Brick & Mortar Reborn: Recent Episodes
Bobby Marhamat
Is brick and mortar dead or is it just coming alive? Join industry veteran, Bobby Marhamat, as he investigates the future of brick and mortar, why it's gotten a bad name and what it takes to create a customer experience that increases ROI and keeps people coming back for more. Join him as he interviews the experts and learn what it takes to make or break the in-location experience.
Craig Patterson is the Editor-in-Chief of the leading Canadian retail industry news magazine, Retail Insider. He joins the show to discuss how retail has changed in the last few years, why online shopping still has value in a post-covid world, and his take on the future of retail.
Topics discussed:
- Craig’s background and why he started Retail Insider
- What Retail Insider does and does not cover
- The current biggest stories at Retail Insider
- Changes to the retail space in the past few years
- The value of selling experience as a retailer
- Resources that will help you keep up to date with the latest in the retail industry
- Tips to future-proof your retail business
Marshall Kay is the founder of RFID Sherpas and a retail entrepreneurial consultant. In this episode, we dive into the technology of RFID technology, and how it can help retail brands in their stores. RFID creates smart lables that will help stores collect and manage more data about the movement of their inventories. This technology is inexpensive to implement and it will fundamentally improve the running of your store.
Topics discussed:
- What is RFID Sherpas and how does it assist retail entrepreneurs?
- Why you want to use RFIDs in your store
- How Marshall discovered RFID technology
- Is RFID technology expensive?
- Are there any privacy concerns with using RFID tags in your store?
- Examples of stores using this new technology today
- Common mistakes stores will make when implementing RFID technology
- The future of RFID in retail
Ron Thurston is the host of the Retail in America Podcast. He spent many years working on the front lines of retail, and then he wrote his book, Retail Pride, to celebrate his career journey. On his book tour, he also meets front line retail workers around the country and documents his adventures on his podcast. On the show today, we talk about what it’s like to work on the front lines of retail in 2022. Ron shares everything retail businesses need to know about supporting the workers on the front lines.
Topics discussed:
- About Ron and the Retail in America Podcast
- Retail as a fulfilling and exciting career
- Stories from the front lines of retail in America
- Retail as an “accidental career” for a lot of people
- How people find success in their retail careers
- What retail companies can do to inspire pride and build employee loyalty
- Proof that retail workers actually love their job
- What front line retail workers need from the organization
April Sabral is the founder and CEO of retailu, an online, on-demand leadership development platform for retail professionals. She is also the author of The Positive Effect, where she details her journey working in retail. In the episode today, we talk about the biggest lessons April has to share about leadership in the retail industry, including her ACT model that she uses to teach retail professionals how to build strong teams.
Topics discussed:
- April’s background and about retailu
- About April’s book, the Positive Effect
- The ACT model and how it helps you build a strong team in the retail industry.
- Biggest leadership lessons from all of April’s work in the retail space
- Why being nice actually helps you get your way in life
- Riding the highs and lows of day-to-day working in retail
- Managing conflict and difficult conversations as a leader
- Staying focused on the most important asset in your store - people
Mina Fader is the Managing Director of Wharton’s Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, Mina discusses the present and future state of retail. She breaks down the fate of the brick and mortar space in the digital, post-COVID world, and you might be surprised to hear her take on where retail is heading in the future.
Topics discussed:
- About Mina and how her career in retail developed
- About the Wharton Baker Retailing Center
- How you can learn from the Wharton Baker Retailing Center
- Some of the most compelling research in the retailing space today
- Merging online and offline worlds as retailers
- Why brick and mortar stores will not go away
- Consumers valuing social purpose and authenticity in the younger generations
- How retail professionals can grow and thrive post COVID
Hitha is the Chief Research Officer at H Squared Research LLC, a consumer spending columnist at US News and World Report, and the author of the book “Black Market Billions: How Organized Retail Crimes Fund Terrorists.” She is a self-proclaimed futurist related to all things retail, and in this episode, she discusses some of the trends that we should be looking for in the retail space.
Topics discussed:
- What’s exciting right now in the retail industry
- What contributes to businesses’ success and failure in the retail space
- A description of the modern consumer and key behaviors
- Why brick and mortar is part of the future even with online retail
- The current state of the black market and what we all need to know
- The role retailers have in battling the black market
- Advice for brick and mortar retailers to thrive again after COVID
- Future trends to look for over the next few years
What is the NRF (National Retail Federation) and what do they do? Today’s guest, Katherine Cullen, is the senior director of industry and consumer insights for the National Retail Federation’s research team. That means that she leads NRF’s research on consumer spending and emerging retail trends. What does that information tell us about retail today? […]
Over recent years, there have been many changes in what people expect from retailers. People want to shop locally, but they also want the convenience afforded to them by big retailers. SpotOn helps smaller retailers achieve that. Today, you’ll hear from Doron Friedman, co-founder of SpotOn. Listen to the episode to hear more about Doron […]
Has the definition or expectation of convenience changed over time? The people who might best know the answer to this are people in the convenience store business – people like today’s guest. Pervez Pir is the President of Retail at Loop Neighborhood Marketplace, and he has an important perspective on the value of convenience and […]
When you’re a business operator, how can you make sure you’re on track, gather the information you need, and keep up with what your team needs and what they’re doing? The answer is good operations management. And that’s what today’s guest’s business does – operations management and analytics. Tommy Yionoulis is the founder of OpsAnalitica. […]
Retail has undergone a lot of changes over the past few years. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Dan Goldman, strategic consumer and retail industry executive who explains what’s changed for the retail industry during the pandemic, the importance of focusing on creating closer relationships with customers and appealing to their motivations, and what Dan […]
You can’t think about brick-and-mortar retail without considering franchises. Is a franchise right for you? Will a specific franchise work in your region of the US? How much work does it take to maintain a franchise? These are some of the important questions that a person must consider when thinking about franchising. In today’s episode, […]
White Castle isn’t as big as some other hamburger chains, but it is the oldest chain in the United States, and it remains family-owned even after 100 years, which is a big feat. In today’s episode, you’ll learn more about White Castle and why it remains a success so long after its initial appearance. Jamie […]
What is different about selling your brand in a multi-brand, brick and mortar store? Is this a good idea for a direct-to-consumer brand that wants to add a brick and mortar option for customers? How does it work? Today’s guest is Matt Alexander, the co-founder and CEO of Neighborhood Goods, a department store that sells […]
How do robotics function in the retail world now, and how will they play into retail settings in the future? Today’s guest is working in the cutting edge of autonomous robotics and will explain a lot of the thinking around robotics in the retail space. Josh Baylin is the Vice President of Product and Marketing […]
Having a great idea for a business doesn’t necessarily mean you understand how to best manage your money, make a financial plan, or handle cash flow. So where does an entrepreneur turn when they need to learn how to manage the financial end of their business responsibly?
They can turn to someone like today’s guest, Tracey Bissett. Tracey provides her clients with coaching. She prefers to frame it as teaching them how to become financially fit, rather than focusing on financial literacy. She helps her clients succeed by making sure that they understand how to manage their money in a smart way.
Listen to the episode to hear Tracey explain what her clients are looking for and how she guides them, the biggest mistakes she sees, and what main ideas she wants her clients to walk away with.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Tracey’s history and the company she runs
✔ The types of clients Tracey works with
✔ What clients reach out to Tracey for
✔ What Tracey means by financial fitness
✔ What are the “whys” Tracey gives clients to think about
✔ Some of the biggest mistakes Tracey sees
✔ Whether entrepreneurs know they are making mistakes by the time they come to Tracey
✔ What most business owners are successful at when managing their money
✔ Whether most business owners understand their financial statements
✔ Whether Tracey has a few main components she wants clients to walk away with
✔ Differences in how Tracey coaches from a geographic standpoint
✔ Tracey’s process with clients
✔ Why cash flow planning is important and how to set the price
✔ Advice for growing a healthy and sustainable business
Resources:
Tracey Bissett
Money Meeting Agenda
QUOTES: “I do have quite a few people reach out and start wanting to plan for a future-oriented business so they’re getting their business plan together.”
“Most people don’t decide to start their business not to get a paycheck.”
“It’s not that we’re solving all the problems immediately, but we’re quantifying them, and then they’re able to move forward with action steps to actually solve things.”
“If we’re trying to understand what they can or can’t afford, what I find is the easiest way to do that is build out a cash flow forecast.”
“If
Is the Great Resignation just a buzzword, or is it real? Either way, employees are quitting their jobs and looking for new roles. And research shows that workers who are engaged in their work and workplace can actually be more likely to outperform competitors. It’s time to start rethinking employee management and come up with new strategies for improving the employee experience.
Here to talk about this subject today is Vikas Bhambri, SVP, Sales & CX at Kustomer and Devon Mychal, Director of Product Marketing at Talkdesk. In their conversation today, they’ll be exploring ways for companies to have a truly employee-centered workforce with top-down advocacy for employee wellbeing. Listen to the episode to hear them discuss why it’s more difficult to sustain engagement in the workforce, especially for deskless employees, how to address staff shortages and reductions, and what ripple effects a workforce experiences from high turnover.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Vikas does at Kustomer
✔ What Devon does at Talkdesk
✔ Why has it become more difficult to build and maintain an engaged workforce
✔ The perfect storm of legacy concepts, remote working, and bring-your-own-device
✔ Addressing staff shortages and reductions
✔ How to set up workers for success
✔The ripple effects of high turnover rates in a company
✔ Hits to morale due to turnover
✔ Training and updates due to new technology
✔ How recognition plays a role and how companies should manage it
✔ Trend changes that are going to have a future impact on workforce management
Resources:
Devon Mychal
Vikas Bhambri
Talkdesk
Kustomer
QUOTES: “The staffing shortage is real and companies are getting creative in terms of how they’re approaching these things.” –Devon Mychal, Director of Product Marketing at Talkdesk
“Even for very large legacy brands and companies, you’re seeing how a change in leadership can not only have an impact on the employee brand but ultimately the bottom line and the share price.” –Vikas Bhambri, SVP, Sales & CX at Kustomer
“Any individual leaving a company has a profound impact.” –Vikas Bhambri, SVP, Sales & CX at Kustomer
“Companies that aren’t investing in a strong customer experience brand and really making that a priority are having trouble attracting agents and keeping agents because they don’t want to be a part of something that doesn’t value the work that they do. –Devon Mychal, Director of Pro
No matter what’s going on in the world, people will still fall in love and want to get married. For that reason, businesses like David’s Bridal are always going to be important, in the midst of COVID or during any other time.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Kelly Cook, EVP and Chief Marketing and IT Officer for David’s Bridal. Listen in to hear what she has to say about how she ended up at David’s bridal, what changes she’s seen in the behavior of consumers who are using David’s bridal, and what David’s has coming in the future in terms of technology and omnichannel experiences.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Kelly’s background
✔ What David’s Bridal is about
✔ What brought Kelly to David’s Bridal initially
✔ What “transforming” means to Kelly
✔ Changes Kelly has seen in consumer behavior
✔ Key omnichannel experiences that David’s has adopted
✔ What David’s is seeing on the horizon that they want to do
✔ Technology decisions that are important for David’s Bridal
✔ The elements that make the loyalty program at David’s successful
✔ Metrics that David’s is held to
✔ Best in-location experiences Kelly has had with other brands
✔ Kelly’s advice for retailers
Resources:
Kelly Cook
QUOTES: “Loving the love business, which is what we’re in at David’s.”
“It’s really about pulling back and looking at every single way we serve her, and figuring out better ways to do that given the way she lives her life today.”
“One of the things that we’re really going to be focused on this year is digitally transforming the entire wedding planning process for her.”
See’s Candies is a retailer that hardly needs an introduction, because it’s so widely known. And what could be better than working for a popular candy manufacturer and retailer? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Pat Egan, the CEO of See’s Candies. Listen in to learn about what brought Pat to the brand from the energy field, how to keep employees happy and providing great experiences for customers, and how to balance innovation with the essence of an established, historic brand.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Pat’s background
✔ What brought Pat to the brand
✔ Changes Pat has seen in consumer behavior
✔ The secret to happy employees and good in-location experiences
✔ Balancing innovation and keeping the brand essence intact
✔ What customers enjoy about the brand and store location experiences
✔ Advice Pat would give to other retailer
✔ See’s company culture
✔ Keys to keeping customers happy
✔ What brick and mortar retailers can learn to make them better
✔ Celebrating See’s centennial
✔ See’s plans for the future
✔ Pat’s favorite in-store locations outside of See’s
Resources:
Pat Egan
QUOTES: “Our job is to make people happy. And we get to do that every day.”
