The Agency Notebook

Missed Our First Newsletter? Here's What's Happening In Ecommerce Right Now The world of ecommerce moves quickly. Lately, it feels like it's moving faster than ever. Between Shopify's rapid AI developments, changing search behaviour, new testing tools and evolving customer expectations, there's a lot happening. And whilst it's easy to get caught up in the headlines, the most important question for brands is simple: What actually matters? At twotwentyseven, we spend a lot of time helping brands cut through the noise and focus on the changes that are likely to have a real impact on growth, conversion and customer experience. Here's what we're paying attention to right now. Shopify Is Going All In On AI If you've followed Shopify's recent Editions releases, one thing has become very clear. AI is no longer being treated as an experimental feature. It's becoming a core part of the platform. From major improvements to Sidekick and analytics through to AI-powered commerce experiences, Shopify is investing heavily in a future where AI helps merchants run stores and helps customers discover, research and buy products. For brands, this represents a significant shift. The way customers find products online is changing. Increasingly, people are asking ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI tools for recommendations rather than relying solely on traditional search engines. Questions like: What's the best protein powder for runners? Recommend a premium English sparkling wine. What's a good gift for a coffee lover? are becoming part of everyday customer behaviour. The brands that appear in those recommendations won't simply be the brands with the biggest budgets. They'll be the brands that are easiest for AI systems to understand. That's why topics like: AI Visibility Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) Structured content Entity recognition Schema Machine-readable information are becoming increasingly important. The future of search is already arriving. Native Shopify A/B Testing Has Finally Arrived One of our favourite announcements from Shopify this season is the arrival of native A/B testing. Historically, meaningful testing often required third-party platforms, additional setup and ongoing management. Now Shopify is making experimentation far more accessible. This matters because growth rarely comes from one huge change. More often, it's the result of lots of small improvements compounding over time. A better product page. A clearer subscription proposition. A simpler checkout journey. A stronger call to action. Testing allows brands to make decisions based on customer behaviour rather than assumptions. And that's always a good thing. Have You Seen Your New Agentic Dashboard? One of the most interesting updates is Shopify's new reporting around AI traffic. For the first time, merchants can start seeing visits coming from AI tools such as ChatGPT. That might sound like a small update. It isn't. It represents the first real visibility many brands have had into AI-powered discovery. Today, those numbers might be relatively small. Tomorrow, they probably won't be. The brands that invest in AI visibility now will be far better positioned as this channel continues to grow. If you're unsure how your website is performing from an AI visibility perspective, now is a great time to review: Site structure Content quality FAQs Schema Entity signals Technical foundations Because being found by AI is quickly becoming just as important as being found by Google. AI Search Is Coming To Shopify Storefronts Another announcement that caught our attention is Shopify's move towards AI-powered search experiences. Soon, customers will increasingly be able to search using natural language rather than exact keywords. Instead of searching: "Coffee gift set" They'll be able to ask: "What's a good gift for a coffee lover who already has all the equipment?" The store will understand intent and surface relevant products automatically. It's a small glimpse into where ecommerce search is heading. And whilst this functionality is still on the horizon, it's another sign that the customer journey is changing. What We've Been Launching It's been a busy few weeks at twotwentyseven, with several exciting launches going live. One Night One Night is a new alcohol-free drinks brand founded by former leaders from Red Bull, BrewDog and TENZING. The mission is simple: make not drinking feel anything but a compromise. The launch product? The Spicy Marg. Need we say more? Vapoura Rum We recently launched Vapoura Rum's new Shopify website following a migration from WooCommerce. The new experience combines premium editorial storytelling with modern ecommerce best practices, creating a customer journey that better reflects the quality of the brand. I AM YOGI Designed and built on Shopify and powered by CodexFit, I AM YOGI is a great example of how thoughtful design and powerful technology can come together to create a seamless customer experience. The team struck the perfect balance between calm, personality and usability. YEW Built in collaboration with the YEW team, the new Shopify experience puts subscriptions at the heart of the customer journey. The result is a smoother path to purchase, stronger retention opportunities and an experience that reflects the quality of the product itself. What We're Watching Next If there is one theme connecting everything we've discussed, it's this: The future of ecommerce will belong to brands that make it easy for customers to discover, understand and buy. AI is changing discovery. Shopify is changing how merchants optimise. Customer expectations continue to evolve. The fundamentals remain the same. Build great experiences. Create useful content. Make informed decisions. Keep improving. We'll continue sharing the updates we're paying attention to, the opportunities we're seeing and the practical actions brands can take to stay ahead. Until next time!   Poppy & the twotwentyseven team  

We're proud to announce that twotwentyseven has been shortlisted for two categories at The Ecommerce Awards 2026...

How do you build a website that works as hard as the brand behind it? Discover how twotwentyseven redesigned and developed TENZING's Shopify experience to improve customer journeys, drive subscriptions and support future growth.

From subscription management and forecasting to customer journeys and operational workflows, see how twotwentyseven built a custom Shopify subscription platform for Planthood that goes far beyond a traditional ecommerce website.

Discover how twotwentyseven redesigned and rebuilt Fever-Tree's global digital presence. From AI-ready architecture and technical SEO to content, performance and scalability, this was a complete transformation of one of the world's most recognised premium drinks brands.