Beyond the Basket - 20/10/25

Monday 20th October | #54 | Join Free

Hey, it’s Monday. As we kick off a new week, we’re digging into practical ways to warm up your email list ahead of BFCM, because a warm audience converts far better than a huge cold one. Plus, a new report from YouTube suggests it’s not audience size but audience fit that’s driving the most conversions right now. Let’s jump in. 👇 - Mike Callachan (BtB founder)

In today’s beyond the basket:
💌 Wake the list: How to re-engage before you sell
🎥 Creators are becoming the new conversion engine
🏙️ Gen Z to reshape Britain’s high streets by 2050
💍 Mejuri doubles down on ‘fewer, deeper’ retail partnerships

➕plus three longer reads to give you even deeper insight to everything eCommerce and digital marketing.

Most brands wait until just before Black Friday to email their list, by then it’s too late.

If your first Q4 send is a discount blast to a cold audience, you’re not selling to your list, you’re spamming it.

October is for warming the pipes: rebuilding trust, fixing deliverability, and reminding subscribers why they signed up in the first place.

Gmail and Apple’s filters now score your engagement history. If you’ve ghosted your list for months, your “BFCM drop” might never even hit the inbox.

And once that reputation tanks, it’s incredibly hard to recover mid-season.

What actually matters isn’t list size, it’s list health. Warm, active subscribers open, click, and convert. Cold ones hurt your sender reputation and drag your campaigns down.

So this month is all about re-activation. You’re not selling yet, you’re re-earning trust

Email 1: “Still want to hear from us?”

Plain text. No sale. Just a check-in.

Remind them who you are and what kind of content or offers they can expect this season.

Email 2: “Here’s what you missed.”

Highlight bestsellers, new launches, or useful tips, think content that re-establishes value without pushing for a purchase.

Email 3: “Stay or snooze?”

Invite them to click “yes, keep me in” (and suppress anyone who doesn’t). That signal helps mailbox providers see real engagement.

Then start ramping send volume slowly, 10–20% per send, across 2–3 weeks. That rebuilds your sender reputation without triggering filters.

Frame early access as privilege, not discount. Scarcity + exclusivity beats percentage-off fatigue, and it builds loyalty by making your best customers feel like insiders, not just buyers chasing deals.

TL;DR: YouTube’s Shopping Ecosystem report shows creators now drive sales through trust and specificity, not reach.

Why it Matters: Gen Z treats creators as shopping companions, not advertisers. 43% feel more loyal to brands they discover through creators, and 61% say YouTube helped them find new products. The top-performing videos weren’t viral, they were specific: “Target Christmas haul,” “5 waterproof mascaras for summer weddings.” Niche communities like FragranceTube and Home Improvement YouTube prove discovery now happens through passion, not demographics.

Consider this: Partner with smaller creators who genuinely know your niche. Fund shoppable, specific content that solves real problems. The next stage of eCommerce growth won’t come from ads, it’ll come from creators who turn discovery into checkout.

TL;DR: New research from American Express and Trajectory predicts Gen Z will transform high streets into social, tech-powered destinations, where AI, entertainment, and community blur together.

Why it Matters: This isn’t just futurism. It signals a long-term retail reset already in motion, where experience and emotion outweigh product. Gen Z (now up to age 28) already expects stores to feel like destinations: 79% want retail blended with dining and leisure, and 76% say AI should power more immersive in-store moments. The high street’s revival may come not from commerce alone, but from culture, convenience, and connection.

Your Move: Think beyond “store as shop.” Start testing modular, multi-use formats, pop-ups, events, digital try-ons, local tie-ins. If you’re running a DTC brand, physical retail might soon be less about shelves and more about storytelling.

TL;DR: Mejuri is expanding into wholesale through shop-in-shops, opening its first U.S. concession at Nordstrom’s Manhattan flagship after piloting the model with Holt Renfrew in Canada.

Why it Matters: The DTC era of “own everything” is giving way to smarter, shared retail. Rising acquisition costs mean brands are rediscovering wholesale, but with tighter control. Concessions let brands like Mejuri keep their design, staff, and brand experience while tapping into retailers’ footfall and credibility. Nordstrom’s push to grow concessions from 5% to 30% of business shows this model’s momentum on both sides.

Your Move: If you’re scaling a brand, think hybrid, not either/or. Treat wholesale less as a sales channel and more as a discovery and trust channel. A few strategic concessions can drive awareness and lifetime value without diluting your DTC margins.

Curated deep dives, longer reads and analysis shaping the future of eCommerce and digital marketing.

Hotel Chocolat tastes sweet success of quitting London
City A.M. (4 min read) Read here
How scaling back from London helped Hotel Chocolat boost margins and reconnect with its regional customer base.

Why Kotler’s marketing principles still ring true in the age of AI
Inc. (6 min read) Read here
A sharp reminder that even as AI rewrites the playbook, marketing fundamentals, segmentation, targeting, positioning, still rule.

From screens to shopping carts: decoding entertainment’s retail ripple effect
Retail Dive (5 min read) Read here
Explores how streaming culture and fandoms are directly shaping product trends and consumer demand online.