Want to future-proof your ecommerce strategy in 2026?

Talking to new and potential clients this month has lead me to change the audit format I have used for years and years. 

The AEO/GEO opportunity of course has to be included but I'm sure the biggest opportunity this year is to not do the copy paste that - let's be honest - quite a lot of your competition will be doing. 

There hasn't been an open goal quite like this one for some time in ecommerce and I'll elaborate on what I mean. 

I've been testing as many AI tools as I can with applications for paid advertising, content generation, creatives, SEO/AEO and even whole websites and anyone relying just on those will be committing serious self harm. 

And the middle road where everyone is mandated to use AI tools to augment current processes is currently wading through a quagmire (as it seems literally everyone is aware) and the recent Salesforce statement reinforces.

So if you want to future-proof your ecommerce strategy in 2026, I’ve updated my default audit format to be fully fit for this year and I've actually brought back some classic marketing thinking on 'Lead Quality' because it's exactly what 2026 needs.

These are the audit sections:

  1. Offer strength

  2. Lead quality (Yes, I’m bringing it back!)

  3. Merchandising

  4. Shop structure 

  5. Virtual assistance

  6. Owned

  7. Earned

  8. Paid

  9. Conversion

  10. Automation

  11. Advocacy

 What have I missed? :) 

 

5 Stars out of 5 Rating in a wooden sign in a shop or studio setting
Hint: I think I found something AI can do
 

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