Ian Leslie returns to Industry West as the new Chief Marketing Officer after an eighteen-month sabbatical. During this time, he gained experience in the SaaS world, working with Bolt and #Paid. Previously, Ian had raised concerns about Shopify in favor of Magento, but in his absence, Industry West has made the switch…Do his concerns still stand? Can Shopify really do it all, or is its “one-stop shop” reputation embellished? Are we seeing a return to print due to inbox anxiety? Should the 5 day work week still be the norm? If you’re curious to know more including one of Ian’s biggest regrets, press play now!Bite-Sized Moments of Brilliance“We're in a post-platform world, and there are a number of platforms out there that will provide you with the underpinning you need. And it's kind of up to you to captain that ship now. It's up to you to make good decisions and leverage that platform the way that you best can leverage it.” -Brian“Your email inbox is a place of anxiety and a place where you don't want to live and everybody has to do it for work. You don't want to do it for yourself personally, and open rates are going down.” -PhillipFuture Commerce has leaned into building print and giving the people physical, tangible objects to hold. If you’re intrigued, get your hands on your copy of the Archetypes Journal and see what all the hype is about“Shopify is simply the platform and you still have to do the marketing. And I think Shopify sold a great bill of goods in that regard.” -Ian“Do your work and I don't care when you're here. Be responsible.” -Ian“Ultimately I want to create content that people want to digest regardless if they're looking for a kitchen counter stool or not.” -IanAssociated Links:Check out Industry WestHave you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’re in Season 11 of Step by Step and this season, we’re focusing on architecting your business for a dream exit. We’ve partnered with OpenStore to bring you stories from real founders who have successfully built and sold their businesses and will equip you with the tools you need to confidently sell your own business.We talk with Miguel Facusse, the founder of Jack Archer. Miguel touches on how to build a business with your exit plan in mind and the importance of storytelling in finding product market fit. He explains that he created his business with the intention of connecting with a specific audience and making an emotional resonance with them. Miguel also gives sage advice on letting your business be something you build and sell, rather than something you have a hard time letting go of. Miguel’s journey is a masterclass in serial entrepreneurship and using your skills to take brands to the next level.In this episode:00:05:08 - Building a Brand for an Exit00:09:01 - Solving the Problem of Consistency in Travel-Friendly Apparel00:12:00 - Product Quality, Returns, and Brand Resonance00:15:21 - The Power of Data-Driven Storytelling: How to Leverage Words to Increase Your Bottom Line00:29:27 - Creative Testing and Business Growth00:35:11 - Product Development and Launch Timeline for Jack ArcherAssociated LinksWant to learn more? Read more about how to architect a dreamy eCommerce exit on our Insiders blog here!Learn more about OpenStore Here.Listen to more Step by Step episodes.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’re in Season 11 of Step by Step and this season, we’re focusing on architecting your business for a dream exit. We’ve partnered with OpenStore to bring you stories from real founders who have successfully built and sold their businesses and will equip you with the tools you need to confidently sell your own business.In this episode of Step by Step, Phillip and Brian talk to Manny Estrada, the founder of Wearva, about the role of solid fundamentals in scaling a business. Manny emphasizes the importance of having a strong team and giving them the opportunity to grow, as well as understanding the customer needs and building a strong tech stack that can scale. He also encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to take the steps necessary to build their own businesses, highlighting that it IS possible.In this episode:00:05:38 - The Story Behind Wearva00:13:11 - Maximizing Revenue Through Influencer Marketing and Tech Enablement00:15:07 - Exploring the Benefits of Using Virtual Assistants for Business Growth00:20:19 - Finding Partners to Help Along the Way00:23:49 - Setting Targets and Knowing When to Sell00:29:00 - Handing Off and Onboarding Through OpenStore00:32:45 - Building Longterm Relationships with Influencers to Grow a BusinessAssociated LinksWant to learn more? Read more about how to architect a dreamy eCommerce exit on our Insiders blog here!Learn more about OpenStore Here.Listen to more Step by Step episodes.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’re in Season 11 of Step by Step and this season, we’re focusing on architecting your business for a dream exit. We’ve partnered with OpenStore to bring you stories from real founders who have successfully built and sold their businesses and will equip you with the tools you need to confidently sell your own business.We talk with Jonathan Paquin, the founder of Nine Months Sober, about his experience in selling his business, and how he was able to keep it lean throughout the process. He explains that having greater control over the customer experience and doing it in a thoughtful way was key to his success. In addition, he talks about minimizing staff and overhead, as well as investing in technology in order to deliver a great product to customers. Jonathan's story is a great example of how to architect a business for a dream exit.In this episode:00:04:24 - Building an eCommerce Business and Scaling Current Ones00:07:39 - Finding a Niche in the eCommerce World00:09:08 - The Transition from Dropshipping to 3PL00:16:17 - The Importance of Networking and Communication with Peers00:26:05 - Maximizing Valuation Through Effective Facebook Advertising Strategies00:29:51 - Exploring Strategies for Scaling a Direct Response Business00:34:35 - Advice on Putting Yourself in the Shoes of the BuyersAssociated LinksWant to learn more? Read more about how to architect a dreamy eCommerce exit on our Insiders blog here!Learn more about OpenStore Here.Listen to more Step by Step episodes.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’re in Season 11 of Step by Step and this season, we’re focusing on architecting your business for a dream exit. We’ve partnered with OpenStore to bring you stories from real founders who have successfully built and sold their businesses and will equip you with the tools you need to confidently sell your own business.We talk with Brendan Brosnan and Chris Heckman, co-founders of Yogaste about their experience co-founding Yogaste and how their shared passion and ability to communicate well led them to a successful exit. Brendan and Chris weren't initially interested in selling their business, but they realized it was the best option to take their business to the next level. They share their experience with vetting owners to sell to.In this Episode:00:06:14- How They Founded Their E-Commerce Brand00:13:14 - What it’s like building with a short-term focus00:15:09 - The Power of Consistent Progress00:19:34 - Leveraging a Network and a Lean Team to Test and Grow a Business00:22:11 - The Benefits of Remote Talent00:30:07 - Their experience of Selling a Business to OpenStore00:38:38 - Advice for Entrepreneurs Looking to Build a Profitable Business on ShopifyAssociated LinksWant to learn more? Read more about how to architect a dreamy eCommerce exit on our Insiders blog here!Learn more about OpenStore Here.Listen to more Step by Step episodes.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’re in Season 11 of Step by Step and this season, we’re focusing on architecting your business for a dream exit. We’ve partnered with OpenStore to bring you stories from real founders who have successfully built and sold their businesses and will equip you with the tools you need to confidently sell your own business. In this episode, we welcome Jeremy Wood, Co-Founder of OpenStore to discuss OpenStore’s approach to negotiating and buying businesses and what entrepreneurs need to know when thinking through an exit. Listen now!In this episode:0:07:38 - How to explore objective metrics for business valuation0:10:12 - Discussion on the commonalities of profitable eCommerce businesses0:13:48 - How to build Shopify stores and build for an exit0:19:09 - eCommerce, drop shipping, and OpenStore's differentiators0:23:29 - The importance of simplicity and transparency in eCommerce transactions0:25:17 - The role of timing an eCommerce business exit0:34:11 - Explore the OpenStore acquisition process0:38:05 - How to maximize the valuation for your dream exitAssociated Links:Want to learn more? Read more about how to architect a dreamy eCommerce exit on our Insiders blog here!Learn more about OpenStore Here.Listen to more Step by Step episodes.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Is the current shift to more machines reminiscent of the eCommerce movement, where ease of use and fewer middlemen were promised but where actually more middlemen are created? What is ChatGPT leading to already, how will that continue to influence the future, and what did Norbert Wiener say back in 1964 that was chillingly accurate? There is a lot to discuss, so listen now! Say That, But Shorter“Layoffs are refocusing where the priorities are in one part of the business to futureproof itself for the next generation.” - PhillipA lot of what was predicted by analysts as being the next generation-defining commerce experiences are going to prove to be wrong because it’s about what the consumer wants, and they aren’t wanting any of those thingsPhillip apologizes to Brian for not getting his Quantum Yeet piece right away, and really if you haven’t been reading Future Commerce Insiders and The Senses, subscribe and see what you’ve been missing“We as humans have been trying to accomplish jobs that are better done by machines. All the jobs that are best done by machines should be pursued as jobs that are done by machines.” - BrianDifferent jobs will be created as current jobs are replaced by machines, and the output can actually be better“There will always be a middle layer of infrastructure that's required and a middle layer of management to manage that infrastructure that's required.” - PhillipWe can continue down this path of just human interface connections and quantum computing becomes a problem for a future generationBrian ends by reading a quote from 1964 by Norbert Wiener that will blow your mind and will likely lead to more interesting discussions on future episodesAssociated Links:Episode 19 and Episode 20 from way back when the guys sat for three plus hours with Brian RoemmeleCheck out The Human Use of Human Beings by Norbert WienerHave you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Even in the aftermath of difficulties within the retail and commerce world, there is a relentless positivity and excitement shared among those living and working in it. This was evident at The NRF Big Show this year. Have a listen as Phillip and Brian share more about their perspective on this and what this could mean for the very near future!Aggressive OptimismThe NRF Big Show was great, and everyone was enthusiastic about being there, back at the Big Show like old timesWalmart Technologies and the strides they are making is impressive and really overtaking Amazon when it comes to eCommerce experience and customer expectationsShopify, coming in with a booth at NRF, with their Commerce Components roll out made quite the splash“Regardless of whether you think you already provide a lot of these products and services, the ecosystem needs you to just say it in their language.” - Phillip“People look for creative ways to use tools they're familiar with.” - BrianDespite fake news about a downturn in sales, inflation is slowing, and that techno-optimism can’t be turned down or slowed down right nowBrian and Phillip share some of their favorite parts of the NRF Big Show and why they were impactfulThe world in which we live is one where it takes a whole lot for people to go deepThere were a lot of robotics at The Big Show this year, and interestingly also a lot of ChadsAs we walk through a season where cost management is high, companies may want to forego cloud prices and find other solutionsAssociated Links:Check out Retail Remix by Alicia Esposito here.Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?Get your copy of Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Some Bold PredictionsWho are The Biggest Retail Winners of 2022? What about The Biggest Retail Losers of 2022? Are these surprises? Who will it be for 2023?“If there is digital business to be won, Walmart can win it and they'll win it away from Amazon.” - Phillip“The call to work back in the office again is going to spur a set of entrepreneurs from big and small brands alike,” leading to growth in the maker economyThe Biggest DTC Winner prediction for 2022 was so so right and was basically a no-look half-court swish, but will this be the case for our prediction for 2023’s Biggest DTC Winner?“There is a small group of people that are realizing that physical media has a place in the world because the things they love are being taken away from them and they're no longer available on streaming services. When that happens, it changes the way people find safety and security in the things they find entertaining and important in their lives.” - PhillipBrian has some bold and exciting predictions for the tech world for 2023, and it will be interesting to see how close he will get to being on the mark with these“The tools that are about to be unleashed into the world are going to be absolutely the most interesting trends of 2023.” - PhillipHave you heard of Media Chic? Phillip explains what it is and why he thinks we will see more of it in 2023“People are going to revolt. There's going to be a genuine trend of people quitting to start their own businesses and really doubling down on what their home working situation looks like.” - BrianAssociated Links:Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?RSVP to our Archetypes Pop Up X Industry West here!Get ready for Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

