Meta Debuts Customizable AI Agent for Brands 🤖

An AI agent that chats, converts, and sells, from your DMs to your homepage? That’s some serious Westworld-level commerce magic 🤖🛍️ (minus the chaos… hopefully).

Hi there, and welcome to another issue of The Ecom Press 🗞️!

This week, Meta drops a full-service sales agent that lives across your ads, site, and inbox. Amazon goes grocery-hunting with a $5 budget, and YouTube wants your ads managed by badge-certified pros.

Over on the Insider, we’ve tested a bunch of website builders so you don’t have to. If you’re rebuilding or just starting out, we’ve got recs for every budget and use case.

Let’s jump in — it’s a good one ⚡

In a rush? Here's the juice🤭:

🤖 Meta debuts customizable AI agent for brands.

🛒 Amazon launches grocery line with most items under $5.

▶ ️YouTube rolls out partner program for smarter campaigns.

🧰 Tool spotlight: The best website builders for your brand in 2025.

⚡️Worthy Mentions

🤖 Meta debuts customizable AI agent for brands.

Meta has introduced Business AI, a customizable AI sales agent designed to help brands turn conversations into conversions across ads, messaging, and websites. The tool is now available to eligible U.S. businesses and requires no technical setup.

Here’s the lowdown ⬇️:

🧠 One Agent, Multiple Touchpoints: Business AI works across Facebook and Instagram ads, Messenger, WhatsApp, and now directly on ecommerce websites. It handles product queries, FAQs, and purchase guidance 24/7.

⚙️ Zero-Code Setup: Business AI trains itself using your brand’s existing Meta posts, ad data, and product pages. Setup is fast, and performance improves over time with no manual scripting required.

💬 Real Results from Early Users:

• Julep saw a 13% lift in ROAS and improved CPA

• Solgaard reported 6x higher on-site conversions

• White Coat Manila saw a 5% rise in chat engagement

📉 Low Cost, High Coverage: It’s free to run inside Meta ads and comes at a reduced rate for website and messaging use. That makes it competitive against standalone CX platforms.

🤝 Personalization and Integration: Delivers real-time, contextual responses about products, policies, sizing, reviews, and more. Supports complex handoffs to live support via integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, ServiceNow, Klaviyo, Gorgias, etc.

Why it matters 🤔

AI is certainly shortening the gap between discovery and purchase across every brand touchpoint. The sales funnel is gradually moving from discovery, consideration, and conversion, to AI conversations. For brands juggling multiple platforms, Meta’s offering delivers continuity, context, and coverage, without the usual setup pain or price tag. 

Ultimately, AI-powered selling will no longer be an enterprise feature since it’s fast becoming a baseline expectation.

🛒 Amazon launches grocery line with most items under $5.

Amazon has unveiled Amazon Grocery, a new private-label brand offering more than 1,000 food items, most priced under $5. The brand brings together Amazon Fresh and Happy Belly under a unified name, aimed squarely at value-conscious shoppers.

Here are the deets ⬇️:

🛒 Low-Cost, High-Quality Staples: From pantry basics like rice and olive oil to fresh produce, meat, and dairy, Amazon Grocery promises 4-star-and-up products with mass appeal, without stretching budgets.

🥐 New Additions Include: Fresh bakery cinnamon rolls, refrigerated pizza dough, bottled lemonade, and more. Future releases will include frozen meals, pie fillings, deli meats, and granola.

♻️ Simplified, Sustainable Packaging: The updated look uses less plastic, highlights ingredients, and emphasizes nutritional transparency.

📦 15% Growth in Private-Label Sales: Amazon says shoppers are increasingly turning to its in-house brands, purchasing 15% more private-label items this year than last across Amazon.com, Whole Foods, and Amazon Fresh.

🌍 Available Now: Amazon Grocery products are live on Amazon.com and in Amazon Fresh stores across the U.S., with expanded SKUs coming soon.

Why it matters 🤨

Beyond going after price-sensitive shoppers, Amazon is tightening its grip on private-label grocery dominance. With inflation still top-of-mind for many households, the move doubles as a strategic hedge against branded price increases and a play to convert loyal Prime users into private-label grocery buyers. 

🤑 Sponsored tip of the week

🔁 Boost Repeat Sales with Shopify Subscriptions.

Let customers subscribe to products they love—weekly, monthly, or yearly. Manage everything in Shopify, offer flexible options, and build predictable revenue with ease.

👉 Sign up with Shopify for just $1.

▶ ️YouTube rolls out partner program for smarter campaigns.

YouTube has launched a new Activation Partners program aimed at helping advertisers and agencies maximize performance through verified third-party ad specialists. The initiative is designed to support advanced media buying and campaign execution, especially across YouTube’s growing presence on connected TV (CTV).

