Not All Heroes Wear Capes. Some Wear Hi-Vis and Take Smoko. 🔨

“I need to write a biography on someone who has changed the world.”

Classic bedtime curveball from my 10-year-old son, Teddy. Right as the lights went out, he wanted to pick my brain for his latest school assignment. I threw a few names into the ring: Henry Ford, Marie Curie and Laurie Daley. Then Teddy hit me with:

“What about your friend who’s saving tradies’ lives?”

That’s Ed Ross from TradeMutt. He’d heard me tell Ed’s story before and it obviously stuck with him.

So down the Ed Ross rabbit hole we went. We Googled him, scoured TradeMutt’s site, and watched his business partner Dan’s TEDx talk as a family. Teddy filmed three questions for Ed, and I texted them over. To my surprise, Ed replied that same night—at 9 pm, after a long day of travel—with a video message.

I hadn’t seen him so immersed in a school assignment as this one. Still, his teacher was concerned that while all the other kids were getting their information from textbooks, it seemed that there wasn’t one on Ed (yet). Nevertheless, we pushed on.

Ted submitted Ed’s biography with the closing lines of:

“Ed has kicked down the barriers of mental health, especially for people who haven’t talked about it before. Ed’s work so far has laid the foundation for saving thousands of Aussies into the future.”

He got a B+, but the lesson was invaluable.

At a time when teenage suicide and depression are terrifying for a parent, to have your pre-teen son look up to someone like Ed is a great gift. I can’t think of a better role model and I’ll always be thankful to Ed for taking the time. I can’t even imagine the ripples of change and support that the TradeMutt team have made over the last six years.

This is true impact. And we are so lucky to have leaders like Ed truly changing the world - all under the guise of ecommerce.

Cheers,
Bushy

P.S. There’s a good chance that Ted was playing the long game for some TradeMutt swag. But a care package turned up from Ed after we sent him his unofficial biography. It included a handwritten letter from Ed that now proudly sits above Ted’s desk.

ECOMMERCE NEWS

💳 Buy Now, Worry About It Later
Roy Morgan and the ARA are predicting a 5.5% spending increase this Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM), hitting $6.7 billion over four days. Worryingly, the reliance of buy now pay later remains high with 67% of parents planning to use buy now, pay later to finance their peak season purchases. There’s still time to get it in as a payment method if you don’t have it already. But it begs the question whether this discount season will do more harm to retailers or customers.

🎥 CapCut’s New Commerce Pro Plan
Your Social Media Manager is about to request a new license - CapCut Commerce Pro. Just released, the video editing platform has released an ecommerce specific version of the software which includes the ability to turn a product URL into a video ad, shoppable link integration, virtual try-ons and more. It’s now available in Australia for $45/month (probably USD), but they’re currently running a promo at $26/month. Now available in Australia - it is $45 per month (presumably USD) but currently on promo for $26pm.

🇺🇸 Retail Therapy or Post-Election Panic?
Now that the US election dust has settled, retail is seeing some strange side effects. While Aussie producers are bracing for tariffs, bagels with cream cheese are apparently election-day essentials, contraceptive brands are spiking in sales, and 28% of US shoppers are indulging in doom shopping. Buckle up, folks—it’s going to be a wild ride.

🔐 Goodbye, Status: Shopify’s Account Helper Shuts Down
Sad news out of the US with Shopify app, Status, shutting up shop. I was looking into this app for a client a few weeks ago and it was promising. It allowed one-click and passwordless sign in to customer accounts to allow sign-in throughout the entire journey. It was used by brands including LSKD, Princess Polly and Rollie. Their CEO and co-founder, Joe Vancena posted on LinkedIn saying they will support clients until Dec 20th and help transition over to Shopify’s New Customer Accounts feature. It’s the underlying risk of being a point solution in the Shopify ecosystem.

🎄 Afterpay and Spotify Want To Be Your Helpful Elves
Fresh off their 10-year birthday celebrations, Afterpay launched a neat campaign with Spotify (yes, not Shopify) to help listeners generate their ultimate gift wish list. Using a user’s favourite artists, genres and some questions, the integrated Spotify ad will give suggestions from retailers such as Sephora, JD Sports and Bunnings. Bad luck for the brands who get the Kanye fans.

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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.