Phillip and Brian get into the implications of multi-generational branding, the ever-changing face of retail interactions, and discuss how empowering employees is key to boosting customer retention. Listen now! Main Takeaways: Retail experiences that go above and beyond the normal call of duty can lead to brand loyalty that spans several generations.  Retail used to be based upon in-person interactions with shopkeepers and store owners, but how do we bring these interactions into the digital age? Multi-Generational loyalty can be achieved by empowering employees to create memorable interactions with customers.  How do you make employee benefits as flexible and beneficial as possible for the complicated lives of your employees? Beyond the Sales Floor: The Multi-Generational Nature of Retail Relationships: Brian recounts two Costco associates that spent a lot of time talking with Brian's father and how their relationship transcends a typical retail relationship in which the front end retail associate considers his customer his friend.  This relationship is an example of peak clienteling in which the relationships that Brian's father built with the Costco employees led to Brian having a strong affiliation witch Costco: a textbook example of multigenerational retail.  Phillip mentions up a conversation he had on a Merchant to Merchant episode with Birdwell Beach Britches (say that five times fast), a company that has been around for so long that they have become a generational outpost for Venice Beach. Brian brings up a past episode with Michelle Cordeiro Grant in which she spoke about catering towards multi-generational shopping trips. Brands are having to be more community-oriented and it makes sense that if you have a great experience with a brand, you will want to share that brand with your family. Retail of the Past: The Malls Before Starcourt: In the past, there were shops in towns with owners that lived in those towns and were part of the community. (Did you catch the Stranger Things reference in the section title?) The relationships forged in these small-town shops lasted for generations and if you were able to recreate the brand loyalty of these old school relationships, then you would be monstrously successful.  Brian brings up a recent New York Times Article in which the author enjoyed working in retail, but was ashamed to admit that they worked in retail at all. "Investing in your own employees as much as you invest in your customers is a huge topic that we should be spending a lot more time talking about." Building Connections: Old Fashioned Relationships in a Digital World: If we focus on multi-generational retail experiences that create real connections akin to those that existed in the past, then we might be able to foster relationships that strengthen brand loyalty. Ultimately, the challenge is to bring the interactions of a pre-digital retail world into the modern era and create relationships.  If you are a luxury retailer, the challenges are only compounded because everyone has a different definition of luxury and the personal retail interactions have to be even more personalized.  It's a conversational challenge to empower retail associates to have meaningful interactions, but companies like Half Price Books are empowering their employees by allowing them to curate their own assortments.  Hiring good people and then giving them the freedom to address their customers directly in a place that they feel empowered is a key factor in creating lasting relationships. Empowering Employees: The Key to Positive Retail Experiences: Phillip brings up an article about Target boosting employee benefits and points out that if you want people to stay at a job for a long period of time, then you have to cater to their lives and treat them as part of your community, This sort of positive and flexible company culture trickles all the way down to customer interactions and leads to better retail experiences.  On the other end of the spectrum, Phillip brings up Late Stage Capitalism that pretty much boils down to as the horrible things that capitalism forces people to do in order to survive. (Delightful.) The longer that retail brands exist, the more they have to provide to shareholders and the more they have to increase their earnings, and eventually, this leads to underpaid employees. Phillip thinks that maybe the brands that continue to thrive by prioritizing employee values are the ones that remain privately held. As always: We want to hear what our listeners think! How can you create an environment that fosters memorable retail interactions? How do you build a strategy that uses technology that plays into actual community building? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. 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! Retail Tech is moving fast, but Future Commerce is moving faster.

Our 2019 theme of clienteling for digital commerce continues with an interview with Claudine Bianchi, CMO at Zoovu, a Guided Commerce service which connects customer needs to products and services from retail brands. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Future Commerce has declared 2019 the year of "clienteling" and personalized experiences for consumers. Zoovu is helping (mostly) B2C companies create curated product search selections for their customers. Amazon brands that work with Zoovu are seeing incredible returns at 3X pre-Zoovu sales. The future of retail and commerce is a world in which the ability to hyper-personalize experiences for customers is accessible to business worldwide. Zoovu is Bringing The Sales Associate Experience Online: Claudine Bianchi, CMO at zoovu, is on the podcast today, explaining how zoovu helps connect customer needs to actual products. Zoovu is an AI-conversational marketing platform that can replicate the in-store sales associate experience for online shopping experiences. So what is Zoovu's mission, and how can it help retailers and brands connect with their customers? Well, according to Claudine, Zoovu is working to solve "choice paralysis" for the customers of B2C brands and retailers. For example, one brand that Zoovu works with is Clairol, a haircare brand, and through using Zoovu, Clairol is to able to help customers choose the hair care product that is best for their individual hair type. Data-Driven Personas: Separating The Experts & Beginners: "What Zoovu does is through a series of questions it narrows down choices and actually connects you with the products that are most likely to satisfy your requirements." One of the coolest parts of Zoovu is that the platform uses anonymous data to craft personas and then curates products for customers based on answers to questions asked. Claudine says that cameras are a great example of this, because even though there may be aspiring photographers and expert level photographers shopping for cameras, they all have the same goal, to take great photographs. So as opposed to every-camera-ever Zoovu will make targeted suggestions that will fit the specifications the user is looking for. Phillip says that five years ago, a lot of marketers were turning to more sophisticated platforms because they were tired of overly broad email campaigns. "It's like going into the store, without having to go into the store." Do You Even Zoovu: ROI Metrics for Brands: Phillip asks Claudine what she thinks the next step of the shopping experience is, and what are the metrics that brands that are listed on Amazon that work with Zoovu use to determine ROI? Claudine says that Zoovu works with over 80 brands on Amazon and that those brands are seeing 3x the sales pre-Zoovu, which is incredible. Some of those brands, according to Claudine, are seeing conversion rates of 107%, because what brands can accomplish when they have the correct data is incredible. "Some of the key metrics are conversion rates, increasing sales, decreasing return rates, increase in average order value up upwards of 70-80%. Everyone's Welcome to Zoovu With Zoovu: So Zoovu integrates with a multitude of platforms including Magento, Shopify, SalesForce, Adobe, and many others. Claudine also explains the actual AI (machine learning) powering Zoovu: "We've been looking at e-commerce and sales patterns for the past ten years, and we've been able to develop the types of algorithms that will help determine the questions we ask next." So where can retailers and brands looking to Zoovu go to find out more? Claudine says that the Zoovu website is a great place to find out more, as there are live samples to demonstrate the power of the platform, a pretty robust blog, and plenty of ways to contact the Zoovu team. Claudine's predictions for the next five years of retail and commerce: "We're going to see a lot more adoption of technology into the retail and buying experience everything from AR to promote our products and to support service those products. The online experience is going to get a lot more personalized and targeted. So that consumers will see products they want to want to see, and for how much they want to pay. We're going to see this vast customization on the global level where it's not just the major players. Anyone with a website will be able to reach people who they never were able to reach before. And consumers will have unprecedented access to products that they didn't know existed". As always: we want to hear from our listeners! Do you currently use Zoovu? How are you engaging with your customers? Are you asking the right questions and using that data to power your customer experience? Let us know in the comment section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin! We love hearing from our listeners!

Our Monday Update is back: "Re-commerce" players like StockX and TheRealReal have huge news this week in our continued coverage of Secondhand Commerce. Listen now!