“In 2019, we broke a million packages shipped for the first time in company history, this year we anticipate breaking about 2.2 million.”
“Always take care of your customer and listen to them.”
What is driving the demand for self-service technologies inside store locations? That’s one of the things that you’ll hear about in today’s episode. Joining the podcast today is Samuel Mueller of Scandit, a company that provides technology that facilitates better communication between retailers and consumers. Listen to the episode to hear what Samuel has to say about how he began Scandit, what changes he’s seen in consumer behavior, and what he sees in the future of the retail industry. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Scandit is all about
✔ What led Samuel to start Scandit
✔ How retailers use Scandit technology
✔ Changes in consumer behavior and the use of technology
✔ Whether there will be more technology changes in the near future
✔ Samuel’s advice for retailers
✔ Influencing factors that drive demand for self-servicing technology
✔ The future of the retail industry and physical store locations
✔ Samuel’s favorite places to visit in Zurich
Resources:
Samuel Mueller
QUOTES: “If you think about what a smartphone does and what a smartphone is, it’s really, in many regards, an extension to ourselves at this point.”
“Everyone obviously needs to think hard about the core operational needs and digitization needs relative to business strategy and strategic objectives that they’re setting out to accomplish.”
“Physical store locations, in some sense, are sort of experience, curation, and instant gratification hubs of sorts.”
What do you need to think about when establishing a franchise business model? What’s attractive about fast-casual restaurants? These are some of the questions that Michael Mohammed will address in today’s show. Michael is the CEO of Chronic Tacos, a restaurant that focuses on food authenticity and a flavor experience. Check out the episode to learn what Michael thinks about the experience customers get in Chronic Taco locations, what the keys are to building a brand, and how to know what customers are demanding.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ The Chronic Tacos story
✔ How many restaurants there are
✔ The restaurant’s business model
✔ The experience created in Chronic Tacos locations
✔ Michael’s background outside the restaurant industry
✔ TWhat intrigued Michael about the fast-casual restaurant industry
✔ The keys to building a brand
✔ Michael’s plan for scalability
✔ Challenges Michael experienced franchising locally and overseas
✔ Consumer trends that have changed in the restaurant industry
✔ Knowing what customer demands are
✔ How to ask for customer feedback
✔ The Chronic Tacos approach to managing social media pages
✔ How to create visibility in a new market
✔ Critical aspects to a great in-location experience
✔ Why brands fail at delivering great in-location experiences
✔ What’s ahead for Chronic Tacos
Resources:
Michael Mohammed
QUOTES: “We really try to engage all the senses in our restaurant.”
“So much was in the founders’ heads, of how this worked and what made it work.”
“We try to really be engaged with what’s going on in our social media platforms and respond right away and engage with them.”
How can brands continue having a conversation with their consumers through multiple channels? Today’s guest is Mariam Reza, and she explains the value and details of conversational AI. Listen to her interview to hear what Mariam has to say about the company she works for, LivePerson, how they enable brands to better reach out to their customers, and what the demand is for a conversational AI experience.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Mariam’s career path
✔ How Mariam started out with LivePerson
✔ What LivePerson is all about
✔ How LivePerson enables its customers to reach out to their customers
✔ Having one customer conversation across different mediums
✔ The state of the demand for AI-powered experience
✔ Challenges in the conversational AI space
✔ Tactical steps for putting together a conversational AI plan
✔ What brands need to know
Resources:
Mariam Reza
QUOTES: “I love that our vision as a company is really to make life easy for consumers and brands.”
“If I take store as one channel, you’ve got all the others, really, living on your device.”
“In building very good AI, you need very very very good experts.”
How can you build an online shopping type of experience in a brick and mortar retail space? That’s one of the things that today’s guest will be talking about. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Hemant Chavan of Brik and Clik, an idea that’s meant to unite the online and offline shopping worlds. Listen in to hear what Hemant has to say about how his clients use the product he offers, what today’s top value drivers are, and what technologies Hemant is excited about.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Hemant’s background
✔ Brik and Clik
✔ How clients use Hemant’s product
✔ Why customers work with Hemant instead of creating their own stores
✔ Top value drivers today
✔ How long customers will work with Hemant
✔ Hemant’s favorite technologies
✔ Advice for smaller store owners regarding checkout and the post-selling experience
✔ How Hemant’s VR model is different
✔ Hemant’s vision of the future for brick-and-mortar retail stores
✔ Why you should support small businesses
Resources:
Hemant Chavan
Brik and Clik
QUOTES: “We’re kind of recreating that online experience in-store by getting these essential products out to the customers where the customers are.”
“We’re big proponents of using the technology to empower our salespeople and our staff instead of replace them.”
“The best part of it is, when your lease is over, you can have that store with you forever.”
Things are possible in a virtual experience that may not be possible in a physical store. To talk more about what’s happening virtually and what’s possible, Neha Singh of Obsess joins the podcast to talk about the technology her company offers and how the brands who use her technology create experiences for customers. Listen in to learn about use cases for Obsess’s software, how brands think about creating immersive experiences, and what separates virtual experiences from online stores.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Neha’s background
✔ What got Neha excited about starting Obsess
✔ Use cases for Obsess’s software
✔ How brands measure the effects of the technology
✔ Why these retail segments are the first movers in the VR storefront
✔ How brands consider creating immersive shopping experiences
✔ How virtual experiences compare with online stores
✔ Differences between younger shoppers and other demographics when it comes to technology
✔ Advice for integrating physical and online retail experiences
✔ How an immersive experience helps brick-and-mortar brands tell their story better
Resources:
Neha Singh
Obsess
QUOTES: “Our mission is to reinvent online shopping interface.”
“Basically, there’s like a huge almost disconnect between the experience of buying this product like if you were in the store versus the experience of buying it online.”
“To integrate it into online it’s actually fairly easy and it gives you a much higher user base.”
Retailers know that things can change fast, so getting real-time data can make a big difference in allowing them to make the decisions they need to make to provide customers with a great experience. That’s what Nick Delyani’s business, Xovis, provides to retail clients – real-time information that can help ensure they make informed decisions. Listen to today’s conversation to learn more about what Xovis does, what Nick has seen change in retail over the last 18 months, and the benefits of real-time data over historical data.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Nick does
✔ What Nick’s company, Xovis, does
✔ The types of companies that use Xovis’s services
✔ Biggest changes that Nick has seen with consumer behavior
✔ Nick’s favorite experiences in retail
✔ Advice Nick would give to retailers about building a great experience
✔ Benefits of real-time data vs. historical data
✔ The insights that retailers are getting from COVID
✔ What clients learn from using Nick’s business
✔ Important in-store movement patterns
✔ Elements that provide great in-store locations
✔ Technology that’s going to have a big impact on brick-and-mortar retail
Resources:
Nick Delyani
QUOTES: “We’ve seen the customers come in and spend maybe less time in space than they have in the past.”
“It’s important to make decisions quickly to react to the customer’s experience.”
“I think really what we’ve figured out so far is that people like painless checkout.”
Why do you have to either go big or go small when launching a food product? What’s the most important thing you can do when you’re looking for a new retail location to expand to? Today’s guest will explain his thoughts on these topics and more. Listen to today’s episode of Matt Matros with Shopflix. You’ll learn what Shopflix does, what goes into a product launch, and how to know when it’s time to expand.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Matt’s background
✔ What goes into getting a product launched
✔ What Shopflix does
✔ How Shopflix charges its customers
✔ The typical Shopflix customer
✔ How Matt knows when it’s time to expand
✔ Advice for entrepreneurs who want to go big
✔ Keys to a great in-location customer experience
✔ How to attract the best talent
✔ Technology that’s important for restaurants now and in a few years
✔ What’s important to customers walking into a brick and mortar location
✔ What got Matt started with Shopflix
✔ Audiences that work best for Matt’s technology
✔ What Shopflix has in the pipeline for this year
✔ Advice for small retailers and restaurants
✔ Where to find Shoplix shows
Resources:
Matt Matros
QUOTES: “I’m a brick and mortarer through and through.”
“We like to say we’re content with a click-to-buy.”
“The Beatles became famous, but they didn’t go on the road until they became famous at home.”
Running an omnichannel business involves a lot of different moving parts for your online and offline locations, but how do you connect all those moving parts to provide your customers with the most seamless experience? Today’s guest says that’s one of the biggest challenges her customers face. Allison Auclair is the Vice President of Product Management at Oracle NetSuite. In today’s episode, she discusses how customers use NetSuite, why creating a great customer experience is so important, and how to win customers in an omnichannel world. Listen to the episode to hear what she has to say about the importance of making connections between services to create a more seamless experience.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Allison’s background
✔ What customers come to NetSuite for
✔ Use cases for NetSuite
✔ Changes that Allison witnessed during the pandemic era
✔ Allison’s favorite in-location experiences
✔ Why creating a great customer experience is more important than ever
✔ Brand optimization issues that customers bring to Allison
✔ The keys to winning customers in an omnichannel world
✔ What customers need to do before calling NetSuite
✔ Technology that Allison expects to take off on the brick-and-mortar side of things
✔ Advice on what not to do
✔ What retailers should do first
✔ Thinking about fracture points in the customer experience
✔ Allison’s favorite local places to visit
Resources:
Allison Auclair
QUOTES: “One of the biggest challenges I see customers come in with is connecting the experience together.”
“There are only so many things that I’m willing to go in person and it’s usually because it’s something I want to touch and feel and see and experience in person.”
“The other part, I think, of making that seamless experience is having all of your different fulfillment options everywhere.”
Online experiences became more important for brands during the pandemic, which has led to a lot of creativity when it comes to services like Jebbit. But how does that translate to in-store shopping? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Pamela Erlichman, Chief Marketing Officer at Jebbit. She discusses how Jebbit technology works and how customers use it, what declared data is and how it’s used, and how Jebbit can be used in-store as well as online.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Pamela does at Jebbit
✔ How to interact with Jebbit technology
✔ Success customers have with Jebbit
✔ How consumer behavior has changed recently
✔ Value drivers that may have changed for customers since COVID
✔ What declared data is
✔ What customers say about how declared data changes the way they provide experiences to their customers
✔ How Jebbit can accentuate experiences in locations
✔ What technology we’re going to see more of
✔ Brands Pamela loves
✔ How brands will extend their experience into locations
✔ Advice Pamela would give retailers to improve their marketing strategy
Resources:
Pamela Erlichman
QUOTES: “Giving something of benefit and value to begin with is a much better way to engage.”
“Declared data is a form of first-party data that is directly given by consumers.”
“Purpose. Convenience. Giving you a minute of reprieve. All of those things matter.”
The demand for digital, remote shopping services has only grown since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The company co-founded by today’s guest has been around for years, but you can understand how they would have picked up in usage since early last year. Andre Hordagoda cofounded Go Instore, a service that allows consumers to use video to talk to sales personnel and shop, giving them an in-store experience but from their homes. Listen in to today’s interview to learn more about Andre, how his company’s technology works, and what drives customers to make purchases.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Andre’s background
✔ Go Instore’s technology
✔ How the technology works for the customer
✔ What clients see when they visit the website
✔ The biggest changes in consumer behavior over the pandemic
✔ Value drivers that move customers to purchase
✔ Andre’s favorite stores to experience and visit
✔ Technology that Andre sees in the future of retail
✔ What Andre is excited about in the future
Resources:
André Hordagoda
QUOTES: “There’s a massive difference between a website’s performance and a physical store’s performance.”
“It’s taken us seven years and a global pandemic to become an overnight success.”
“We have been doing live-streaming for four years. We were pioneers. We did it before it was big in .”
It’s not always obvious how a shopping center or mall can engage consumers and pull in foot traffic, but today’s client has ideas. Peter Tonstad is the CEO of Placewise, a company that works with malls and other types of shopping centers to attract customers, benefit tenants, and bridge online and offline gaps. Listen in to hear what Peter has to say about what should be done differently post-pandemic, how malls can successfully engage shoppers, and what smaller strip centers can do to build foot traffic.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ How Peter got started with Placewise
✔ What Placewise’s typical clients are like
✔ What needs to be done differently post-COVID
✔ The different dynamics in the evolution of shopping centers
✔ How malls and large shopping centers attract customers back
✔ Bridging the gap between online and offline
✔ Ways that malls can measure their success in engaging shoppers
✔ How smaller strip centers can create footfall
✔ What Peter does to coach clients to create focus areas for clients
✔ Why clients want to work with Placewise
✔ In-store experiences that Peter likes
✔ What’s going to be important for shopping centers to embrace
✔ The future of malls and shopping centers
✔ Fun things to do in Norway
Resources:
Peter Tonstad
QUOTES: “Yes, footfall is challenged by e-commerce, and it’s also challenged by let’s say overrepresentation of physical retail in general.”
