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In focus
- How affiliate marketing stole the spotlight in Southeast Asia’s ecommerce game
- AI roll-ups and the model’s sustainability
- Maka Motors just cut 40% of its staff. For the backstory, check out this archived piece.
Hello reader,
When I was in elementary school, my mom worked as an Avon lady on the side.
She would bring me to her friends’ homes with a catalogue in tow, in the hopes that one of them would order something from the cosmetics brand. Once she got orders, she would bring me to the Avon store too.
For a kid like me, it felt like we were shopping for free. Good times.
I was reminded of this when I was writing this week’s first Big Story, which tackles how TikTok Shop, as one CEO puts it, “supercharged” affiliate marketing. These days, even users with less than 10,000 followers can earn thousands from the gig.
These affiliates could either write a compelling post on Threads or release a video on TikTok about a product they love. If enough people buy through their link, they cash in.
I can’t imagine how many more orders my mom would have gotten if this were available then. She would have probably taken me to real shopping sprees. Hey, a girl can dream.
In the enterprise world, there’s a new kind of shopping spree, too: Startups are snapping up companies and spraying them with a coating of AI paint. But what does that really mean? Can you just apply AI to a company and expect it to work?
My colleague Samreen Ahmad breaks down this trend in her story. It’s about a new model called AI roll-ups, which mirrors the ecommerce roll-up playbook we’ve seen in recent years.
At a time of economic uncertainty, the chase for a good deal is real.
Elyssa Lopez, journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ Forget paid ads – SEA brands chase affiliate gold
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