What a year 2022 was. Let’s recap it together, shall we? Phillip and Brian look back on the most popular episodes, articles, and happenings at Future Commerce and tease a lot about what is coming in 2023 and why they are excited about what’s ahead. Listen now!“You Had Me at Beowulf”The most listened-to-episode of 2022 was Episode 240 featuring Magdalena Kala, in which she dropped lots of great insights that became even more profound as the year unfoldedAs technology like blockchain and other protocols advance, we have to stop using industry lingo because people don’t buy protocols, they buy productsIt’s the creative jobs that AI is coming after, not the lower-end jobs that we all thought would be in danger, but the world always finds a way to succeed in middle-management right?Unfortunately, ChatGPT wouldn’t do what Phillip asked when he asked for a bullet-point version of Beowulf in Gen Z slang“It used to be if you understood Booleans, you could be good at Google. If you understand gaslighting, you can be great at GPT.” - PhillipLike Kris Gösser says, “The shipping experience is half the shopping experience.”Guests like Miki Agrawal, Neil Shakar, and Seyi Taylor provided interesting perspectives that we couldn’t have done without in 2022You have to build something worth protecting before you build the moat to protect itWe believe commerce is personal, and that makes it very important to all of us, so we continue to embrace the stories of people and brands, and sharing these will be an emphasis in 2023Thank you to all of you for joining us throughout 2022 and coming with us into 2023!Associated Links:Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?RSVP to our Archetypes Pop Up X Industry West here!Get ready for Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Where are people shopping and how is that affecting how people are launching brands today? The guys sit down with Calvin Lammers to hear what he is seeing as an emerging CPG leader to get his take on the opportunity available to brands today.Rare Eye for the CPG GuyHow brands launch has now significantly changed. Before, brands could decide to avoid Amazon but now, it’s an imperative part of their early business strategy.Amazon is a true platform now and has become more competitive, so differentiation at the start is very important for a brand to be set up well for success and scaleWhen it comes to emerging brands, Instacart is better at helping those brands be discovered and scale than Walmart+, especially if it’s in the grocery categoryThe path forward for a lot of brands could be taking advantage of the opportunity to grow quickly and then moving to an aggregator or portfolioWe may still see a lot of brands, but we likely won’t see them scale like Venture wanted them to scale“If it's hard that means not everybody's doing it and there's a reason why. But that also means there's an opportunity to succeed.” - CalvinGood partnerships are key, and they have to cut through the clutter and build your audience authentically to make senseYou have to learn to anticipate what the next thing is going to be so you’re not late for this momentAssociated Links:Learn more about Calvin Lammers and Rare Eye.Get ready for Archetypes, our newly published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

If only there was a directory where we can find out concise information about CPG and also a directory of agencies for brands to find. Well, there is! Listen in as Phillip and Brian discuss the CPG world with Andrea Popova and also find out what some of their favorite product placements in films are and why the future of feature is different.McCallister MoneyCPGD is a wealth of information for leaders in the CPG world and a great resource for connections and was a huge lucky moment for AndreaTikTok is just not the same as it was in the beginning of its reign, and it’s a lot harder to go viral there nowThere are some really interesting product placements in films that actually lead to the product being more like a side-character, and there are some brilliant examplesBack when Phillip was 14, the Tampa Bay Times wrote an article about a specific product placement that actually made a lasting impression on him that still impacts him today“The whole premise behind celebrity back brands and how this is becoming more of a thing is because now the power has shifted towards the brand actually needing the financial support of the celebrities to grow.” - AndreaWhy have some celebrities starting brands gotten backlash and others have been accepted?If Brian ever gets famous, look for his sweater brandThere's some regionality and the awareness of the allure of such a thing based on where you happen to be and the feasibility to get it that can effect the way product placement in a film makes an impactWhen you populate the world of a film or show with consumer brands that are vestiges of certain eras, it gives it some authenticity, so how can that translate to now with the explosion of DTC brands and what does the future of features look like for them?Associated Links:Learn more about Andrea Popova and Consumer Packaged Good Directory (CPGD).Episode 3 of Visions: RomanticismGet ready for Archetypes, our soon-to-be-published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

AI advancements are changing the landscape of product photography in many industries, including eCommerce. There are many exciting use cases and possibilities and also some snags that the AI world is trying to untangle, such as rights to content, proper execution of image generation, and other issues that could be figured out by the time 2023 rolls around. Seriously? Listen now to hear Sofiia Shvets’ take on this and more!Have Your Robots Call My Robots The power of AI technology is not only about saving time and money but streamlining efficiency, so that teams are more connected and more able to operate at a higher scaleHaving more tooling that allows a still very small team to be able to operate efficiently with competitive margins is the biggest challenge that we face in eCommerce todayWe are at the beginning of phase 2 of generative AI where we can actually create content from scratch for multiple industries, including eCommerceAI tech is iterating so fast that within the next month or month and a half, Sofiia predicts we won’t be able to pick out the photos on a website that are AI generated“There will be a future use case that we can't even be able to dream of that is more likely the outcome than not.” - Phillip“There is a study that I read recently that currently around 1% of the content and the Internet is AI-generated. In the next 6-10 years, the prediction is up to 50%.” - SofiiaAI changes the way we think about how consumers are going to interact with content in the futureAssociated Links:Learn more about Sofiia Shvets and Claid AI.Get ready for Archetypes, our soon-to-be-published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