“I think the key is: malls serve as community offerings.”
“It’s more complex technically to serve a shopping center.”
What does online shopping really have to do with driving customers into the store? What if you learned that in-store experiences often start outside the store and that some of the best in-store experiences start online? That’s what today’s guest will be talking about.
Oscar Sachs is the Co-Founder and CEO of Salesfloor. Listen to his interview to learn how the platform works, how store associates can use the platform even with in-store customers, and how virtual shopping can be used to drive more consumers in-store.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Oscar’s history and background
✔ The Salesfloor platform
✔ How store associates engage with the in-store customer
✔ How an in-store experience starts outside the store
✔ Whether consumer behavior patterns have changed in the last few years
✔ Whether the person needed for a store associate role has changed
✔ How virtual selling affects in-store traffic
✔ Oscar’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ The future of tech inside of retail stores
✔ Oscar’s tips for retailers
✔ Fun things to do in Montreal
Resources:
Oscar Sachs
QUOTES: “I’m not just saying “hey do you want to buy a pair of pants?” I’m showing them how to create outfits.”
“It’s time for retailers to say I need to bring what made me great in-store and made my brand so successful, I need to bring that online.”
“We have technology that measures how store interactions online are directly driving customers in-store to purchase.”
Fashion retailers have been through a difficult period, but at this point, their customers miss them as much as they miss their customers. Chris Kaighn is the Senior Vice President – Boutiques, Real Estate, and Strategic Partnerships at Francesca’s. Listen in to hear what she has to say about changes she’s seen in the landscape during her time in this role, the top demands of her customers, and what to look for in associates.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Chris’s background and current role
✔ Who Chris serves in her role at Francesca’s
✔ Recent changes Chris has seen
✔ What parts of the experience Chris focuses on
✔ Top demands of customers
✔ What “free to be you” is all about
✔ What differentiates Francesca’s
✔ Technology that needs to be implemented in Francesca’s locations
✔ How important it is to address diversity and inclusion
✔ Top skills that Chris looks for in associates
✔ Empowering the workforce
✔ How to get people excited about coming back to locations
✔ How Chris is thinking about the future of Francesca’s
✔ Experiences that Chris loves from other brands
✔ What Chris thinks people should do in Columbus
Resources:
Chris Kaighn
QUOTES: “I think for that customer, it’s critical that we stand for something.”
“We need to make our brand the employer of choice out there.”
“How we serve is just as important as who we serve.”
What is hyper-wellness? How do you blend medical services with non-medical services, while meeting all of the regulations and requirements involved? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Jim Donnelly of Restore Hyper Wellness and Cryotherapy. Listen in to hear what Jim has to say about how he knew when to scale, what makes his services unique, and what makes people say “wow” when using his services.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Jim’s background and how he got started with Restore
✔ Important lessons Jim learned through marketing and how they helped him build Restore
✔ The signal to scale
✔ The things that make Restore unique
✔ What gives people a “wow” moment after visiting a Restore location
✔ Critical technology for Restore
✔ Jim’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ Advice for small retailers trying to create a brand identity
✔ The critical time when Jim decided on franchising
✔ How Jim built up the store during COVID
Resources:
Jim Donnelly
QUOTES: “We said from the beginning we’re going to make it open, transparent, and social. And throw a little bit of fun on there.”
“We’re lucky in that we have a product that applies to the vast majority of the population.”
“I happen to like the fact that what we do is complex and has a lot of nuance to it.”
“That’s the number-one principle around hyper wellness. You have to walk out feeling better than you walked in.”
You’re already familiar with SMS messages, but you may not be familiar with their power as a marketing channel. Today’s guest works for a company that harnesses that power and uses it to drive consumers into their customers’ retail location. Listen in to today’s interview with Brian Malkerson, Chief Revenue Officer at Attentive. Today, Brian discusses what it was like building Attentive, how customers work with a company like Attentive, and how people on the consumer end interact with the Attentive platform.”
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Brian’s background
✔ What it was like building Attentive from the ground up
✔ The typical customer for Attentive
✔ How customers use Attentive
✔ How does a company that wants to get into SMS marketing work with a company like Attentive
✔ How consumers interact with the platform
✔ Strategies retailers look for in a text messaging campaign
✔ Whether consumers are comfortable communicating with brands via SMS
✔ How retailers are engaging shoppers in-store
✔ Attentive’s content team
✔ Value drivers that may have changed over the past few years
✔ Favorite in-store experiences that Brian has seen
✔ Technologies that we’re going to see in the next 10 years
✔ Cool things that Brian recommends doing in New York
Resources:
Brian Malkerson
Attentive
QUOTES: “We’re happy to jump on a quick call and walk anyone through just to educate them on the space, even if now is not the right time or they’re looking at other options.”
“If you can’t do something at scale and have high-quality users, then no marketing channel is going to be very effective.”
“I think that’s kind of the million-dollar question for a lot of people is first early last year, “how do we quickly adapt to this environment?”
How important is workforce management and what tools do employers use to do it? Listen in to today’s interview with John Orr, the SVP Retail at Ceridian. In today’s episode, he talks about the customer use cases for Ceridian’s services, the challenges that brick-and-mortar spaces are currently facing, and how customers are thinking about employee treatment, retention, and workforce management since the pandemic.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ John’s background
✔ What Ceridian does
✔ Customer use cases for Ceridian’s services
✔Why customers come back to Ceridian
✔ Challenges that brick-and-mortar retail spaces face
✔ How workforce management technology makes an impact on brick-and-mortar stores
✔ Why engagement is important
✔ What Ceridian is thinking about the future of engagement
✔ Tools that retailers employ to manage their workforce
✔ Customers that John has worked with to improve the in-store performance of employees
✔ Guidance for retailers on changes that have happened in consumer behavior patterns
✔ Bringing employee engagement and customer experience together
✔ What John is excited about technology-wise
✔ Fun things to do in Atlanta
Resources:
John Orr
Ceridian
QUOTES: “We span all sectors of retail, and in our vernacular, retail includes hospitality.”
“I think they buy the technology and the platform and they stay for the service.”
“We’re all trying to do one-to-one marketing with our customers, and their experience. The same holds true for the employees.”
Footwear can fit better and feel better, and Volumental is proving it. Today’s episode features Alper Aydemir, the CEO and co-founder of Volumental. Listen in to hear more about what Volumental does and what the role of Volumental and similar technology is in the future of retail. In today’s episode, Alper discusses what his typical clients are like, how the company’s tech works with the client, and what technology retailers should be thinking about for the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Alper’s history with Volumental
✔ Why Alper started his own company
✔ What Volumental is all about
✔ Who Volumental’s typical clients are
✔ How Volumental’s tech works with its clients
✔ Whether there’s more interest in Volumental’s product now
✔ Whether Alper is seeing a change in consumer behaviors
✔ Why in-location experiences matter
✔ Alper’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ What retailers need to be thinking about on the technology side
Resources:
Alper Aydemir
Volumental
QUOTES: “One thing that has happened throughout last year is we made something like 8 years’ worth of progress in e-commerce in 8 months.”
“It doesn’t cut it anymore to just have a picture and a size dropdown. Everyone has that.”
“You own your own body data and how things fit you, and you’ll be able to carry that from place to place and get the best experience.”
What differentiates a luxury brand from other types of brands, and what do luxury brands need to do in order to drive value and keep on thriving, even during an event like a pandemic? That’s what you’ll hear about today from Tony Drockton, Founder and Chief Cheerleader at Hammitt, a company that sells luxury purses and bags. Listen in to hear what Tony has to say about value drivers, customer experiences, and what wholesale brands should be doing if they want to transition to selling directly to the customer.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Tony’s background
✔ What Hammitt is all about
✔ Value drivers that are important to the Hammitt bag
✔ Changes Hammit had to make during the pandemic to reach customers
✔ What kind of experience customers have at Hammitt
✔ Suggestions for wholesale brands
✔ How Tony looks at the mix of distribution
✔ New store locations because of the pandemic
✔ Tools that will be important for brands to implement
✔ Tony’s favorite places in Hermosa Beach
Resources:
Tony Drockton
Hammitt
QUOTES: “The customers like to say that Hammitt is the most functional luxury bag they carry.”
“I believe the luxury category requires that human touch. That one-on-one.”
“Bad retail has always been dead.”
Resale has many differences from other types of retail. What gets the retail customer in the store? What keeps them coming back? And with their business model, how seriously may they be affected by an event like a pandemic? That’s what you’ll hear today from Kate Paynter, a franchise owner who had to close all of her stores for eight weeks at the beginning of COVID. Hear how they operated, how they survived the shutdown, and how they came back in today’s episode.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Kate’s trajectory in business
✔ How much has changed about the customer during COVID
✔ How Kate decided to open another store
✔ What’s changed for the store during the pandemic
✔ What changes Kate had to make to sustain things during COVID
✔ Kate’s thoughts about the growth of the clothing resale business over the past few years
✔ Technology trends for the industry
✔ Whether anything has changed about the way they take in product
✔ How Kate keeps employees loyal
✔ Technologies that Kate wants to see integrated into the store
✔ Advice for entrepreneurs who want to grow
✔ What Kate has learned over the past year
✔ Where people should visit in Cincinnati
Resources:
Kate Finger Paynter
QUOTES: “Our customer loves the hunt.”
“We can see a customer from newborn all the way up to graduating college.”
“We have a big reason for customers to want to walk into our store and that’s because we’re going to pay them cash.”
Buying shoes can be a treat if you have the right shoe-buying experience. Today’s guest, Jared Margolis of Payless, wants to bring a clean, attractive, omnichannel experience to the shoppers that come to Payless, both in the US and internationally. Listen in to hear what Jared has to say about why he joined payless, what he thinks is important when it comes to omnichannel, and what kind of changes his company is making to the in-store experience.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Jared’s background
✔ Why Jared joined Payless
✔ How Jared approached his task
✔ What’s important to Jared when he talks about omnichannel
✔ What the company is trying to figure out before scaling again
✔ Whether there’s a focus on how consumer behavior has changed
✔ Changes to the in-location experience
✔ Great experiences Jared has seen in-location
✔ Favorite stores that Jared likes to shop in
✔ Advice for brands that want to reinvent themselves
✔ Jared’s favorite technology for on-location experiences
✔ Jared’s predictions on in-store experiences post-pandemic
✔ How inventory changes based on location
✔ Fun things to do in Miami
Resources:
Jared Margolis
QUOTES: “Having this blank canvas in America, we still have some great momentum coming in from our international business.”
“The brick and click is just critical. You can’t do one without the other, especially in the shoe business.”
“The vision that we have here at Payless is really to focus on being part of the community.”
Even if a value-driver seems obvious, businesses might still miss it. Today’s guest mentions a few seemingly obvious things, like providing basic needs and understanding the consumer, that some brands still struggle to get right. Jeremy Goldman is a Principal Analyst at Insider Intelligence, and in today’s episode, he discusses value-drivers he’s seen over the past few years, frameworks for building a memorable brick-and-mortar experience, and how to encourage people to come back to the location to shop.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Jeremy’s career
✔ What Insider Intelligence is all about
✔ Jeremy’s podcast and its focus
✔ The consumer behavior changes and value drivers that Jeremy has seen over the past few years
✔ What experience means to Jeremy and how to create one
✔ Why the in-location experience matters
✔ Jeremy’s favorite brands
✔ Frameworks for building a brick-and-mortar experience
✔ Creating a memorable experience online
✔ How to encourage people to come back for an in-store shopping experience
✔ Technology that was adopted faster than Jeremy expected
✔ Jeremy’s comedy shows and things he wants people to see in New York
Resources:
Jeremy Goldman
QUOTES: “Animals like to see each other in person versus through screens.”
“It turns out that there’s data that shows that having a good experience in one channel, like brick and mortar, can have a halo effect so that then people start to buy more from you online.”
“COVID was the impetus for me to realize that something was the superior experience. I think that’s what a lot of people are finding.”
