Fell In Love With A Customer Panel 🥁

I had a surreal moment walking into the Corner Hotel for our Melbourne Ecommerce Social last Thursday. Up in lights on the ‘coming soon’ board was one of my musical heroes and shaper of my teenage years - the great Jack White playing at this same venue next month. I wonder if he had to arrive early to set up the name tags and confirm what time the calamari will be brought out…

But what a night! Melbourne, you showed up. A sold-out crowd of over 150 of the city’s best and brightest in ecommerce. That means we’ve now completed the 2024 sold-out trifecta: Sydney, Melbourne, and Brissy. Now, the big question—where should we take this party in 2025? Byron? Perth? Hobart? Austin? Ok then.

Our panel conversation for the night was turning customer insights into action - mainly because I refused to have another BFCM or AI panel. The focus was on sharing practical tips and they delivered. Here are a few gems worth noting:

1. Create tickets from feedback 🎫

   Nathan from Paire showed us why he’s the ticket king. They’ve set up a finely tuned system where all relevant customer feedback is pulled into Slack for the right teams to act on. Better still, any review that’s 3 stars or less gets turned into a ticket with the relevant department needing to resolve. Pressure!

2. Incentivise and you shall receive 💰

   Dom from Calibre shared how her experience across DTC and omnichannel brands has shown her that customers are willing to share their opinions - if they are rewarded. She asked each department head for five things they wanted to know from customers, turned that into a 40+ question survey (yep, 40!), and sweetened the deal with a $25 reward. It had an incredibly high completion rate and even bigger basket spends. Cha-ching.

3. ChatGPT: Your new BFF (Best Feedback Friend)

   Em, the customer consultant extraordinaire, reminded us that there’s an expert right next to us—and no, it’s not Ian from accounts receivable. It’s ChatGPT. Got a pile of survey results, reviews, or UX data? Add them into GPT and let it crunch the numbers. It’s like having a customer feedback guru on speed dial who’s always ready for a deep dive. No replacement for a good CX consultant, obvs.

4. Good feedback is personal

   Mike from Zero Co reads every single comment on social media—good, bad, and the sometimes unhinged. It’s his way of getting the most unfiltered view of not just his loyal customers but the public he's working so hard to convert. Just a word of advice: maybe don’t read the comments before bed.

And that was only part of the chat that was public. It was so nice to catch up with the Melbourne crew and meet some new faces who have been listening. Thank you to everyone who came along. It really means a lot, and hope you had as much fun as I did!

Cheers,
Bushy

PS. If you want to hear more about the importance of customer connection, make sure you tune into this week’s episode with Retail Global initiator, MedCart founder and all round Australian ecommerce legend, Phil Leahy.

ECOMMERCE NEWS

🛍️ Google Shopping Overhaul: AI, YouTube, and PMax Shakeup
Google Shopping is getting a facelift, with AI driving personalised product recommendations, category insights (hello, Amazon), and YouTube Shorts to guide buying decisions. The updates are rolling out gradually in the US, so it’s time to audit those product feeds and revamp your Google Shopping content. Oh, and PMax is no longer the default, with Shopping campaigns now served up equally.

📮 Australia Post’s Christmas Cutoff Dates: Mark Your Calendar
The Christmas rush is coming! Australia Post has released their last guaranteed delivery dates. The last guaranteed date for pre-Christmas delivery is Monday 23rd December for Express Post in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and ACT. For Standard Post, the cutoff is Friday 20th December - only one day earlier but an Express option gives you n extra weekend of orders. The earliest cutoff date is Friday 13th Dec which mostly impacts those in the NT. This PDF will be handy for your planning.

🌲 All I want for Christmas is a 0.25% cut
Still figuring out what your customers want for BFCM? According to a new Klaviyo report and PureProfile research, it’s all about inflation, value and discounts. 61% of shoppers plan to spend the same as last year, with price and discounts being the biggest gift motivators. And in a real Aussie twist, PureProfile found most Aussies would prefer cheaper food prices and lower interest rates over world peace. Merry fricking Grinchmas.

📹 Zucks sets his sights on Hollywood
Over the last four weeks, it feels like the amount of video conversations on Add To Cart has skyrocketed. It is becoming a non-negotiable. If you’re feeling the pressure to churn out video content, Meta’s got your back. They’ve just released Meta Movie Gen to create videos from just a prompt—no camera, studio or… skill needed. Whether it’s editing, adding personal touches, or even using your own image to star in your video, Meta’s got you covered. If this isn’t a flashing neon sign that video ads are the priority, I don’t know what is.

💩 Game of Thrones 
We just had four pretty chunky stories so here’s a something that’s a bit looser. Sorry, bad choice of words. A new IoT product called Throne is taking the world (or the internet by storm). It’s a camera that goes into your toilet to track your… intestinal health. Family Christmas present?

Also, last week I gave the wrong link for Nagi’s incredible Booktopia gesture. Here’s the right one.

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Nathan Bush is an independent Australian ecommerce transformation consultant, with expertise in marketing, technology, and team leadership. If you're looking for fresh ideas, facing key decisions, or implementing significant investments, I'd love to work with you. Learn more and get in touch.