Ingrid Milman is back, and she has some really exciting news to share with our audience! Some retailers are opening more stores, and somehow, Brian has never been to a Burlington. Plus- So many legacy brands are overusing terms like "data-driven," and both Glossier and Lively have figured out (in different ways) how to create communities around both their products and their customers! Listen Now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Ingrid Milman is guest hosting this week, and she's got some pretty big news to share: she's joining e.l.f cosmetics as their new Vice President of E-commerce and Customer Experience! Isn't everyone pretty much exhausted of the buzzword bingo from legacy brands? Glossier and Lively are both really fantastic at building a community around their customers. In-store + online traffic can help retailers figure out where to put their stores, how to design their stores, and what to sell in their stores. Back to Buzzword Bingo For Brands: Utilize Data With Care: First thing's first: The entire team at Future Commerce would like to congratulate Ingrid on her new role as the Vice President of E-commerce and Customer Experience at e.l.f Cosmetics! Ingrid says that the best part of e.l.f is that it's the perfect mix of value and prestige, and they are expanding their digital presence, especially as they move further into e-commerce. Ingrid points out that 2-3 years ago legacy brands were consistently hyper-focused on the term data-driven, focused too much on gathering the information, and not enough time connecting the data points into actionable insights that would be framed around how to introduce the customer to the brand properly. Brian points out two Future Commerce episodes that are reflective of this point: episode 96 with Chris Homer CTO of thredUP, and episode 103 with Rachel Swanson from Method + Mode, both of which are centered around the best uses for data. thredUP is doing precisely what Ingrid is talking about by building cross-functional teams that take ownership of the data being collected and utilized. And of course, Rachel Swanson (from Method + Mode) collected invaluable data for Future Commerce, giving our team real insight into what our listeners wanted from our show. Community Building Around Customers: Lively and Glossier Win Gold: One of the most critical challenges for brands (legacy or D2C) is developing relations with their customers that goes beyond just products, that allows these brands to reach their customers in a positive organic way. D2C brands seem to have a leg up on legacy brands when it comes to social media, especially, and they've changed the marketing game. Two brands that have done a fantastic job of developing communities around both their products and their customers: Lively and Glossier. Lively, who's CEO and Founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant (MCG) Future Commerce had the opportunity to interview at Shoptalk, has built an incredible community around their products and customers by hosting community events like "Founder Friday's" in which Female entrepreneurs can come to Michelle's office and ask her all the questions that founders have at the beginning. As Michelle told us during her interview, seven companies have been formed because of the community events that Lively puts on. And Ingrid points to Glossier as an example of a D2C company that has formed a community around its customers: Glossier even has a Slack channel for their top 100 superfans. Glossier uses this channel to announce new product launches, engage with these super-users (and let them engage with each other), and create a community around their products. Some Retailers Are Openings Stores: You'll Never Guess Who: There's been plenty of store closings going on, with many experts pointing to the Retail Apocalypse as the source, but some retailers are opening more stores. Two pretty shocking things: 1) Burlington is opening 50 new stores, and 2) Brian has never been inside of a Burlington. Brian says that Burlington hasn't over-retailed and that's why they have been able to expand. Brian says that he has a new theory about companies that have gone out of business: many of these companies on this CBI Insights list aren't relevant anymore. Ingrid points out that a lot of these companies just got "fat and happy" and in-so didn't bother to innovate. Simplicity Is a Great Way to Display Your Value Proposition to Customers: Ingrid makes a great point that many newer D2C brands have figured out that simplicity is a great way to display their value proposition to their customers. Harry's is an excellent example of this: "we have a razor, it's good, you should buy it," it's uncomplicated and makes the customer feel at ease with the brand's simplicity. Mattress firm is awful at retailing, Walmart is much better at it. Ingrid's recommendations for retailers: Make sure you're not over-retailing (competing with yourself) and make sure you're offering simplicity and solving an actual problem for a customer, and that you're able to inspire your customers. Brian says you have to have a clear value proposition for the customer that makes them feel connected back to the brand. In-Store Data Can Tell Retailers What Their Customers Want: As we've spoken about on the show before, Walmart is killing the retail game, and they're using actionable in-store data to do it. It was announced recently that Walmart is closing some stores, but they're opening 46 new stores. Brian says that as retailers get better as using data, they can get a much better picture of where stores should exist, how they should look, and what the experience in-store should be. Outdoor Voices is an excellent example of this, they are updating their stores based on their in-store and online data, which is precisely the right thing to do: combining in-store and online data is essential for retailers. Ingrid says that Google is a great example of a company doing this right: They've created maps based on footsteps for qualified customers: because they have all of that data. As always: We want to hear what our listeners think! Do you think legacy brands are doing a poor job keeping up with D2C brands on social media? What brands do you think are doing the actual work in connecting with their customers and keeping them engaged? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at or any of our social channels, and we love hearing from our listeners! Want to reach out to Ingrid? Reach out on Instagram → Retail tech is moving fast, but Future Commerce is moving faster.

Phillip and Brian are back to talking about deep fakes (and cheap fakes), Instagram may be having a massive influence on purchasing decisions, and is the term direct-to-consumer no longer relevant? Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: There's deep fakes, cheap fakes, and shallow fakes, and it's all getting a little ridiculous. Should Anna Delvin (aka Anna Sorokin) become the next CMO of Victoria Secret? Everyone should probably start sending Brian hate mail. The Instagram aesthetic is no longer a thing; brands should get on board. Are we going back to advertising on billboards? Cheap Fakes And Deep Fakes And Shallow Fakes Oh My: There's been a lot of talk about deep fakes: the grand phenomenon that brought us all Steve Buscemi's face on Jennifer's Lawrence's body, and it's getting worse. Future Commerce has been talking about deep fakes for a while (and shallow fakes), but now cheap fakes are a thing, and it's less than impressive. For example, here's a "cheap fake" of the Speak of The House Nancy Pelosi, in which she appears to be drunk, it's low quality, and ridiculous and yet it went viral, Having fun yet? Here's what Phillip's calling the worst deep fake/voiceover of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, telling us all how happy he is to own all of our data. Brian says everything is a swirl of confusion right now. On the commerce side, this kind of AI is getting easier to implement this into media, and really what deep-fakes are a tool for convincing viewers that the content being played is real. Is the future of deep fakes having all our brains being scanned into robots? We Don't Need Deep-Fakes: We're Being Deep Faked All The Time: But if the point of deep-fakes is to convince a viewer, then do we need them at all? Especially because as Phillip points out: , we're being convinced all day, every day on social media platforms. Phillip blames Instagram (again) for turning him into a sneakerhead. Brian says that there is going to be a place for deep fakes in advertising that is going to allow brands to leverage different personalities and people at a much larger scale than they do now. We're seeing similar uses being used in body data, where services Allure Systems can use models body data at mass to create diverse catalogs. Spoiler Commerce, Clever Marketing, and Bigger Better Brands: So here's an actual question: Is the fact that brands are using Instagram to promote a false (or misleading, don't sue us) narrative about their business ruining social media? Phillip thinks that fake socialite Anna Sorokin should be made Chief Marketing Officer of Victoria Secret when she gets out of prison. Considering how terrible Victoria Secret is, she couldn't do a worse job, and we know she understands modern marketing. Going back to Instagram, it seems that according to Taylor Lorenz of the Atlantic, that GenZ is over the Instagram aesthetic, the very thing that made Instagramble brands famous. The irony is that GenZ is over it, modern advertising seems to be over it, but many brands are doubling down on it. Digitally Native or Direct-To-Consumer: Is Anything Real Anymore? Direct-to-consumer or D2C has long been a term used to describe brands that are sold directly to the customer, usually with an e-commerce slant. The question is: Does the title still fit the entire marketplace? According to Hillary Milnes writing for Modern Retail, D2C is a misnomer and should be replaced by the term digitally native, and for a good reason. The D2C landscape has changed, and there's plenty of evidence of that, Bonobos is owned by Walmart, Unilever acquired dollar Shave Club, and Casper is being sold in [Target} everyone's favorite more expensive Walmart. Hilary's response to all the changes in the D2C landscape is that we start referring to the brands as digitally native instead. Phillip makes a prediction: "Over the next two years, we're going to see content marketing platforms evolve to more psychographic-based customer segmentation to do direct selling. We love hearing from our listeners. So, do you think we're at the pinnacle of a new way of advertising? Is the Instagram aesthetic over, and should brands get on board with that? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Any questions, comments or inquiries, can be emailed to , and if you want to send Brian hatemail, you can do so at .