What is digitization and why is it so important right now? That’s one of the subjects that today’s guest talks about. Dustin Jones is the founder and CEO of the Unified Commerce Group, and he joins the podcast today to give his perspective on brick-and-mortar retail as a buyer. Listen in to hear what Dustin has to say about his acquisition of Frank and Oak, how to define a next-generation retail brand, and how to scale globally.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Dustin’s background
✔ What enticed Dustin to acquire Frank and Oak
✔ What defines a next-generation retail brand
✔ What Dustin defines as digitization
✔ Advice Dustin gives to retailers to think about their brick-and-mortar side or their digital side
✔ How to scale globally
✔ Dustin’s favorite locations for customer experiences
✔ Why Dustin believes in physical retail
✔ Favorite places in Hong Kong
Resources:
Dustin Jones
QUOTES: “We believe that the future of retail is brands that are digitized and direct.”
“I believe that the next generation of brands are going to be all about being purpose-driven.”
“How you think about, as an owner, connecting yourself digitally to your community is really important.”
Post-pandemic, is a location still as important as it used to be in retail real estate? And how can a retailer get the location that they need in order to make their venture a success? Today’s episode features an interview with Bart Waldeck of Tango Analytics. He discusses what Tango does and the types of clients they attract, how their software can help clients, and what the role of the brick-and-mortar store is going forward.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Tango does
✔ The types of clients that use Tango
✔ How the software helps enable retailers to procure a location
✔ How COVID has changed or affected consumer behavior
✔ The role of the store going forward
✔ How retailers can use technology to connect with their customers better
✔ Whether location is as important as it used to be
✔ How to integrate local locations to a successful online business
✔ Brands Bart enjoys shopping with
✔ Fun things that Bart likes about Chicago
Resources:
Bart Waldeck
QUOTES: “We provide the data and analytics that help them understand what’s a good going rental rate within the market itself.”
“I’d say lastly, probably, omnichannel is finally here.”
“In all the different permutations of how you can buy things today and receive them, the store is going to be checking two out of three of those boxes most of the time.”
Western is an interesting niche for a brand. It is a niche, but it is also a niche that a large part of the population participates in, so there’s a lot of opportunities there. Today’s guest is Paul Hedrick, founder of Tecovas, a Western brand. Listen in to the episode to hear Paul talk about what his brand is all about, how he grew his physical locations quickly, and how to make an accessible luxury product.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ How Paul founded Tecovas
✔ What the Tecovas brand is all about
✔ The process involved in making boots
✔ How many stores Tecovas has
✔ How Paul managed to grow his stores so quickly
✔ How Paul picked locations
✔ The key elements that make Tecovas unique
✔ How to make a luxury product that’s accessible
✔ Brands that Paul admires
✔ Advice for companies who want to know what to put in the store location
✔ What Paul believes is the power of data technology
✔ Best things to do in Austin
Resources:
Paul Hedrick
QUOTES: “Our goal is really to be the most beloved Western brand in the world.”
“I would say that the overarching element is hospitality.”
“A brand with the most friends wins.”
If you aren’t too familiar with it, you might think that appointment-based shopping only recently blossomed because of the pandemic, but today’s guest says that appointment-based shopping had proved itself long before the emergence of COVID-19.
Listen in to today’s episode to hear John Federman, CEO of JRNI, a company that helps retailers create and change their customer’s experience with appointment-based services. John discusses what his customers are looking for, why in-person experiences are so important, and why smaller retailers might have an advantage right now.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What JRNI is all about
✔ A typical customer and how they use JRNI
✔ What the customers who use JRNI can achieve long-term
✔ Changes that John has noticed in consumer behavior
✔ Why in-person experiences matter
✔ In-store experiences that John has enjoyed
✔ Advice for smaller retailers
✔ Technologies that have grown over the past few years
✔ Technology that will shape the future of brick and mortar
✔ What appointment-based shopping does for retailers
✔ What makes an in-location experience great
✔ What John would recommend seeing in Bostons
Resources:
John Federman
QUOTES: “There’s always a mix between need and want with a consumer.”
“At the end of the day, shopping at some level is a visceral, emotional experience.”
“Every vertical needs to make their business more efficient.”
How has the pandemic affected the investors that retail stores need? Today’s guest works with retail investors and has insight into the issue. Gabriella Santaniello is the Founder and CEO of A Line Partners, a retail research firm. Gabriella is a retail industry expert herself with years of experience in the field. Listen in to today’s episode to hear more about A Line Partners and what they do and to find out what Gabriella thinks about changes due to COVID, how retailers could improve in-store experiences and what trends she’s seeing in 2021.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What A Line Partners does
✔ What firms hire A Line Partners for
✔ How it was working for notable brands before A Line Partners
✔ How things have changed through the COVID days
✔ What changes Gabriella thinks are going to stick post-COVID
✔ Whether Gabriella’s research provides an edge to investors
✔ Guidance Gabriella would give retailers on in-store experiences
✔ What Gabriella looks for in changing a store
✔ Gabriella’s favorite retail store
✔ How customers value authenticity
✔ Trends Gabriella is seeing for 2021
✔ What Gabriella wants to see in stores
Resources:
Gabriella Santaniello
QUOTES: “Retailers now are having so many issues with inventory.”
“If you’re running lean inventory levels, you might as well send it to the stores because you’re going to fulfill online from the stores.”
“Authenticity’s a big deal. And they know when you’re not being authentic.”
What’s it like to try to run a mall during the height of the COVID pandemic and lockdowns? Today’s guest knows. Marina Satoafaiga is the Marketing and Business Development Manager at The Shops at Montebello and she has a lot to say about how the community around the Shops at Montebello was affected by the pandemic and the changes since, and how the changes in the community affected retailers.
Listen to Marina talk about how to connect and engage with shoppers during a pandemic, interactions that are coming back now that restrictions are easing, and consumer behavior changes that will stick around post-pandemic.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Marina’s role and what her day-to-day looks like
✔ What it’s like managing a shopping mall during COVID
✔ What Marina did to connect with customers as the pandemic began
✔ Interactions that went away during COVID that are coming back now
✔ Consumer behaviors that are going to stay post-COVID
✔ Marina’s example of a consumer experience
✔ Marina’s favorite experience
✔ Technologies that have been adopted at the Shops at Montebello
✔ Foreshadowing the future of retail
✔ Marina’s advice for retailers
✔ Where Marina recommends going in Southern California
Resources:
Marina Satoafaiga
QUOTES: “Like any crisis or any pandemic, the communication departments are really the ones leading the way.”
“Our center’s really a conduit for community.”
“For me, and I keep saying it in this podcast, community has always been my favorite.”
A bed is a really personal purchase. It’s something that you touch and feel every day. So how do bed sales work when people don’t want to go to the store? Today’s guest is Angela Gearhart, the Vice President of brand experience at Sleep Number. Listen to today’s interview to hear about what Angela’s thinking about innovation now, how consumer behavior and purchasing decisions have changed, and what changes Sleep Number has made in the store experience due to COVID.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Angela’s background and role at Sleep Number
✔ Angela’s thoughts about the future of innovation
✔ Biggest changes Angela’s seen in consumer behavior patterns
✔ How purchasing decisions have changed
✔ Whether recent consumer behavior changes will stick
✔ Changes Sleep Number has made in the store experience since the pandemic
✔ Other brands with experiences that Angela appreciates
✔ Advice Angela would give to smaller retailers about starting to create a good brand experience
✔ Whether experiences are meaningful or just a buzzword
✔ Future technologies that stand out to Angela
✔ What to do in Minneapolis
Resources:
Angela Gearhart
QUOTES: “I think it’s a really a great time for innovation.”
“As we shift hopefully out of this soon, retailers will need to think about how to engage consumers and really give them a good reason to leave their house.”
“From a retail perspective, those consumer exchanges are not going to change. They’re not going back. The world has changed.”
How has the pandemic affected design problems for brands? Today’s guest, associate design practice, and retail market leader at Bergmeyer, Eric Kuhn, can explain. Listen to today’s episode to hear Eric talk about his role at Bergmeyer, how the design process at his company changed when COVID hit, and how retailers can better manage crowds in a COVID and post-COVID world from a design perspective.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Eric’s role in his company
✔ What Bergmeyer does
✔ The types of clients Eric works with
✔ How the design process changed when COVID hit
✔ How brick-and-mortar retailers can better manage crowds from a design perspective
✔ Walmart’s new store concept
✔ What’s changed or accelerated due to COVID
✔ Technologies that were adopted faster than Eric expected
✔ Changes that we’ll see in stores in the future
✔ Places Eric recommends visiting in Boston
Resources:
Eric Kuhn
QUOTES: “In our retail segment, we could work with anywhere from Claire to Circle K, and lots of different brands in-between.”
“I think what we have to do is start thinking about these alternative product delivery solutions.”
“If you think about a customer going to Walmart, it’s about fulfillment.”
How are e-commerce and in-store experience complementary, and how has the pandemic affected that, both for brick and mortar-heavy brands and e-commerce-heavy brands? Today’s guest, Senior Director of Consulting and Retail Expert for The Sound, Grace Gan, has some ideas about the subject. Listen to today’s episode to hear what Grace has to say about the problems her company solves for brands, how COVID has altered their priorities, and what changes she expects to see in the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Grace does at The Sound
✔ Problems that brands using The Sound are trying to solve
✔ How COVID has changed priorities for brands
✔ Whether Grace’s clients are trying to design more e-commerce strategies right now or more store-centric transactions
✔ Changes that Grace expects to see continue post-pandemic
✔ The role of the physical store in the near future
✔ E-commerce brands thinking about creating complementary brick and mortar locations
✔ Great in-store experiences Grace has seen
✔ Fun things in New York that Grace enjoys
Resources:
Grace Gan
QUOTES: “They want to ensure that every single person who does make it in to the store is going to find what it is that they need, have a great experience, and walk out, hopefully, with a purchase.”
“You’ve gotta think about both aspects as being complementary and wanting to make sure that you’re not just thinking about maximizing conversion when you’re in-store, but maximizing it across the entire decision journey.”
“COVID really only acted as an accelerant that squeezed them even further and pushed them to really think about what are they going to do and what are they going to think about next.”
Liquor stores aren’t one of the things that most people think of when they think of shopping online – including liquor store retailers themselves! At least, that was true until the pandemic. With recent events in mind, liquor stores, like everything else, really need an online presence. And today’s guest is ahead of his time as the head of a company that’s been helping liquor retailers gather and use data for several years now. Listen in to hear Mike Provance, founder and president of 3×3, discuss how brands and liquor retailers use his services, what omnichannel means for liquor retailers, and what advice Mike has for independent liquor retailers during this time.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What got Mike started with 3×3
✔ How Mike’s business works with clients
✔ How Mike uses data
✔ The customer engagement platform that brands and retailers use
✔ Changes Mike has seen to consumer behavior
✔ Use cases that exemplify how transaction data is collected and used
✔ What Mike asks retailers to focus on
✔ How Mike’s company looks at omnichannel
✔ Advice Mike has for independent alcohol retailers
✔ An impressive in-store experience that Mike has seen
✔ Technologies that have been adopted at a faster pace than Mike expected
✔ What liquor stores need in the future
✔ Actionable advice for liquor stores
✔ What Mike recommends doing and seeing in North Carolina
Resources:
Mike Provance
QUOTES: “Even within a chain of stores, it can vary based on the demographics around the store.”
“What occurred though, was that they put in these systems to handle the transactions online, but didn’t give a lot of thought to well, how do I make sure my customer shows up there?”
“I think that the biggest thing is really to look at your business from the customer point of view.”
If you’re wondering how to combine your online and brick-and-mortar store experiences, are you asking the right questions? Or should you be thinking about how to ensure that your brick-and-mortar locations have something to offer that just can’t be had online?
Today’s guest is Chuck Steelman of Trademark Property Company. Listen in to hear about how his company uses technology to communicate with customers, what he’s seeing changed and overcome since the pandemic, and what guidance he would give to retailers.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Chuck’s career and experience in fashion and retail
✔ What Chuck’s day-to-day looks like
✔ Challenges that Chuck’s tenants have seen since the pandemic started
✔ COVID-related changes that will stick post-pandemic
✔ What guidance Chuck would give smaller retailers
✔ Favorite store experiences Chuck has seen
✔ What larger companies are doing to bring in traffic
✔ Technologies that were adopted faster than Chuck expected
✔ The importance of putting customers first
✔ Fun things to visit in Dallas
Resources:
Chuck Steelman
QUOTES: “Number one, the biggest challenge that we have when it comes to event planning is crowd control.”
“I think it’s all about the relationship. You have to know who your customer is. You have to know their name. You have to know about their life.”
“When you have that one on one time, it does allow that customer to feel special, to feel important.”
