Here’s what’s new in retail, tech, and culture.
🌐 OpenAI and AWS team up to reshape Amazon retail, Condé Nast launches another Creator Storefront, Platter releases game changing Homepage library, Yotpo links reviews to GEO ranking, and “Group 7” keeps trending on TikTok.
We’re Janvi, Sylvan, and Nicole - cofounders of Hue and Harvard Business School grads with 30+ years across global brands and enterprise tech.
We’ll keep up with the news so you don’t have to. Think of this as your retail tech industry cheat sheet. 🔮
💰 OpenAI x AWS: What the $38B Cloud Power Move Means for Retail
Two tech giants just teamed up. OpenAI signed a $38 billion deal with Amazon Web Services to buy massive cloud capacity. This is a major step away from longtime partner Microsoft. The partnership starts now, with OpenAI using existing AWS data centers as Amazon builds custom infrastructure tailored to its needs. (CNBC)
The deal lets OpenAI scale faster and reach beyond Microsoft’s ecosystem, while Amazon gains a front-row seat in the AI race, embedding AI deeper into its retail and ad network.
Why it matters for retail:
Expect new AI tools baked into Amazon’s retail stack, from product listings to ad optimization.
Brands on AWS could get early access to OpenAI-powered tools for content and personalization.
As Amazon and Microsoft battle for AI dominance, faster, cheaper AI will flow into e-commerce and martech, transforming how brands create, target, and tell stories.
🛍️ The Creator Storefront: The New Retail Battlefield
Condé Nast is launching VETTE, an AI-powered marketplace coming in early 2026. The platform gives creators their own storefronts with smart merchandising and marketing tools, while letting brands plug into those communities for distribution. (Condé Nast)
Why it matters for retail:
Expect more creator-led storefronts, where influencers sell products directly instead of just promoting them. Sephora, Amazon and Tiktok are already playing in this space.
Community and commerce will merge, as shoppers learn, engage, and buy within creator ecosystems.
Traditional retail models may feel pressure as brands rethink how to split inventory and marketing spend and team bandwidth between owned, retail, and creator-led channels.
🔍 Homepage Goldmine: Want to see the top 1,000 Shopify stores?
Platter dropped a resource every DTC brand should bookmark…The Ultimate Shopify Homepage Collection.
It’s a Notion gallery with 1,000 full-page screenshots from Shopify’s top stores, organized by industry/category.
It’s perfect for:
Seeing how brands structure their homepage designs
Spying on competitors
Stealing UX ideas that actually convert, not just look good
It’s the same library their designers use when building and optimizing stores for brands like Neuro, Gainful, and Every Man Jack.
Whether you're in fashion, beauty, or pets... You'll find tons of great examples from your industry.
🎥 Yotpo Says: UGC Reviews Are the Next AEO Power Move
At BeautyConnect LA, Yotpo made it clear: reviews aren’t just social proof anymore, they’re fuel for AI search. As tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot change how people find products, reviews (especially video ones) are becoming key to visibility.
Text reviews still help by giving AI data to summarize. But video reviews go further, offering transcripts, captions, and product tags that act like high quality FAQs and metadata. Plus, seeing real faces and user interactions helps AI decide what’s trustworthy.
Why it matters for retail:
Expect more shoppable video reviews on product pages.
AI summaries will pull insights straight from customer feedback.
Video UGC will dominate, shaping how new AI search engines discover and trust sources.
📈 TikTok Trends to Watch
👀 “Group 7”: Musician Sophia James sparked TikTok’s latest identity trend by posting seven nearly identical videos labeled Group 1–7 to test the algorithm. Group 7 blew up with 81 million views, turning a simple experiment into a viral “membership” movement. Now everyone wants to be in Group 7.
Brands that are participating in the trend:
📱 “Sometimes You Just Gotta Read It and Go About Your Day”: TikTok’s latest obsession? Every day awkwardness. The “Sometimes you just gotta read it and go about your day” trend pairs that caption with hilariously random texts from family and friends. It is low-effort, high-relatability content that blows up precisely because it feels relatable to a vast audience.
❓Guess the object game: Two people, one wall, zero trust. Each holds a random item and tries to convince the other they’re holding the object they claim to be holding without showing it. The mix of deadpan confidence and absurd logic makes it peak TikTok chaos.
📚 What We’re Reading and Listening to:
🧾 Report: Glossy x Hue The State of Shoppable UGC Video report - HERE
📊 Guide: Hue’s How to use Video for AEO Guide - HERE
Culture moments to consider in your marketing, at your own discretion:
Jonathan Bailey was named People's Sexiest Man Alive
A major airline announced flight reductions, and everyone is freaking out.
Major election results came in across the US
📆 Don’t Miss These Events for Leaders in Retail
🤝 Virtual Roundtable: Surviving Q4: A Roundtable for Family-Focused Women Leaders on leadership, motherhood, and the power of asking for help. Tues., Nov 18th | 9AM PST/12pmEST (Register HERE) 🍽️ Retail Dinner: In Dallas, TX at Paradiso: Dallas, TX, An intimate evening of great food, drinks, and real talk about what’s working (and what’s not) in the world of eComm. Thurs., Nov 20th | 6:30 PM CST (Register HERE)
🏙️ Conference: Retail Summit in Los Angeles for health and beauty brand builders and digital commerce leaders. Thurs. Nov 20th (Message us for complimentary tickets)
🎧 Industry Mixer: Hosted with Roster Radio Roster Radio in NYC. Join us for a fun round of Glossy x Hue State of Shoppable Video Bingo! Connect with founders and marketers who are shaping the next wave of retail through UGC. Thurs., Dec 4th | 6 PM EST (Register HERE)
Want to become a Hue Client? Talk to partnerships to learn about Hue's all-in-one UGC platform for eCommerce and retailer sites.