With the advancements in technology over the years and the prospect of advancements looking into the future, how can we make sure we are looking around and keeping our approach as one that brings others with us? Is there a way to build that also lifts others and strives to not leave some behind? Phillip and Brian chat with Adii Pienaar about this and more. Listen now! Human-Centered Future“Going from 0 to 1 remains hard. As a founder, especially when you are responsible to your shareholders and your team members, there are some days where things don't work as hoped or planned. That is still hard.” - Adii“There's an African proverb that says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you're going to want to go far, go together.’” - AdiiAdii is a technologist and early adopter and believes that AI and machine learning will continue to advance, but it will stop before the robots take over completelyFunctionally or logistically it is easier to build a business now than it was 20 years ago, but without that balance of science and art, there can’t truly be successIt’s very interesting to look at the dynamics of building a business with teams where the communication has to be asychronousWriting well, being a storyteller, is an important skill set in eCommerce“The core technology has probably not changed significantly, but we're probably at that stage now where there is a massive step change in the skills that you need to apply to use the same technology.” - AdiiAs we continue to build technology, we have to consider the consequences from a human perspective and not leave some behind who may need a different approachAssociated Links:Learn more about Adii Pienaar and Cogsy at @adii on Twitter or Cogsy.com.Get ready for Archetypes, our soon-to-be-published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comGet your tickets to our Archetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Balance strives to make online B2B payments something that doesn’t suck. Why is it important to take action and learn as much as you can about digitizing your business? How do you move from a “keep our business alive” mentality to “grow our business in 2023” strategy? Why is B2B such a vital part of the new world of eCommerce? Listen Now!Old World/New World“Because there are more opportunities, more relationships that can be formed, and because discovery is so much higher due to digitization of B2B, we're actually moving into an unknown area in B2B, which is you don't know or have a relationship with the other person on the other side of the transaction.” - Phillip“B2B is the economy. It's not a nuance. It's not a segment of something. It’s really the future of the economy.” - Bar“If you have a relationship with trust, you better be ready to also digitize or you're going to have the Chem Directs and the Steel Directs and the Lumber Directs of the world coming for you.” - Brian“If you're not digitizing at some level, you will get hurt. You will have to choose digitizing your business or working with platforms that are digitizing your sales channel. You have to do something.” - BarAfter such a huge wave of brand building of business tools in DTC, B2B is a natural evolution to get the products that were built into other channelsContinuing to build digital disruption is actually a moat that you can build around owning your corner of distributionLeveraging your brand to create your own niche marketplace and leveraging your brand to increase supply are trends with enormous potentialBusiness teams need to adapt as technology continues to advance and AR will be something Balance will enable, not eraseAssociated Links:Get connected with Balance at GetBalance.com.Learn more about Bar Geron.Listen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Venture Capital has been powering brands in the modern era and has also shifted with the changing times. How has Forerunner experienced those changes over the past decade and what opportunity is there ahead? Kirsten Green, General Partner at Forerunner Ventures joins this episode of Step by Step to talk about the evolution of eCommerce, the massive monetary potential of the B2B industry, and the role of data and research in eCommerce. Listen Now!Table Stakes“The customer wants what they want, where they want it, when they want it, how they want it, and the job of a business is to understand what that means for them in the context of all the channels that are available.” - KirstenThe evolution of eCommerce has now also led to the expectation of delight and excellent experience from business tools and software that used to be mostly about functionalityOne of the original promises of direct to consumer was to take out the middleman because middlemen were expensive, but did that work?“The transformation of this industry happens in partnership with the evolution of consumer behavior and expectation and the technology that allows those expectations to be met.” - KirstenThe word is that 12 - 25 trillion dollars is the opportunity that B2B transactions offer within the next few years, which is enormous“Staying grounded and where there are those kinds of big opportunities and seismic shifts in business and investing into those is what we spend the lion's share of timing consideration around.” - KirstenKirsten believes we are in a pre-data era, not a post-data one, and actually we really need to be sharpening our worldview through research and engaging and getting ongoing feedback about what's going on with the consumer, the user, the mindset, and behavior, which is evolving at a breakneck speed“One of the biggest challenges to work through in the evolution of business, whether it's a B2C company or a B2B business is really bringing the user, the human, along in that journey in how they use and leverage the technology and their willingness to do that.” - KirstenAssociated Links:Get connected with Balance at GetBalance.com.Learn more about Kirsten Green.Listen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

There are a million reasons why B2B payments are behind the times. In an era where margins are razor thin, businesses make irrational decisions that cause frustration and headaches for employees and for finance. The modernization of payments in business is the final frontier of digital transformation, employee experience, cash flow management, and profitability. When every point of margin matters, investing in your payments infrastructure is critical to your success. Listen in as Paul do Forno, Managing Director at Deloitte shares why he believes B2B payments is the next great untapped industry. Listen now!An $8 Trillion IndustryDigital Commerce 360 estimates that businesses pay other businesses approximately $17 TrillionOf that $17 Trillion, about half of those payments are done manually and due for optimization.There is a lot to think about in B2B payments, including setting up terms, how you sell, who you’re selling to, setting up new clients, and more.If Paul were trying to sell the benefit of B2B payment tools, he would really focus on the reduction of average payment time.For Paul, he experiences their B2B business growing faster than their B2C business, which he isn’t surprised by, looking at the state of the current economy.The role of trust is vital in B2B payments. If one doesn’t have insight into what they’re buying, their order, etc, they won’t trust the supplier to fulfill their promise.Associated LinksGet connected with BalanceLearn more about Paul do FornoListen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Phillip and Brian talk with Dr Amy Gershkoff Bolles about how having an innovation strategy that connects to your larger corporate strategy and a very disciplined approach, looking for opportunities that add value for your business and most importantly for your customers, is key to longevity. Evaluating opportunities in the digital and technology space, given how much opportunity there is, is a very important discussion. Listen in to hear what they are doing at Levi’s, and how the future there is bright.It’s in the JeansIt’s so important to be both building for scale and testing and learning simultaneouslyInnovation is in the lifeblood of Levi Strauss and Company, and has been for 170 years of businessAmy and her team developed a scorecard and framework that allows them to objectively assess new technology or digital opportunities and evaluate how they work with the overall corporate strategyData, AI, and digitization can be used to make very meaningful differences in the costumer experience, and we are really at the beginning of understanding how to use these tools effectively“We're in the first inning in terms of the opportunity that lies ahead for data and AI and digitization to impact consumers and businesses. And I'm really excited to see the next eight innings that are in front of us.” - AmyThe lines between the digital world and the physical world have been erased, especially for Gen Z consumers, so a brand must provide that seamless experience for consumersLevi’s has used data and AI to develop a comprehensive loyalty program that provides opportunities for consumers to have a personalized experience that is tailored to their needs“What future commerce perspectives and enterprise value might incorporate ten years from now could be a million things, but if you don't have the right framework in place, you won't be able to build for the future.” - PhillipLevi Strauss and Company is partnering with Silicon Valley Bank to find new and exciting start ups to work with that will continue to advance their strategy and approach to providing unparalleled experiences to their customersAssociated Links:Get ready for Archetypes, our soon-to-be-published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comGet your tickets to our Archetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceLearn more about Dr Amy Gershkoff Bolles and Levi Straus & Co at LeviStrauss.com or on LinkedIn.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