What rules have changed since the start of the pandemic, and how are retailers addressing the current situation while also keeping their eyes on future goals? Today’s guest is Bilal Soylu, the founder of the company XcooBee. Listen in to hear Bilal explain what his company does and how his clients use the information they get from XcooBee. You’ll hear what Bilal has to say about the use cases for his services, the goals that retailers set for themselves, and what Bilal sees happening in the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ How Bilal ended up creating XcooBee
✔ What XcooBee provides for clients
✔ XccoBee’s use case for restaurants
✔ What Bilal reminds companies to think about when delivering an in-store experience
✔ Whether the rules of working with a sales associate have changed
✔ Goals that retailers have
✔ Favorite in-store experiences that Bilal has had
✔ Technologies that have been adopted at a faster pace than expected
✔ What the future holds
✔ How clients can quantify data
✔ Bilal’s favorite places to go in his area
Resources:
Bilal Soylu
QUOTES: “The unfortunate thing is when we’re looking at trends and studies and so forth, not everyone behaves the same way.”
“We talk in omnichannel in terms of communication, we’re not just talking phone. We really need to look at retail experience from any channel that the customer wishes to engage with you.”
“When I look at what is memorable, those were normally the memorable experiences – where people knew me, the understood what I was wanting to do without necessarily having to be prying.”
Data about what’s happening with a brand or in a retail store is always useful. And if retailers didn’t understand how important real time information was before the pandemic, they certainly do now. Today’s guest founded a business meant to help retailers and brands gather and use real-time shopper data. Keith is the CEO and Founder of Retail Aware. Listen in to today’s episode to hear what Keith has to say about the problem that his business solves, what decisions clients make with the data he provides, and what’s changed since the pandemic began.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ How Keith got started with Retail Aware
✔ The problem that Retail Aware solves
✔ The typical type of client that Keith’s company works with
✔ Business intelligence as a sensor
✔ How typical implementation that allows clients to get data work
✔ Decisions that Keith sees retailers make with real-time data
✔ The evolution of in-store data gaps in recent years
✔ What Keith is counseling his clients about post-pandemic
✔ Technologies that Keith has seen adopted faster than expected
✔ Whether AI will have the biggest impact on shopping behavior
✔ Spots in Omaha that Keith recommends visiting
Resources:
Keith Fix
QUOTES: “Retail Aware was kind of born out of a need that I encountered in my previous lifetime.”
“We cut our teeth in the grocery space.”
“I think the biggest thing is the pandemic didn’t change the course of everything. What happened is it accelerated a lot of the trends we were already seeing.”
Real estate is an important factor for brick and mortar retail businesses – they can’t do their work without it. Today’s guest is the EVP of real estate at Baceline investments in Colorado. Listen in to hear Dusty talk about the local industry and how it’s influenced by retail right now, the marketing program that tenants of Dusty’s company use, and marketing advice for brick and mortar businesses struggling in the pandemic.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Dusty’s role at Baceline Investments
✔ What got Dusty involved with Baceline
✔ What the journey has been like for Dusty’s company during COVID
✔ The role the local industry plays in retail right now
✔ What the in-store experience has been like
✔ Trends that Dusty has seen altered due to the pandemic
✔ Dusty’s marketing program for tenants
✔ Marketing advice for brick and mortar business in respect to the pandemic
✔ Common leasing related challenges that tenants experience
✔ Technology changes that are game-changers for the retail side
✔ What the future looks like to Dusty
✔ Dusty’s favorite spots in Colorado
Resources:
Dusty Batsell
QUOTES: “We lost 20 tenants, but since that period we’ve been able to gain – I want to say it’s 25 tenants.”
“For the most part, it seems that people are staying closer to home.”
“It’s a scary world, and it can be expensive if you’re a small business and you have the resources to do it.”
What do your clothes say to the world, and why is important to know that? Today’s guest has answers. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Magdy Kotb of The Clothing Coach in San Francisco. Magdy grew up in the suit business and takes the role of a clothier seriously. In today’s episode, you’ll hear what Magdy has to say about his career trajectory, how COVID has affected his business, and how Magdy finds clients.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Magdy’s company and how he got started
✔ A typical client of The Clothing Coach
✔ Magdy’s trajectory between starting in sales and opening his company
✔ What Magdy saw as far as clients and growth pre-COVID
✔ Magdy’s thoughts on in-person retail shopping post-COVID
✔ What’s changed for Magdy’s business since the start of COVID
✔ What’s kept Magdy going through the difficult times
✔ What Magdy’s goal is for The Clothing Coach
✔ How Magdy is getting clients these days
✔ Magdy’s advice for frustrated entrepreneurs
✔ Magdy’s favorite brands in San Francisco
✔ Feedback that Magdy gives back to other entrepreneurs
✔ Whether Magdy’s focus and goals are local or broader than that
Resources:
Magdy Kobt
The Clothing Coach
The Clothing Coach on Instagram
Magdy on Instagram
QUOTES: “Really we kind of tie in much more about nonverbal communication, what the clothing represents, what it means, and really we help clients make a statement without saying a single word.”
“The real shift is partly due to the death of the clothier, at least in my industry.”
“The Clothing Coach really, it’s to save the world one gentleman at a time.”
Today’s guest has a lot to say about how brands can accelerate and grow, even during a pandemic. Amish Tolia is the Founder and co-CEO of Leap, a company that works with a variety of different brands. This gives Amish a ringside seat to how brands and customers are changing and adapting to the current circumstances and where they might go in the future. Listen in to hear what Amish has to say about why he’s seen acceleration during the pandemic, what changes he’s seen in customer behavior, and how his company helps other brands grow.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Leap does
✔ How Amish got started with Leap
✔ Why Amish has seen acceleration during the pandemic
✔ What the bulk of Amish’s clients look like
✔ What Leap provides back to brands
✔ The changes Amish has seen in customer behavior
✔ What to do and not do when creating an omnichannel experience
✔ Amazing in-store experiences Amish has seen
✔ Technologies that Amish saw being created faster than expected
✔ What technology will have the biggest impact on shaping the future of brick and mortar retail
✔ Biggest hurdles or pain points that prevent brands from growing
✔ Why brands should use a service Like Leap to grow
✔ Amish’s favorite stores in the New York area
Resources:
Amish Tolia
QUOTES: “Through the pandemic, post-pandemic, you can say we are continuing to grow, we’re adding new locations and brands every single week.”
“If you’re a brand on the Leap platform, you very much get a full suite of both qualitative and quantitative analytics and insights that you can then leverage to fuel your business.”
“We probably catch ourselves working a bit more than we used to because the commute times are gone or being able to go out with friends to restaurants, those things are changing.”
What do retailers need to do to successfully blend their online and offline experiences? How will mobile solutions factor into the retail stores of the future? Today’s guest is Tim Kane, retail solutions consultant at Zebra Technologies, and he joins the podcast today to discuss the changes that are happening in the retail space. Listen in to hear what Tim has to say about changes that retailers should make as customers come back to stores post-pandemic, how retailers make decisions about brick and mortar solutions, and how retailers can best utilize labor.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Zebra Technologies is all about
✔ Biggest changes that Tim has seen in customer behavior
✔ Whether online shopping behavior will stay the same or change post-pandemic
✔ Changes that retailers should make as customers come back to the stores
✔ General advice to retailers for combining online and offline experiences
✔ Example of a retailer experience that Tim really likes
✔ Three characteristics of customer profile that represents today’s brick and mortar retail store
✔ How to analyze and make a decision about brick and mortar solutions
✔ What retailers should be thinking about in their locations of the future
✔ Technologies that were adopted faster than Tim expected
✔ How retailers can best utilize labor
✔ Places Tim recommends visiting in Boston
Resources:
Tim Kane
QUOTES: “I think that we’re going to see a significant stickiness to online – if that’s going to end up being 20%, 25%, who knows – but that still means 75% of the shoppers are going to go to stores.”
“The advice that we try to give them is be as consistent as you can be. So try to make sure that your brand is represented online the same way you would want to have it represented when you get to the store.”
“If you go to the store a couple of times and you don’t find your product, you’ll find another store, or you’ll just go online for that product going forward.”
Grocery shopping is vital to consumers even when other types of retail aren’t as vital, such as during a pandemic. Today’s guest works with a number of retail brands that are found in grocery stores. Hugh Holman is the CEO of Observa, a company that delivers in-store analytics in real-time to optimize the supply chain as well as the shopper experience. Listen in to hear what Hugh has to say about how Observa works, what long and short-term changes Hugh has seen in shopper behavior, and what his findings say about how brands position themselves and engage with customers.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What led Hugh to start his company
✔ How Observa works
✔ Changes in customer behavior during the pandemic
✔ Long term changes in consumer behavior
✔ Experience Hugh has seen in stores that he likes
✔ What’s changed to make grocery stores more engaging to customers
✔ Findings of what brands engage with customers and how they do it
✔ Key takeaways for how brands position themselves
✔ Technologies that are being adopted at a faster pace than expected
✔ What the future looks like for technologies in grocery
✔ How grocery chains can use data to market to more people
✔ What Hugh recommends visiting in Seattle
Resources:
Hugh Holman
QUOTES: “We use artificial intelligence, then, to digitize the photos.”
“We merge with other data to deliver rich insights to our clients.”
“The public has been trained at least some percentage and they now know how to order online.”
Designing a brand is difficult enough, and in today’s environment, many retailers are trying to find ways to combine their offline and online brands to create one seamless experience. Today’s guest is hear to talk about that. M.J. Munsell is the Chief Creative Officer at MG2, a global architecture, design, strategy, and branding studio. Listen in to hear M.J. discuss her role at MG2, the creative process of building a brand process, and what retailers should be doing in preparation for the holiday season.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What MG2 does
✔ M.J.’s role at MG2
✔ What goes into the creative process of building a process for a brand
✔ Changes that M.J. has seen in customer behavior
✔ Whether the pandemic-related changes are temporary or permanent
✔ What retailers need to do to prepare for the holiday season and beyond
✔ Areas that retailers get wrong when combining online and offline
✔ Holistic things to look for in building in-store experiences
✔ M.J.’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ Technologies that are being adopted faster than M.J. expected
✔ Fun things to do in Seattle
Resources:
M.J. Munsell
QUOTES: “I read 45% of Boomers are shopping more online.”
“One of the trends that we’re looking at is supporting local businesses.”
“The experience in-store, particularly at the front of the store, is kind of in flux.”
If you’re in retail, you know how important it is to have the right data. Today’s guest is in the business of collecting and finding use cases for data. Ethan Chernofsky is the VP of Marketing for Placer.ai, a location analytics company. In today’s episode, Ethan explains in detail what his company does and how retailers use the data that Placer works with. Listen in to hear what Ethan has to say about use cases for Placer’s services, how use cases have changed during the pandemic, and what retail should do and not do to create a good omnichannel experience.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Placer.ai does
✔ How Placer’s technology works
✔ Use cases for Placer’s services
✔ Whether use cases have changed during COVID
✔ What common operators need to do to prepare for the future
✔ What retailers should avoid doing right now
✔ Things to take note of when thinking about an omnichannel experience
✔ Retailers that have done the online/offline experience really well
✔ Technologies that are revolutionizing retail
✔ Technologies that were adapted faster than Ethan expected
✔ Technologies that will have the biggest impact on shaping the future
✔ Fun spots to visit in Tel Aviv
Resources:
Ethan Chernofsky
QUOTES: “The cool thing about data is it’s essentially an endless well of information. It’s just, can you figure out the right questions to ask?”
“When you think of the world of ecommerce and online distribution, the cheat code that that channel had was the ability to very rapidly optimize and maximize output.”
“Be wary of the extreme narratives.”
During a pandemic, you find out what businesses are truly essential. It’s perhaps not surprising that the businesses that power everything from medical devices to cars to household electronics are very much essential during such a complicated time. Today’s guest is Scott Williams, the CEO of Batteries Plus. Listen to the episode to find out what Scott has to say about the biggest changes to his business, how those changes varied from state to state, and what retailers should be doing as the pandemic comes to an end.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Batteries Plus is all about
✔ How Scott got started with Batteries Plus
✔ Biggest changes Scott has seen since the beginning of the year
✔ Trends that Scott saw across the US
✔ Changes that Scott thinks will stick or evolve
✔ Changes outside of curbside that Batteries Plus has made
✔ Advice for mid-stage operators trying to survive and thrive
✔ What retailers should avoid doing as they come out of the pandemic
✔ Approaches to education in the in-store experience
✔ One of Scott’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ Technologies that are being adopted faster than expected
✔ Technologies that will have the biggest impact on brick and mortar in the future
✔ Scott’s advice for retailers
✔ What to check out in Milwaukee
Resources:
Scott Williams
QUOTES: “Prior to the pandemic, we didn’t actively use the word “essential”. But certainly, when everything happened and the shelter-in-place went in, we quickly learned how essential our products were.”