Brian wants to go "woke" hunting, Phillip identifies socially conscious brands, Digiday launches Modern Retail. PLUS: MailChimp creates a content division because, quote, "why not?" Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Brian wants to tell all of us about "woke commerce," and he's taken to Twitter to talk about it Will outdoor brands start to cater to hunters and fishers in the counterculture? June is Pride Month (Happy Pride!!), and brands are using their platforms to amplify allyship with the LGBTQAI+ community. Is Target the more socially conscious version of Walmart? Phillip really wants Brian to get hate mail. Brian (And Only Brian) Wants to Talk About "Woke Commerce.": Brian wants to talk about woke commerce, which is effectively brands that are aware of and make it clear that they are aware of (and support) modern takes on many issues, for example, Patagonia's multiple campaigns to protect the environment and promote fair labor practices. Also, Patagonia's campaign to rebuke the Trump administration for reducing the size of two national monuments: Bear's Eve and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Phillip says that the term "woke" started well and has since been co-opted to mean things outside its original intent. Brian lives in Seattle: he knows several people who aren't all in on the current hunting culture (they may well support hunting regulations and increased gun control, but they do like to hunt and find themselves unable to purchase from places in-line with their values. The only brands that may be socially conscious, are generally more outdoors brand and not for hunting and fishing: except perhaps Filson's. Hunting aside: some brands are very obviously more socially conscious and value driven: like Third Love (Phillip takes a moment to hate on VS) and Everlane. Creating Content Around Community: The New/Old Way of Commerce: For as long as commerce has existed, there has been a sense of community around it. Open air markets where farmers and fisherman etc. came to sell their wares, to church, to sports and all sorts of events. Now brands are dually creating products and communities at the same time, like Lively's founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant (or as Lianne refers to her, MCG), who in building Lively has built up a community that has actually resulted in the forming of several female-founded companies, Michelle explains the magic that happens when community meets commerce in her interview with Future Commerce, which is fantastic and inspiring. And now Mailchimp is getting in on the action of community-driven commerce, and they've decided to create original content, including a podcast. Phillip says Mailchimp has always been more than an email marketing platform, and he could see them acquiring a media company at some point. Also: It seems like every media is creating a retail vertical: special shoutout to Hilary Milnes (and Anna Hensel) from Digiday for establishing Modern Retail, which is killing the content game. Amazon Creates a Credit Card For The Underbanked: When we talk about commerce, we tend to forget that there are populations that may be underserved by a lot of the innovations in commerce, and those store closings (like dress barn) may affect significantly, people in rural areas, and those with considerably less disposable income. Amazon has created a credit card for those with subpar credit, which is in direct contrast to Apple's card partnership with Goldman's Sachs. According to Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "The e-commerce giant partnered with publicly traded bank Synchrony Financial to launch "Amazon Credit Builder" --- a program that lends to shoppers with no credit history or bad credit, who would otherwise be exempt from Amazon's loyalty cards." Phillip and Brian seem to disagree on if this is a good idea. Brian thinks e-commerce is the answer to store closings. The exciting thing about this is that unlike other secured cards Amazon's card comes with some perks, like 5% cashback. Amazon also has special programs who are on EBT or Medicaid, and also have student discounts for Prime. Phillip wonders if this kind of program for vulnerable populations may be a slippery slope to unethical control of people's entire lives. We love to hear from our listeners: Do you think brands are doing a good enough job of being socially conscious? Do you think Amazon's new program is a good idea? And what's the best example of a brand creating an inclusive community for their customers? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Any questions, comments or inquiries, can be emailed to , and if you really want to send Brian hatemail, you can do so at .

