#ecommerce-marketing

#ecommerce-marketing

The promise is simple enough. AI agents act on behalf of shoppers to search, compare, select, and even purchase products. These agents will use a shopper's preferences - stated and inferred - rather than browsing products from digital shelves. McKinsey & Company describes it this way: "Companies have spent decades refining consumer journeys, fine-tuning every click, scroll, and tap. But in the era of agentic commerce, the consumer no longer travels alone. Their digital proxies now navigate the commerce ecosystem."

Eric Bandholz: Give us an overview of what you do. Sean Larkin: I'm CEO and founder of Fueled, a customer data platform for ecommerce. We help brands strengthen the data signals sent to advertising and marketing platforms such as Meta to improve tracking and performance. Our team collaborates with companies such as Built Basics, Dr. Squatch, and Oats Overnight, ensuring accurate pixel data and confidence in their marketing metrics.

"Internally, we strive for the 'perfect send,' when 100 percent of the people who get the message click or engage, and no one opts out," said Alex Campbell, the chief innovation officer and co-founder at Vibes, a mobile marketing platform. Campbell was discussing the potential for AI individualization (AI-I), Rich Communication Services, and mobile marketing in the retail sector when he described this 100% engagement, 0% opt-out scenario.

People don't shop online anymore-they live there. And ecommerce brands that get it, win. Take Jacquemus. Instead of launching their Monte-Carlo store with a basic promo, they created a surreal beach club fantasy, complete with deadpan voiceovers, pastel visuals, and a wink at luxury itself. No influencers. No hard sell. Just a bizarrely perfect fake world that got everyone talking. This kind of creative restraint, paired with clever subversion, didn't just sell fashion; it sold feelings.

Acquisition costs can significantly impact business viability; some businesses limit these costs to initial gross margins, while others consider long-term customer value.