On today’s episode, Phillip and Brian discuss e-biking and deficient snack drawers, AI and the recent developments within use cases for eCommerce, and also about that guy in Starbucks who was in full-VR use like it was his job. Was it his job? I mean, he did have a tie on.Jeroboam-sized BOOMCHICKAPOPHow has Phillip’s experience with being a one-car family for a year been going and wait, how many miles has he either biked or run this year so far?Artificial limitations can provide great opportunities to be creative and intentionalHow’s your snack drawer looking and what’s a guy or gal to do about it?Sometimes a snack brand’s ideal customer is the one standing in front of the compulsive buy section in Home Depot or Lowe’sLet’s Enhance can ingest and teach the AI through 3D models, so if you can import a 3D model of your product, you can then compose images with the AI through prompts aloneThe whole of the AI engine has contextual understanding of certain things in the world and the same brief that would go to the creative team now goes to the engine“These tools are going to continue to point us towards better collaboration between departments and probably tighter teams and running diverse teams against different segments as opposed to having disparate business units.” - BrianWhy do we need humans to sit in and give perspective on what is on brand and what is not when you could tell the AI, "This is our brand book. Follow the brand book," and then give the unlimited power of creativity to other people who are going to use it in whatever channel that you can't potentially even begin to imagine yet?” - PhillipNeither you nor your hair can look cool with a VR strap that goes straight down the middle of your headRoute is getting some hate, but really all Route or any shipping insurance company is doing is creating a value extractive solution for your shortcomings as a brand or serviceAssociated Links:Follow Sofiia Shvets to check out what’s happening with CLAID.aiGet ready for Archetypes, our soon to be published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comGet your tickets to our Archetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

On today’s episode, Philip and Brian discuss their recent issue of The Senses, as well as some tips for preparing for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday season. They also talk about the recent release of a Ralph Lauren collection in Fortnite and how Roblox has become a giant brand playground. Plus listen in for a HUGE announcement that we are really excited about!Do you Insta Cop?How to be prepared for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday season, including some horror stories from past yearsECommerce itself is gamified. ECommerce best practices tend to point to how do we become more persuasive? How do we appeal to our basest of instincts like FOMO?We will be publishing a Future Commerce trade show and conference guide to assist in all of your “Which shows do I go to and why?” questions and needs, so stay tunedBrian has more Marshall McLuhan to talk about, which reminded him of our big announcementOur big announcement is that we are publishing a 240-page journal called Archetypes, and it’s going to blow your mindPlus we are launching Archetypes at a live event centered around art and performance, including modern dance, on December 1 in Miami, FL (wait until you see the merch!)Phillip is loving the brand Teenage Engineering on every levelAny generational brand becomes what's relevant and they find product market fit and then they find the generational brand culture fit much later in their journeyThe guys share a little “remember when” about how hard it was to get a site back up when it crashed back in the old daysAssociated Links:Find the Roblox Brand Tracker HereRead the Senses on Ralph Lauren’s Fornite Activation hereGet ready for Archetypes, our soon to be published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.comGet your tickets to our Archetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Open source software is such an important part of how the whole world is run, and it takes a community to build it. In fact, so much has been built up to this point, that everything new that’s created is standing on the shoulders of the giants that have solved problems in the past, problems that we don’t even have to think about much today. So what are the problems that we do need to investigate today and how shall we best address them? Yitzchak Lieblich from Web Solutions NYC shares how they do it. Listen in to this final episode of Season 9 of Step by Step!Like a Light Bulb“Know what you know. Know what you don't know.” - YitzchakFinding the right platform solutions may cost more upfront, but will cost less in the long run as you work with what you actually need and build from thereHappy developers lead to happy code which leads to happy merchants“Open source, at its core, has been about sort of unselfishly sharing learnings and findings and asking others to potentially join you in helping to build.” - PhillipMerchants also love open source options because of the control it offers themThere was the Magento wave, the Shopify wave, and a next wave will come as wellSome merchants will continue to use SaaS, but it’s important to base that decision on an honest look at the maturity of your business and the needs you have moving forwardAssociated Links:Get connected with ShopwareLearn more about Yitzchak LieblichListen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Because open source is so flexible, it can be such a powerful tool. But how do you manage the complexities of all that is possible and steer clear of overbuilding? How do you stay focused with all that is available? Listen in as Founder and CEO at Alumio, Caspar Hardholt, explains how to manage these risks and build your open source stack successfully.Feature CreepSoftware providers work with more educated business owners/operators today than in years past, and multiple software needs add to the complexity of the processBefore any adjustments should be made, use your open source platform as is and to its fullest potential“I'm speaking to a lot of agencies and they're starting to realize that custom coding everything is not in the best interest of their clients. So there's also a shift going on there.” - Caspar“Nobody wants to walk around in shoes that are too big. Managing the amount of time and investment, the future-proofing, and the amount of capital that you pump into any project, whether it's open source or not, is really just understanding the growth rate of the person who has to inhabit the software.” - Phillip“Relationships are at the core of open source software.” - Brian“Don’t reinvent the wheel. Adapt to the wheels you get.” - CasparManaging complexity requires understanding what complexity means to you and your business and making an honest assessmentAssociated Links:Get connected with ShopwareLearn more about Caspar Hardholt and connect with him on TwitterListen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We all hate the B-Word (budgeting). How do you set yourself up for success when you enter into a project using open source? How do you make sure you have guardrails going into this so that you can actually have a plan and don't get yourself into trouble? Can software buying be less scary? Stephen Stark, Founder, and CEO at ITG Commerce explains how you can make these decisions less scary. Listen in and find out!Wedding PlanningSelecting software is important, but selecting the strategy by which you build that software is even more importantOpen source allows the possibilities of meeting your customers’ needs in so many ways, but discipline, focus, and vision also have to guide you as you build.When buying, building, planning, and budgeting well for open-source software, it’s imperative that the expectations of what is needed and who will be involved are set at the beginning of the project“At some point, you need to deconstruct what you have and make sure that you are planning for the future and not bolting on to a good or bad decision from the past.” - StephenThe goal is a collective vision between all parties involved“It's not really the base platform features that provide a leg up. It's the stuff you do on top of it and that extensibility and customizability is the difference maker for most businesses trying to differentiate in eCommerce.” - PhillipAssociated Links:Get connected with ShopwareLearn more about Stephen StarkListen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

When should I use open source software and how do I build on top of it to create the unique and differentiating elements of my business where I am right now? How can open source create community and lead to a wider array of solutions? Sander Mangel, eCommerce Solutions Architect at Shopware, joins this episode to explain the necessity of community in open source. Listen Now!A Bigger Beneficial PieDoing eCommerce has become tremendously complex and that requires not just developers but specialists, analysts, and more discipline than it ever has beforeWe wouldn’t have the internet if we didn’t have open source“The actual lineage and the history of these communities goes on to power commerce at its core and whether that's in a commercialized way or not, open source sits at the root of all of this.” - PhillipThe only way to actually leverage open source is to contribute back and be a part of the communityIf you’re not sharing that knowledge because you’re worried about IP, or if the whole value of your company relies on a set of features, you're probably doing something wrong“When you have so many voices, it's easy for vision to splinter, but you have to have {vision} in order to be successful.” - Brian“If you're measuring the success of your community by the lines of code written, it's never going to work because that's not how community works.” - Sander“If you run open source software and leverage that in a smart way, in a conscious way, you can make the difference with just a few lines of customization to make sure that it specifically fits your business. That's where the value of open source lies.” - SanderAssociated Links:Get connected with ShopwareLearn more about Sander MangelListen to our other Step by Step seasonsArchetypes Event December 1 in Miami, FLSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Open Source isn’t dead, actually it’s never been more alive. We’re in the ninth season of Step by Step and this season, we’re exploring the question, “is open source still viable for the modern business?” We think the answer is yes, but getting to the solution requires the business operator to do a cost benefit analysis, manage complexity and budget, and choose the correct software to set their team up for success.In this first episode, Ben Marks, Director of Global Market Development at Shopware joins the show to talk about the Open Source Business about why open source isn’t dead.Open Source Isn’t DeadPut simply, open source is just collaboration in the open.Just because something is free doesn’t mean it’s open source and just because it’s open source doesn’t mean it’s free.The startup capital is minimal and the opportunities are abundant, making open source really appealing.People misconceive SaaS software to be the easy option, but they fail to think through the learning curve, necessary level of customization, and architecture that’s required, which can make SaaS options more expensive depending on your business type.Is open source still viable for commerce?The beauty of open source is the ability to differentiate based upon your business’s needs.Associated LinksListen to past seasons of Step by Step!Find out more about Shopware.Connect with Shopware on LinkedIn.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’ve been through Brian Goes Bougie together, but can we handle Phillip Goes Dirtbag? Also the guys talk about brands they are loving right now, hot takes on Mr Beast and a bit of a musing on the Age of Contentment.

