It’s a K-Shaped Summer
It’s a K-shaped economy and the consumer split in two this summer. Premium Modern Consumer Brands are on the winning side. In August’s Open With Joy Newsletter: Where to find and hold your margin, in the buy, the freight, and the returns.
Friction Maxxing and What It Means for Modern Consumer Brands
The impulse economy is unwinding. In 2026, consumers are creating their own hoops to jump through before they buy. The brands that hold up under scrutiny are the ones winning new and repeat customers from those that are lacking.
High-Income Consumers Are Commercially Exhausted
Your customer is insta-jaded and can't TikTok take it any longer. This month: why high-income consumers are losing confidence, where their dollars are actually going, what it's costing you in shipping, and the one acquisition channel that meets them where they are.
Tariff Refunds, Return Fraud, and the Value-Seeker
Your costs are up, your customers are cautious, and someone just returned an empty box. This month: what the tariff refund process actually means for small brands, why nearly half your customers now identify as value-seekers, and the return fraud numbers that should make every founder's stomach drop.
Every DTC Fee Just Went Up. Here Is What Is Actually Changing.
Every fee just went up. Amazon, USPS, FedEx, UPS. Here is what is changing, what the return data is telling us, and one piece of genuinely good news from Shopify.