Here’s the scoop 🍨:

🎯 Trusted Experts, Vetted by Google: Advertisers can now browse a network of verified YouTube Activation Partners through Google’s Enterprise Marketing Portal. Each has been assessed for performance and quality, and holds an official badge.

📺 CTV as a Key Channel: YouTube is now the most-watched streaming platform in the U.S. Partners in the program specialize in unlocking CTV’s potential for brands, offering high-impact ad reach with added precision.

🧠 Specialized Capabilities: Partners provide services like AI-powered targeting, contextual insights, and data-driven media buying strategies to improve ROI across video ad formats.

💼 Initial Launch Partners: Channel Factory, MiQ Digital, Pixability, and Zefr are among the first to be listed. These companies are known for their YouTube-focused ad optimization services.

🚫 Partner Enrollment Paused for Now: While no new agencies are being onboarded immediately, applications are open on a rolling basis for future inclusion.

Why it matters 🤷‍♂️

YouTube may be the biggest player in streaming, but running effective video ads, especially on CTV, isn’t always straightforward. For ecommerce brands, this program offers vetted partners who can help make YouTube campaigns work harder, with less guesswork. If video is part of your growth strategy, it’s a smarter way to tap into YouTube’s full reach.

🛎️ The Ecom Press Insider

Ecom Fact: U.S. online holiday spending is projected to grow 5.3% this year, reaching $253.4 billion. That’s a slowdown from 8.7% growth last year and well below the 10-year average of 13%, as cautious consumers hunt for discounts amid higher prices and economic uncertainty (Source: Adobe Analytics).

💡 Takeaway: Shoppers aren’t sitting out the holidays, but they are shopping with sharper intent. Discounts, bundles, and early access deals will matter more than ever this season. Make pricing strategy and clear value the core of your holiday messaging, not just a last-minute lever.

🧰 Tool spotlight: The best website builders for your brand in 2025.

We spent hours testing and toggling between templates, AI chats, and price plans so you don’t have to 😅. Whether you’re launching a new brand, rebuilding your store, or building a smart little calculator for your site (yes, really), here are six of the best platforms you should consider this year — ranked by usability, design power, and bang for buck 💸.

1. ⚡ Wix: Wix is the all-rounder that most people know, and for good reason. It’s intuitive, AI-powered, and beginner-friendly. You can spin up a site in minutes or tweak a pre-built template to fit your vibe. There's a free plan to test the waters, with paid plans starting at $17/month. Great for simple but stylish sites with minimal learning curve.

2. 💰 Hostinger: Arguably one of the best value website builders. Hostinger delivers excellent speed, easy AI-guided setup, and global server coverage for just $2.99/month. It also hooks into WordPress and has newer tools like Horizons for web apps. If you want pro results without blowing your budget, start here.

3. 🎨 Squarespace: Clean design? Absolutely. Easy to use? Yep. But the pricing ($16–$25/month) doesn’t stand out like it used to. Squarespace is still a solid option for personal brands, portfolios, or minimalist ecom sites.

4. 🚀 Webflow: This is for the serious builders and scale-focused brands. Webflow’s pixel-perfect design control, enterprise tools, and flexible pricing (free to $14+/month) make it ideal for those who want SEO control, advanced features, and scalability, but you’ll need time to learn it properly.

5. 🛒 Shopify: The undisputed king for ecommerce. From slick templates to thousands of apps and AI tools, Shopify is built to sell. Signing up for just $1, nothing beats it if your goal is product sales.

6. 🤖 Lovable: Want to build a real estate calculator on your homepage? Lovable makes it possible. It uses AI to code complex features like apps or calculators directly into your site. With Pro plans starting at $25/month, it’s ideal for brands looking to go beyond “just another store” and add smart, interactive tools.

Your choice of builder shouldn’t just be about looks. Think about what you need your site to do, whether that’s selling, scaling, speed, or smart features. The right platform can save you time, money, and future headaches.

🎥 Want to see all these tools in action? Watch the full YouTube breakdown here.

⚡️Worthy Mentions

• Amazon introduces “Add to Delivery” button to easily update shipments.

• Sora 2 climbs to #1 on Apple’s US App Store shortly after launch.

• Mastercard unveils digital media network to connect brands with ad solutions.

• Amazon stops commingled inventory policy, impacting seller fulfillment options.

• Stanley starts a take-back initiative to recycle old products.

Wrapping up…

From Meta’s sales agent doing overtime across your funnels to Amazon’s budget-friendly grocery grab, the AI-powered commerce race is speeding up. 

And YouTube’s not sitting out either; its new ad partner program wants to make your video campaigns easier to scale.

Big plays all around, but here’s the real win: more tools, better access, and fewer excuses to stay stuck with outdated systems.

Let’s make it a date next week, shall we? 💌

Stay curious, forward this to a friend, and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button like it owes you money 🔔💥.