What if the way we think about expense management and reimbursements could be reinvented? What does that look like? Listen in to learn how Divvy is changing the way business is done and making life easier for teams like yours. An Easier WayDivvy provides software to make the details of expense management easier with tools for keeping track of everything that passes through accounts, budget locks to prevent overcharging, and even cash-back rewardsBecause accountants have feelings, too, and giving them more time to do their job instead of chasing you down for receipts makes everyone happier“We try to do things that you could only do with a card plus software together.” - TuckerDivvy provides ways to creatively find growth and cost savings in areas that perhaps were overlooked“We've had consistently over 100% net revenue retention for years. We get customers onboarded, they stick around, they know what they like, and they keep doing more of it.” - TuckerMaximize your cash back, maximize your rewards, and turn your finance team into a revenue centerAssociated Links:Subscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesLearn more about Tucker Stoffers and Divvy at getDivvy.com or {{social media}}.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

What’s the biggest addiction in eCommerce and how in the world can it be solved? It’s discounting and couponing! Fondue has a solution that has been shown to increase revenue, boost profits, and create win/wins for brands and consumers. Oren Charnoff, Founder of Fondue, and Roy Rubin, Founder of Magento and Investor join the podcast this week. Listen Now!

Pattern Brands has just announced that they’re acquiring Onsen Towels.What was it like to see the market go from 20,000 using Shopify as a platform to now 2 million? Well, Nick Ling can tell you. What is it like to help founders become millionaires? He can tell you that, too.Phillip takes some time with Nick Ling to talk about Pattern’s Acquisition of Onsen, how they build trust with founders, and why they hold strong views loosely as they build differently.Time and Trust“Good brands aren't built overnight. It takes time to build a loyal audience and a really great product.” - NickBuilding trust is a very important aspect of how Pattern approaches brand acquisitions.“It's never been more exciting to be an entrepreneur and consumer in general. There's a much bigger community and there are a lot more interesting ideas bubbling to the top.” - NickThe past couple of years have been the toughest yet for eCommerce businesses because there have been so many challenges to navigate and also big growth to be had“As a company what we're trying to do is keep an open mind towards how you really can grow brands in the evolved environment that we have today.” - Nick“Brands are more valuable as brands than just products because you're buying into a way of life and you build trust.” - Nick“You're an incubator on a few levels. You're building brands, and you're building brand operators, and you're building people with aspirations who seem to want to go build things for themselves.” - PhillipAt Pattern Brands there are new problems to solve all the time because they are building in a very different wayAssociated Links:Check out Onsen at OnsenTowel.comSubscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesLearn more about Nick Ling and Pattern at PatternBrands.com or on Twitter.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

eCommerce is in need of a deconstructionist movement. Brands should question the norms of their behaviors and their beliefs of “best practices,” but we don’t always take time to reflect.In this episode, Phillip and Brian explore the nature of deconstructionism, why eCommerce is due for a deconstructionist movement, the quiet builders in our space, and the influence of artists in our space. Listen now!Building the FutureAn eCommerce deconstructionist movement is needed where we question our norms and we question our beliefs and why we do the things we doPeople who build the future do things that haven't been done yet.“If you want to build a pretty successful brand using only best-practices, go for it. But if you want to build the future, you have to do things that have never been done.” - Phillip“In reality, the thing that is differentiating you is your efficiency in your ability to build something new, not to reinvent the thing that already exists.” - Phillip“You can build a successful business without questioning things. You're just never going to be a front-runner.” - BrianIf you can’t question why and what you’re doing as a brand, then maybe you shouldn’t exist as a brandLike Ju Rhyu who “quietly built” to her huge success, there are many out there who are quietly buildingIt’s interesting to learn what inspires your heroes, especially when their heroes are people you’ve not even heard of before (Phillip and Brian have some intriguing examples of who has inspired them)“I think that fiction writers and musicians are infinitely more effective than nonfiction writers. I believe in the power of story and the power of mediums that can convey more than one meaning at once. I believe in multi-dimensional thinking.” - Brian“In the future, there are a scant few who actually can create an impact and emotional resonance and shape the way that customers' desires pull other parts of the industry forward. They are artists in their own right.” - PhillipAssociated Links:Phillip recommends Dirt and Blackbird Spyplane as two publications to check out and enjoyBrian recommends listening to Acquired.fm’s episode on the history of Amazon (buckle up because it’s four hours)Subscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Mags joins Phillip and Brian to discuss the role of Web3 and the blockchain as we enter into the new wave of commerce. Does Web3 open up a new world of possibilities for brands to interact with and meet the needs of their customers? How can brands and investors partner with celebrities to solve problems? Listen now! Mindful Web3A successful approach to Web3, from a brand perspective, is asking questions like "Why would we do this? Why should we care? Why should our customers care? And what can we bring to the table that's different and unique because it's built on blockchain?"“We are just going to be scratching the surface right now of the Starbucks product, but it will embolden other brands to think about what they can do and what they can do in the right way as opposed to a campaign PR-y way.” - Magdalena“If you want the ultimate decentralization something has to give because you can't have it all in the blockchain context. You either get cheap transactions or you get ultimate security in decentralization and you can't have everything at once.” - MagdalenaDoes aligning with a celebrity institute a playbook that other consumer brands have used to try to gain scale?“If a celebrity has a brand, then a brand itself is also a mind virus that will find a way to propagate. Extremely successful brands are just very efficient propagation of a virus that likes to replicate. And that's why we have enduring brands that last for centuries.” - Phillip“The magic happens when you are really good at multiple things because you have something that no one else competing with you in each individual area.” - Magdalena“One of the things that's a big misconception of private equity that I hate that it's all just acquiring, stripping it off, and then question mark, question mark, question mark, profit. That's not how this works. It's very much a partnership because there is something magical in the underlying business and there is a value that the private equity firm can bring to grow it faster than it would grow on its own, independent of just the capital.” - MagdalenaCommercially-minded celebrities can help investors solve problems of distribution and attention with the networks they already have.Associated Links:Learn more about Magdalena Kala and @magdalenakala on TwitterSubscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

“Death eventually comes for us all, why not buy your casket direct and save a bunch of dough?” Today we dive into the digital transformation that has taken place in death care, and how funeral home websites have become marketplaces unto themselves. PLUS: a Veleb gets canceled for “digital blackface.” Listen now! Caskets, but in Millennial PinkA large portion of the funeral homes in the United States are owned by private equity rollups that consolidated infrastructure and operations through the 90’s and early 00’s.Phillip: “Why would you want to go direct [for a casket]? If you have ever been a family member making end-of-life choices for someone that's close to you, there is a very soft and gentle, but really gross, method of upselling in the funeral industry”Business Wire from 2021 says Titan Casket grows 400% in 2021, and it's poised to move beyond caskets to become a digital solution for funerals in 2022. It has seen its B2B business grow 15 X this year as well in launching a wholesale program. They also are in Sam's Club and Costco.com as of October.Capitol Records announced just last week that they were bringing on a robot rapper called FN Meka. And that robot was apparently powered by artificial intelligence for some marketing purposes. So it was backed by a major label, backed by Capital Music Group, backed by Blue Note.The virtual appearance of the rapper people were calling digital blackface and saying that there were tropes and appropriative tropes and maybe racist tropes therein of both the likeness, appearance, and the rap style, and all designed specifically to appropriate culturally that of real people.Phillip: “Virtual celebrities have an innate advantage in that they are the product of a marketing machine. And a marketing machine would make careful and considered decisions before putting the actions of a virtual celebrity out into the world that would bring repercussions back to the brand.”Brian: “This feels like corporations want to take all of the artistry out of something and just turn it into something that they can control 100%. They realize that… people are messy. So why don't we do this with non-people? It turns out that you have to have people behind something somewhere.”Associated Links:The New York Times piece recounting the cancellation of FN MekaTitan Caskets OnlinePhillip’s Twitter Thread about DTC Caskets

