☕ Your Ecommerce Coffee Break (Issue 201)

👋 Happy Thursday! Here’s your latest ecom news roundup: 2026 trends to prep for, AI taking over checkout, and what to post on social to grow faster.

In Today’s Edition:

📰 Top Headlines: News, Marketplaces, and Platform updates
🎧 On the Pod: Discover the Ecommerce Coffee Break Podcast
🗨️ Claus’s Hot Take: AI Can Take Over Support — But You Still Need Humans

Grab your coffee—skim in 60 sec or read in 3 minutes.

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📰 WHAT’S HAPPENING

📈 General Ecommerce News

• E-commerce trends to watch in 2026 [read more]

• Customer Expectations Soar 32% [read more]

• AI Takes Checkout [read more]

• Google expands AI shopping through Gemini [read more]

🛒 Platforms & Marketplaces

• Google and Shopify introduce open-source ecommerce standard [read more]

• Amazon accused of listing products without consent [read more]

• Walmart Partners with Google [read more]

• Shopify: Category-specific returns = better insights [read more]

📱Social Media & Advertising

• How rising retail brands use influencers [read more]

• How Often to Post on Social Media in 2026 [read more]

• Meta wants Australia to reverse its social media rules [read more]

• Best practices for B2B marketing on TikTok [read more]

🎙️ ECOMMERCE COFFEE BREAK PODCAST

Discover the Ecommerce Coffee Break Podcast

If you’re new here, you might not know that Ecommerce Coffee Break is also a podcast for ecommerce founders and operators who want practical insights without the noise.

The show features real conversations with founders, marketers, and platform experts who are actively building and scaling online businesses. We focus on what actually works, from growth and traffic to conversion and new channels.

The goal is simple. You leave each episode with one idea you can use right away.

If you enjoy the newsletter, the podcast is a natural next step. Same mindset. Same focus. Just in audio and video.

You can listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Or search for "Ecommerce Coffee Break" in your favorite podcast app and subscribe.

🗨️ CLAUS’S HOT TAKE

AI Can Take Over Support — But You Still Need Humans

Big idea: AI can now handle a huge chunk of routine support for online stores — quickly, 24/7, and at scale.

But it doesn’t make human support obsolete. It makes it better.

Why it matters for your store:

• Instant replies: AI answers common questions with zero wait.

• Always on: No more lost inquiries after hours or on weekends.

• Handle volume spikes: Black Friday? AI rides shotgun so humans don’t break.

• Free up humans: Let your support team focus on tricky cases, empathy, and conversions.

The catch: AI works best as a tool, not a replacement. Poor AI = frustrated customers. You still need humans for nuance, edge cases, and trust.

Quick wins:

• Automate FAQs and order checks

• Let AI route complex issues to humans

• Keep transparency high (tell customers when it’s AI)

Bottom line: AI doesn’t replace support. It handles the repetitive so humans can do what machines can’t.

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