We’ve got some exciting news… the DTC Live Community is officially moving from Circle to Slack.
Slack is already part of most people’s working day, so this move should make things much easier, everything in one place, no extra logins, and quicker updates.
Here’s what the new Slack space will give us:
✨ Niche channels
✨ Real-time event updates
✨ A space to share wins, advice and ideas
✨ Access to resources and opportunities
If you already use Slack, it’ll feel instantly familiar.
Your invite to the new Slack community will be sent next Thursday, check your inbox.
Now’s the perfect time to join so you can be part of the first group moving over ahead of launch next Thursday.
We’ll share more updates on Thursday when the new space goes live.
This year’s BFCM marked a major moment for independent ecommerce. Sales across Shopify-powered brands climbed to $14.6 billion, up 27 percent from 2024, as more than 81 million shoppers headed online. The weekend’s peak came at 12:01 p.m. EST on Black Friday, when spending surged to $5.1 million per minute.
Let’s take a look at the top stats…
📈 $14.6B in global sales
🎉 81M+ consumers
🚀 15,800+ first-time merchants making a sale
🏆 94,900+ merchants hit their best-ever sales day
🛍️ Top categories: Cosmetics, apparel, activewear, fitness and nutrition
💸 Average cart: $114.70
🌎 Top countries: US, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada
🏙️ Top cities: LA, New York, London, San Francisco, Miami
💳 Shop Pay up 39% YoY and used for 32% of all orders
📦 136M+ packages tracked in the Shop App
At DTC Live London, Morgan Fowles, CEO of TALA, explained how the brand grew from a DTC startup into a global multi-channel fashion business without losing its identity. Here are the core lessons 👇
“In the beginning, we were purely DTC for a few years and that was our focus. People say you have to stay focused, but at a certain point, you also have to diversify.”
“The decision to go into Selfridges was a big deal because it was our first physical step. Suddenly, you have to exist in the real world in a very different way.”
Tip: Expand only when your core model is stable and performing. Channel diversification works best once you’ve built momentum, tested demand, and know your team can absorb the added complexity.
“We don’t think about scaling the brand, our brand is our brand. As you get bigger, you can have more expressions of it, but the core stays the same.”
“When you try to play to a mass market, you water down your identity. People attach to real brand stories and a real point of view.”
Tip: Growth should amplify your identity, not dilute it. Keep the same tone, values, and creative gut, even as you show up in new places or reach new audiences.
“Operational efficiency means we don’t overdo it or overspend, but we also build enough resilience that we can scale.”
Tip: Strengthen your operational backbone step by step. Plan a little ahead so you’re not scrambling, but avoid building systems for a scale you haven’t reached, it drains time, cash, and focus.
“Grace (Beverly, Founder of TALA) is having a two-way conversation with a million people every day. That dynamic was built into TALA from the very beginning.”
“I met a customer at the gym who told me she missed a product we used to make. We brought it back four months later.”
Tip: Treat customer insight as a daily habit, not a quarterly exercise. Blend data with real-life interaction to stay aligned with how your audience feels right now.
“If I could, I’d do nothing but organic. Word of mouth is free, and it’s the most authentic way to tell your story.”
“Paid is expensive, and it’s the hardest way to articulate the brand authentically, but it’s necessary.”
Tip: Let organic drive energy, let influencers deepen storytelling, and use paid to stay consistent and discoverable. Each channel has a role, the power comes from using them together.
Migrating to Shopify Plus is a smart move for growth. Faster performance. Better stability. More enterprise control. But the migration itself is where brands face the greatest risk.
If data breaks, revenue breaks.
A rushed or poorly planned migration can cause immediate and lasting damage to conversion rates, organic traffic, and customer trust. Here are the key risks brands often overlook until it is too late:
Missing variants. Broken product records. Lost order history. Customer accounts that no longer work. Once data is corrupted, recovery is expensive and launch delays become unavoidable.
Improper redirect mapping or missing metadata can wipe years of search equity. Rankings drop. Traffic slows. Revenue feels it first.
Cart issues and payment failures turn eager customers into lost sales. Even short outages can erode brand confidence.
If apps, fulfilment systems, and analytics are not rebuilt correctly, stock errors and tracking blind spots appear instantly.
Slower site speed, mobile display problems, and broken navigation make a new launch feel worse than what came before.
This is why migration is not just a technical task. It is a performance-critical project that protects three key areas:
Revenue Zero downtime. Checkout ready from day one.Search equity Redirects and structured data preserved end to end.Customer trust A seamless move that feels invisible to buyers.
At Rainy City, we help brands migrate with confidence. As a Shopify Plus Partner, we ensure storefronts launch fast, scale cleanly, and maintain the commercial momentum you have already built.
A new platform should accelerate growth. Not break it.
If you are considering a Shopify Plus migration and want to avoid the real risks, speak to a platform specialist. We will help you assess readiness and identify what needs to happen to protect revenue from day one.