Show Notes“Being a retailer of a brand, there are a number of different pressures that I think they have to address, but in doing so, it will only make them stronger companies. It'll only make consumers want to shop with them more.” - Miya KnightsWhen it comes to sustainability, are consumers really adhering to their convictions or are convenience and practicality leading to incongruent behavior there?“Retailers are going to have to be a lot more transparent and a lot more in the same way that they've had to cope with the diversification of channels, the complexity of just selling in terms of transparency and choice when it comes to sustainability, particularly around fulfillment, they're going to have to offer a lot more choice than they currently do.” - Miya Knights“It doesn't matter if you're 100 plus year old brand or if you're like a six month DTC brand. If you don't have that {sustainability}, it's going to be like trying to be a brand now without an eCommerce offering. It's just you're going to be missing out on so much opportunity.” - Michael Miraflor“My experience of people and how they spend their time with digital products is that they diligence them a little bit less, but classify them as generally bad, much faster, just to say, "They have all my information, so they're probably doing something bad with it, but I don't have as much intensity to scrutinize them." Yet, we interact with those products way more often for the most part.” - Grace Clarke“Fifty-one percent of our study said you have to fake it till you make it. Forty-nice percent said authenticity at all costs. And I think that that is that's actually the undercurrent of tension that we have in the world, even in our own businesses, is that we have to project outwardly like we are doing everything because we've got to fake it till we make it. When it becomes operationally efficient for us to do it all, we'll really do it all. Maybe. But there's the other side of that which says, "I just want you to tell me the truth. Just tell me the truth.’" - Phillip Jackson“Folks that care about the purpose of the business, where they want to work and customers that care about who they want in their dollars with you can't sandbag those things. And so it's a very fine line between under-promise and then failing to compel versus pitch the best pitch you can come up with right now in this room and fail to think through whether you can do that the next 52 weeks of the year.” - Mike Lackman“If we're 100% outcome-focused, I think that leads to insincerity.” - Brian Lange“Tthere is sort of like the old saying, "People don't buy from companies, they buy from other people." And it's sort of democratized like it's bringing a face, not just one face, but individual faces to a brand and bringing that brand to life in a similar way that we've seen influencers drive sales and be the face of a brand.” - Kiri MastersGuestsMiya Knights, author, and retail analystKiri Masters, Head of Retail Marketplace Strategy at AcadiaMichael Miraflor, Chief Brand OfficerGrace Clarke, brand and omnichannel strategistMike Lackman, CEO of Trade CoffeeAssociated Links:The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners.

Welcome to the LAST episode of Step by Step Season 8! We’re wrapping up the series with Tyson Graham, and will be covering the nuts and bolts of what makes headless interesting.  Listen now!Headless Needs a Real HeadWhat you want is optionality, but there is another level that isn’t just a first-party option in your eCommerce tech stack. there is an entire level we haven't thought about as an option.“People don’t buy protocols, they buy products.” – PhillipThere are some advantages of headless in a world where legacy technology is really just slowing down in a sense, and the world is speeding up.“We realized that there needs to be a head for headless that everyone can use, so the agnostic sort of storefront really is the head for headless. The advantages with optionality means that you can switch things in and out as you need them.” –TysonLike a myth or ghost story, headless is very similar. There can be a lot of misinformation spread.“The unique aspect of your brand as a merchant is that experience. The thing you own is the experience. You're not different because you have a subscription to X-provider. You're not different because you're using a certain CMS, you're different and memorable and ultimately creating value for yourself and shareholders and customers because of that experience.” –TysonIf you have the right setup, you can zig when others are zagging, but you can’t do that without the right technologies in place.Associated Links:Want to learn more about going beyond headless? Download our free Step by Step guide!Get connected with Fabric!Learn more about Tyson Graham and Vue StorefrontListen to our other Step by Step seasonsFind our other Future Commerce episodes on our websiteHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

For our 4th episode of Step by Step Season 8, we’re covering how you can take your brand from having an eCommerce project mindset to a program mindset. Jon Reily from bounteous is here to chat about the difficult parts of shifting mindsets, how we're rewriting the rules, and more! Tune in now!A North Star or a South Star?Currently, a lot of brands are struggling with how to move from having an eCommerce project mindset to a program mindset. The most difficult part is that brands need to break the stigma that eCommerce is this big scary thing when it's not.“We went from calling things just selling things online to eCommerce and then we went back to, well, maybe just selling things online again. Have we come full circle?” – Brian“It all comes back to the design and you have to ensure that the design is solid in order to make it work.” – Jon“The downside of all of these tools being out there and being ubiquitous and available to virtually everybody is it's like everything's a nail and we're walking around with hammers trying to find where to use them.” – JonIn some ways, the programs still need to be in place as you build the foundation, or else you’ll be painting when you haven't finished the foundation.We are rewriting the rules of eCommerce every day because there is no set way to do things, we’re all learning every day and channels are seeking out answers every day.“Every single piece of disruption that takes place in a sector, in the following sector, the disruption happens twice as fast.” — JonThe systems that we build have to be able to flex in the future.The simple fact is that everyone needs to agree on what the end state is, define the end goal, and have a long-term plan.Associated Links:Want to learn more about data? Download our free Step by Step guide!Get connected with Fabric!Learn more about Jon Reily and bounteousListen to our other Step by Step seasonsFind our other Future Commerce episodes on our websiteHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Want to get more from this season of Step by Step? Download our free accompanying guide. Personalizing Your Data ToolsAll the uncertainty around the economy, inflation, and interest rates is affecting decision making and freezing the market.“Redeploy budgets and focus on getting more out of the existing database of customers you have. Ensure that their journeys support what they're trying to accomplish as consumers and how they want to engage with your brand.” – Brian WalkerWe’ve been talking about personalization in eCommerce for decades, but very few brands are actually doing it.“Those who are personalizing tend to be the ones who have grown share over the last 15 years and continue to reap results. It's hard to have those same results if you're only using out-of-the-box tools.” – Brian WalkerHeadless makes a difference in a couple of key areas: The fluidity of the experience and how you can adapt and change it on a website as well as the common backend of your digital business.“People may have an expectation that headless means easy or headless means simpler. That's not necessarily true. So you really need to do your homework and understand what that means if you’re going to go down that route.” –Brian Walker“Your sales associates in stores or your service people in contact centers should be leveraging a common system and data store underneath so that they can serve the customer in a contextual, relevant way when you're engaging with them. Those are digitally enabled channels now as well. And therefore, everyone is a digital business.” – Brian WalkerAssociated Links:Want to learn more about data? Download our free Step by Step guide!Get connected with Fabric!Learn more about Brian WalkerListen to our other Step by Step seasonsFind our other Future Commerce episodes on our websiteHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Want to get more from this season of Step by Step? Download our free accompanying guide.A Blendification of BrandsState and local governments have continued to rely on sales tax as it is one of the three pillars that governments rely on for income.Retail invoices have a lot of key components because SKU, price, and tax all have to be correct. Recently, Michael is witnessing more retailers demanding more and more precision.Believe it or not, over the last 30 years, the sales tax base has actually shrunk. State legislatures have written bills to minimize what can be taxed. In turn, governments can only raise tax rates on discretionary income.“You always want to select a vendor that will grow with you and can actually meet your needs.” - MichaelThe biggest challenge that brands face is selecting the right vendor and not having the right systems to troubleshoot in the wake of a crisis.Retailers of all sizes come to the table with different billing systems. Pick a partner who can move smoothly between systems.Services overlooked when choosing a vendor are self-service ability and flexibility, so you can have the option to move your dollars around easily.“The voice of the customer should be the customer.” - BrianIf brands want to differentiate themselves they need to find software that allows them to be a part of the process.Associated Links:Want to learn more about how to take your brand to the next level? Download our free Step by Step guide!CO drops Feminine Product TaxesGet connected with fabric.Learn more about Michael Bernard and Vertex

