FAQs

  • Our Founder & CEO, Kelsie Johnston, has spent 15 years building brands from every angle: retailers, platforms, CPG companies, and emerging technologies. She's worked with bootstrapped startups and $10B+ market leaders… and everything in between.

    As one of the first employees hired to launch TikTok Shop in 2023, Kelsie’s team built the US business model from the ground up: go-to-market strategy, platform operations, business development, creator commerce education, and training the market on an entirely new way to sell.

    Now, she's applying that same strategic approach to AI shopping and agentic commerce: understanding how to connect every touchpoint of your digital footprint so your brand wins in AI-powered recommendations.

  • We work with brands that have an open mind and appetite to transform. Our clients range from early-stage startups to traditional CPG companies, mid-market brands, and pre-launch concepts looking for comprehensive go-to-market strategies.

    With deep understanding of every touchpoint in the consumer journey, we tailor our services to your biggest needs and can phase solutions as you grow. Learn more about our client segmentation on the "About Us" page.

  • We take a 360° approach to understanding your brand, from the inside out and outside in.

    Internal discovery addresses your vision, operations, market positioning, channel composition, priority KPIs, and ultimate goal (whether that's market share leadership or IPO success). We engage with every level of your organization, from founders and C-suite to directors, managers, and executors.

    External audit examines your brand footprint across the competitive landscape: e-commerce (DTC, Amazon, retail.com), social channels, AI chatbot experience, press coverage, community boards, editorial presence, and more. We evaluate your differentiators, unique selling proposition, and price positioning.

    Then we connect the dots. We marry internal and external insights to define what needs to be done and develop a phased roadmap for where to win, how to invest, and when to lead.

  • Congratulations on taking your first step into social commerce! Here are three things to know:

    1. Social commerce goes beyond TikTok Shop. While most brands start with TikTok Shop curiosity, the real opportunity is broader. TikTok's power is rooted in community, and building strong community management programming is the foundation that matters most. When done right across TikTok, Meta, and other platforms, brands typically see 30-50% incremental returns on their other retail channels.

    2. Creators are your new customer. 61% of consumers trust creator recommendations more than brand advertising. The future of commerce is community-driven, where trusted conversations influence purchases more than paid placements.

    3. "More" isn't always better. You now have two audiences: customers and creators. Building strategic creator acquisition, nurture, loyalty, and reactivation programs—segmented thoughtfully—is just as important as customer conversion.

    We'd love to help you build a personalized strategy and go-to-market plan. Reach out to get started.

  • Agentic commerce is where AI agents act autonomously on behalf of consumers to handle shopping, negotiation, and purchasing. Instead of browsing websites, consumers will have AI assistants (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini) shop for them based on their preferences, needs, and trusted sources.

    This represents the biggest shift in how people shop since the internet itself, and brands need to prepare now.

  • A core principle at KJT Ventures is constant learning and pressure testing. Everyone on our team commits to five practices:

    1. Content is king: Consume 10-20 pieces of AI/agentic commerce content weekly

    2. Befriend the bots: Spend 1-2 hours per week testing AI shopping experiences across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Breeze, and/or Copilot

    3. More minds, more models: Attend at least one AI conference quarterly (monthly when possible)

    4. Network relentlessly: Connect with 1-5 people embedded in the AI community each month

    5. Be the user: Test UX on our own platforms to understand what feeds large language models (LLMs) and translate complex technology into digestible insights for clients

  • You're not alone! AI is the biggest disruptor to e-commerce and technology since the internet itself.

    The best place to start? Use the technology shamelessly. Ask chatbots questions about how they arrived at their answers. Prompt ChatGPT, Gemini, and other agents to explain their methodologies.

    Here are some helpful resources:

  • According to Technology Advice's review of the best AI chatbots in 2025::

    • ChatGPT: Best overall for complex, multifaceted tasks

    • Gemini: Best for web productivity

    • Claude: Best for content creation

    • Perplexity: Best for deep research

    • DeepSeek: Best open-source access

    • Breeze: Best for personalized customer support

    • Copilot: Best for Microsoft power users

  • This is one of our favorite questions.

    As AI agents personalize shopping recommendations, they'll reference content and conversations across the entire digital landscape, not just traditional e-commerce sites. Social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest will serve as critical reference points for AI systems to understand user preferences, trend signals, and community conversations.

    In other words: your content presence on social platforms directly influences how AI agents recommend your products.

    As Google's Gemini puts it: "This represents an evolution beyond traditional e-commerce, where consumers are no longer just navigating a website but are having AI agents shop for them. In this new landscape, social media is a critical source of 'signal' that helps the agents perform their tasks."

    The brands building authentic creator partnerships and community presence now will be the ones AI recommends tomorrow.

  • Every brand is at a different stage with different challenges, so we design custom scopes for each partner. Fill out the form on our "Contact Us" page or email hello@kjtventures.com to discuss your needs.