Instagram is powering impulse luxury purchases, Snapchat launches commerce (for influencers), IKEA rolls out robot furniture, PLUS: Stitch Fix earnings are in, and the outcome might surprise you. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Snapchat seems to either be making a comeback, or they're just really good at getting people to buy things. Is social commerce the future of shopping? Could social shopping be a new form of clientelling? Don't Call it a Comeback: Snapchat Snaps Back: In the first story of the week, Snapchat seems to be making some real power moves, including opening a pilot of in-app shopping of influencer brands, which is super exciting, and kind of on-trend for commerce right now. Brian questions whether Snapchat is making a comeback or if they're just really good at getting people to buy things. Phillip lays out some Snapchat facts: Snapchat has increased its global user base by 4 million in Q4, upping their daily user base to 190M. According to Business Insider: "The Android app produced a 6% increase in the number of users sending Snaps within the first week of upgrading, per Snap's earnings report". Could it be that Snapchat is growing in overseas use? Social Commerce is Cool: A New Avenue to Reach Customers: So it's not just Snapchat that is doing in-app commerce: both Instagram and Pinterest have introduced similar programs. Pinterest introduced social-shopping in their application in March, making it easier for brands to showcase their products on Pinterest boards. And Instagram got significant headlines when they introduced a pilot program for in-app shopping, for select brands. And here's the thing about Pinterest, they just brought on Jeremy King former CTO of Walmart, which means they're probably going to be stepping up their game big time. Phillip's prediction for 2020: Amazon and its big-tech cohorts are going to have to form partnerships to take part in social commerce. The reasoning behind this is that many of these companies are browse-and-buy first, audience second. Could Social Media Status Determine Credit Worthiness in The Future? So, with social commerce being the huge trend there is, Phillip points out that Facebook marketplace is a massive example of this. And the Facebook marketplace is essential, social shopping, and with local retailers putting up inventory on the platform, it can bring local-commerce global. Brian says that the Facebook marketplace can make clientelling easier because it's easier to service your clients one-on-one. So in another story for this week: Cheddar has a video out in which Allison Chiaramonte, an agent at Warburg Realty explains how real-estate agents are turning into influencers and using Instagram to get their listings in front of more people. Could this kind of trend turn real estate into a luxury impulse purchase? Phillip references back to episode 105 ("Deliciously Sinful" - Brand Sustainability in the Age of Impulse Luxury), where Ingrid Millman talked about how luxury impulse purchases have become much more comfortable in the age of online. Phillip and Brian forecast a horrifying black mirror-esque future in which creditworthiness is determined by social media status. Space-Constrained-Commerce: How to Make The Best of a Small Living Situation: Ikea is rolling out a new line of robot furniture, which will make it easier for people living in small apartments to use their space effectively. This would probably appeal to many people who are living in limited space in big cities with rising costs in both rents and purchasing price. Brian says that this kind of product release brings to mind the tiny home kits being sold on Amazon. Speaking of real-estate: Blackstone seems to have gone on a pretty expensive shopping spree, they picked up $18 billion in warehouse space, betting big on e-commerce. Could the Ikea robot furniture be helpful in constrained retail spaces as well, transforming space, making it easier for temporary retail spaces to exist? Brian's Takeaways from Future Stores Seattle: Brian was at Future Stores Seattle last week: and there was plenty of exciting content to be experienced. The most significant trend at the show focused on the retail associate; there was even an entire track dedicated to the topic. Several of the main stage talks were also dedicated to discussing the role of the retail associate, which is positive. Almost half of the booths in the innovation lab were focused on training, enablement, clientelling, and efficiency for store associates. Brian says that the future of retail is empowering retail store associates to be able to do more, have better relationships with customers, and be true ambassadors or the brands they work for. Quoting Brian's opening remarks from NRF Tech: "Technology should be all about the client relationship, that's what it's for, and when you're doing technology for technology sake, you're not doing what retailers should be doing." So, do you utilize in-app shopping features on Instagram or Snapchat for your brand, or as a consumer? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Retail Tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Bonobos is the newest to try-before-you-buy brands, Walmart is killing it, Phillip loves on ULTA (again) but not for the reason you think - PLUS a new approach to designing e-commerce experiences for Gen Z. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: A pilot program that would have had facial recognition technology being used in a public school is put on hold, for all of the reasons. Are stripped down, discovery heavy e-commerce sites the future of user experience? Phillip's pretty much obsessed with Ulta, and for some pretty good reasons. Walmart is basically just a tech company that happens to sell products. The try-before-you-buy model is changing the way consumers shop online, and in-store. Facial Recognition Being Used in Schools: Yay or Nay? Facial recognition has become a hot topic lately, especially as the discussion around privacy continues to evolve. A public school in New York's Lockport City School District was supposed to be the first school to adopt a pilot program that would've used facial recognition software on students, which sounds totally ethical. The program which raised some serious privacy concerns has since been put on hold temporarily by the New York State Department of Education. This prospective surveillance state story comes a week after JetBlue customers complained about cameras taking pictures of them as they were boarding their flights. And no one should, or could forget about how easy it was for the experiment that spurred The Privacy Project allowed for cheap facial recognition to identify where (and who) professionals were as they traveled near Bryant Park. Will The Entire World Get on Board With Entireworld? What does the future of e-commerce look like, could it be that it looks like the category-less kind of zany The Entireworld brand?   Phillip definitely seems to think so, and apparently so does Nike. "The future of e-commerce is a model that goes beyond the traditional checkout model" Nike has set up a website that is very much in line with the layout of Entireworld and acts as a brand-bible that is basically a guide to materials and ethos and brand position for Nike. This Show is All About Ulta: They're Killing The Merchandising Game: Ulta: The Sephora alternative with pretty much everything, and seemingly immune from the broader "retail apocalypse". So what is different about Ulta, why is Yahoo Finance calling them a "Diamond in the Rough?" Here are some important data points: Ulta has grown exponentially: The stock has grown 3,845% over the last ten years, and now has over 25,000 products across 500 brands. And according to Phillip where Ulta really excels is in their merchandising, and the experience of the store itself. Brian says that Ulta's surge probably has to do with how many hair products Phillip purchases there. Ulta has its products laid out by brand and offers in-house salon services where customers can actually experience those products. Walmart Hires a New CTO With Some Extra Responsibilities: Future Commerce is a big fan of former Walmart CTO (and current SVP of Technology at Pinterest) Jeremy King, and we were really interested to see who would replace him at Walmart. And Jeremy King's replacement (who also will have the title of CDO) Suresh Kumar, has an incredibly impressive resume at top tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM. Three years ago Future Commerce was talking about Walmart as an acquisition apparel company, and now they're basically a tech company that happens to sell things Brian says that Walmart has become more than just a thorn in Amazon's side. Try-Before-You-Buy: Giving Customers The Option to Return Nets Bonobos Gains: Bonobos try-before-you-buy model, similar to the ones utilized by companies like Stitch Fix, seems to be working really well for them. Here's the way Bonobos brick-and-mortar presence works: the brand uses a showroom model, called guide stores, in which customers can try on clothes before they are shipped to their homes. And it seems to be working: according to Retail Dive 35% percent of the service users of Bonobos using this service are new customers, which means that brick-and-mortar is certainly helping this formerly online-only brand. And as Brian says, the best thing about Bonobos is how much they've grown under Walmart's wing, they're up 74% from August 2017, and up 34% from the year prior. Phillip says this is all great, but none of these brands is using out of the box software, and e-commerce platforms are incredibly behind current expectations of customers. So we love to hear from our listeners: What does the e-commerce experience look like for your brand? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Any questions, comments or inquiries, can be emailed to .

What does Star Trek teach us about ambient computing? How is voice evolving? Is voice dead? And if not is it a potential $112B market opportunity? Special bonus episode COMIN ATCHA. Listen now!

One of these things is not like the other: Arby's x Birchbox, $88 rental products from Urban Outfitters and a prediction of Kohl's having a potential suitor. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Urban Outfitters has a new rental-subscription service, but will GenZ even care? 23andMe teams up with Airbnb to help consumers with their travel plans: is this super creepy, or genius? Amazon wants to create wearables that can sense emotions, just in case they don't have enough consumer data. Dress Barn closes 650 stores because shuttering stores is what all the cool kids are doing according to Coresight. Urban Outfitters: Will Their Rental-Subscription Appeal to GenZ? Some background: Urban Outfitters was originally a retail store called Free People and was renamed Urban Outfitters in 1976, and it used to be the coolest kid on the block for hippy-esque fashion. And now, Urban Outfitters, probably to get it's mojo back, has launched a rental-subscription service (Nuuly) for $88 for up to six items per month. According to Kaleigh Moore writing for Forbes, Nuuly (which Phillip challenges Brian to spell) will function as it's own brand spearheaded by Urban Outfitters current Cheif Digital officer David Hayne. Here's a question though, will Urban Outfitters target market for this service be able to resist ruining the clothes? Airbnb Teams Up With 23andMe For a Heritage Based Travel Collab: Phillip asks Brian what his preferred travel booking method would look like? Airbnb and 23andMe, are teaming up to recommend their customer heritage destinations based on countries of origin, which is not at all going to end in a PR disaster. Phillip says that the idea of 23andMe and AirBnB sharing the data they've collected with a third party is the creepy aspect, but ads that we've all probably signed those rights away in the fine print anyway. Brian says that collaboration commerce is going to be an increasing trend in retail. Amazon Wants to Know All Your Feelings All The Time: So Amazon, being Amazon wants to create wearable products that can sense users emotions: because they don't have enough consumer data. For right now, this is just a patent filing, not an official product (which doesn't make it any less creepy) Is the future of retail mood-ring reminiscent clothing? There already is a dress that claims to change colors with the wearer's mood, and it's kind of awesome. Store Closings Aren't Stopping Soon: Boring Retail is Dying: Coresight is predicting 12K store closings in 2019, which is double that of this time last year. It's what Steve Dennis might call "the boring middle." Dress Barn is closing all 650 of its stores, to which Brian says, "who cares?" Phillip makes a point that low-end stores closing like Payless may actually limit options in rural communities. 24 Month Prediction: Could Amazon Aquire Kohl's? So in the final story for the week, we discover that somehow earnings beats are pointing to Kohl's doing rather poorly. Phillip points out that these reports came out only a few weeks after Kohl's and Amazon formed their partnership. Kohls's is going to start accepting Amazon returns, which may drive much-needed traffic into their stores. Phillip makes a Future Commerce prediction that Amazon will acquire Kohl's within 24 months. Brian says it's either Kohl's, Best Buy or both. So now we want to hear from you: What are your favorite collaborations in commerce right now? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Any questions, comments or inquiries, can be emailed to .