Welcome to Season 8 of Step by Step. This season we’re partnering with fabric to discuss how brands can stand out from the crowd by investing in an experiential design. Tune in every day this week to hear from experts on how to unlock your eCommerce growth. Listen now!Is experience worth investing in?Ryan Bartley is the Founder of Fabric, a leading modular and headless enterprise commerce platform helping brands and retailers innovate and scale.Experience is not only your digital experiences and touchpoints within stores but also the brand touchpoints and the service level you give your customers.“What we're hearing from all of the companies that we work with is really a concern about just what the next handful of months and what the next year looks like.” -RyanStart targeting your software and figuring out how to serve your customers in the best possible wayIs now the time to rip and replace legacy tech or is it time to optimize it? It can be difficult to replace, so you should be working on ways to optimize your tech stack, but also looking for ways to optimize your content stack.“We at fabric personally don’t believe in the word customization, but rather in configuration. It’s your platform, not ours.” -Ryan“It's intuitive that you should improve your experience and service level because you look at the competitor set in your groups and they're doing it, they're not messing around.” -RyanAssociated Links:Want to learn more about how to take your brand to the next leve? Download our free Step by Step guide!Get connected with fabric!Learn more about Ryan BartleyListen to our other Step by Step seasonsFind our other Future Commerce episodes on our websiteHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Joining the show today is Karin Dillie, coming to talk about Recurate’s newest report, all things resale, from Gen Z to Boomers, omnichannel, and more! Tune in now! Reclaiming ResaleRecurate started as a way for brands to reclaim resaleRecurate has recently released a new piece of research called the Recurate Resale Report, they wanted to dig in and find the data on what is happening in resale“What we wanted to do was dig in a bit more into primary data and really understand the motivations and behaviors that are happening and what consumers want from brands.” – KarinIn their research, they found a new cohort of customers called “Circulars”: people who are buying and selling.Resale has happened in previous generations but it's happening differently now, you can interact more than you used to, and you’re able to interact across all the different channels, ages, and genders“63% of people want brands to do more. Customers are already doing this, some version of it, whether it be localized or online, and they want more help in doing it well.” – Karin“This is an element of omnichannel that is never talked about.” – PhillipEverything in direct to consumer era in a nutshell is the level of loyalty and experience that comes with the brandBrands need to learn how we create this omnichannel relationship with resale in the same way that we've done with channel flexing for buying IRL or turning to Amazon for staples.It’s all about building the resale operating systems that meet your customers where they want to be. The biggest part of this is helping customers understand that there is value in their items.Associated Links:Learn more about Karin Dillie and RecurateDownload Recurte’s Resale ReportSubscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out our newest Step by Step launching Monday!Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

In this episode, we dive into some of the best moments of the last year and a half of Future Commerce as it pertains to Web3. Tune in now!Giving Consumers Control Over Their Identity “Like everything else with new technology, the technology's awesome, but until you find creative people to use it in really interesting ways, it doesn't do a whole lot.” – Michael JaniakMags is someone who is thinking about the future of the startup ecosystem. She’s passionate about why and how people spend their time, money, and attention“I don't think I'm a consumer brands investor. I don't think I'm a consumer tech investor. I'm a consumer needs investor..” – Magdalena KalaThe journey of NFTs is still early. In many ways, they’re very similar to DTC brands as they become easy to launch, and the early movers have made a lot of moneyNFTs signal loyalty. They’re a way to assign value to what it means to be associated with a brand.“Hype alone isn’t enough to build an enduring brand or community.”There has to be a non-monetary reason that people are engaged in community — for sneakerheads this is the love of the culture and nostalgia that endures well past childhood. Sneakerheads come from many different backgrounds and walks of life. A digital goods community around sneakers may be much more durable than any other PFP (Picture for Proof) project.NFT Project creators are doxxing themselves now to increase optionality. There’s a lot more to gain by having a trusted reputation as a person than there is as a cartoon avatar.“I think of the community from which sneakers actually emanate. How can I make it so that anybody can be rewarded even for their participation, for their love of and the passion of whatever that community represents?” – Brandon Martinez“Everything we're doing online has an offline analog. We're reinventing a lot of our everyday normal commerce experiences, but we're doing it in a digital realm. And this is what Web3 unlocks for us; there's nothing new under the sun.” –PhillipAssociated Links:Infinite Shelf Season 1 Episode 8: WEB3 BTC DOA FUD WAGMI: WTFEpisode 240: “Magdalena Kala: "I'm a Consumer Needs and Wants Investor"Episode 262: Building a Web3 Company After the NFT CrashEpisode 266: There’s Nothing New Under the SunSubscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Vibe Shift, Say What?Brian is live from Etail East, covering what’s going on, how it went, and how far conference season has come since last year.We’re not talking about data anymore… we’re talking about vibes. We talk about them in The Senses, but the vibe shift is different for everything.“The funniest thing about this idea of vibe shift is that everyone is having a really hard time defining what it is and where we're going.” – BrianIn the wise words of Brian Lange, “you can’t have a vibe if you’re not with somebody.”Everyone is casting lots of their communal vibes into a pool, and a layer cake is happening of what the new vibe is. If the vibes are wrong, you go and find a new vibe.People are going to follow the algorithm no matter what, it's just who we are.“If the algorithm is the ultimate media, the message is humanity is unnecessary.” – BrianThe algorithm is taking over things that humanity can analyze, those being: what is, what could be, and what should be.“This person's livelihood is at the mercy of the algorithm.” –PhillipWhen you don’t update the algorithm soon enough, the crying selfie is what happens. Eventually, it leads to undesirable outcomes because everyone plays the game well.Associated Links:The SensesInsiders #128: The Asynchronous FictionThe Medium is the Massage from Marshall McLuhanEpisode 266: There’s Nothing New Under the SunVisions Episode 4: Our Sh*tty Robot FutureFrom the Atlantic: Why the Old Elite Spend So Much Time At WorkThe Network StateSubscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

“Digital is gaining the experiences we’ve had all along IRL” — today we sit down with Seyi Taylor to chat about the online experiences we take for granted, the actual capabilities of web3, and how commerce gives us emotional resonance. Tune in now!“Third-Party Cookies Be Damned”The ability to have control is attractive to brands, and that's one thing web3-based loyalty platforms provide, which creates incentives for merchants and brands to be more experimental.Regarding whether web3 is anything new or novel: “What it's actually enabling is more modalities to come into the digital space that we're accustomed to having in real life.” -PhillipThe way we use tokens right now isn’t going to stay this way. Right now tokens are all the hype, but soon they will become a way to get stuff done.Pokemon Go is back on the craze, even though it's a blast from past of six years ago. The question is, will we get engrossed in AR examples that are layered over top of a reality we already cohabitate in?“We've spent the last phase of the internet in this situation where people really didn't care as to where the data was, but we’ve started to see that shift of “where is my data?”’- SeyiRegarding the growth of browser plugins and blockchain analysis: “Third-party cookies be damned. All the work is done for you because we can attribute anything, theoretically.” -PhillipIf the medium is the blockchain, what is the message? “The thing that's happened on the Internet is it's been a great access revolution without a lot of ownership.” -SeyiAssociated Links:Learn more about Seyi Taylor and ShopthruThe Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhanPokemon Go CrazeSubscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We live in a world that doesn’t work all the way. Is the amount of automation and machine learning and AI and even robotics that we're implementing in the world, displacing people's jobs and having a human impact?Show Notes“It's creating some dynamics where a much smaller number of people can drive outcomes with a much larger number of dollars. If we're not really effective at promoting financial literacy and asking some big questions about what's different looking 20 years ahead from what the last 20 years were like, then there's going to be some collateral damage in the system that I think is really bad for everybody involved.” - Mike Lackman“You can automate things to make them more efficient, but you have to know how to do it well in the first place with a certain level of agency and authority and getting your hands dirty with it.” - Michael MiraflorHow often are we designing the software stack before we even have a product and before we have even have addressed the customer’s problem?“Just blatantly throwing software at problems to solve problems, thinking that it's the software that overcomes the deficiencies of an impractical product or business, I think is itself inherently a challenge that we're all facing in our industry.” - Phillip JacksonWhat are some of those things that we're bringing into being or what we're building in the world that are laden with our biases?“One of the most frustrating things about customer service is when you end up on the phone with a system that is trying to replicate that of a human voice, human interaction, or human way of answering questions... You don't have to try to trick me to think that you're a person because you're just not. I would rather hit a series of numbers…to get you to answer versus me interacting with this AI as if you were human.” - Michael Miraflor“You have to get a gauge on what young people are thinking as expressed by what they're wearing and what they're doing. If you can't really get a sense of that, because the dominant form of social media is encouraging the proliferation of micro trends that really aren't a reflection, but they send a smoke signal, then you might have something that's a bit problematic on your hands.” - Michael Miraflor“The interesting piece here is that when we talk about this dystopian sort of like, well, this AI future, we're all going to get pushed around this and that. The alternative to that has to be an institution with enough trust and credibility that we're willing to let them become tastemakers, editors of newspapers, curators of fashion, pairers of coffee, those kinds of things.” - Mike Lackman“There was a dark side to those things that we do see as unifying, which is they tend to have some sort of pretty strong editorial, perhaps even tyrannical authority associated with them to be able to set those standards in place. And I guess my point of jousting with you on that when we think about AI, the counterpoint to letting the system just run the algorithm unchecked is that someone has to put guardrails on that.” - Mike LackmanWill the outputs of AI technology like Dall-E applied to commercial uses be a good thing or a bad thing in the long run?Michael Miraflor, Chief Brand OfficerMike Lackman, CEO of Trade CoffeeAssociated Links:The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners!

