Beyond the Basket - 02/10/25

Thursday 2nd October | #42 | Join Free

Hello and welcome to your Thursday Beyond the Basket brief. Snapchat has decided WooCommerce sellers deserve a direct line to 469 million daily users, very online, very ready to buy things they may or may not actually need. The integration is live, catalogs are syncing, and Gen Z is waiting. No word yet on whether Snapchat will also take care of your inventory headaches or the creeping anxiety about ad spend, but let’s be honest: that’s not going to stop us from trying it anyway.

In today’s beyond the basket:
📲 Snapchat adds WooCommerce integration
💬 Meta to use AI chats for ad targeting
💸 eBay invests £3m in AI for UK SMEs
📺 Vinted turns TV into an acquisition channel
🤳 1 in 10 Gen Z buy from influencer recommendations

+plus four deep reads about how WooCommerce transformed a family's candy store and what happens when a campaign goes too viral.

Lets get into it - Mike Callachan (ByB Founder)

TL;DR: Snapchat is now letting WooCommerce sellers sync products, run ads, and add purchase links directly from Ads Manager, tapping into its 469M daily active users.

Why It Matters: WooCommerce powers 25%+ of online stores, many of them SMBs with limited ad budgets. This integration lowers friction to test Snapchat as a sales channel, syncing catalogs, enabling shoppable ads, and streamlining tracking via Snap Pixel + conversionsAPI. With Gen Z and younger audiences spending time on Snap, this could be a strategic way for smaller brands to diversify beyond Meta/Google/TikTok.

Your Move: If you sell to under-30s, test a small WooCommerce/Snap campaign. Sync your catalog, keep the budget lean, and track early results, CPMs are usually cheapest at launch.

TL;DR: Starting Dec 16, Meta will use people’s conversations with its AI assistants on Facebook and Instagram as signals for personalising ads and content.

Why It Matters: This shifts AI from a novelty feature into the ad targeting engine itself. Talking with Meta’s AI about hiking could trigger ads for boots or recommendations for trail groups. For advertisers, this expands audience signals but also raises privacy sensitivities. Meta says it won’t use conversations about protected topics (politics, religion, etc.), but scrutiny is inevitable. With Meta folding AI chats into targeting, brands could see more precise intent signals, but also face less transparency on how ads are matched to conversations.

Your Move: Prepare to test new AI-driven targeting segments as they roll out, early adopters often capture cheaper CPMs before competition catches up.

TL;DR: eBay is rolling out a £3m initiative, AI Activate, giving 10,000 UK small sellers free access to ChatGPT Enterprise and tailored training for up to 12 months.

Why It Matters: Small businesses drive 60% of UK employment but face barriers to adopting AI. By funding tools and step-by-step training, eBay positions itself as the first major marketplace to democratise AI for sellers. With the IMF estimating AI could add £470bn to the UK economy by 2035, this move is both competitive positioning and national economic play.

Your Move: If you sell on eBay, explore how AI can cut time-drains (inventory, marketing, reviews) and free you to focus on growth.

TL;DR: Vinted has launched RE/style, a Prime Video competition series where viewers can shop second-hand looks directly on Vinted, blending entertainment and ecommerce.

Why It Matters: With CPCs and CPAs climbing, brands are seeking growth beyond paid ads. Vinted is betting on branded entertainment to drive both awareness and direct sales, positioning second-hand as aspirational while pulling in new audiences through TV storytelling. This is a shift from chasing impressions to creating cultural relevance.

Your Move: Audit your marketing mix, if 80% or more of spend is on paid ads, consider testing at least one earned or owned channel to cut dependency.

TL;DR: A PYMNTS Intelligence report finds 14% of Gen Z regularly purchase items recommended by influencers, 20x more than older generations.

Why It Matters: Influencer trust is shifting from personality to expertise. For Gen Z, a Twitch gamer or TikTok makeup artist carries authority through demonstrated knowledge, not credentials. This makes influencer marketing less about hype and more about credible subject-matter influence. As Gen Z habits normalise, expect this trust model to spread to other demographics.

Your Move: Reassess influencer strategy, prioritise creators whose expertise aligns closely with your brand, not just those with big audiences. Deeper alignment could drive stronger results.

Curated deep dives, longer reads and analysis shaping the future of retail and ecommerce.

Economy Candy: Three generations of sweets and success
WooCommerce (5 min read) Read here >
A family-run candy shop modernised its operations with WooCommerce, syncing 2,500 SKUs and combining in-store and online sales to power growth. 

Reddit Publishes Holiday Marketing Guides
Social Media Today (3 min read) Read here >
Reddit is releasing seasonal playbooks and best-practice guides to help brands plan product promotions and ad campaigns during the holidays. 

Can Sprouts Reach 1,400 US Stores While ‘Ignoring’ a Huge Cohort of Grocery Shoppers?
RetailWire (4 min read) Read here >
Sprouts’ CEO doubles down on focusing primarily on health-conscious shoppers. meaning the grocer is knowingly skipping large segments of the market as it scales. 

Can a Campaign Go Too Viral? ‘10 Tons of Pineapples’ Says Maybe
The Drum (2 min read) Read here >
A quirky case study asks whether going “too viral” can backfire, using a promotional stunt involving ten tons of pineapples as its cautionary tale.