Pinterest Launches AI-Powered Performance+ Suite ​​🤖

It’s another week, which means another dash of the latest in ecommerce.

In today’s issue of The Ecom Press, we’re serving up a mix of AI innovations and Q4 strategies you can’t afford to miss 🤭.

We kick things off with Pinterest’s Performance+ suite that’s transforming ads ⚡️. Then we head over to Sam’s Club’s first fully digital store—before taking a quick stop to explore Amazon’s Business Prime Rewards program for SMBs 🤑.

And don’t miss our Ecom Insider, where we’re dishing out red-hot tips to make this holiday season your most profitable yet 💸.

Ready or not, let’s go 🚙 💨!

In a rush? Here’s the juice🤭:

🤖 Pinterest Launches AI-Powered Performance+ Suite for Advertisers.

🛍️ Walmart-owned Sam’s Club goes fully digital with new checkout-free store.

💰Amazon’s new Business Prime rewards deliver big savings for SMBs.

🚀 Ecom Strategies: 5 Tips You Should Implement in Q4 

⚡️Worthy Mentions

🤖 Pinterest Launches AI-Powered Performance+ Suite for Advertisers.

At the latest annual Pinterest Presents summit, the platform introduced exciting AI-powered solutions designed to make advertising smarter and more efficient. The Pinterest Performance+ suite merges the power of generative AI and automation to help advertisers provide more creative and impact-driven ads.

According to Pinterest, it set out to become “the industry’s leading funnel advertising solution two years ago.” With the Performance+ suite, it’s moving from just being an image inspiration site to giving brands tools that drive conversions. 

What’s in the Performance+ suite 🧰?  

📢 Pinterest Performance+ Campaigns: This simplifies campaign management, cutting the input time by 50%. It handles targeting, budget allocation, and bidding, allowing you to focus on more strategic marketing and creativity.

💡 Pinterest Performance+ Creative: The gen AI feature allows you to turn simple, flat backgrounds into immersive lifestyle images so customers can visualize how products fit into their lives. Early testers like Walgreens already saw a 55% higher clickthrough rate and 13% lower cost-per-click using AI-enhanced images compared to traditional ones.

📊 Pinterest Performance+ ROAS Bidding: This bidding feature allows you to optimize campaigns based on the highest value transactions, not just clicks or conversions. It analyzes potential customers that are likely to make larger purchases or more impactful actions. During tests, advertisers saw an average of 15% improvement in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

🎁 Promotions: Available in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, personalized promotions offer users discounts based on their past searches, pins, and shopping behavior. In fact, early tests show promotions increased conversions by 12.7%. So whether it's for Black Friday or a flash sale, this tool can make your offers stand out in Pinterest users’ feeds.

In this game, it’s all about awareness, consideration, and conversion, and the Performance+ Suite seems up to the challenge. For advertisers, it’s a win-win: more efficient campaigns, lower costs, and higher conversions 💸.

Another marvelous AI solution in ecommerce, don’t you think 🤔? 

🛍️ Walmart-owned Sam’s Club goes fully digital with new checkout-free store.

Walmart-owned retailer is ditching traditional checkout lanes with its new all-digital store in Grapevine, Texas. Set to open in mid-October, club members will now be able to scan and pay for items directly using the Scan & Go app as they walk through the aisles. 

The store will display online-only items—like lab-grown diamonds and Christmas trees—through QR codes, merging both digital and physical shopping experience. It will also provide more space for fulfilling e-commerce orders, including curbside pickups and home deliveries.

But that’s not all. This digital store will have an AI-powered exit technology that will enable automatic receipt verification without staff intervention, similar to Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology.

In a nutshell, the Grapevine store features: 

📦 Checkout-free shopping 

💻 Online-only items display 

🛒 Expanded ecommerce fulfillment space 

🤖 AI-powered exit technology

With this innovation, the company is certainly setting a fair game for its competitor, Costo, as it appeals to a larger audience, including Millennials and Gen Zs. 

It's the first, but clearly a bold experiment of the future of shopping. Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas said, “The idea is that over time, we will be 100% digital engagement as a business, and you’ve got to prove that things work before you scale them."

If this works perfectly and reshapes customer experience for good, we’re definitely in for a ride into the future of in-store and online shopping.

💰Amazon’s new Business Prime rewards deliver big savings for SMBs.