Today, Philip and Brian welcome back Kendall Dickieson to chat about the creator economy, how TikTok is changing the way for brands, digital pruning, and how creation affects community. Tune in now! Balancing the Why The Creator economy has begun to shift the DTC space and change the landscape, but there is still proof in the pudding.“Platforms like TikTok have exposed the true analytics for the most part, but there's still things on the back end that we don't really know unless we ask the creator.” -KendallDigital pruning- where we should be watering and filtering our social channels, and tending to our gardens (accounts.)There can be an over-pruning of social accounts and your community. Brands and creators should be watchful of these thresholds“There's so much that brands need to do to exist on social from the content creation side to now, contracting out creators, to building out teams.” -KendallPhillip poses the question: Does the creation of a community become undermined by most people going to a social platform and getting them to move out of the entertainment box to the getting value box?Great marketing and a great product equals amazing successAssociated Links:Learn more about Kendall Dickieson Listen to our other episode with Kendall!Subscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

In this episode, we call into question some of the factors that have led to the decline of DTC and how pent-up frustration with products that cost more without delivering on their promise will soon be a vestige of a bygone era. Listen now! Revisiting DTC Groupthink and Brand Criticism“The Uncorkening” is a latent criticism that was stymied by the loudest voices in an ecosystem who didn’t feel that they had permission to speak up, has now been unleashedDTC models (particularly VC-backed IPO exits) have proven unsuccessful. The original promise was that DTC would remove middlemen and form a direct connection with the consumer; meanwhile, eCommerce is nothing but middlemen.Many products don't live up to the hype. Another factor of The Uncorkening in DTC is that the loudest voices and advocates for DTC have often silenced criticism by playing a trump card — to critique a small brand is to criticize the founder behind the brand.The loudest DTC voices have quieted. As capital outcomes wither for those who had built their reputations on the examination of the DTC space, the loudest voices were silenced. Due in large part to The Great Resignation and the inaccessibility of capital in the current state of the markets, many of the most visible DTC acolytes have moved on to new projects or industries.What will The Uncorkening make us not want to buy next?Associated Links:Subscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!Download VISIONS 2022 NOW!Listen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out Decoded, our newest limited seriesHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Phillip and Brian sit down to chat about GROW NY, YouTube Shopping, Instagram Local, and all the things in between. Listen now!

Live from the Visions Summit in West Palm Beach, FL, the conversation in this episode is around what we call Brand Romanticism. We’ve seen such an amazing proliferation of brand. There's more choice than ever before. Some say that brands are our canvas and the products are these new pieces of art that are being brought to the world. Are brands artists and our products their canvas?Show NotesAre some brands fooling themselves thinking of their role as one of art when really their product is more about commodity and their role is really about commerce?Have we romanticized brands more than what is due to it? “Brands have an opportunity to support art and not delude themselves into thinking that they are the creators of product.” - Grace Clarke“Consumers are going to know if you're dressing up something that's basic and adding a couple of zeros to it because you've romanticized it by using some kind of art style to style it. But at the same time, I think it's important that brands understand where there might be adjacencies to their product.” - Miya Knights“You can make an argument that the brand is not art, but the brand is an excellent curator of the culture that it is participating in. Are you co-opting something that exists in culture for marketing purposes or for promotional purposes? Or are you a participant?” - Michael Miraflor“It seems like everyone who talks passionately about what they're working on automatically goes from 0 to 100 talking about getting venture-backed and shooting for a big exit, which is totally fine. I mean, that would be an amazing outcome. But I would love to see the story of more founders working hard on their projects regardless of that outcome.” - Michael Miraflor“Art is something that I would rather companies, specifically founders who are perhaps at an earlier stage and they're still understanding who their customer is and how their brand can grow, maybe borrow the principles of what it is to be an artist rather than trying to see yourself as one.” - Grace Clarke“Artists have to be true to themselves. A brand has to be true to its customers.” - Miya Knights“We affix ourselves to certain products or brands because it helps us understand who we are, and it also helps us relate to other people in our own niche. It gives us this shorthand in this other language. We can find each other quickly. We can converse on Twitter with this other language. So that belonging is a huge part of brand identity for me. That romanticism of art and gathering is really about social sharing.” - Grace Clarke“There are so many dynamics emerging that probably drag brands towards feeling that they should be more like art. But I think they have to be really clear on their purpose as a merchant and whether or not they have an artisanship or an artisanal story to tell.” - Miya KnightsGuestsMiya Knights, author and retail analystMichael Miraflor, Chief Brand OfficerGrace Clarke, brand and omnichannel strategistAssociated Links:The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

What makes people happy? Are brands capable of instilling happiness? In today's episode, we go live to the Visions Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, to engage in a frank conversation about what motivates a consumer, and what power we truly have in fulfilling their needs and desires. Listen now.Show NotesAre we able to make customers happy? Is that our job? Brands may have given themselves a role in society that nobody asked them to fulfill.There’s a value system change taking place where more is not better, it’s damaging to the consumer and to the brand. More products, more drops, more collabs. At some point it becomes mimetic and overwhelming.“Utility” is an over-exercised phrase. In the philosophy of brands, to be utilitarian is to lack joy or purpose. But in web3 circles, utility has a different meaning — it means that it provides exceeding value. To be a utility means to be indispensable.The lack of true “discourse” in the retail and eCom industries is that we’re not modeling that behavior between the brand and the customer, let alone between teams or competitors. True conversation between silos will help us to achieve mutual understanding and result in a better experience — for employees and customers alike.“It doesn't matter what role you have in the company. Go to the CX team, sit down, plug in, and talk to three or four people a day. And I think we do get so worried about some things being anecdotal in a world where there is this burden of statistical significance that we've lost some of that.” — Mike Lackman“So every company needs to build a culture of being curious in every single level of the business. And everybody has to be a behavioral psychologist. There's no way around it, no matter who your customer is. You have to understand, to everyone's point here, what it is that they want.” — Grace Clarke“It's actually not necessarily about [products and brands making a consumer] happy. It's about peace. It's about feeling whole. And when you're just looking at a screen and you're scrolling through, that doesn't make you feel that.” — Brian Lange“And I think where we've come from has been, particularly in terms of eCom, the opportunity to have endless scroll, endless aisle means I can have endless numbers of choices, but actually, that works in reverse for consumers. It actually destabilizes them, makes them feel insecure. Does that give them the security that they've walked away with a purchase that they're going to be happy with for a lifetime?” — Miya Knights“We're moving towards more silos, I think, in terms of distribution, and more intermediaries vying for space, that valuable space between the brand and the customer and getting in between being able to collect that data and sell it back to the brand.” — Kiri MastersGuestsMiya Knights, author and retail analystKiri Masters, Head of Retail Marketplace Strategy at AcadiaMichael Miraflor, Chief Brand OfficerGrace Clarke, brand and omnichannel strategistMike Lackman, CEO of Trade CoffeeAssociated Links:The Visions Report is a 100-page report with deep insights, created by Future Commerce.Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels; we love hearing from our listeners.