As Brian heads to NRF Tech Phillip pontificates on a foreseeable future where permits and certificates of occupancy are required to build shopping experiences on the web. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Brian is on his way to MC NRF Tech because retail tech may be moving fast, but Future Commerce is moving faster. Accessibility is near and dear to Phillip's heart, and so are brands that have good faith practices. The entire Future Commerce team are pretty big fans of our sponsors: Vertex and Braintree. What does accessibility really mean to retailers? Future Commerce Is Moving Pretty Freaking Fast: Why is Phillip alone on this episode? Because Brian is on his way to NRF Tech to MC it up. And speaking of MC fabulousness, for the second year in a row, Phillip was the MC at Magento Imagine, where he got to hang with (one of the coolest people on the planet) Gary Vaynerchuck. Speaking of super cool: Our sponsors are pretty amazing as well. Vertex is a leader in sales tax solutions, they provide on-premise tax solutions and are trusted by over half of the fortune five hundred companies to provide service, check them out here. Braintree, a Paypal company is leading the way in mobile payment optimization and has even led an initiative (along with HiConversion and Magento) to share the best and worst practices in conversion to sales in the mobile-commerce space. Future Commerce dedicated an entire episode to this mobile commerce initiative, it's a great listen for retailers, or anyone interested in the mobile-checkout experience. Managing Compliance: How Retailers Can Check Their Progress: So, as Phillip says in this episode, accessibility is more than just making things easier for only people with disabilities, it makes services easier to use for everyone, and that's good for retailers. Web content accessibility guidelines are laid out in the American's with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990. Accessibility is incredibly important to everyone at Future Commerce, especially Phillip, who has written several Ebooks with Something Digital: check them out here. 'And speaking of compliance, Site Improve is a great tool that can help retailers manage their site accessibility compliance. Accessibility is Important: Some Brands Do it Better: So which brands are doing accessibility really well, putting in the effort make their services more available to everyone? Everyone's favorite trendy technology company Apple is a massive proponent of accessibility; they're even a sponsor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Watch this incredible video that they featured on their home page during GAAD → Apple is also trying to promote accessibility through apps like Audible. Another company that is working to make its services more accessible is Shopify, who has renewed its commitment to making its platform more accessible for customers and is taking all of its marketing up to a much more accessible level. So, now we want to hear from all of our listeners: Which brands do you think are working to make their sites and services more accessible to all? Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin. Any questions, comments, or inquiries, can be emailed to .

"Help, an AI fired me!" Phillip and Brian dig into the exchange of privacy as a currency for convenience. PLUS: full-body AI model generation, Walmart's store innovation concept, and more. Listen now!

Former Ambassador and Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Sepulveda joins us to talk about Privacy, CCPA, GDPR, and the fundamental right to control our own data. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: With all the talk about digital privacy, how that data being used is a question many are asking, and former Ambassador and Assistant Secretary Danny Sepulveda is here to talk data and everything that comes along with it. In 2018 California passage passed a data privacy law, will other states follow suit in 2019? There are three big service providers when it comes to Big Data, do we even have to name them anymore? The genie is out of the bottle on data itself, but there needs to be context around how that data is being used, especially by massive companies with unparalleled power. California Set a Standard For Data Privacy Laws: Will Other States Follow Suit? Future Commerce is beyond excited to haveformer Ambassador and Assistant Secretary Danny Sepulveda on the show, Danny is currently the VP of Government Relations at Media Math. Brian wonders if someone will someone show up to the Senate in high-end denim at some point? Brian says that how corporations use and utilize data is one of the most critical issues of our micro-generation. So CCPA: or the California Consumer Privacy Act, has set a standard for states to set limits on what big corporations can do with their users' data. Brian asks Danny if other states will follow California's example, and what is being done on a federal level? New Jersey and Illinois both have begun to discuss digital privacy laws similar to the CCPA. No One Won in Washington State: Is Data Privacy Partisan? In New Jersey, AB 4902, would give users actual control over their personal data privacy. A 2008 law passed in Illinois bans companies from using a person's scans of people's faces, irises, and fingerprints without consent, and that formerly hypothetical situation has become very real now. Brian and Danny agree that the genie is pretty much out of the bottle when it comes to this new data-driven society. In Washington state, the Washington Privacy Act failed to pass the house of representatives, for a multi-layered partisan reason. Will companies step up to the plate to help retailers comply with CCPA and emerging regulations surrounding digital privacy? 2020 is Heating up: Why Everyone Cares About Silicon Valey: So are any campaigns jumping on the digital-privacy bandwagon for 2020? Both Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar have spoken about the need to modify and reform current anti-trust laws. It's pretty troubling that there is an incredible amount of power being concentrated in Silicon Valley. One of Danny's wishes for consumers in this data-driven market is that they can be seen the way they as the consumer wish to be seen. Danny Sepulveda's Perscription to Merchants: Now And Later: One of the ways Brian recommends that retailers can get ahead of this data overload is to collect their own data for customers so that they don't have to get it from someplace else down the road. Brian asks Danny what his recommendations are for retailers and merchants, long-term and short-term. Danny says in the short term, retailers need to be focused on building relationships and maintaining relationships with clients and continue providing value. In the long term, Danny says it is imperative for companies to have in-house team members that know as much about the technology being utilized as the tech companies they partner with. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Ingrid Milman (Ann Taylor, LOFT) sits in this week in our Earth Week deep-dive to discuss sustainability, transparency in supply chain, and "deliciously sinful" luxury impulse buys. Who has the true influence on the eco-conscious purchase decision - the brand or the consumer? How can fashion lead the conversation in transparent supply chain and manufacturing processes? Featured brands this week: Outdoor Voices, Rent the Runway, Reformation, H&M, Allbirds and more. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Director of Digital at Ann Inc, Ingrid Millman, is co-hosting this week. Earth Day has turned into Earth Week and, there are lots of sustainability stories to share. Can rental Services like Rent the Runway find a way to make dry-cleaning more eco-friendly? Instagram ads somehow turned Phillip into a sneakerhead. Earth Day Becomes Earth Week: Capitalizing on Saving The Planet: Before we get into Earth Day, Ann Inc has a new rewards program, and for the first time, customers receive rewards for spending across the entire portfolio. Also, Ingrid's professional views expressed on FC do not reflect those of her employer. Anyways, Rent the Runway used Earth Day 2019 to publish its sustainability report on Twitter, showing how RTR as a service is helping to reduce waste. Ingrid loves Rent the Runway, and has been a long time subscriber, even pre-unlimited, but feels that if RTR wants to be genuinely sustainable, the company will need to look into more eco-friendly dry cleaning options. Phillip says that RTR is the Uber of dry cleaning, they partner with local dry cleaners to get all of the clothes dry cleaned consistently. Phillip points out that three years ago, Rent the Runway would have gone to IPO. Everything is Re-sellable in 2019: People Are DIYing Marie Condo: Ingrid is obsessed with the Marie Condo effect and the results from its popularity. There's been a surge in the number of people utilizing both physical thrift stores, and online platforms like Poshmark, thredUP, and luxury re-sell platforms like The RealReal. Ingrid points out that there needs to be a change to the way these resell platforms operate: namely that there needs to be more of a focus on creating solutions for their customers. As of now, there's not a lot of value proposition outside of general resell. Phillip doesn't know if he trusts the resale market, and questions if perhaps if companies are posing as third-party sellers. Phillip also blames Instagram for turning him into a sneakerhead, because Instagram forces him to buy an insane amount of sneakers through their targeted advertising. Has retail followed more of a meme culture than an influencer culture? Ingrid makes a fascinating point: Many people develop their actual sense of style in High School and/or college, but they cannot usually afford to outfit that style entirely, but people in their 30's are targeted by luxury brands more because they have a wholly different purchasing power, and now can make "deliciously sinful" luxury purchases. Sustainability as a Search Term: Will Legacy Brands Adapt? Ingrid has noticed a trend with Google search terms, including sustainability, cotton fiber, dress garments, and for some reason the brand Free People. Phillip poses a question regarding sustainability: Do consumers care about sustainability because of the PR push that the brands they trust are putting out? Or are brands increasing their PR around sustainability because they know their customer care about it? Ingrid makes a great point that GenX and anyone near that age group cares less about sustainability because it's not on their radar, as opposed to millennials (and anyone under 35), who may make sustainability a key focus of their purchasing choices. If legacy brands want to pick up a younger customer, then they are going to have to put a much larger focus on sustainability efforts. This is especially true considering how many younger brands are beginning their brands with eco-friendly products like Allbirds. Earthday 2019: Brands Are Stepping up Sustainable Efforts: So in honor of Earth Week, Ingrid and Phillip are sharing some brands that are truly pushing sustainability. One such brand is The Reformation, who has a seriously sustainable slogan: "Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We're #2", which is pretty freaking awesome. Another thing to love about this brand is their transparency: They list all of their sustainability practices on their website including energy efficiency, recycling, and more, and they also list the sustainability sequence on each project page. H&M has also announced transparency in supply chain initiative, which promises full transparency in supplier names, location, etc. Another brand that has stood out in their efforts is Outdoor Voices, an apparel tech company that Phillip says makes "everyone feel like they're invited to the party. Outdoor Voices uses sustainable fabrics in their products, like merino wool, and rec poly made from upcycled post-consumer water bottles. Also: In our bonus episode for Earthday, Phillip talked about Allbirds instituting a carbon tax on themselves to offset emissions and make the already eco-friendly brand 100% carbon neutral. Ingrid poses one final food for thought question: A movement that runs parallel to the transparency in clothing push is the organic food movement. So why is the transparency in clothing movement moving into the mainstream at a much faster pace? Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback, or you can reach out on Instagram, Twitter, or any of our social channels. We love hearing from our listeners and hearing your thoughts on current trends in retail. And you can reach out to Ingrid on Instagram at → ing_stagram Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

