Welcome back DTC fam,
3 quick things for you:
a lot of things are changing on the daily when it comes to direct to consumer, and we want to share the most relevant and up to date info with you each week.
so that’s what these Thursday sends are for.
it might seem early but BFCM prep is in flight.
if you haven’t thought about that, you definitely should. we’re going to be releasing a big BFCM guide next week to help connect you with some of the best brands and operators in the ecosystem, so keep your eyes peeled when we launch.
there’s been a lot of hype around AI, and we’re all feeling it. it’s hard knowing how to turn it into legit tools and assets that a brand can execute on and implement. on the other hand, I’ve been seeing a lot more authentic content and relationships be built in the space through platforms like TikTok and IRL events.
it’s also been tough figuring that out but real authentic content and relationships whether it’s through tiktok or in-person events, i’ve been seeing a lot more of that specifically.
excited to have you here.
Otherhalf builds brands and the Shopify storefronts that bring them to life.
A small team with decades of ecommerce experience, they’ve come from top agencies in the space and genuinely love the craft.
Otherhalf is a turnkey service — strategy, design, copy, and product thinking under one roof — built to help brands earn real trust and grow for the long term. Their latest launch that went live this week: a custom storefront for Heist, built for a brand that’s redefining what coffee is for.
Since coming on the scene last year, the team has made their mark quickly, working with over 60 brands and counting. They’ve worked with brands like Rip Van, Good Bacteria, Halfday Iced Tea, Elavi, Liquid+, and more.
Want to see what Otherhalf could do for your brand and why we’re such huge fans? Book a call with Jamil here.
We highlighted mate. on Tuesday and had to circle back after noticing the tons of love they were getting on social media across X, Instagram, and LinkedIn for this one.
Why the buzz? Here’s what mate did for Quay: $380K in 90 days.
Quay is a leading eyewear brand, known for making premium sunglasses accessible. The BOGO offers it runs already do well with the shoppers late at night.
mate's job was to go find their other shoppers.
mate sits on a live network of 12B+ shopper intent signals, connected into Checkmate, its own ad network. It finds the shoppers who may be in-market for sunglasses, whatever time that happens to be (not just late at night!), builds the campaigns, and delivers them. Data and distribution in one teammate.
90 days: $380K in revenue, 4,500+ orders, 6% additional sales lift.
Their pitch: You approve. mate executes. Start with the Growth agent: $0 until it converts. Recommend checking it out to see why it got so much love.
one of Utah’s best Ecom events. next week on the 24th up in SLC. a must if you’re an ecom operator in Utah. lmk if you will be coming to town, would love to link up.
Two days. Seven panels. The teams behind some of the most notable U.S. brands on the rise, talking honestly about what's worked and what hasn't. the wayflyer team is cracked and brought together a very impressive lineup for this event.
This ones pretty sweet:
Tastemaker Challenge, an open call inviting anyone (no culinary degree, no follower count required) to invent the brand’s next limited-edition flavor!
Submissions (open Aug 17) will run the gamut from “Kimchi Carbonara” to “Pickle Alfredo” — the kind of unhinged, TikTok-native flavor mashups that actually get made these days. Entrants can either film a pitch video for a concept they haven’t cooked, or go all the way and cook/film/photograph the real thing.
we love seeing brands hit challenges hard, especially in the DTC space. Such a good way to drive brand and community engagement (smart play too as we gear up for BFCM…)
”US CTV spend in retail media campaigns is expected to grow 43.1% in 2026, according to EMARKETER’s forecast.”
Ok, this can get a little confusing, so let me sum it up for you:
Retail media is moving from a traditional conversion channel to a more full-funnel advertising channel. This means that the brands that treat Target, Walmart and Amazon as places to push product ads at the bottom of the funnel are leaving a lot on the table ($$$).
To back this up even more, US retail media spend is projected to hit $72.97B in 2026, up 20.3% YoY.
So, a growing chunk of that money is moving off the retailer’s website into things like CTV, social, video and display using retailer first-party shopper data.
Off-site retail media display alone is projected at $16.09B, versus $9.63B for on-site display.
Old retail media:
You’re a protein bar brand and your customer searches for “protein bars” on Amazon → then Amazon shows them your protein bar.
New retail media:
Amazon and Walmart knows someone buys protein products → use that data to reach them on CTV, social or the open web → introduce your brand → retarget them later when they’re closer to purchase.
Retail media is moving further up the funnel, so as operators, we need to build creative to match it.
There are only a few key metrics that compound for DTC brands, and they’re tied to 2 platforms: email and SMS.
Luckily, Klaviyo released Social Marketing.
This solves the gap between engagement and conversions.
We did an entire breakdown on:
what this means for your brands
how it can power-level your ads (yes please)
and how to get started with it
Brands that win are gonna lean into this heavily.
See you on Tuesday,
Zach
CEO, 1800DTC.com
P.S
We’re building the go-to platform for DTC founders, brands, and operators so they can stop worrying about what to do next. Want to check it out? Click here
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