AI agents are coming for your ecommerce business

Hi, Alex here!

If you’ve seen countless posts, videos and buzz around AI agents on LinkedIn or Instagram, you’re not alone. I’m ALMOST sick of it. Apart from one saving grace. The hype is real—or at least it will be soon.

Just like the printing press and other defining commercial evolutions in history, our world is truly transforming as a result of AI. But many people still aren’t utilising the tools like Chat GPT or Claude.ai.

I get it, it’s overwhelming but don’t worry—we’ve got you. It’s our job to make sure you ride this wave and carry on surfing indefinitely.

Today’s issue:

• 10 stats about resale you can’t ignore as an ecommerce brand

• The latest from the Shopify change log

• AI agents for ecommerce brands: Not a fad, but the future

• Almond Labs community: Your new Q+A index
  

🚗 ALMOND LABS

10 stats about resale you can’t ignore as an ecommerce brand

In the previous issue of Shopify for Lifestyle Brands, we announced the upcoming release of our app, CASSI: Buy Back, Resale & Consignment (waitlist now open).

Leading up to the launch, I’m going to be dropping some market insights on my LinkedIn profile, but I thought I’d share a few with you now.

1. By 2030, secondhand shopping will make up 18% of the global apparel market.

2. The resale market is growing 3x faster than traditional retail.

3. 60% of consumers say shopping secondhand apparel gives them the most value for money.

4. 41% of consumers look to secondhand outlets when seeking apparel deals.

5. Over 61% of sellers missed quota in the past year, highlighting the importance of value-driven sales strategies.

6. Profit margins for vintage and streetwear fashion resale can range from 50–80%.

7. Gen Z and Millennials are leading the charge in the resale market, valuing both affordability and sustainability.

8. 70% of B2B buyers say they need financial justification for better, more confident purchase decisions.

9. The global second-hand products market is projected to experience a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 17.2% from 2025 to 2035.

10. The resale market in the US grew 15x faster than the broader clothing retail sector in 2023.

Sources: BBC and Business of Fashion

🛒 SHOPIFY UPDATES

The latest from the Shopify Changelog

Shopify has been busy. Here are some of the latest updates:

• Smart collections allow you to ‘include sub-categories’ in category conditions (read more).

• Discounts work with draft orders on POS (read more).

• Shopify forms sync with merchant-owned metafields (read more).

• SMS marketing opt-ins on POS (read more).

Need help with implementation or just some friendly guidance? Let us know.

🤖 AI IN ECOMMERCE

AI agents for ecommerce brands: Not a fad, but the future

I use AI every day. I can’t go back. But there’s plenty of confusion around it and plenty of bad actors.

Let me save you a few thousand $$ right now—you don’t need to buy any courses, resources, or books on AI.

Just make a list of:
- Things you find yourself doing repeatedly
- Things being done by a junior employee or sub-contractor
- Things that are being done with an expensive piece of software

I guarantee there is an AI solution to create efficiencies for most of these. You just need to know what to ask for.

AI is changing how developers at Studio Almond build websites.

A few years ago, the no-code movement came into full force. Developers started to freak out about losing their jobs—in reality, their jobs weren’t in danger, the nature of their work had just changed. Which brings me to my next point…

AI will not replace you, but someone using AI will.

While some jobs will be lost to AI, new opportunities will emerge. The vast majority of people will keep their jobs but the nature of their work will change. This isn’t unique to AI, it’s just life. And just as we do with every new technological development, we need to adapt.

At Studio Almond we have built 2 pieces of software for internal use in the last year alone. When combined with AI, this software increases not just our efficiency, but the quality of our work.

Rather than our developers spending time doing the same tasks over and over again, they have the capacity to learn more, solve bigger problems, and deliver better outcomes for our clients. Win, win.

Everyone is talking about MCP (model context protocol)

In the last week, the concept of MCP has come to light and people are very excited.

What is MCP?
If an API connects 2 sources of data together, then MCP is the set of standards that AI agents will follow to facilitate connections and scale globally. The possibilities are infinite.

It’s the difference between asking Chat GPT to give you a list of holiday locations to consider versus asking it to book the full holiday for you.

The first produces a response based on data gathered from the web. The other integrates with services to perform tasks and deliver on your goals. The standards created through MCP will make the latter possible.

AI agents for your ecommerce business

While I have the fancy title of Managing Director, at heart, you’ll know that I’m really a solution architect (a cooler title I think). It’s my job to learn and understand how technology is evolving and how it can help businesses.

As a result, Studio Almond is now creating AI agents for ecommerce brands.

We are starting small, working with 2-3 brands to create AI agents that understand the operational problems you are trying to solve.

Interested in exploring AI agents for your business?

🤓 KNOWLEDGE

Almond Labs community: Your new Q+A index

I wrote a LinkedIn post yesterday about how I saved an estimated 50 hours a year for myself and my team by writing and publishing information in our community.

I then proceeded to share the links with my team for clients who had asked about the specific topics, and then shared the resources with other clients who had asked on email.

This approach is a combination of D.R.Y (Don’t Repeat Yourself), and ‘The Starfish and the Spider’—an operation model that prevents one person from gatekeeping all of the knowledge.

Read about it here.

Want access to our growing knowledge hub?

📣 HAVE YOUR SAY

How did we do?

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Alex Murton
Managing Director & Co-Founder
Studio Almond