What do Amazon, Everlane, Allbirds and New York City have in common? They have all announced Carbon Offset initiatives. Brian's out so this is our first mini-episode covering some of the stories that landed on Earth Day, April 22, 2019. Listen now!

In the age of brands having veritable lakes of data, how do you action and champion the story behind the data - how do you use it to bring real insight into who your customer is and what she wants? In this episode we sit down with Rachel Swanson, founder of Method + Mode, a market research firm, to take some of Future Commerce's own medicine - to listen to our audience and learn from the data that was generated from our first-ever audience survey. Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Future Commerce conducted an audience survey study at the beginning of this year, and Rachel Swanson of Method + Mode is here to talk results. Future Commerce is working to create a community around the content we produce. What can the FC team learn from our incredible audience? Data is more than just numbers, and proper implementation may require a facilitator to connect the dots. Before Method + Mode: Data-Based Storytelling Can Change Everything: Rachel Swanson from Method + Mode is here, and she breaks down the results of Future Commerce's first-ever audience survey. Rachel started her career working at digital agencies in the era of split-testing (also known as A/B testing. Then, over ten years ago, Rachel got a job working at Condé Nast, working in-house with Glamour, and W for three plus years each, honing the brand messaging and positioning for ad sales with a data-driven method. What drove Rachel while working in partnerships with brands, was the innovation and the drive to bring out the white space, which ultimately pushed her to strike out on her own. "Helping innovators Innovate is kind of how I see what I do." Success & Failures: What We Can Learn From Our Audience: This survey taught the FC team so much about our audience, and their feedback was invaluable to the development of our show. Phillip points out two main problems that Future Commerce faced before this survey and our rebrand. One issue being our content was much better than our logo suggested, and two being that even though retail voices were listening to Future Commerce, we didn't know who they were. Rachel discusses some of the key points from the survey, including that our listeners are 60/40 B2B-B2C focused, and that listeners are looking for more diversity in guests and topic discussion. Also, thankfully listeners do seem to like the back-and-forth that Phillip and Brian engage in, which is probably a good thing. Does Our Future Audience Want to See Phillip and Brian in HD? Brian asks Rachel what our audience cares slightly-less about? Apparently, our current listeners have little desire to Phillip and Brian on video, which seems to devalue Phillip's Ulta Beauty makeup haul. Brian wonders whether future listeners may be more interested in video, mainly depending on the context. Our audience does seem to respond well to our growing Instagram game. Also, since we learned that our audience favors consistency, Phillip wants everyone to know our new episodes come out on Friday's. Storytelling VS. Lakes of Data: Find Someone to Connect The Dots: Brian asks Rachel if she can explain what makes for proper research? Rachel explains though many people equate data and research, they aren't the same. Data becomes unless it is married with human connection is what drives standout work. And as Rachel points out machine learning cannot derive everything, because it lacks that human connection. These are all reasons to work with someone who can decipher that data and connect the dots, be it in-house or otherwise. It's more than just lakes of data; it's about storytelling, and connection with your customers. Rachel: "If you're not an expert on your customers or your audience you're not doing your job as an executive." Want to reach out to Rachel, and Method + Mode ? Go over to --> ｿ . Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster!

Are digital experiences the gateway to a more accessible luxury experience for millennial consumers? Scott Emmons opens up to us about his successes at Neiman Marcus, the future of technology adoption at retail brands, and how he's bringing that culture of innovation and technology leadership to other brands in his new role at Current Global.

Our analysis of "deep fakes" continues as we sit down with SuperPersonal, the technology which maps a customer's face into the stores that they shop online. Founder Yannis Konstantinidis talks about the evolution and eventuality of the use of the technology, customer expectation, the blurred lines of privacy and personalization, and much more. Show Notes: Main Takeaways: In one of Future Commerce's most anticipated interviews: SuperPersonal Founder Yannis Konstantinidis is here to talk tech. With personalization being the future of pretty much everything, how will technology like SuperPersonal's fit into the retail space? Yannis is a big fan of Future Commerce What are the ethical implications of this kind of technology? Can SuperPersonal Change The Way Consumers Shop Online? Brian and Phillip are beyond excited to interview Yannis Konstantinidis, the Founder of Super Personal, all about his terrifying and insanely cool technology. SuperPersonal is a tech company that enables actual personalization and allows users to see themselves in clothes that they have never worn before. Phillip and Brian are both fans but also terrified of this technology What's astonishing about this technology is that all it requires is a 15-second video of the user to be functional. And as Yanis points out, there's an obvious need for this kind of technology, because people who buy online want to see what they will look like in the clothes beforehand. From Shallow to Deep Fakes: Terrifying Tech on The Rise: Phillip points out that people are engaging with similar technology every-single day just on a grander scale like with Samuel L Jackson managing to de-age 50+ years in Captin Marvel. Phillip asks Yanis if this kind of technology is going to be more prevalent in films? What SuperPersonal is doing is very different because they are creating technology for the everyday consumer. Before anything, more consumers need to be educated about manipulative technology, shallow-fakes, deep-fakes, and image-based fake news, especially in politics. Brian questions how/if SuperPersonal's technology would fit into the rising problem of data piracy? Yannis says that this technology wouldn't work with the sorts of things data pirates would want to utilize it for, it pretty much works with fashion, and that's it. And what is the ethical responsibility for SuperPersonal or similar companies/solutions? Yannis explains that SuperPersonal is a closed system, and they don't share the data because of their ethical responsibility with their user's data. Customer Collaboration in Retail: Super Personal Edition The more content that is put out online, the more potential for content manipulation. So who is the perfect retail customer for Super Personal's technology? Yanis says that for right now either smaller players in the retail space, like brands would have the most use for SuperPersonal's solutions or large players who want to use it for smaller projects, like the launch of a new project. Brian says that this kind of technology is what Future Commerce has been looking out for since episode eight. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

