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DEEP DIVE

I've been sitting on this for a while.

Wasn't sure how to say it. Kept writing drafts and deleting them.

So I'm just going to say it:

Rankster has joined Eva Commerce.

I'm now VP of Social Commerce at Eva, and this newsletter isn't going anywhere. If anything, it's about to get better.

Now, let me be honest about what this actually is.

This wasn't an "acquisition" in the traditional sense. Nobody cut me a big cheque. There was no exit. No champagne-popping moment where I suddenly became a millionaire.

It's basically a glorified job offer.

And I've never been more excited about anything in my career.

Here's why.

Running Rankster taught me something:

I can build strategies. I can see the opportunities. I can map out exactly what needs to happen.

But executing at scale? That takes a large team. Infrastructure. Resources.

And I was hitting a ceiling.

Every workflow I wanted to build took months. Every system I wanted to create meant hiring, training, managing. Every big idea sat in a Google Doc because I didn't have the bandwidth to make it real.

Eva gave me access to a world-class team overnight.

Engineers. Data scientists. Amazon specialists. Operations people. A CEO who's been building AI-powered e-commerce tools for years.

Strategies that would've taken me 6 months to implement? We're doing them in weeks.

That's the trade I made. No upfront payday — but access to resources that let me actually build what I've been dreaming about.

Here's what I've learned managing 100+ TikTok Shop accounts over the past few years:

It's the top of the funnel. It's where people discover products. It's where creators build awareness. It's where brands go viral.

But here's what nobody talks about...

A customer sees your product on TikTok. They're interested. Maybe they buy on TikTok Shop. Maybe they don't.

Maybe they go to Amazon and search your brand name.

Maybe they visit your Shopify store.

Maybe they buy three weeks later after seeing another video.

And until now, you couldn't track any of that.

You'd see your Amazon sales spike after a TikTok campaign and think "huh, that's interesting." But you couldn't prove it. Couldn't measure it. Couldn't optimise for it.

Side note: There are a lot of agencies and software that claim to track the TikTok Halo effect on Amazon….. lies, lies, lies…..I have personally tested every type of software and agency……. I have personally run over 500 TikTok-to-Amazon campaigns….. The Halo effect could not be tracked and no reliable ROI could be established…… until now.

Which means you couldn't actually own the funnel.

That's why joining Eva made sense.

Eva started as an AI-powered Amazon tool. They've been doing this for years — using AI to optimise listings, manage PPC, forecast inventory.

But here's what clicked for me:

TikTok Shop + Amazon + Shopify isn't three separate businesses.

It's one funnel.

TikTok generates demand. Amazon captures high-intent searches. Shopify owns the customer relationship.

And now — for the first time — we can actually see how they connect.

Which brings me to the timing of this whole thing...

TikTok Shop quietly launched something massive last week.

It's called Off-site Performance Analysis.

Here's what it does:

You can now track when someone sees your TikTok Shop content (a video, a LIVE, a product card) and then buys on your Shopify/DTC site instead.

They're calling it the "Off-site Effect."

The formula: Off-site GMV ÷ TikTok Shop GMV = Off-site Effect

So if you're doing $100K on TikTok Shop and your Off-site Effect is 0.3, you're driving an extra $30K to your website that you couldn't previously attribute.

That's not a small thing. That's proof that TikTok is a demand engine, not just a sales channel.

And it validates exactly why this Eva partnership makes sense.

I've been saying for two years that TikTok Shop creates a "halo effect" on other channels…..but impossible to track.

Brands would tell me "our Amazon sales went up 20% after we started TikTok Shop" but they couldn't prove causation.

Now they can. At least for Shopify.

(Amazon attribution isn't live yet — but the fact TikTok is investing in cross-channel measurement tells you where this is heading.)

The smart move for 2026:

Stop thinking about platforms in isolation.

Start thinking about your total e-commerce funnel.

TikTok Shop is your awareness engine. Amazon is your conversion engine. Shopify is your retention engine.

And AI is the thing that lets you actually manage all three without losing your mind.

You've heard the saying:

"You won't lose your job to AI. You'll lose your job to someone who uses AI."

Same thing applies to e-commerce.

Brands won't lose customers to AI. They'll lose customers to brands that use AI.

The ones using AI to:

That's why I joined Eva.

Not for an exit.

For access to the AI infrastructure and team that lets us actually deliver on the omni-channel promise — in a fraction of the time it would've taken me alone.

For Rankster readers: Nothing changes. This newsletter keeps going. Same voice. Same value. Same terrible dad jokes.

For clients: You now have access to Eva's full stack — Amazon AI tools, Shopify integration, and everything we've built at Rankster for TikTok Shop.

For everyone else: Here's where it gets interesting...

To show you we're serious about this, we're doing something we've never done before.

For a limited time, you can book a call with both me AND Hai Mag (Eva's CEO) to talk through your full e-commerce funnel.

I'm there for TikTok Shop.

Hai's there for Amazon, Shopify, and the AI side.

Together, we can look at your entire funnel and identify where you're leaving money on the table.

This isn't a sales pitch disguised as a "strategy call." We'll actually dig into your numbers and give you a game plan — whether you work with us or not.

2026 is the year of omni-channel.

The brands that win won't be the ones with the biggest ad budgets.

They'll be the ones who understand how TikTok, Amazon, and Shopify work together — and use AI to optimise across all three.

That's what we're building at Eva.

And honestly? I've never been more excited about what's coming.

Talk soon,

- Paul 👊

P.S. If you want to try that new TikTok Off-site Performance feature yourself, here's the help doc.

You'll need your TikTok Pixel installed on your Shopify site. If you're not sure how, reply and I'll send you the setup guide.