😱 The Wildest Coincidence I’ve Ever Had…

What you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:

• 😱 The Wildest Coincidence I’ve Ever Had…  [True Story]

• 🔥 BREAKING: OpenAI Rolls Out ‘Instant’ Purchases For ChatGPT!

• 🛒 China Reaches Global Majority on Amazon

• 🔥 $70M on TikTok Shop?! [Mary Ruth Organics’ TikTok Shop Strategy]

• ✅ How to Create a Business Blog Post in Gemini

🚨 Reply to this email with “#wheelofkelsey” to win a press release from myself. Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!

P.S. Enjoy this quote from the latest Marketing Misfits episode:

“Be first, be the smartest, or cheat. We don’t cheat, it’s hard to be smartest, so we focus on being first and fast.” - Jay Hunter, Mary Ruth Organics

😱 The Wildest Coincidence I’ve Ever Had… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the 80s, I was fresh off our flight in Paris on our honeymoon, soaking in that classic Parisian charm.

Imagine the little bistro tables, the smell of fresh espresso, and that beautiful French atmosphere.

My wife and I had just dropped our bags at the hotel and decided to unwind at a street café, just the two of us enjoying the moment.

When we headed back to the hotel, we started chatting with the concierge, just making friendly conversation.

Turns out, he’d just come back from a trip to Canada.

But it wasn’t just anywhere in Canada…

After a little back-and-forth, we realized he had been staying in my small city, Waterloo.

Most Canadians haven’t even heard of Waterloo, let alone visited.

But he wasn’t staying in a hotel in Waterloo… No.

The concierge spent three months living with a university professor whose house backed right onto mine!

I basically could’ve thrown a rock at him from my house.

And to top it off, he was even on the same flight as us coming into Paris.

Talk about a small world.

The business lesson?

It’s a perfect reminder that unexpected connections can happen anywhere.

In life and business, you never know who you might run into or what kind of surprising opportunities might pop up when you least expect it.

Always stay open to those chance encounters, they might lead to the next big thing.

What’s the craziest coincidence you’ve ever had?

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

You can watch the latest Lunch with Norm episode with Steve Chou aka My Wife Quit Her Job!

OpenAI Rolls Out ‘Instant’ Purchases Directly From ChatGPT!

More than 700 million people turn to ChatGPT each week for help with everyday tasks, including finding products they love.

Starting today, we’re taking the first steps toward ChatGPT helping people buy them too, beginning with Instant Checkout, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol, built with Stripe.

U.S. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users can now buy directly from U.S. Etsy sellers right in chat, with over a million Shopify merchants, like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx and Vuori, coming soon. Today, Instant Checkout supports single-item purchases.

Next, OpenAi add multi-item carts and expand merchants and regions.

When someone asks a shopping question:

“Best running shoes under $100” or “gifts for a ceramics lover”

ChatGPT shows the most relevant products from across the web. Product results are organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user.

If a product supports Instant Checkout, users can tap “Buy,” confirm their order, shipping, and payment details, and complete the purchase without ever leaving the chat. Existing ChatGPT subscribers can pay with their card on file, or other card and express payment options.

🚨 Read more from OpenAI

🛒 China Reaches Global Majority on Amazon 

For the first time, Chinese sellers account for more than 50% of Amazon’s global active seller base reaching 50.03% in 2024.

This milestone marks a significant shift in marketplace dynamics, though it comes with a caveat: American sellers still lead in revenue generation.

A Decade of Rapid Growth

In 2015, only 7.1% of new Amazon.com sellers were based in China, while 70.6% were based in the U.S. 

Fast forward to 2024, and the situation has reversed. Chinese sellers now represent 62.3% of new registrations, with U.S. sellers falling to 26.8%, according to Marketplace Pulse data.

This growth began in the U.S. marketplace, where Chinese sellers crossed the 50% share mark earlier this year.

That majority now extends across almost all Amazon marketplaces globally with Japan being the only exception.

AI and Infrastructure Have Leveled the Playing Field

Chinese sellers have historically faced challenges in content creation, language barriers, and cultural localization. However, advancements in AI tooling have significantly reduced those obstacles. Tools now assist with:

• Automated translation

• Optimized listings and images

• Cultural adaptation at scale

Amazon itself has improved its native AI offerings including Creator Studio further supporting all sellers in producing localized, professional content.

Strategic Advantages for Chinese Sellers

Beyond AI, Chinese sellers benefit from:

• Proximity to manufacturing hubs

• Direct factory relationships, cutting out middlemen

• Government export subsidies

Despite the numerical dominance, Chinese sellers generate less revenue on average than their U.S. counterparts.