“During that time, we actually had a national shortage on batteries that go into Power Wheels.”
“We’ve found that our immediacy needs have gone very high.”
If you’re looking for a way to present your brand to the world in a new and different way, today’s guest may be able to help. Sandra Duff is the Senior Vice President of Strategy Activation & Operations at Jackman Reinvents, and she joins the podcast today to talk about her expertise in brands, consumers, and how the retail space is changing. Listen in to hear what Sandra has to say about what her workday looks like, what changes Sandra has seen in consumer behavior, and what approaches Jackman takes to help their customers.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Jackman does
✔ Examples of brands Jackman works with
✔ What Sandra’s day to day work looks like
✔ The biggest changes Sandra has seen in consumer behavior
✔ How many of the changes Sandra thinks will stick
✔ Whether things like curbside pickup and delivery will decrease from current levels even if they stay elevated from pre-COVID levels
✔ What approaches Jackman takes to helping customers
✔ Sandra’s advice to smaller operators
✔ How much personalization matters going forward
✔ Sandra’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ Key takeaways for other retailers
✔ Sandra’s thoughts on the future of brick and mortar
✔ Places Sandra recommends in Ontario
Resources:
Sandra Duff
QUOTES: “I think it might be one of the trends that we think might actually stick around, because people have realized “I can do this stuff,” and they’re making choices differently as a result of that.”
“When I think about how some retailers that are really small have now started to do things like delivery on their own without a third-party service, I just think that’s so interesting.”
“I think we’re going to keep expecting this pace of innovation.”
How can retailers make shopping more convenient than ever before for their customers? Stephan Schambach, founder and CEO of NewStore, has some ideas. Listen to today’s episode to hear Stephan talk about the kinds of problems NewStore solves for retailers, why stores can do without traditional point of sale systems, and the trends that Stephan is seeing in retail today.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ Stephan’s background
✔ The differences between locations that do and don’t have NewStore
✔ How Stephan got excited about NewStore and the problems it solves
✔ Working without a traditional point of sale system
✔ The biggest changes Stephan has seen in customer behavior pre-COVID
✔ The biggest changes Stephan has seen in customer behavior during COVID
✔ Whether the trends Stephan is seeing are temporary or permanent
✔ Whether we’re going to see a trend of smaller stores and fewer big department stores
✔ The best in-store experiences Stephan has seen
✔ Stephan’s favorite places to shop
✔ Key takeaways for retailers who are considering their strategies
✔ Technologies that were adopted faster than Stephan expected
✔ Fun recommendations for Boston
Resources:
Stephan Schambach
QUOTES: “The clever thing about the eCommerce piece is that the item doesn’t necessarily have to come from the website.”
“I think we will basically, in particular for vertically integrated brands, there will be no cash, there will be no terminals, no printers required.”
“I think cash is basically outdated.”
How can retailers help their customers answer questions about their products when customers can’t touch or pick up the product in person? Today’s guest has answers. Jon Cheney is the CEO and founder of Seek, a company that helps retailers provide customers with visualization options through 3-D technology. Listen in to hear what Jon has to say about how retailers use Seek’s technology, how Seek helps them get returns, and how his technology can both help eCommerce retailers and supplement in-store experiences.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
✔ What Seek is all about
✔ How a typical retailer uses Seek’s technology
✔ How retailers get returns with Seek
✔ Whether Seek’s technology is mainly for bigger brands or smaller brands
✔ Changes in customer behavior during the pandemic
✔ How travel is going to respond
✔ Long-term changes in retail
✔ How Jon thinks his technology can supplement the indoor experience
✔ Jon’s favorite in-store experiences
✔ Takeaways for retailers
✔ Technologies that have been adopted at a faster pace than Jon expected
✔ The biggest technology that retailers will need to adopt
✔ Areas to check out in Utah
Resources:
Jon Cheney
Seek
QUOTES: “Typically, we’re helping retailers sell their products.”
“Brands that are hoping it goes back to normal in retail might be disappointed.”
“Don’t be afraid of change. I mean change is the only constant I’ve found in life.”
How are customer behaviors changing during the COVID-19 pandemic? Can brands see a change in the types of products customers want in the current environment? That’s one of the topics that Joe Guith tackles in today’s podcast.
Joe is the president of McAlister’s Deli, a large regional brand. Listen in to hear what Joe has to say about his role in the company, how the company has adapted during the pandemic, and what Joe thinks will shape the restaurants of the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What McAlister’s Deli is and what Joe’s role is there ✔ How McAlister’s as adjusted to the pandemic ✔ How many of the changes due to the pandemic will stick ✔ Consumer and customer behaviors that have accelerated during the pandemic ✔ Investments Joe is thinking of making in the business ✔ How McAlister’s handles adapting to local market demands ✔ Things that Joe thinks will shape the restaurants of the future ✔ Automation that will impact the industry ✔ How McAlister’s has been staying in contact with customers ✔ Types of food that are more prone to be ordered curbside ✔ Advice Joe would give other restaurant operators ✔ Fun brands in Atlanta that Joe recommends
Resources:
Joe Guith McAlister’s Deli
QUOTES: “As relates to our business, I do believe that digital is easier. It’s more convenient.”
“There’s definitely been a surge in the indulgent category, whether that be sandwiches or definitely in the dessert category.”
“If your brand promise or your business value or experience has been largely predicated on physical, in-person interaction, how are you extending that in a digital world?”
Women of color know that it can be difficult to find the products that they want and need for their hair, and today’s guest, Amaya Smith, saw that need and responded by creating her brick and mortar business, Product Junkie. Amaya envisioned a brick and mortar customer experience from the start. Then COVID-19 happened. Listen to today’s episode to hear Amaya’s story and learn how her business was affected by the pandemic, how she pivoted, and what resources and tips she has for other businesses in the same boat.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What the Product Junkie brand is all about ✔ How Amaya started the brand ✔ How COVID-19 has affected Amaya’s business ✔ What changes Amaya made due to the pandemic ✔ Amaya’s recommendations for other entrepreneurs ✔ New technology that Amaya has implemented over this time period ✔ Trends that Amaya has seen change on the consumer side ✔ Advice for brick and mortar operators during the pandemic ✔ Places that Amaya would recommend visiting in the DC area
Resources:
Amaya Smith Product Junkie
QUOTES: “We really tried to curate a nice mix of brands for customers and also bringing in some unique items and brands you can’t find in other stores is really our big selling point.”
“It was a huge challenge to figure out how to really pivot super super quick with the business.”
“The DIY movement is increasing even more.”
Many small restauranteurs are struggling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but today’s guest shows that it is possible to survive even in a challenging environment. Kraig Torres is the founder and CEO of HopCity Craft Beer and Wine, and he joins the podcast today to talk about his restaurant Boxcar – how he decided to open it, what challenges he faced along the way, and how his company has been faring during the current crisis. Listen in to hear what Kraig has to say about what Boxcar is all about, how COVID-19 affected Kraig’s business, and what changes he’s adopted that are here to stay.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Boxcar is all about ✔ What inspired Kraig to start the company initially ✔ The hurdles Kraig faced growing his company ✔ Things Kraig wishes he’d done differently ✔ How COVID-19 has affected Kraig’s business ✔ What changes Kraig’s restaurants have adopted that he thinks are here to stay ✔ New technologies Kraig has added because of the pandemic ✔ Shifts in how Kraig’s customers interact with the restaurant ✔ What’s different about inside dining in Kraig’s restaurant ✔ How Kraig’s employees feel about the changes ✔ Recommended resources for similar small operations ✔ Technologies that Kraig is thinking about adopting in the future ✔ Tips for restauranters ✔ Kraig’s favorite must-visit locations in the Atlanta area
Resources:
Kraig Torres Boxcar
QUOTES: “I very quickly realized that the beer we were drinking back at home in the 80s maybe wasn’t as good as beer got.”
“The third challenge was, of course, finding that right team and making sure everybody agreed with your vision forward.”
“We have seen our most loyal fans become even more loyal.”
In some cases, business owners have not only changed the way that they do business because of the pandemic, they’ve also had to change what kinds of customers they serve. That’s what today’s guest discovered as his business, which had been primarily in the B to B space, started serving consumers more directly in the midst of the pandemic.
Seth Gordon is the owner and CEO of Comm-Fit Holdings and the Flo Wellness group, and he joins the podcast today to talk about his organization’s experience in the fitness industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and how things in that industry are changing. Listen in to learn about how his company’s consumer service has changed, how the company changed internally, and what trends Seth sees coming in the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Comm-Fit and Flo Wellness do ✔ How Seth moved from sales and investments into fitness ✔ How COVID affected Seth’s business ✔ How the company’s consumer service has changed due to COVID ✔ The changes Seth’s company had to make internally ✔ The most difficult part of COVID-related changes ✔ What resources Sam looked to during the changes ✔ Behavior trends that Sam noticed before COVID ✔ Trends that Seth expects to see over the next few years ✔ Whether the fitness industry will see new demands from consumers in the future ✔ Advice for business owners trying to get back into the groove of their business ✔ Seth’s favorite places to visit in the Dallas area
Resources:
Seth Gordon Comm-Fit Sales@Comm-Fit.com
QUOTES: “But all in all, you know health and wellness is more important than ever.”
“You can look at downcycles or pandemics in one of two ways. You can look at is as “woe is me” or you can look at it as an opportunity to develop and improve your organization.”
“We look at the families of our team members as our extended family.”
What are your company’s core competencies, and how can you use them to get through the pandemic and thrive in the future? That’s what today’s guest joins the podcast to talk about David Wiseman is the co-founder of Little Sesame, a D.C. restaurant specializing in hummus. Listen to the episode to hear David discuss how his restaurants were impacted by the pandemic, what changes his team has made in order to adapt, and where David sees Little Sesame going in the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Little Sesame got started ✔ Little Sesame’s locations ✔ How Little Sesame has been impacted by the pandemic ✔ Changes that Little Sesame has made that David thinks are here to say ✔ David’s plans for Little Sesame’s future ✔ How David transitioned from law into the restaurant world ✔ Where the name Little Sesame came from ✔ David’s future aspirations ✔ Things David’s restaurant has done that other businesses could learn from ✔ David’s advice for other businesses ✔ What David recommends checking out in D.C.
Resources:
David Wiseman Little Sesame
QUOTES: “One of our big primary goals with Little Sesame was to give people kind of an escape. Because when you take warm pita and you’re ripping it into hummus, you can’t really be on your phone.”
“I think a trend that’s really going to be here to stay is how do you meet the customer where they are?”
“We really believe in the power of the chickpea, the power of the shared meal, and it’s something we want to bring to a lot of people.”
COVID-19 has impacted different types of brick and mortar consumer spaces in different ways, but malls, which contain retail spaces, restaurant spaces, and entertainment spaces all in one spot have been affected in multiple different ways at once. How does a big mall handle all of the COVID-related changes and challenges? Today’s guest, Jill Renslow, is the EVP of Business Development at the famous Mall of America. In today’s episode, she discusses generational marketing, new mall trends that have emerged during the pandemic, and what malls might look like during the holiday shopping season.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Jill’s role at Mall of America ✔ What Jill focuses her time on ✔ Experiences that Jill has been most excited about rolling out ✔ Technologies that Jill thinks have been helpful for retail stores and mall operators during COVID-19 ✔ How to improve generational marketing ✔ Early signs of customers being comfortable coming back in ✔ Whether trends like smaller footprint stores will be visible in the Mall of America ✔ Shopper trends that Jill thinks have been most important over the past few years ✔ Guidance that can help operators adopt the right technologies ✔ What Black Friday might look like this year ✔ Whether COVID-era changes will change or revert to the way they were before ✔ Mall of America’s green initiatives ✔ Places in Minnesota that Jill recommends visiting
Resources:
Jill Renslow
QUOTES: “It is a very challenging time, but we also are embracing those changes and understanding that we have to accelerate what we had planned for the next 2-5 years, knowing that that needs to happen now.”
“We’ve been able to really save on labor sources without impeding on the guest experience.”
“As soon as we closed, the first thing we thought about was how are we going to reopen and what do we need to do to prepare for it? And safety is the number-one priority.”
