How to Grow Sales in 2026 (episode 580)
In this special episode of the eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast, Chloe Thomas shares a panel discussion from a live webinar focused on one big question: what’s really going to move the needle for eCommerce brands in 2026?
Chloe is joined by three expert voices from very different corners of eCommerce – growth, consumer behaviour, and AI – to unpack what’s working, what’s not, and where brands should be focusing their time, energy, and budgets this year.
From TikTok growth and AI-powered customer experience to brand trust, tech stacks, and surviving economic pressure, this is a practical, wide-ranging conversation designed to help you grow smarter in 2026.
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Dive in:
[04:51] “Future Advice for Brands”
[06:35] “Buying Decisions: Risk and Behavior”
[11:55] AI: Essential for Business Efficiency
[17:44] “Action-Driven Brands Drive Growth”
[27:32] Amazon’s Evolution & AI Branding
[30:09] Essential eCommerce Tools and Strategy
[39:12] AI for High-Quality SEO Content
[42:44] “Target Right Customers, Build Trust”
[46:29] Maximize ROI with AI Tools
[47:39] “Focus on Customers, Not Chaos”
Guest Experts
- Ashu Dubey
CoFounder & CEO, Alhena AI
- Ian Sells
Founder, Million Dollar Sellers (MDS) & JoinBrands
- Sian Conway-Wood
Senior Managing Partner, 181st Street
What advice are you giving most often to help brands succeed in 2026?
- Ian highlights the explosive growth opportunity on TikTok, especially through productled content and affiliates, calling it the fastest distribution channel brands have ever had access to.
- Sian reframes success through behavioural science, reminding brands that customers buy emotionally and subconsciously, not rationally – and that reducing perceived risk is key to conversion.
- Ashu urges brands to stop sitting on the sidelines with AI and to start experimenting now, whether for efficiency, revenue growth, or customer experience.
Is TikTok worth investing in if TikTok Shop isn’t available in your country?
Ian explains that while TikTok Shop accelerates results, TikTok is still a powerful channel even without native checkout.
Key takeaways:
- TikTok works best when treated as a volume channel, not a “test and see” experiment.
- Brands can still drive significant results by using TikTok ads and creator content to send traffic to Shopify or other DTC stores.
- Success requires consistency, creator partnerships, and clear product storytelling.
If brands want to get real results from AI, what should they do next?
The panel dives into how brands should move beyond dabbling with AI and start seeing meaningful impact.
- Ashu recommends starting with customer experience and support – a lowrisk, highlearning entry point that builds AI skills fast.
- Ian focuses on growth use cases, including product development, ad creative, customer insights, and operational efficiency.
- Sian stresses the importance of structured implementation and warns against scattered experimentation without strategy.
The consensus: treat AI as a business capability, not a novelty.
What’s the one thing brands should STOP doing in 2026?
This question sparks a wideranging discussion on focus, discipline, and brand clarity.
- Ian encourages brands to stop spending time on lowROI activities and instead double down on what actually drives results.
- Sian warns against chasing trends at the expense of brand distinctiveness, especially on TikTok and social platforms.
- Ashu cautions brands not to outsource their identity to platforms or AI recommendations, and to prioritise owning customer relationships.
If you had to cut 50% of your tech stack, what would you keep?
Rather than cutting for the sake of it, the panel reframes this as a consolidation exercise.
Key ideas:
- Review software regularly and remove tools that aren’t actively used or delivering value.
- Look for opportunities to combine multiple tools into single, integrated AI solutions.
- Map your tech stack to the customer journey so every tool clearly supports growth, conversion, or retention.
Are there real examples of AI tools delivering results?
Ian shares how tools like Whisper AI dramatically improve productivity, while all panelists agree that results depend on how well tools are implemented.
Key points:
- AI is only as effective as its operator.
- Uploading real business data into AI tools unlocks far more value than generic prompts.
- The pace of improvement in AI means tools today are far more capable than even a few months ago.
How should brands respond to Google penalties linked to AI content?
Ashu brings an SEO perspective, clarifying that AI itself isn’t the issue – lowquality content is.
Advice for brands:
- Focus on creating genuinely useful, highquality content, not scaling content volume blindly.
- Monitor engagement signals like dwell time and clickthrough rates.
- AIassisted content is acceptable when quality and relevance come first.
How do economic pressures change how consumers buy?
Sian explains how tightening disposable income affects impulse spending and decisionmaking.
Key insights:
- Brands need to understand who can realistically afford them.
- Trust, familiarity, and risk reduction matter more than ever.
- Retention and lifetime value become critical as acquisition costs rise.
Final takeaways: what will really drive success in 2026?
Each panelist closes with a clear message:
- Ian: Focus relentlessly on ROI, efficiency, and action – and use AI and platforms that accelerate growth.
- Sian: Let customer insight and internal data guide strategy, and avoid being distracted by social media noise.
- Ashu: AI adoption will be a defining growth lever – brands that embrace it across their business will move faster and scale further.
Without the sponsors the podcast wouldn’t be possible – please do check them out:
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