• U.S. sellers account for ~$157B of Amazon’s $305B third-party GMV
  → Average per-seller revenue: $884,958

• Chinese sellers account for ~$132B of third-party GMV
  → Average per-seller revenue: $393,557

Globally, Chinese sellers make up 39% of revenue share, even though they now hold 50%+ of seller share.

Here’s how to move forward:

• Leverage AI tools to improve content and efficiency

• Focus on premium positioning and brand differentiation

• Enhance operational efficiency to better compete on cost

🔥 Read more here 

🌎 Where in the World is The Beard Guy?

🔥 What’s Drawing Amazon sellers to Walmart’s Fulfillment Services?

Last week, Amazon announced that its Multichannel Fulfillment (MCF) service can now fulfill orders from platforms like Shein and Walmart.

While this makes life easier for Amazon sellers looking to expand across platforms, it also raises the stakes for Walmart to ensure that WFS remains competitive and attractive in its own right.

Much like FBA, WFS provides warehousing, shipping, and logistics services through Walmart’s infrastructure. Key features include:

• Two-day shipping tags that can increase sales

• No long-term storage fees for the first year

• No minimum or maximum inventory requirements

• Item prep and inbound delivery services

• A simplified pricing model focused on keeping seller costs low

Walmart claims that WFS fulfillment rates are 15% lower than competitors and can boost GMV by an average of 50%, though some agencies report growth in the 15–20% range.

🔥 Read more here

🚀 The TikTok Deal Update

As more information continues to come out about the potential TikTok Deal, I figured it would be good to put all the new updates here as they come in…

Here’s what we know:

• Bloomberg reported on the estimated $14bn valuation for TikTok US, cited by the country’s vice president, but noted that this “pales in comparison to previous estimates that scaled closer to $40 billion”.

• ByteDance would hold less than 20% of the new entity’s equity, the Chinese tech giant may get “about half of the profit” from the US operations, as part of the wrangling over access to its recommendation algorithm.

• More reports are suggesting that a separate division of TikTok US “wholly owned by ByteDance” will control “revenue-generating business operations such as e-commerce and advertising”.

• CNBC reported on the Chinese authorities and state media remaining “conspicuously quiet” on whether the agreement will be approved there.

• Meanwhile, the Washington Post profiled the role of the US vice president in brokering the deal, and highlighted the role of investors who are “politically aligned” with the White House – “raising broader concerns about the potential for censorship on an app that has emerged as an increasingly important political tool”.

🔥 $70M on TikTok Shop?! The Halo Effect on Amazon Revealed

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. TikTok Shops as the New Growth Lever

• For Jay Hunter, he was able to do $70M in year one on TikTok Shop, now ~20% the size of their Amazon channel.

• Halo effect: estimated $35 - 45M in incremental Amazon + retail sales.

• Run TikTok Shops profitably on their own. Treat halo sales as the bonus. If you operate at break-even and rely on halo, you’re gambling.

2. Advanced Advertising Playbooks

• No competitive targeting: Instead of wasting ad spend trying to steal buyers at checkout, they only run complementary targeting (e.g., Vitamin C on Elderberry listings). This shifts positioning from “value fight” to “value add.”

3. Innovation as a Brand Moat

• Supplements are low-barrier, so MaryRuth Organics focuses on constant format innovation:

  • Gummies when they were hot.

  • Dissolvable strips.

  • Nighttime multiminerals with clinically-backed ingredients.

• Rule: You can’t just launch another Vitamin C gummy anymore, you need format, flavor, efficacy, or ingredient innovation to stand out.

4. Content & AI-Driven Creative Scale

• Creative is 95% of ad performance now (media buying is only ~5%).

• They scaled output from 150 → 500+ creatives per month using AI for:

  • Scriptwriting.

  • Performance analysis (thumb-stop ratios, hook testing).

  • Headlines, SMS copy, and ad iteration.

5. Influencer Strategy at Scale

• 3,000 creators contacted daily using AI (Euka).

• Focus on micro/mid-tier influencers ($200–$2K range) with direct ROI accountability.

• Custom coupon codes across both Amazon & Shopify let buyers shop where they want while keeping attribution clean.

6. Scrappiness > Sophistication

• Their moat isn’t “secret hacks”, it’s being first movers and scaling quickly once they see a green light.

• “Be first, be smartest, or cheat. We don’t cheat, it’s hard to be smartest, so we focus on being first and fast.”

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

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