General stores are important to their communities for a lot of reasons, but many have had to adjust quickly in order to stay in business through the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's guest is Ann Cantrell, the owner of Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store. In today's episode, Annie explains how she decided to open a general store in the first place, what happened when the pandemic first hit, and how she thinks that things will change – or not – as things begin to return to normal.
Topics Discussed in Today's Episode: ✔ How Annie ended up opening her own store ✔ When Annie's store officially opened ✔ Annie's initial feelings about shutting down for COVID-19 ✔ Changes Annie made for COVID-19 ✔ What types of products people were looking for as the pandemic went on ✔ The increase that Annie's store saw in online sales ✔ How competition was affected by the pandemic ✔ Whether online sales will be more dominant as things return to normal ✔ New York's workshare program ✔ Resources for businesses in danger of shutting down
Resources:
Ann Cantrell Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store
QUOTES: "I joke that it was ten years before I opened, but it was really, I'd say, longer than that, and my friends and family can attest to that.”
"In social media, specifically Instagram, we communicated often about what we were doing to keep people safe and what products we had.”
"I've always said that puzzles were our secret sauce.”
Is the continuing pandemic holding brands back or helping to push them into the future? Today’s guest is Jake Rouse, co-founder and CEO of the Braxton Brewing Company, a Cincinnati brewing company that bills itself as the Taproom of the Future. In today’s episode, Jake discusses how COVID-19 has affected the brewer, what changes in strategy and technology the company has made as a result of the pandemic, and how those changes will affect the future of his brand and others.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Jake moved from tech to brewing ✔ Why Jake’s brewery calls itself the Taproom of the Future ✔ How COVID-19 has impacted Jake’s business ✔ What changes Jake has had to make over the past few months and what changes he anticipates in the near future ✔ Whether Jake’s brewery is using different technology since the beginning of the pandemic ✔ Resources that Jake would recommend ✔ What changes will remain post-COVID ✔ What growth looks like for Braxton Brewing ✔ Advice for brands who think it’s time to throw in the towel ✔ Where brands should get started ✔ Fun places to visit in Cincinnati
Resources:
Jake Rouse
QUOTES: “We really wanted to blend technology and beer together, because my take on the beer industry is that it was really ripe for disruption.”
“The biggest changes we made were definitely in our marketing.”
“It’s been amazing to see people pivot into a subscription type environment for beer.”
Just like many industries, the fitness industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and people working in the fitness industry have had to get creative in order to stay in business and meet the needs of their customer base. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Stephanie Tieman, founder of CoreStrong. Listen in to hear what Stephanie has to say about how she got started with her business, how she was affected by the pandemic, and what she’s done to keep her business going.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Stephanie got into the fitness industry ✔ How Stephanie started CoreStrong ✔ How COVID-19 has affected CoreStrong ✔ Whether Stephanie will go back on location once things get back to normal ✔ How Stephanie came up with strategies to keep her business alive ✔ How Stephanie has seen others come up with ways to keep their businesses alive ✔ Whether Stephanie plans to grow her business ✔ Stephanie’s advice for others who are struggling and considering closing ✔ How often Stephanie posted workout demos ✔ What Stephanie sees coming for the future ✔ The nutritional element of CoreStrong ✔ Advice for listeners ✔ What Stephanie recommends for visitors to
Resources:
Stephanie Tieman
QUOTES: “If your core ain’t strong, you ain’t strong.”
“We took CoreStrong on the road, which has been pretty awesome.”
“We’ve just got to keep up with the times and see what happens.”
Entertainment experiences that require going out into public spaces have definitely been hit hard by the pandemic. How have they been adjusting, and how have their customers’ behaviors changed in recent weeks and months? Today’s guest is Luisa Woods, the VP of marketing for gaming and entertainment at Delaware North. In today’s episode, she discusses her own day-to-day routines, the factors that draw in customers to online gaming and to brick and mortar gaming facilities, and how to create an omnichannel experience in the gaming space.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Luisa’s day-to-day responsibilities look like ✔ Biggest changes that Luisa has seen in customer behavior ✔ The connection between the draws for online gaming and land-based gaming ✔ What people in the gaming space get wrong when it comes to the omnichannel experience ✔ Whether Luisa thinks that recent changes will be temporary or permanent ✔ How adversity affects people ✔ Luisa’s approach to creating on-location experiences ✔ Luisa’s favorite stores to shop in ✔ Creating experience based on knowledge about customer behavior ✔ Technologies that are being adopted at a faster pace than Luisa expected ✔ Places that Luisa recommends visiting
Resources:
Luisa Woods
QUOTES: “I think that the gaming industry, in particular, is going through unprecedented change.”
“It’s a question of recognizing the right opportunity, the right experience, the right offer to a customer at the right time.”
“I think we’re never going to go backwards. I think that we will go forwards into a new normal.”
Paul Chapuis is the founder and CEO of OnQ Technology. OnQ is a Bay Area retail display company. The company’s location and function put OnQ into the position of needing to continually come up with new, innovative ideas for their clients, which gives Paul a unique perspective on retail. Listen in to today’s episode to hear what Paul has to say about converging in-store and online experiences, the role of the mobile phone in retail, and some key takeaways for retailers working on designing in-store experiences.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Paul’s company does ✔ Biggest changes in consumer behavior Paul’s seen over the last few years ✔ Recent changes that may be adopted at a faster pace than previously ✔ Recommendations for helping retailers converge experiences ✔ The role of the mobile phone ✔ What retailers should avoid doing when creating in-store experiences ✔ Some of Paul’s favorite in-store experiences ✔ Paul’s favorite store to shop in ✔ Key takeaways for retailers designing an in-store experience ✔ Technologies that Paul thinks were adopted faster than expected in the US ✔ Technologies that Paul believes will have the biggest impacts on shopping
Resources:
Paul Chapuis
QUOTES: “Because we’re in the middle of the Bay Area and as a retail display company for those types of customers, we end up being probably the number one display company on the planet that’s pressed to come up with new, interesting, innovative things.”
“We’re seeing it go from just a way to get things from a manufacturer to a person to something that’s just much deeper than that.”
“Whenever you’re doing an interactive experience, you have to figure out how to have that thing know who the person is and be able to follow up.”
Today’s guest is helping brick and mortar retailers transform themselves digitally in order to keep up and thrive in an increasingly online world. Alex Kinnier is the co-founder and CEO of GetUpside, a company that was specifically founded in order to transform physical commerce for the digital world. Listen in to hear what Alex has to say about the changes he’s seeing in consumer behavior, what retailers get wrong when building digital experiences, and what experiences Alex appreciates in his personal favorite brands.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What GetUpside is all about ✔ What made Alex want to start GetUpside ✔ The biggest changes that Alex has seen in consumer behavior ✔ How to use data to reach out ✔ Changes that are long-term vs. changes that will go away once the pandemic is over ✔ What has not changed in restaurants and retail over the last few decades ✔ What retailers get wrong when building digital and offline experiences ✔ Best in-store experiences that Alex has seen ✔ Personal brands that Alex loves because of the experience ✔ How GetUpside is helping to accelerate the digital transformation for its clients ✔ Technologies on the merchant side that are being adopted faster than Alex expected ✔ Best things to do in Maryland
Resources:
Alex Kinnier
QUOTES: “I also value a world where people can gather, physical merchants can thrive.”
“Traffic is down substantially in every brick and mortar business except potentially grocery.”
“For me, my best experiences are the local merchants I work with here in Bethesda.”
It’s not only retail spaces that are undergoing changes at the moment, but also restaurant spaces. Joining the podcast today to talk about both the retail and restaurant space is Sherif Mityas. Sherif is a strategist in the retail and consumer spaces as well as the former Chief Experience Officer for TGIFridays. Listen in to hear what Sherif has to say about changes that he’s seen in consumer behavior, advice for restauranteurs and retailers, and what technologies he’s excited about.
Sherif Mityas former chief experience officer for TGIFridays.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Sherif’s career background ✔ The best retail and restaurant experiences Sherif has seen ✔ The biggest changes Sharif has seen in consumer behavior ✔ Whether Sharif thinks that pandemic related changes are temporary or permanent ✔ How to create a welcoming experience when customers aren’t coming in ✔ What has not changed in restaurants and retail over the last few decades ✔ Tactical advice for restauranteurs and retailers ✔ Restaurant brands that have created great experiences ✔ Technologies that are being adopted at a faster pace than anticipated ✔ Technologies that Sherif is excited aboutretailers in the coming years ✔ Sherif’s thoughts on facial recognition
Resources: Sherif Mityas
QUOTES: “Not a lot of people before this had ever ordered online. They never thought about getting groceries online. And now, that’s exploded.”
“You’re not going to always do curbside. But you might do it once a month, and before you never did it at all.”
“Fulfilling a need is still at the core of the hospitality and retail industry.”
As retail evolves and changes in general and in response to the current moment, it’s important for companies and brands to understand how best to connect with and educate their customers about what they can offer. To talk about the changing approaches in retail today, Sucharita Kodali, Retail Industry Analyst at Forrester joins the podcast today to talk about how retailers can draw customers into brick and mortar locations, how to capture demand signals in-store, and how to bridge the gap between digital and brick-and-mortar experiences.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Sucharita’s history in retail ✔ Why Sucharita was interested in joining an analyst group ✔ What Sucharita has learned from different retail companies ✔ Changes that are likely in the retail world post-pandemic ✔ What retailers can do to draw people back into brick and mortar locations ✔ How to connect with and educate customers more about the brand ✔ Ways for retailers to capture demand signals in-store ✔ How companies can bridge the gap between digital and brick and mortar experiences ✔ What in-store experiences retailers should be mimicking in the coming months and years ✔ What technologies are being adopted faster than expected and will help retailers in the coming years
Resources: Sucharita Kodali
QUOTES: “Short-term, there’s just going to be a lot less buying in categories that are not essential.”
“A lot of it is, let the customer give feedback, let them provide the feedback on what they know.”
“That’s one of the advantages of being behind digitally is that there’s no need to really reinvent the wheel.”
Are retailers in danger of losing their point of view? Are changes that retailers have made because of the coronavirus crisis going to be permanently adopted, or just temporary? These are some of the topics that today’s guest, internationally recognized authority on retail and brand positioning Carol Spieckerman, will discuss in this episode. Listen in to hear what Carol has to say about changes that Carol has seen in client work and consumer behavior, best practices that retailers can implement right away, and which technologies are being quickly adopted or left on the back burner.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Carol helps retailers ✔ Changes that Carol has seen in client work ✔ Biggest changes that Carol has seen in consumer behavior recently ✔ Whether Carol thinks the current changes will be long-term or temporary ✔ What retailers get wrong about omnichannel experiences ✔ Whether online strategies are as strong as in-store strategies ✔ Best practices that retailers can implement today ✔ Best in-store experiences Carol has seen ✔ What smaller brands can learn from larger retailers ✔ How brands can build their ideal customer profile ✔ Technologies that are being adopted faster than Carol anticipated ✔ Whether retailers will need to start adopting artificial intelligence
Resources: Carol Spieckerman
QUOTES: “It turns out that all those convenience options that retailers were cooking up before the corona crisis have now become safety enablers.”
“These days, the impulse shopping and the treasure hunt environments that were driving so much of retail before, they can create tension.”
“Retailers really need to own their story and they need to own their capabilities and they need to understand that look at all of those as part of their arsenal.”
Rob Fishman is an entrepreneur who has been in a number of different business and management fields over the years. He’s also the author of a book about retail success in an online world. Listen to today’s episode to hear what this very special guest has to say about current changes in the retail world that may be around for the long term, the types of businesspeople and how each type is approaching pandemic-related challenges, and which technologies are being adopted faster than Rob ever expected.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Rob’s background ✔ Big changes in consumer behavior that Rob has seen ✔ What current changes may become long-term changes ✔ How retailers get the online/offline combination wrong ✔ Tough questions that retailers must ask themselves ✔ Types of businesspeople ✔ Tactical things that retailers should avoid doing right now ✔ Best in-store experiences Rob has seen ✔ Rob’s favorite brand experiences ✔ Technologies that have been adopted faster than Rob expected ✔ Technologies that Rob thinks will have the biggest impact on the future ✔ Advice for retailers
Resources: Rob Fishman
QUOTES: “For those brick and mortar retailers who have not chosen to change, it’s going to be a real challenge.”
“The buyers also are really leveraging technology moreso than ever, so that’s where the retailers now have to be very very careful about what they’re promising and what they’re doing.
“This is the time, for any of the retailers paying attention to what I’m saying, it’s the time to do a strengths and weaknesses analysis.”
