively underused.
š Turn this feature on for every Reel and start reaching a global audience with zero extra effort.
The takeaway?
Remember, Instagram rewards early adopters.
Tweak your content strategy to include carousels.
Use AI tools to speed up production, schedule proactively, and enable auto-dubbing to expand distribution.
The more quickly you integrate platform changes, the more the algorithm works in your favor.

āš§¬ Hereās How Your Brand Needs To Evolve In 2026 To Thrive
To win in 2026, brands must become AI-native, globally ready, and operationally unified. š„
Itās a tall order⦠but you donāt have to do it alone.
š¤ Swap provides the infrastructure to make that transformation possible, connecting catalog, returns, tax, and global operations into one platform built for the next era of retail.
Their new 2026 Commerce Report breaks down whatās coming and how to thrive, not just survive. Discover how to harness the power behind the changes and make it work for you. ā”
š The world is moving faster than ever, with AI leading the charge⦠but with change comes opportunity.
Donāt miss it.
*Ā sponsored

āš§ BFCM Recap: 3 Winning Moves To Use in Q4
Jocelyn from Pilothouse stopped by the All Killer No Filler pod and shared how she approached Black Friday so clients could scale efficiently and avoid wasted ad spend.
She shared how her team counteracted CPMs doubling as well as a simple hack to make your creatives pop.
Use these tips to keep the momentum going in Q4.
In this episode, we dive into:
ā¶ļø Watch the full episode on YouTube here.
š§ Or click here to listen on Spotify.
Most stores run promos but forget to show savings in the cart.
A major conversion leak.
When discounts disappear from view, shoppers lose the value anchor and are more likely to abandon.
Adding simple messaging like āYou saved $12ā reinforces the deal and keeps buyers moving forward.
āš Shopify Reports Record-Breaking Black Friday Sales
Shopify reports merchants made a record-breaking $6.2 billion in sales on Black Friday, up 25% YoY.
At one point, the ecommerce platform recorded $5.1 million in sales per minute! š¤Æ
One analyst predicts that records will also have been broken on Cyber Monday.
āšļø 2026 is almost here. New year, new trends, new strategy for your team. Discover the six trends reshaping retailāfrom AI-native discovery to global complexity and rising return costs. Grab the trends for free now. *
*Ā sponsored
āš„ Got a B2B Biz?
Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 150k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.
