The Benefits (and Luxury) of a Curiosity Tour 🇸🇬

I packed up my Gold Coast speedos and swapped them for Singapore Slings this week, where I’m here for NRF APAC. It’s a short note from me today because I’m about to dive into Day 3 before the family arrives. Then I swap a conference hall for theme parks. I think this is the natural beauty of Singapore that they talk about.

I’ve been lucky enough to be here on a media pass. This is my first time as media, and it’s been very cool. Guided tours of the best retail executions. One-on-one interviews with tech founders. Nerdy conversations about the nuances of eCom across different APAC markets. I’m here to learn and bring back as many insights as possible. (Live debrief incoming for our Add To Cart Community.)

But there’s always one question that trips me up - and it gets even trickier when you’re sweating over a chilli seafood hotpot in 80% humidity, mid-convo via a Chinese interpreter. The question? “What do you do?” Short answer: I help people grow in their ecommerce careers. That includes our Add To Cart Community, creating content, consulting, advisory boards - it’s structured chaos. But when I was pushed on what I enjoy the most? This week was up there.

Plonking yourself into a brand-new market, surrounded by smart people doing cool stuff in totally different ways, was exactly what I needed right now. It’s challenged me, energised me, and given me a lot to think about.

I know it’s a luxury to do, especially when everyone’s busy and budgets are feeling a little squeezy. But if you’re in need of an inspiration injection, I highly recommend carving out space for a Curiosity Tour in next year’s budget. Or rollercoasters. Apparently, they get the heart racing too.

Cheers,
Bushy

PS. More info to come next week, but I have just launched our Reset & Scale Meta Bootcamp with the amazing Iain Calvert. It’s made to help ecom professionals like you feel in control of your Meta account (whether you are in it or just need to manage it). Get in touch if you want to learn more for yourself or your team.

ECOMMERCE NEWS (from the past week)

🧠 Meta wants your values, not just your clicks
Meta’s launched three new ad tools - Value Rules, Value Optimization, and Incremental Attribution - to shift the focus from ‘just get the sale’ to ‘get the right sale’. It seems no one can resist the lure of value. You’ll be able to use these tools to weight campaigns based on outcomes that matter to you beyond conversion. That might be attracting new customers, prioritising high-margin products or chasing international growth. You tell Meta what’s valuable, and it’ll optimise accordingly.

💃 Shop your fabulous lock screen self
Finally, some content for the narcissists. Glance AI is now rolling out across Galaxy phones, letting users upload selfies and get AI-generated images of themselves in designer outfits, lounging in luxe locations. The creepy bit? It slaps your rizzed-up self straight onto your phone lock screen which is shoppable with a tap. It’s powered by Google’s Imagen 4 and currently rolling out to Galaxy S22 through S25 series phones. Sweet dreams, my Italian Gucci dreamers.

💡 Big AI hype, bigger AI skills gap
Arktic Fox’s annual digital and eCom report is always one of my highlights because they mix tech with skills. Unsurprisingly, AI was the hot topic but there are some good numbers in here. The report shows only 12% of Aussie businesses have embedded AI into their operations. We’ve got a long way to go. AI was the top upcoming tech investment (especially for challenger brands - look out), but it was also the biggest skill gap identified. I’m sending my kids into the workforce early.

🪑 Flatpack fever hits the late shift
The team at IKEA Rhodes has launched 54 after-hours lockers for Click & Collect orders. You can now collect your goods anytime between 3am and midnight. But what I love is the loyalty benefit baked in. It’s free for IKEA Family members, $5 for everyone else but they haven’t made a big song and dance about it. It’s just part of being in the IKEA Family. But just quietly… if my family is into late-night flat packing, I’m up for adoption.

💚 A different kind of fashion statement
We rolled out of Retail Fest and straight into the news that Hailey Bieber sold her Rhode Beauty brand to E.L.F for $1B. Not a bad effort for three years, ten products and a reported $212m in annual revenue. But in the midst of that noise, I was actually more inspired by Brittney Saunders’ approach. She announced she’s pulling back on scaling Fayt The Label to prioritise sustainability for the business and her own mental health. It’s a refreshing counterpoint to the scale-at-all-costs narrative.

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The Next Evolution of Online Shopping: Shopify’s AI-Powered Future with James Johnson | #524

Shopify’s James Johnson unpacks how the new Editions ‘Horizons’ and AI tools are transforming ecommerce workflows and instore strategy.

You’ll learn:

• The questions to ask Shopify’s new Sidekick to speed up analysis and storefront changes

• How to optimise your product data so AI agents like ChatGPT can find and recommend your products

• James’s one-week challenge: start every task with AI before doing it manually

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WORK WITH NATHAN

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.