Today’s guest is Paul Conder. Paul is the VP of Customer Experience at CallisonRTKL, the number one retail architecture and design firm in the world. In today’s episode, Paul discusses changes in the in-store environment, customer segmentation, and the consumer expectation of luxury. Listen in to hear what Paul has to say about whether the pandemic has accelerated certain trends, what brands and retailers should be avoiding right now, and the importance of understanding your customers now and in the future.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Paul’s company does ✔ How it is to work with the brands Paul’s company works with ✔ Whether things have changed in the in-store environment ✔ Whether the pandemic has accelerated or deaccelerated processes ✔ Advice for smaller brands and retailers ✔ Advice for optimizing ✔ Areas that brands and retailers should avoid right now ✔ Favorite retail experiences ✔ Must-haves in creating a good in-store experience ✔ The importance of understanding your customer ✔ Tactical methods for segmenting customers ✔ Technologies that have been adapted more quickly than expected ✔ What the future of retail will look like
Resources: Paul Conder
QUOTES: “Customers are setting the bar extremely high, not just in terms of the digital experience but also in terms of what actually happens in the store, in terms of the quality of service.”
“There is a very small silver lining in our industry which is that it’s pushing people forward on things that they thought have been trends for ten years. “
“People’s expectations about luxury have changed a lot and it’s been really interesting to watch, but that’s not evenly distributed and it’s very different from country to country and from market to market.”
Today’s guest is Suuchi Ramesh. Suuchi is the founder and CEO of Suuchi Inc, a platform for fashion brands and retailers. Succhi joins the podcast to share her insight into the changes in the retail space in the current era. Listen in to hear what she has to say about how retailers can prepare for market changes, what retailers can learn from Amazon, and what the future holds for retail.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Suuchi’s company and how she started it ✔ Biggest changes that Suuchi has seen in customer behavior ✔ What retailers should be doing to prepare for market changes ✔ Key areas of tech that companies should be looking at ✔ How companies can bridge the gap between online and offline ✔ What can be learned from Amazon ✔ Advice for smaller retailers for how to learn more about their customers and become more customer-centric ✔ Technologies that Suuchi feels have been adopted at a faster pace than expected ✔ What the future of retail looks like
Resources: Suuchi Ramesh
QUOTES: “Number one, I think from a consumer standpoint, consumers want a lot more transparency to what they’re buying and how what they’re buying has been made.”
“A mobile-first philosophy is super important.”
“It’s really about having all parts of the supply chain connected so you have an informed view.”
What is a “retail geek”, and what can they tell you about today’s retail market? You’ll find out when you listen to today’s interview with Jason Goldberg, the Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis. Listen in to hear what Jason has to say about the challenges for retailers as the country moves on post-pandemic, what retailers should be focusing on right now, and the importance of door side and curbside pickup in the current retail environment.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Jason’s “retail geek” moniker ✔ Jason’s association with the National Retail Federation ✔ Biggest challenges for retailers as they get back to things post-pandemic ✔ Changes that retailers should be focusing on ✔ What retailers get wrong about combining online and offline experiences ✔ The importance of getting door side or curbside pickup right ✔ Best in-store experiences Jason has seen brands create ✔ Best practices for retailers to focus on now ✔ Which technologies are being adopted quickly
Resources: Jason “Retail Geek” Goldberg
QUOTES: “I actually think we’re probably at the very end of the beginning of things.”
“We’re seeing a huge consolidation in retail.”
“There are all these operational things you would think about that are all predicated on knowing is that a permanent shift in consumer behavior or a tertiary shift in consumer behavior?”
Today’s guest, Chris Walton, has a long history in retail. He started out at The Gap, and is the former Vice President of Target’s Store of the Future project. He’s now the founder and CEO of Omni Talk, a keynote speaker, and a senior contributor to Forbes, among other things. Listen to the episode to hear what Chris has to say about how COVID-19 is changing consumer behavior, what changes retailers should be making right now, and how to build up a retail brand.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Chris’s retail background ✔ Changes in customer behavior since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic ✔ Short and long-term changes that retailers should make ✔ How retailers can implement a streamline digital and physical strategy ✔ How to bring in-store experiences online ✔ Best practices for retailers to focus on right now ✔ Areas that retailers should avoid ✔ Best in-store experiences Chris has seen ✔ How to evaluate retail technologies ✔ How to build up a retail brands
Resources: Chris Walton
QUOTES: “Even amid COVID-19, only 53% of the American population, for example, has tried e-groceries.”
“The thing that I think is the biggest concern right now is that stores just aren’t the safest place to shop.”
“The mall developers need to step up, and for the most part I would say they haven’t been.”
Today’s consumers have a variety of different ways to shop and buy, so it’s important for retailers not just to have a great product, but also to communicate their message and values clearly to the consumer. That’s part of what today’s guest is here to talk about Richard Kestenbaum is Cofounder and a partner at Triangle Capital LLC and a contributing writer to Forbes. Listen in to today’s episode to hear what Richard has to say about the challenges that he’s noticed in consumer behavior, what retailers need to be thinking about post-COVID-19, and why retailers need a solid message about their values as a foundational part of their business.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Richard does at Triangle Capital ✔ Richard’s backstory ✔ The biggest challenges Richard has noticed in consumer behavior ✔ Whether Richard approaches coaching with a pre- and post-COVID approach ✔ What retailers are getting wrong in developing omnichannel experiences ✔ Best practices retailers can use to implement their values ✔ What consumers are looking for ✔ Whether there are areas that retailers should avoid ✔ The best in-store experiences that Richard has seen ✔ Technologies that are being adopted faster than others ✔ Technologies that Richard thinks are ready to take off ✔ Richard’s guidance for listeners
Resources: Richard Kestenbaum
QUOTES: “In order to do what we do, you have to spend all day talking to CEOs, because they’re the only ones who can make the kinds of decisions involved in doing mergers and acquisitions.”
“We’ve seen that as new brands are created and go direct to consumer, the cost of acquiring customers is very high.”
“If the customer acquisition cost is not built into the foundation of the business, it’s going to be really hard to get to profitability.”
Today’s guest is Carlos Castelan, Founder and Managing Director of the Navio Group. In today’s interview, he shares his thoughts about the future of the retail experience, how it’s been affected by the pandemic, and where retail is headed in the future. Listen in to hear Carlos talk about the origin of his firm and where they got their name, what sort of long-term changes are coming to the retail space, and what technologies Carlos is excited to see more of.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ The origin of The Navio Group ✔ Where the word Navio came from ✔ Biggest changes Carlos has seen in customer and consumer behavior ✔ Whether the COVID-related changes will be the new norm ✔ Long-term changes that are coming to retail ✔ The importance of sustainability ✔ What retailers get wrong when it comes to creating online and offline experiences ✔ Advice to retailers when opening back up post-COVID ✔ Things that retailers should avoid doing right now ✔ Carlos’s favorite in-store experience ✔ Key takeaways for retailers to help them build their in-store experience ✔ Technologies that are being adopted at a faster pace than Carlos anticipated ✔ Technology that Carlos is excited about ✔ What Carlos sees for the future of retail
Resources: Carlos Castelan
QUOTES: “The word Navio really comes from the old explorers that would use ships to go out and chart new courses.”
“I think if we start to look at what’s happening outside the US, I think that probably serves as a decent model for what will happen on the back end.”
“I do think that this whole process is going to necessitate the acceleration of any sort of e-commerce investments.”
How is COVID-19 going to change retail? What trends that were already in place are beginning to accelerate because of the changes necessitated by the pandemic? How can essential retailers leverage the business they’re getting right now, and how can nonessential retailers ensure their survival and success once we’re in a post-COVID world? Those are some of the questions addressed by today’s guest Tony Donofrio, CEO of TD Insights. Listen to the interview to hear what Tony has to say about how nonessential retailers can hit the ground running post-COVID-19, what retailers get wrong about merging online and offline experiences, and what changes will be temporary or permanent after the pandemic.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Tony got started in retail ✔ Biggest changes Tony has seen in customer behavior in the last few years ✔ Whether nonessential retailers will be able to get back to business post-COVID-19 ✔ Whether the current changes are likely to be temporary or become the new normal ✔ Whether there are things retailers can do now to prepare so that they’re in a good place when things reopen ✔ What retailers get wrong when merging online and in-store services ✔ Best practices that retailers can start implementing today ✔ Areas that Tony thinks retailers should avoid right now ✔ Best in-store experience Tony has seen ✔Key takeaways for retailers during the pandemic ✔The biggest things that are going to shape retail in the next five years
Resources: Tony Donofrio
QUOTES: “COVID-19 is leading to more services such as buy online, pick up in-store.”
“Even my 90-year-old father in Italy has actually ordered groceries and had them delivered.”
“Do things to basically get in front of your customer base, especially if you have a good contact list for that customer base.”
Ian McGarrigle has worked in business to business journalism, publishing, and retail industry event organizing, and he’s the chairman of the World Retail Congress. What’s the World Retail Congress? You’ll find out more about it in today’s interview. Listen in to hear what Ian has to say about his work in the World Retail Congress, how the changes in retail in response to the pandemic will hold up in the long term, and how retailers should think about connecting with their customers.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What the World Retail Congress is ✔ Changes in consumer behavior over the last few years ✔ Whether the pandemic changes are temporary or represent a new normal ✔ Long and short-term changes that retailers need to prepare for ✔ Best practices for retailers for connecting with customers ✔ Things that retailers should avoid doing right now ✔ Ian’s favorite in-store experience ✔ Advice for retailers ✔ Technology lessons that have been adopted more quickly than Ian anticipated
Resources: Ian McGarrigle
QUOTES: “We’ve all been changing dramatically because we’ve been adapting and using different digital technologies – mobile primarily in recent years – and that’s really been massively reshaping the industry.”
“We’re going to emerge after this with fewer stores held by retailers.”
“There’s also feedback that consumers are going to hold back because they’re going to feel nervous, anxious.”
Today’s guest, Shep Hyken, has an unusual title – he’s the CAO (Chief Amazement Officer) of Shepard Presentations. He’s also a speaker and a bestselling author, and he joins the podcast today to share some of his thoughts about how retailers are changing and adapting in the current era. Listen to today’s episode to hear about how Shep got started in this industry, the importance of planning ahead for crises, and why it’s so important to avoid negatively impacting the customer experience in the retail space.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Shep’s company got started and what he focuses on ✔ Biggest changes in customer behavior over the years ✔ Changes to retail post-COVID ✔ Whether the COVID-related changes will last long term ✔ Planning ahead for crises ✔ What Shep suggests to companies that can bring the offline and online worlds together in one place ✔ Why businesses need to avoid negatively impacting the customer experience ✔ Technologies that are currently being adopted at a faster pace ✔ Being both optimistic and realistic
Resources: Shep Hyken
QUOTES: “A customer wants to be treated with dignity and respect. If they are getting ready to buy something, they want help. If they have a question, they want it answered. If they have a complaint, they want it resolved.”
“If we go back into a shutdown because people weren’t doing what they were supposed to be doing, it’s the end of even more businesses.”
“There’s a lot of reasons to smile. We’ve seen new ways of doing business emerge that we are now more comfortable with, and maybe we were scared of before that don’t scare us as much anymore. I think that’s important.”
This is an interesting time for brick and mortar retailers as they face the unique challenges that come along with the COVID-19 pandemic while also trying to adapt to technological and consumer changes in the retail space.
Joining the podcast today to talk about these issues is Melissa Gonzalez, the CEO and Founder of the Lionesque Group, as well as a Principal in the MG2 Group, and the author of The Pop-Up Paradigm: Building Human Connections in a Digital Age. Listen in to hear what Melissa has to say about what inspired her to write a book, what the biggest changes she’s seen in consumer behavior are, and what retailers should be thinking about as the retail space emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Melissa’s background ✔ What is meant by “popup paradigm” ✔ What inspired Melissa’s book ✔ Biggest changes that Melissa has seen in customer and consumer behavior ✔ What Melissa thinks will change once a vaccine is found ✔ How to bring digital technologies together with the in-store experience ✔ Areas that retailers should avoid right now ✔ Notable brands with great in-store experiences ✔ Top things for retailers to think of when coming out of the COVID situation ✔ Technologies that have adopted faster than Melissa expected ✔ Technologies that Melissa thinks retailers should adopt
Resources: Melissa Gonzalez
QUOTES: “I didn’t think the industry needed a “how-to” book, but really kind of just understanding the place that pop-ups have within the industry.”
“The impacts of change we’re seeing right now is definitely holistic across that whole ecosystem.”
“Shopping in retail is emotional. It’s an emotional experience.”