Newsletter N° 17
Before you add another AI tool to your stack in 2025, nail these three fundamentals: tech stack, business complexity, and your team’s digital maturity.
When AI finally catches up to the hype
Semantic satiation is when a word loses its meaning through endless repetition. Just like “AI” in software for e-commerce has today.
Every tool that automates basic tasks now claims to be “AI-powered.” Product recommendations? AI. Email automation? AI. A/B testing? Also AI.
When you have a good hammer, everything looks like a nail.
But here's what most vendors won't tell you: true AI - technology that can learn and make decisions independently - is just a tool.
And like any tool, its value depends entirely on who's using it and why.
This is the hard part: before even considering AI adoption (or adoption of any other technology, frankly), you need to get three fundamentals right:
Define your tech stack (do you have a clear view of the software in your IT landscape?)
Understand your business complexity (can you explain how your company operates?)
Assess your team’s digital maturity (will this tool help or overwhelm your people?)
What we’re seeing in 2024 is fascinating. Real AI capabilities are finally catching up to the hype - offering ways to genuinely transform how we sell online. This is exciting because computers are finally smart enough to communicate like humans versus the other way around.
Take search, for example: instead of just matching keywords, AI now understands when a customer types "outfit for my beach wedding next month" and considers everything from seasonal trends to typical wedding guest preferences.
It's not just smarter automation - it's a technology that thinks contextually, like a skilled personal shopper. It became proactive instead of reactive.
But this only matters if you have the right foundation in place and your data is centralised (read below ↴ ).
Conway Tech Stack Navigator
It’s finally live: a comprehensive guide for digital leaders that feel lost in the woods…
E-com technology stack is a hard but crucial subject, and we created a resource for you — to set up a robust tech foundation.
📍 250+ e-commerce systems mapped across key layers per team:
• Marketing
• Sales Channels
• Commerce
• Service
• Operations
• Integrations
Plus: A helpful framework that guides you on mapping your business requirements first (this is crucial).
Interested in a tech stack audit?
Contact our digital consultant Coen.
Tools & Tactics
We select helpful tools and useful new ways of working. Find a signal in the noise of software.
01 Fullstory
A behavioural data analytics tool for consumer brands that helps harnessing real-time insights.
02 Icon.me
Create AI-generated ads for your product: all you have to do is swipe right or left on AI-generated ads. As you swipe on an ad, you can also generate permutations of it.
03 Imagine Create
Generate high-quality product photos, fashion photography, and videos using our AI tools. Designed for e-commerce brands.
Brand Radar
We review modern consumer brands. Today, we're looking at some of the most sophisticated high-end home appliances DTC brands that re-imagine what a kitchen should look like.
Rocco
This is a perfect example of how to sell a highly functional product with taste. Rocco has built an exceptional product and has developed a great digital experience for their customers.
June Oven
June Oven is a 12-in-1 appliance, smaller than a regular microwave. The website also features a collection of recipes, created by professional chefs and synced with the oven’s features.
Our Place
Known as Oprah’s “favorite thing”, this brand focuses on removing clutter in our kitchens and creates beautiful & multifunctional cookware for modern homes.
Trends & Strategy
Curated content from the information overload we call the Internet.
Insights and inspiration on business, e-commerce, and investing.
Amazon launches Temu and Shein rival with 'crazy low' prices
10 min read
“Amazon has launched a new outlet called Haul which caps the price of products on sale at $20 (£15.79), in an effort to take on low-cost retailers Temu and Shein.
The online shopping giant unveiled Haul as a mobile-only experience available in its Shopping app for US customers on Wednesday.”
Full article
The three epochs of AI in commerce
20 min read
“For retailers and brands, the umbrella term of AI has been used to define at least three distinct technological leaps forward, each more significant than the last.”
AI startup Perplexity adds shopping features as search competition tightens
10 min read
“The firm, backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and leading AI chipmaker Nvidia, will give users product cards showing relevant items in response to questions related to shopping.
The new feature is powered by platform integrations including Shopify, which gives access to recent and relevant information on products. Perplexity is also introducing a 'Merchant Program' to allow retailers to share product information with the company.”
Full article
Visually appealing
Louis Vuitton's iconic Fifth Avenue flagship store in NYC is being demolished and rebuilt into a larger space, with spectacular giant LV trunks serving as scaffolding during construction.
Meanwhile, the brand has opened an impressive temporary location across the street, featuring a five-story Art Deco space with a stunning atrium, luxury shopping experiences, and their first US café venture.