Amazon Business recently announced Business Prime Rewards as its way of “giving entrepreneurs money back just for doing their usual business shopping.” The update includes reward programs and membership discounts, making it easier and more rewarding for business customers to shop smarter and save more.

With this update, Amazon Business is doubling down on delivering more value for small and medium-sized businesses. Todd Heimes, vice president of Amazon Business, says, “...Amazon Business is committed to championing their growth through our unmatched selection, deep discounts and rewards, and smart capabilities.”

Here’s the scoop 🍨:

🏆 Business Prime Rewards: Amazon Business now lets Prime members earn up to $1,000 annually on qualifying purchases, with an extra 2% cash back on Amazon's own brands. These rewards automatically apply at checkout, so businesses can easily save on every purchase they make.

👑 Discounted Business Prime Essentials Membership: New members and those upgrading from Duo can get the Essentials membership for just $9.99 in their first year—a whopping 95% discount from the regular $179 fee. Essentials allows for up to three users and includes Spend Visibility and Guided Buying features, making it ideal for small businesses.

💥 Additional Benefits: These include fast, free shipping, smart purchasing tools, and exclusive offers through Business Prime. The updates come as part of Amazon's broader support for SMBs aimed at simplifying business operations while offering competitive rewards. It’s in tandem with the $250,000 grant award it gave through its  Small Business Grant program earlier this year.

This isn’t just about saving money—it’s about making smarter, more strategic purchases that drive growth 📈.

🛎️The Ecom Press Insider

Ecom Fun Fact: Did you know that there are over 2.14 billion online shoppers worldwide 🤯? That’s approximately 27% of the global population making purchases at the click of a button. (Source: Tidio)

20 years ago, that wasn’t the case. 20 years from now, brick-and-mortar businesses will risk being obsolete. It’s time to rethink your ecommerce strategy, don't you think 🤔?

🚀 Ecom Strategies: 5 Tips You Should Implement in Q4 

If you’re a business owner, you would agree that Q4 always stretches your strategies to its limits. With many holidays to plan for, it’s a huge overwhelm trying to navigate your way to making the most of the period 😓. 

From Halloween to BFCM and Christmas, the stakes are higher, and of course, the competition is fierce. So without further ado, let’s dive into some tips perfect for Q4 📝. 

📅 Know Your Dates: Some peak sale days to increase your marketing efforts include:

• October 31st - Halloween 🕸️

• November 29th - Black Friday 🛍️

• December 2nd - Cyber Monday 🛒

• December 14th - Free Shipping Day 📦

• December 24th/25th/26th - Christmas Eve/Christmas Day/Boxing Day 🎄

• December 31st - New Year's Eve 🌇

🌎 Boost Audience Engagement: In October, dedicate 10% of your marketing budget to running educational carousel or testimonial ad campaigns across social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. These ads should highlight customer success stories and product benefits, creating trust just in time for the holiday season.

📱 Optimize Website and Mobile Experience: Channel 20% of your BFCM prep to refining your website’s design and mobile performance. Now’s the time for faster load times and easy navigation across all devices. Focus another 20% on creating strong irresistible offers.

⏰ Offer Early Bird Promotions: Get ahead of the rush with early holiday sales. Offering exclusive discounts before the competition can help you capture a larger share of holiday spending.

🤝 Leverage Personalization: Tailor your offers, emails, and ads to specific customer segments. Personalization increases conversions, especially during the holiday season when shoppers are drawn to relevant, targeted deals. If you’re a small brand, it will give you a competitive edge if you add a personal touch like sending personalized notes.

⚡️Worthy Mentions

• Celebrate National Pizza Month with these 19 delicious deals 🍕.

• Amazon to hire 250,000 for the holiday season, offering $18+ per hour with benefits.

• M&S introduces drone farming to reduce carbon and improve crops ahead of Christmas.

• Reebok revives 'Boktober' with a spooky collection inspired by Universal Monsters.

• Home Depot unveils new self-service ad platform for brands.

That’s how much we can take today…

It’s already a busy month with AI innovations, frictionless shopping, holiday deals, and of course, partnerships 🤝. 

While we wait for more updates, what Q4 strategies are you implementing 🤔?

And, by the way, Amazon Prime Big Deal Days end today❗️ Don’t sleep on it 🏃🏾‍♂️.

Till next time, stay curious and happy shopping 🛍️.

PS: Take a moment to subscribe if you haven’t already⛷️ !