Today in Digital Marketing - Shopify Secures the Bag

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Wednesday, November 13th. Today, Shopify reports massive revenue growth. Australians might soon find their social media rated 16+. Brands brace for a mobile shopping surge this holiday season, and a new Facebook chatbot may or may not be trying to send you to the ER. I'm Steph Gunn sitting in for Todd Mathen. That's ahead today in digital marketing. Shopify's third quarter results was all about the comeback. The Canadian e-commerce company reported its Q3 results yesterday with revenue growing more than 25% year over year to more than $2 billion, surpassing projections. Its free cash flow margin also climbed to nearly 20%, exceeding its previous quarterly forecast by approximately 3%.

Starting point is 00:00:50 After unloading its unprofitable logistics division to freight company Flexport last year, Shopify's margins have steadily improved. This shift boosted free cash flow to $421 million, a 52% increase compared to last year. Quoting the information, the company, which generates revenue from payments and other merchant services as well as selling software subscriptions, said its gross profit margin dipped slightly as payments volumes grew during the quarter. Payments, the biggest source of Shopify's revenue, is lower margin than its software business because Shopify pays some of what it charges merchants back out of its payments processors. End quote.

Starting point is 00:01:30 Looking ahead, Shopify projects further revenue growth of 25 to 29% in the fourth quarter, sending its stock up more than 20% following the announcement. Scroll limits could be coming down under. Australia is pushing forward with new social media legislation which could see users under 16 banned from using any social app. This week, Australia's Prime Minister announced the next stage of the social media restrictions. He said that young people are increasingly exposed to harmful portrayals of body image and behavior online, which are having real-world effects. As a result, the government believes limiting social media is necessary. While the new laws are set to face a

Starting point is 00:02:15 final vote this week, many details remain unclear. The Prime Minister acknowledged that the new restrictions won't entirely prevent young people from accessing social media, comparing the new age limits to alcohol restrictions, which some minors managed to bypass. The laws look to secure final approval soon, but challenges remain in enforcing these restrictions, giving the multiple ways kids can still reach social media content online. The proposed policy places the responsibility on platforms to enforce age limits and implement systems to block underage users, though many social platforms already have age restrictions that are often bypassed by underage users.

Starting point is 00:02:59 Brands are preparing for a mobile-first holiday season. Adobe Analytics predicts mobile will account for more than half of all online holiday spending, with mobile spend already reaching a record $280.4 billion from January to July this year, a 10% year-over-year increase. For companies like Therabody, which sees about 70% of its website traffic from mobile devices, Digiday reports today that optimizing the mobile shopping experience is critical. Ahead of the holiday season, the wellness tech company introduced several updates, including quick pay options at checkout and social media ads featuring minimal copy and product videos to grab shoppers' attention as they scroll.

Starting point is 00:03:44 One challenge for Therabody is that mobile users are often multitasking. To reach these customers, the brand invested in social ad strategies designed to push consideration. With products ranging from about $150 to $800, they're not impulse buys and require multiple touchpoints and retargeting, including product videos and micro-influencer partnerships. Another major challenge for brands is cart abandonment, which is higher on mobile than desktop, according to the report. To combat this, many brands are implementing strategies like sharing links to preloaded carts

Starting point is 00:04:19 and faster checkout options. In the battle for former Twitter users, ex-rival Blue Sky has had a big week. The short-form posting platform hit 15 million users today, fueled by a surge in signups following the U.S. presidential election. A stat-tracking site created by Blue Sky's developer using the platform's API shows a million new users joined in the last week. BlueSky's COO recently told media that the majority of new users flocking to the platform have been from the U.S. The app is now currently at number one in the iOS app store, followed by Threads, ChatGPT, and the Google app. You can follow us on BlueSky at todayindigital.bsky.social.

Starting point is 00:05:09 Amazon is pulling the plug on Freevee, its free and supported streaming service. Deadline reports that the service's content has already been moved to prime video. The service featured some original content like Jury Duty, and last year Amazon also added some Prime Video shows to the platform. The decision to phase out FreeV follows Amazon's move to introduce ads on Prime Video. A spokesperson for the company said that there will be no change to the content available for Prime members, while non-Prime viewers will still have access to a wide range of free content. The FreeV brand will be phased out in the coming weeks. Google is looking to lure Microsoft PowerPoint users with a new set of professionally designed templates for Google Slides. The updated library includes templates for sales pitches,

Starting point is 00:06:00 product roadmaps, lesson plans, book reports, workshop facilitation, and even team building games. The rollout of these new templates started last week, reaching users with both personal Gmail accounts and paid workspace tiers. The full rollout is expected by the end of the month. However, there is a catch. The templates are only available to those using the English United States language setting. A new AI chatbot named Fungi Friend was added to a popular mushroom foraging Facebook group yesterday and wasted no time sharing questionable advice. Meta recently started introducing AI chatbots into select groups, including character-based AIs like this one, which is personified as a bearded,

Starting point is 00:06:45 psychedelic wizard. One member of the group asked the bot how to cook a potentially deadly mushroom. Fungi Friend responded that it was edible, but rare, and suggested cooking it by sautéing it in butter, adding to soups or stews, or even pickling it. Remember friends, the chances of being killed by AI are low, but not zero. We are in the midst of making some changes to our podcast and we are looking for your feedback. So we are hoping that you can answer one simple question for us. You can do this by heading to todayindigital.com slash question. That question is, if you could change anything about our podcast, what would it be? Remember, this is a safe space, so we appreciate

Starting point is 00:07:33 all feedback and all ideas. Plus, if you give us your email, you can win a $100 Amazon gift card. All you have to do is head to todayindigital.com slash question. Thanks for listening. I'm Steph Gunn, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - Shopify Secures the Bag

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