How do you feel about raisins? 

One of the things that's easy to lose working remotely, as we do at Rebuy, is the camaraderie that's developed among teams from having silly debates like whether raisins belong in bread (they do, occasionally!) or if they are, as my colleague Scotty said in a recent impromptu debate in the marketing Slack channel, "nature's trash" (rude).

Remote work is very common among ecommerce brands, with one study from 2023 finding that more than 2/3rds of ecommerce organizations work in remote or hybrid environments.

On the Rebuy marketing team, we spend the first few minutes of our Monday and Friday team calls talking about decidedly non-work things (like the relative culinary merits of raisins). The bonds those silly conversations forge between us help make our work together stronger. Opening up about our love or loathing for raisins builds trust and friendship, and you can draw a direct line between that and better outcomes in our work.

Working with a group of people I can laugh with - people I genuinely like as people, not just as coworkers - is one of the things I'm feeling thankful for as 2025 comes to a close. 

Happy holidays to all who celebrate. Wishing you a splendid New Year, whether with or without raisins. 

Toastily,
Alanna 

Insights 💡

Re-engage customers after the holiday rush

According to Klaviyo, the brands that perform best after the holidays aren’t the ones blasting discounts. They’re the ones using automation to reconnect with new and returning customers in more thoughtful, well-timed ways.

What this means: After BFCM and the holidays, shoppers aren’t gone. They’re deciding which brands are worth sticking with. Post-holiday automation is your chance to turn one-time gift buyers and deal-driven shoppers into repeat customers.

Here are four smart ways to approach post-holiday re-engagement:

• Start with education, not another sale. New customers often need reassurance and guidance before they’re ready to buy again. Use post-purchase and follow-up flows to show how products work, highlight value, or introduce complementary items.
• Segment holiday buyers differently than existing customers. Gift buyers, first-time purchasers, and longtime customers all come back with different expectations in January. Treating them the same leads to generic messaging and missed opportunities to build loyalty.
• Let behavior determine timing. Instead of defaulting to “X days after purchase,” trigger re-engagement based on signals like browsing, revisits, or inactivity. Customers who are already exploring don’t need a nudge. The quiet ones do.
• Refresh your win-back and replenishment flows. The weeks after the holidays are a great time to revisit these automations. Adjust messaging to reflect the season shift with less urgency and more relevance. Test softer incentives or product discovery instead of steep discounts.

Key takeaway: Post-holiday automation shouldn’t feel like an extension of BFCM. The goal is to build trust, familiarity, and momentum so customers come back because they want to, not just because there’s a sale.

What Shopify’s Winter ’26 updates signal for ecommerce teams

Rebuy partner Absolute Web broke down the most important Shopify Winter ’26 updates, and one theme runs through nearly all of them: Shopify is weaving AI deeper into everyday workflows, while still prioritizing flexibility and merchant control.

Here are four updates that stand out most for brands heading into the year. 

• AI becomes more embedded in day-to-day merchant workflows.
  Shopify continues to expand AI-powered tools inside the admin, helping merchants surface insights, troubleshoot issues, and take action faster. Instead of feeling like a separate feature, AI is increasingly baked into how merchants manage and optimize their stores.
• SimGym lets merchants test storefront changes before going live
  Shopify’s new SimGym feature introduces AI-powered storefront simulations, allowing merchants to test changes in a controlled environment before pushing them live. Instead of guessing how a new layout, offer, or flow might perform, teams can preview potential outcomes and spot issues earlier in the process.
• Checkout customization keeps opening up. Checkout Extensions continue to evolve, giving brands more flexibility to personalize checkout experiences without heavy custom development. Combined with smarter data and insights, this creates more opportunities to test and refine high-impact moments in the funnel.
• B2B tools move closer to enterprise-ready. Winter ’26 brings meaningful enhancements for wholesale merchants, including more flexible pricing, customer-specific experiences, and smoother ordering flows. Shopify is clearly investing in B2B as a long-term growth channel.

Key takeaway: Shopify’s Winter ’26 updates focus on reducing friction for merchants. AI is working more quietly behind the scenes, while core experiences like checkout and product discovery continue to become easier to customize and easier to manage day to day.

BFCM Recap 👀 

Rebuy merchants broke some impressive records over BFCM 2025 this year. 

Across the busiest shopping days of the year, our merchants experienced what happens when personalization actually works at scale. Smarter offers, better timing, experiences that felt helpful instead of pushy — all of that made a big impact on their bottom lines. 

The results speak for themselves:

• $1.7B in total GMV across Rebuy-powered brands 🔥

• $54.1M in revenue influenced by personalized experiences 🔥

• $2.98M driven from post-purchase offers alone 🔥

Behind every number is a brand that moved fast, adapted in real time, and made the most of peak-season traffic. 

If you want to dig into what worked and why check out the full BFCM 2025 report here.