Good morning. Things are looking a little Funky at Card Factory, with recent buy Funky Pigeon now doing most of the heavy lifting online. Elsewhere, B&Q’s marketplace keeps growing and Discord opens its ads to smaller brands. Oh, and the Q3 Pulse Report has landed, grab your copy below. – Mike
In the basket today:
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Funky Pigeon carries Card Factory online
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Amazon now flags bad main images before you list
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B&Q’s marketplace grows 34%
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Discord opens its ad platform to smaller brands
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Square now syncs your listing to Apple Maps
+plus your weekend reading list (Etsy’s big AI personalisation bet, and what to do if your Amazon sales have dipped) and a free spot at Modash’s virtual Return on Influence Festival.
ECOMMERCE
1. Funky Pigeon carries Card Factory online
TLDR: Funky Pigeon, bought from WH Smith in August 2025, made up nearly all of Card Factory’s £16m online sales in the half to July.
Card Factory’s own site has fallen two years running, down 15.5% this half, and the digital loss widened to £3.5m. Now Funky Pigeon is being focused on personalised cards and gifts, with more coming for Christmas.
Your Move: Test a personalised version of one bestseller for Q4, even just a name or gift message, and compare it against the standard listing.
PULSE REPORT
Your Q3 UK Ecommerce Pulse Report is ready
Our Q3 Pulse Report is out now. Eight trends pulled from 26 issues of Q3 reporting that we think will shape your peak season, from AI becoming a sales channel to Europe’s growing compliance wall.
And this time we’ve marked our own homework, with a scorecard on which of our Q2 calls held up and which missed.
It’s your rundown before the busiest quarter of the year.
Found it useful? Feel free to forward it to someone who’s planning for peak too. It’s free, and they don’t need to be a subscriber to read it.
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RESULTS
🗳️ The Pulse
Q. Is the CBI’s gloomy picture matching what you’re seeing?
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️ Yes, it’s tough out there (82%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ No, we’re holding up (18%)
Not much doubt this week: more than four in five of you say the CBI’s numbers match what’s happening in your own business. One reader summed it up: “Etsy has dropped by 40%.”
That’s the risk of leaning on one channel when things get tight. If a marketplace changes its algorithm or fees, or just goes quiet, there’s very little you can do about it. Now is a good time to put some effort into the customers you already have. Email and SMS cost next to nothing to send, and a returning customer doesn’t need a marketplace to find you.
And if you’re one of the 18% holding up, that’s great to hear. What’s been working for you? I’d really like to share a few of your wins in a future issue, so hit reply and tell me.
MARKETPLACES
2. Amazon now flags bad main images before you list
TLDR: Amazon UK is rolling out an automatic check that flags non-white backgrounds, text, logos and watermarks on main images when you create a listing.
You can accept Amazon’s corrected image, upload your own or hit “Fix later”, but listing with a flagged image risks search suppression. Early forum replies already report false flags.
Your Move: Audit the main images on your top Q4 listings this week: pure white background, no text, no badges, no branded props.
MARKETPLACES
3. B&Q’s marketplace grows 34%
TLDR: B&Q’s marketplace sales (GMV) rose 34% to £306m in the six months to 31st July, Kingfisher’s half-year results show.
Kingfisher wants marketplace to reach a third of its online sales, up from 18%, and B&Q already has 80+ cross-border sellers. Expect the push to continue, and with a Buy Box in place, sellers will need to compete on price and delivery.
Your Move: If you sell home, garden or DIY, compare your price and dispatch time against the current top offer on your bestseller before you apply.
FROM OUR SPONSOR
A free newsletter with the marketing ideas you need
The best marketing ideas come from marketers who live it. That’s what The Marketing Millennials delivers: real insights, fresh takes, and no fluff. Written by Daniel Murray, a marketer who knows what works, this newsletter cuts through the noise so you can stop guessing and start winning. Subscribe and level up your marketing game.
MARKETING
4. Discord’s self-serve ads are coming in 2027
TLDR: Discord has launched Ads Manager, its first self-serve ad platform, but only selected advertisers get in until full access opens in early 2027.
It comes with Video Quests, a rewarded video ad format reaching Discord’s 90m+ daily users. Discord hasn’t named which markets are covered, and the audience is gamers, so this suits gaming, tech and collectables sellers far more than most.
Your Move: If your buyers are gamers, list the Discord communities they hang out in, so you’re ready to test when self-serve opens.
TOOLS
5. Square now syncs your listing to Apple Maps
TLDR: UK-based Square sellers with physical locations can now manage their Apple Maps, Siri and Wallet business details from the Square Dashboard.
Square cites Apple data showing claimed locations get 30% more views and action links lift click-throughs by 31%. It’s built for sellers with a physical shop, studio or collection point, not online-only stores.
Your Move: Search your business on Apple Maps today; if the details are wrong and you take payments through Square, connect it before Christmas footfall.
📚 The Reading List
Curated deep dives, longer reads and analysis shaping the future of ecommerce and digital marketing.
Amazon Sales Dropped? Split It Before You Raise Ad Spend
Seller Labs (13 min read)
A simple way to split an Amazon sales drop into traffic, conversion and price before you throw more budget at ads.
AI Shopping Could Mean Fewer Returns
Practical Ecommerce (3 min read)
Adobe data suggests shoppers who buy with AI help return less, so detailed product information pays off twice.
Etsy Aims to Get More Personal and Boost Business With AI
The Wall Street Journal (3 min read)
Etsy’s CFO on the AI shopper profiles, down to whether someone is buying a gift, that he credits for its sales turnaround.