In this episode, we unpack Instagram and Pinterest: is social commerce the new "dot-com"? Can a fast food chain be a good steward of an AI-based startup? Plus: Glossier and Rent the Runway go Unicorn, Apple Credit, and Jeremy King leaves Walmart. Show Notes: Main Takeaways: It's our 100th episode, cue the confetti and champagne! McDonald's acquires personalization company Dynamic Yield, and it's an interesting choice to say the least. Levi's going public? Crapple? How much more can we talk about this? Apple Credit is on its way in, will it be less terrible than everyone thinks it will be? Two female-focused (and founded) amazing brands hit unicorn status, which is super awesome. Is Mcdonalds Secretly a Tech Company That Serves Burgers? There's so many McDonalds jokes to be made it's not even funny, most of them about obesity and high blood pressure. The news of the week is McDonald's acquiring professional service/personalization company, Venture Yield, which has some people scratching their heads in confusion. Brian says McDonald's is a technology company that serves hamburgers, Phillip does not react well to this. Hot take: It is cheaper for McDonald's to acquire Dynamic Yield for 300M and let it enable all of its programs on the personalization front, and still allow the company to operate as a personalization engine to the masses writ large in e-commerce. Essentially it is cheaper for them to acquire Dynamic Yield then it would be to contract with them in the next three to five years. And maybe this acquisition is a talent play so McDonald's can use Dynamic Yield's personalization capabilities to be able to make a play in the future economy. However, can McDonald's, being well McDonald's actually be good stewards of this brand when they can't even be good stewards of their milkshake machine? Brian makes the point that Dynamic Yield may actually help McDonald's make their customer experience better. Is Dot-Com Going The Way of The Dodo? Jeremy King is leaving Walmart, and heading to Pinterest. Phillip says Instagram commerce is Commerce 3.0. Pinterest is back in the commerce game, just in time for their impending IPO, and it's basically 2016. Phillip says commerce on Instagram and Pinterest will eliminate the need for websites, especially with the discovery elements on these platforms, and it's Amazon's worst nightmare. What about Shopify? Shopify could be a pretty big threat to Amazon as well, and it's the cereal of choice for private equity, and VC backed D2C brands. Brian makes the point that dot-com will still be necessary in the future for certain types of purchases and will be part of a brand's strategy for future growth. Phillip compares dot-com to fax machines, which is pretty great, and says that brands will not need to heavily invest in dot-com because websites are not aiding in discovery. Pinterest Signals a Step Towards Better Tech by Hiring Jeremy King: Jeremy is King moving over to Pinterest signals that they are looking to level up their tech game, through technology platform and developer adoption. Could Pinterest see a similar technological revolution to Walmart? Phillip throws out vague sports references Warning: retailers really shouldn't miss the bus on Instagram like they did on Amazon, it will be a huge mistake, huge. Phillip tries to buy sneakers, which is shocking but there's a story: somehow purchasing through the Nike app is not as seamless as it seems, and Phillip almost ended up with four pairs of the same sneakers. Apple is Not a Bank: Stop Pretending This is Real So why should we care about Apple credit? Brian questions whether Phillip wants to talk about this at all. Shoutout to Brian Commerce impact: To get the rewards at the reward rate you have to use Apple Pay as opposed to the titanium card, which will make Apple loyalist demand that retailers accept Apple Pay anywhere. Brian throws shade at Apple loyalists. Apple is basically just a money machine at this point, but at least Apple Credit seems better than the Apple home speaker. Brian and Phillip are not qualified to talk about finance or banking or budgeting systems. News Stories of The Week: It's Pretty Crazy Out There: Levi's goes public, just as it rolls out customizable jeans and avenues to customer-influenced personalization. UPS is partnering with a blockchain company with the best name ever, Inextion Zippy to build a block-chain capable B2B e-commerce platform. Brian thinks this is going basically nowhere, which is probably true. In unicorn news: two major female-founded brands have hit the 1B valuation mark, Rent the Runway and Glossier. This achievement is a huge accomplishment for all involved but hats off especially to CEO of Rent the Runway, Jennifer Hyman, and Glossier founder Emily Weiss. Phillip and Brian have a hard time logging off the show, and it's pretty funny. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Live from Shoptalk 2019, there's a lot to say about brands, Levi's keynote, and puppies which seem to be everywhere! Future Commerce Director of Content Lianne Hikind joins the show, and clienteling is a major theme at Shoptalk sessions. Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Phillip and Brian podcast live for the third time from #Shoptalk2019! FC's Director of Content Lianne Hikind joins the show Why does anybody think giving free haircuts at a conference is a good idea? Shoptalk launches Retail Club to help retailers and merchants network. Boring brands continue to die off because they are not engaging with customers. Trouble With Tribbles: Payment Providers in 2019: Paypal Credit is a familiar face on the Shoptalk marketplace floor. Brian regrets not getting a free haircut at Shoptalk, though why there are free haircuts at a conference is confusing, and slightly unsanitary. Maybe the free haircuts are connected to the abundance of payment providers because all the money that people would have spent on a haircut, or makeup, they could spend on their payment solution. Are Shoptalk attendees channeling Alex Honnold from Free Solo? Future Commerce's Resident Puppy Analyst: Shoptalk Shop Talk: Phillip points out that there are puppies everywhere at Shoptalk, it's true, and it's fantastic. Lianne joins the show to bring some millennial perspective and literally drops her mic. Stylitics, a B2B outfit, and styling technology company was impressive, their new feature of allowing the customer to curate outfits in-store is going to change the in-store shopping game. Phillip uses the term hornswoggled, which apparently makes him old. One of the best sessions at Shoptalk was Marc Rosen EVP at Levi's keynote: and he was wearing Levi's jeans which made the session all the better. Levi's is re-inventing itself by offering customers customizable options, which in the era of personalization is an excellent idea. Levi's is a pretty ancient brand, starting out over 165 years ago, by creating better jeans for miners to wear while they worked, the original customer feedback loop. Lunch Tables Are Lit at Shoptalk: Connecting With Brands Over Bread: One of the best places to meet exciting brands at Shoptalk? The breakfast and lunch tables. Phillip had the opportunity to chat with Adidas Speed Factory, Adidas had a very similar story to Levi's in regards to the evolution in the supply chain, and now they're making products closer to fulfillment, cutting down on the time it takes to make each product. Brian and Lianne had a long conversation with Flowers Foods, who have acquired a new line of gluten-free bread, which will save Lianne from missing out on bread. And there is no better way of getting Shoptalk attendees to connect, then over food and coffee. And a company that is not to be named was overheard talking about how GDPR is already causing pain for U.S based brands. Which answers the question as to whether GDPR will have an impact on large companies, because the multiple companies heard talking about pain points, are not small business. Why Isn't Anyone Talking About Voice? In the Future Commerce pre-Shoptalk show, Phillip questioned why almost no one was talking about voice-technology at the show. Brian says that the capability for voice tech isn't there yet and that it's not conducive to commerce. There are no retailers displaying voice technology at Shoptalk. So what is the future of voice tech, and how will companies implement it into existing strategy? One brand that is talking about voice is KFC, who we heard from at Future Stores Miami, but they're using it to enhance the experience of their employees. Retailers Agree: 2019 is The Year of