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Good morning.
But hey, if it makes you cringe, youâve grown. 𤡠Happy Monday.
âHereâs whatâs in todayâs newsletter:
Let's kick it off.
đ Getting BFCM shoppers to order a second time
BFCM is about to send a lot of new customers your way. For plenty of them, a 20% code will be enough to get that first order. Getting order number two takes more planning.
We teamed up with Smile.io and asked 700+ shoppers what brings them back after a discounted first purchase. 36% said they mostly return when another discount shows up. That gets expensive if you have to keep discounting to bring them back.
Beyond the Discount digs into what else earns that second order: product quality, customer service, rewards, and the post-purchase experience.
You still have a few weeks to work those findings into your BFCM plan.
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đď¸ Meta is switching on product browsing. Pilothouse says opt out before BFCM
Starting October 28, Meta says it will turn product browsing on for many existing ads unless advertisers opt out.
When someone taps an eligible ad, Meta can show an in-app shopping experience with product information and personalized recommendations instead of sending them straight to your site.
Meta says advertisers in its test saw 3% more conversions on average. Pilothouseâs concern is what this does to your creative testing right before BFCM.
If Meta adds catalog behavior behind an ad, a creative that suddenly looks like a winner may be getting help from product recommendations or from shoppers who were already close to buying. Ads Manager doesnât give you a clean way to separate what the creative did from what the catalog experience did.
That can lead to a few problems:
Thatâs especially messy in Q4, when teams are trying to find winners and put more budget behind them fast.
What to do today
Metaâs notice to advertisers. Product browsing switches on by default October 28 unless you opt out.
Pilothouse recommends opting out before October 28 if you want to keep the current experience through BFCM. Donât leave it to the last day.
Use the opt-out in Metaâs notice, then review âAdd product browsingâ under both Advantage+ creative and Destination settings on new and duplicated ads. Duplicating an ad can turn the setting back on, so check every copy before it goes live.
If catalog ads are part of your Q4 strategy, run them deliberately in their own campaign, with their own budget and product set. That keeps your creative tests much easier to read.
đ Google built one cart for multiple stores
Google launched Universal Cart in the US. Shoppers can now save products from different retailers in one cart across Search and the Gemini app.
The cart tracks price drops and restocks, surfaces promo codes, and suggests which card to pay with based on benefits. Shoppers check out through Google Pay with participating merchants or send items to the retailerâs cart to finish.
Your product feed is now part of the comparison. Shoppers will see your price, stock, and promos next to competitors before they ever land on your site, so make sure all of it is accurate before BFCM.
â One written review, $47K a month
@DaveDiederen shared a PDP test from a seven-figure Shopify brand. It had plenty of star ratings and zero written reviews above the fold.
His team moved one review next to the buy box. Projected impact: $47,000 in additional monthly revenue.
A star rating tells shoppers people like the product. A quote tells them why, and can answer the exact hesitation they have right before buying.
Pick one review that handles a common objection, put it by the buy box, and measure purchase conversion.
đ TikTokâs holiday season started in September
Holiday-shopping content on TikTok jumped 263% month over month in September. TikTok Shop did more than $500M in sales over BFCM weekend last year, and US LIVE Shopping sales more than doubled YoY in the first half of 2026.
Shoppers are already hunting for gift ideas. Get gift guides, creator demos, bundles, and LIVE concepts out now so you can see what works before the sale window gets crowded.
đ§ Can your founder story be told 100 times?
Q4 means more of everything for creative teams. More videos, more concepts, more iterations, all competing for the same scroll.
On Ad-venturous, Aves makes the case that founder-led brands have a shortcut: one founder story flexible enough to tell again and again.
Get that story right and it can carry product content, trend videos, organic posts, and new ad formats. The team spends its time on fresh angles and keeps the core of the brand the same.
The test for your Q4 creative plan: could you tell your founder story 100 different ways without changing what it means?
âśď¸ Watch here | đ§ Listen on Spotify
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