THE LOWDOWN

Happy Monday to 10,000+ Shopify legends!

Ada here, with your weekly dose of ecommerce insights designed to boost your sales by at least 1% this week. 

Here is what is inside today’s edition:

• Industry: OpenAI introduces a 4% fee on ChatGPT checkout

• Growth Hack: Drop a new product (without killing demand)

• Weekly Challenge: Drop one new product in 60 minutes

• Trend: AI toothbrushes and the rise of everyday health tech

industry
OpenAI to charge 4% fee on ChatGPT sales

Starting today, January 26, Shopify merchants will pay a 4% transaction fee on sales made through ChatGPT’s checkout according to Pymnts.

This means that if you’ve done everything in the AI visibility protocol right… turned on instant checkout, validate your structured metadata, optimize your product listings, built backlinks…

…and a customer buys your product directly inside ChatGPT, you will pay a 4% fee to OpenAI (on top of your Shopify fees). However, sales made via Gemini or Copilot are currently fee-free.

Shopify is handling this with an "Opt-In" vs. "Default" approach. You are likely automatically enrolled in the free channels (Google/Microsoft), but you must actively opt-in to sell on OpenAI due to the extra fee.

My take: 4% is steep, but high-intent shoppers in ChatGPT convert like crazy.

Go to your Shopify admin settings today. Check the "Agentic Storefronts" toggle. Decide if the OpenAI exposure is worth the margin hit, or if you want to stick to the free Google traffic for now.

growth hack
Product drops are your store’s best kept secret

Product drops are your best-kept secret. Just days ago, a micro-watch brand called Studio Underd0g proved that scarcity prints money.

The Strategy: They opened a 9-hour order window. No evergreen stock. The Result: 2,000 orders in the first 5 minutes. They closed the day with 4,631 orders…roughly $3.1M in revenue.

Why it worked: They didn't rely on discounts. They relied on a "moment." By condensing demand into a tiny window, they created a frenzy that generic "Shop Now" ads can never match.

Here’s a picture of their watches for your study:

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challenge

Drop one new product in 60 minutes

This week, you are going to launch something new. Not perfectly, but intentionally.

• Pick one product: It can be a brand-new item or just a variation (like a new color) you have not pushed lately.

• Create one "Real Life" image: Skip the studio. Use your phone to take a photo of the product in an everyday context (a desk, a bathroom counter, or a kitchen shelf).

• Write one short line of copy: No features. No "Buy Now" screaming. Just a quiet benefit or a moment of context.

• The Stealth Release: Post it once or send it to a small segment of your list. No discounts and no "limited time" countdowns.

Your only job is to observe. Do people stop scrolling? Do they ask questions? If the product earns attention without the noise, you have a winner worth scaling. If it does not, you just learned that quickly and cheaply.

TRENDING PRODUCT
AI Toothbrushes

The bathroom is getting a brain. Investors just poured $6M into Feno, a startup making AI-powered toothbrushes that clean your whole mouth in 20 seconds and generates health reports using cameras.

Consumers don't just want to track their health anymore; they want AI to improve it.

3 Ways to cash in (without manufacturing a robot):

1. The Ecosystem Play: You don't need to sell the $300 device. Sell the "Smart Bathroom" upgrades: premium organic toothpaste subscriptions, bamboo replacement heads, or "tech-friendly" toiletry organizers.

2. Educational Content: Position your existing wellness products as data-driven. "The skincare routine for people who track their sleep."

3. Bundles: Create a "Morning Optimization Kit"…supplements, mouth tape, and hydration salts…marketed to the same bio-hackers buying these devices.