How your ecom competitors use AI

plus picking a 3PL that won’t wreck your margins

Author

Ada at Sellify
April 21, 2025

In partnership with

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

If you’re ready for the latest info on how to improve your store’s competitive edge this week, let’s dive in….

Today, we’re covering:

  • Latest research on how your competitor’s stores use AI

  • Ecom trend: tranexamic acid

  • Growth hack: Know this about 3PLs

  • Weekly challenge

How your store’s competitors are actually using AI

Aleyda Solis from SEOFOMO recently published a survey showing how ecommerce pros are using AI. The survey revealed a few interesting patterns. Apparently ecom entrepreneurs (including your competition) use AI for:

  • Content creation: Sellers use AI for meta descriptions, alt text, product listings, outlines, and grammar polish. Some even use it for blogs and landing pages.

  • Brand voice checks: Some use AI to rework copy so it actually sounds like the brand.

  • Brainstorming: Others use AI as a tool for generating new ideas

Other smart use cases:

  • Keyword research + clustering: Instead of writing 5 pages for similar terms, folks group them into one strong topic page.

  • Technical SEO: Tools like Plug In SEO work inside your Shopify store and highlight broken links that may affect your SEO.

  • UX/CRO: You can experiment with AI-powered product recommendations, smarter chatbots, and UX audits based on behavior.

  • Training docs: AI is helping teams build internal guides or SEO how-tos for clients.

But… 37% of ecom sellers aren’t using AI much (yet), although many plan to start at some point.

If this sounds like you, try this: Think of AI like an intern. What would you delegate? If it’s meta descriptions, product listings etc, then Plug In AI is your best starting point. Download it and use it to create the boring content that no one likes creating.

P.S One not-so-exciting use case is customers using AI finding leaked coupon codes to use in your store. They get discounts they aren’t entitled to, and reduce your profit margins. Thanks to KeepCart, this doesn’t need to happen anymore.

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KeepCart: Coupon Protection partners with D2C brands like Quince, Blueland, Vessi and more to stop/monitor coupon leaks to sites/extensions like Honey, CapitalOne, RetailMeNot, and more to boost your DTC margins

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Tranexamic acid is an active ingredient in serums that target dark spots from sun damage, melasma, or acne. The ingredient is said to reduce melanin production, calm inflammation, and it is often paired with niacinamide for extra brightening.

Search volume for “tranexamic acid skincare” has doubled in the last 2 years and #darkspotserum has had 110M+ views on TikTok alone

If you’re in beauty, here’s how you can ride the trend:

  • Formulate a tranexamic acid serum or a "dark spot corrector".

  • #darkspotserum has over 110M views. That’s a ready-made audience. Use influencers to create: before/after clips, skincare routines featuring your serum, quick “ingredient explainer” videos and more

You can speed up the process by using Jubilee to formulate and dropship new beauty lines.

Find the perfect fit influencer for any niche within 48 hours

UGC Ads are high performers because they're full of social proof. But finding brand-aligned creators is the #1 pain point for eCom brands. Enter Insense - the all-in-one solution for UGC and influencer marketing where you get matched with the perfect creators within 48hrs + UGC delivered in 10 days.

Growth Hack: How to Choose a 3PL (Without Getting Ripped Off)

Now, let’s talk a little about outsourcing fulfilment. Many sellers are now hiring 3PLs (third party logistics) services to navigate the crazy world of tariffs we now live in.

But before you hand over your inventory, let’s break down a few simple things to note when choosing a 3PL.

What 3PLs charge for:

  • Receiving

  • Storage (usually monthly)

  • Picking + packing

  • Packaging materials

  • Shipping (with sneaky surcharges)

  • Returns

  • Surprise fees (fun!)

And many 3PLs mark up those shipping or material costs, but around 10 - 15%.

What to do when choosing a 3PL to work with:

  • Use your actual data: Volume, box size, SKU count…don’t guesstimate.

  • Look beyond price: What’s their software like? What happens when something goes wrong?

  • Pick by specialty: A 3PL that’s great for t-shirts may not handle fragile goods well.

  • Ask for a tour + references: If they hesitate? Red flag.

Weekly Challenge

If you’re on the market for a 3PL take 30 minutes this week to get 2 to 3 quotes and compare the full picture, not just the per-order cost.

That’s it for this week!

Catch you next time with more trends, tools, and tactics from the ecommerce trenches 👋

Ada

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