Hey, it’s Alex.

It’s been a while, but I’m back, I hope you’ve been well!

Let’s go!

GROW WITHOUT ADS

🚀 Digital is shifting - quietly, but decisively.

The cost of acquiring customers has never been higher.

Every ad click, every impression - more expensive, less effective.

Meanwhile, your audience is tuning out. Not because they’re unreachable, but because most marketing is still built for 2020.

Here’s what’s changing:

Smart brands are no longer shouting.

They’re building.

Not bigger campaigns.

Smaller tools.

A style quiz. A space planner. A carbon calculator.

These aren't products - they're permission. Lightweight, useful, and designed to give your audience something they actually need.

No pitch. No pressure.

And while most e-commerce brands are still debating ad budgets, these tools are quietly winning attention - and keeping it.

This is the new organic. 

And it’s open season.

😉 LEVEL UP

Most ecommerce brands are not doing this well (yet)

The SaaS world has already clocked it.

Developers are shipping one-off tools, micro-calculators, Chrome extensions, AI widgets - that drive thousands of users and quietly funnel them back to the core product.

They’re not just building software.

They’re building gravity.

And it’s working. These tools earn attention, build trust, and generate leads -without spending a cent on ads.

Meanwhile, lifestyle e-commerce brands?

Still caught in the cycle - launch, campaign, retarget, repeat.

Scroll through any high-end fashion, beauty, or homeware brand and you’ll see the same pattern: great imagery, solid branding, paid traffic. But no real tools.

Nothing useful. Nothing interactive. Nothing that creates long-tail visibility beyond the scroll.

It’s a missed opportunity.

Not because the tools are hard to make.

But because no one’s thinking like this yet.

Which makes now the perfect time to move.

🚗 THE LANE IS OPEN

Start building your sales ecosystem

Discovery Tools don’t push for conversion. They pull attention by offering something better - utility, clarity, a moment of “that’s helpful.”

They create brand touch points that aren’t asking for anything.

They give people a reason to stay, interact, and share.

But hang on - it’s a quiz on my site - isn’t that all I need to do? Well, no.

This is basic.

Accepted.

In most cases forgettable and usually not organically shared.

You need to create an experience and value that pulls people in.

In fashion:
Not just a "What's Your Style?" quiz, but a full Look Builder that suggests outfits from your collection, based on real inputs—climate, occasion, taste—and ties each item directly to stock.

In beauty:
Not just a skincare quiz, but a Routine Designer that builds morning and evening rituals with your products, visualised step-by-step, with clear outcomes and cart-ready results.

In furniture:
Not just a product visualiser, but a Room Planner where shoppers can map out entire spaces, mix pieces, save combinations, and revisit them before making high-consideration purchases.

In wellness:
Not just “Which supplement is right for you?” but a Stack Builder that aligns with energy levels, goals, and routines - educating as it sells.

Each one solves something small.

But they do it with precision.

And they make your brand the one that understands.

And that’s the shift:

People don’t remember who advertised to them.

They remember who helped them figure something out.

These tools don’t just perform.

They reposition your brand as useful, smart, and ahead.

😉 SSSHHH - IT’S A SECRET

The barrier is gone

Until recently, building digital tools meant developer hours, custom code, long timelines. It felt out of reach for most lifestyle brands.

But not anymore.

With AI, no-code platforms, and smarter workflows, you can launch something simple and effective in a day. Two if you’re being particular.

You don’t need an app suite.

You don’t need a technical team.

You need one good idea - and a clear use case.

The best Discovery Tools are small by design.

It’s never been easier to build something useful.

The only question is whether you’ll do it before your competitors figure this out too.

🧠 IDEAS TIME

This is where it gets interesting.

You already know your customer.

You know what they browse, question, compare, and hesitate over.

Discovery Tools just turn those insights into something useful.

Here’s where this could go:

Fashion

• Look Builder: Customers select a piece, and you suggest full outfits.

• Fit Visualiser: Compare your sizing against familiar labels, visually.

• Style Persona Quiz: Fast, fun, and saves directly to a wishlist.
  

Furniture

• Room Planner: Drag, drop, and visualise products in real spaces.

• Moodboard Generator: Combine your pieces with user-uploaded inspiration.

• Finish Selector: Helps customers match materials with confidence.
  

Beauty

• Routine Recommender: Builds a tailored regimen based on skin concerns.

• Shade Finder: Uses lighting and tone cues to get the right match.

• Ingredient Checker: Explains formulations in plain language.

Wellness

• Daily Ritual Planner: Organises your product line into a calming routine.

• Supplement Finder: A quick tool that aligns with lifestyle and goals.

• Sleep Estimator: Shows the impact of routines on rest—visually.

None of these are hard to build.

But all of them create quiet, powerful brand gravity.

They make you discoverable. Shareable. Trusted.

Your audience isn’t just looking for a brand.

They’re looking for someone to make the next step feel easier.

Be that brand.

😉 LIMITED SEATS

You’re invited.

We know what the market is asking for:

Do more. With less.
Less time. Less certainty.

This is how you do that - with small tools that quietly do big things.

Built quickly. Launched simply. Remembered long after the scroll.

I’m going to be dropping a video on this into our skool.com community shortly - this is free for ecommerce brands - just message me for an invite.

In this video, I’ll be showing you how to:

• Identify the right Discovery Tool for your brand.

• Build and launch it without a dev team.

• Turn it into a strategic growth channel that works long after campaigns end.

📣 HAVE YOUR SAY

How did we do?

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Alex Murton
Shopify for Lifestyle Brands
Co-Founder @ Studio Almond & Almond Labs.