Clientelling: The founders of Shoptalk just announced Retail Club, which is a year-round localized club as a way for retailers and merchants to meet, discuss, and network. Hopefully, this will be a great way to build out localized communities. "Part of the future of commerce is making sure that retail becomes a more sustainable place for people to work and grow." Brian caught Next Generation Shopping Experiences with Emar Malls and Rent the Runway, in which interviewer Ian Friedman from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners questioned the panelists about clientelling, which we all know is the theme of 2019. E-commerce providers are incredibly tribalistic: Why? Phillip points out that while e-commerce providers are tribalistic, customers themselves don't care which provider they're using as long as those platforms provide the needed services. Customers care about having a joyful experience, and that doesn't include search and browse anymore. Levi's is bringing customers an experience they'll be able to appreciate, bringing the tailor shop into the center of the store, in order to have a conversation with every customer. And digital retailers are having a brick-and-mortar renaissance, bringing customers into the actual conversation. Store Closings: Boring Brands Continue to Die Off: One major theme at Shoptalk is the announcements regarding store closings. So who's dying... cough closing? Victoria Secret, Elf, Gap, Tesla, etc., with over 5500 store closings projected this year, and it's only March! And while some retailers are liquidating their retail space, in another corner retail space is being re-purposed. Brian loves talking about Elon Musk. Will Lyft and Uber start demanding government subsidies in 5-10 years? And Walmart who has decided not to be boring had an excellent 4th Quarter. And somehow Best Buy has survived the "retail apocalypse" and is thriving, could anyone have predicted that? The "retail apocalypse" is as we all know, just the end of boring retail. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Lively CEO and Founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant sits down with us at Shoptalk 2019 to talk about how they're using community to drive commerce in an authentic way - and in so doing creating entire households of customers by partnering and empowering women who are "Wild at Heart, with Boss Brains". Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Brian and Phillip are interviewing Michelle Cordeiro Grant, CEO, and Founder of Lively live at #Shoptalk2019! Lively is more than just a lingerie brand, it's a community of women who are passionate and purpose driven. Does everybody need an emerald bralette with a stripe: Maybe? The intimates industry is valued at more than 13B a year, how does Lively differentiate itself?   The Lively community has produced seven companies by merely bringing together entrepreneurial women with similar value systems. From Concept to Customer: How Lively Came to Be: Michelle Cordeiro Grantt CEO and Founder of Lively, says she basically grew up in retail, starting at Federated Merchandising Group, working with brands like Macy's, before eventually landing at Victoria Secret where she spent most of her tenure. Something that really intrigued Michelle about Victoria Secret was the story behind the brand, and also the fact that while the lingerie-intimates industry is worth 13B per year, Victoria Secret owns 35% of that pie, which is pretty insane. This start-up was not going to be just another lingerie brand in the space, Michelle wanted Lively to be a brand that would represent individuality, passion, and purpose. Which is precisely what Lively is doing, and the brand has created a community and brand experience that encourages women to be powerful and purposeful. Want vs. Need: Lively is Changing the Conversation Around Buying Bras: Why is the conversation around bras always about a replacement? When it comes to clothing or shoes, most women buy more than they "absolutely need," so why are bras always placed in a need-only category? Michelle makes the point that women have two types of bras they generally own, the really comfortable and yet hideous day-to-day bras, and the really beautiful semi-artwork bras that are horrifically uncomfortable, and Lively is aiming to change that narrative on lingerie. The focus of Lively's offerings is to offer beautifully crafted pieces (not only regular bras and undies they also sell swimwear and active bras) that are actually comfortable enough for every day.   Really cool feature alert: 70% of Lively's bras don't have any underwire, which is excellent especially if women want to be comfortable and well, breath. And since sizing is so important to so many, Lively started out offering 22 sizes, but now offers 30, with plans to go even beyond that. Community Driven Commerce: More Than Just a Brand: Brian asks how Lively is adjusting to the increased options in this market, especially since they were early adopters. Michelle makes it clear that Lively began, and continues its growth through community. Lively currently has 65,000 ambassadors all throughout the world, who promote the brand, and in exchange Lively will create events around those ambassador's interests. Lively is a digitally native D2C brand but has a physical retail location on in Soho in NYC, which allows the brand to offer a genuinely omnichannel brand experience, both online and in-store. Phillip asks if Lively has a unique customer that will shop online vs. in-store, Michelle says that when customers purchase in-store, they may leave with 7-9 bras enough to replace their entire collection, while online shoppers are more cautious buying less quantity because they are trying out the product. Also, Lively has tapped into generational commerce, with mother's and daughters shopping together in-store, and entire households of women purchasing products. And the absolutely best part of Lively is that they are entirely community-centric in their merchandising choices, increasing their offerings as requested by their customers, adding swimwear, sports bras, and their motto says it all "today bras and undies, tomorrow the world. Lively is Bringing Women Together to Innovate and Create: Another way that Lively is fostering community is by actually having in-person events like "Founder Fridays," in which women entrepreneurs can come to Michelle's office and ask her all of the beginning questions that all entrepreneurs want answers to. Seven companies have been started after Lively's inception, just because of the community Lively fostered. Phillip questions what the next five years look like for Lively? "We've been very focused on long-term growth. We are very focused on retention and loyalty. Building out physical retail spaces but also leveraging community experience. Brian is so excited that in the year of clientelling Lively is working on building long term partnerships with their customers. This is especially important in a year that has seen record store closings for other.. less relationship... focused brands, like Victoria's Secret. So what can the Future Commerce audience learn from Michelle, and Lively? Michelle says that Lively has built its brand around the community, and they want to break down the glass wall that sees women-owned business only receiving 2% of VC funding.   "When women are given the opportunity to lead, the things they will create will be logical and practical and amazing." Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster

CVS launches "Beauty Mark," its truth-in-advertising campaign; while AI is generating plausibly "real faces." Meanwhile, companies like SuperPersonal are putting customers into model try-on videos. Have "deep fakes" - AI algorithms that map faces and micro-expressions onto stock footage - come to retail? How can they help? How can they hurt? Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Brian and Phillip are podcasting live from #Shoptalk2019! Deep fakes are getting a little too real to be comfortable. Personal body mapping for try-on is becoming a reality. Can companies figure out how to keep their data in-house? Who's Waldo: Can Humans Even Spot Deep Fakes Anymore? Deep fakes are becoming more and more realistic, and it's getting creepy. Future Commerce was ahead of the curve in starting to discuss the phenomenon of deep fakes, which became a buzzword in 2017 when anonymous Reddit users began to use AI to map video streams of celebrities faces onto pornographic images. Deep fakes have moved beyond the original use-case, and have also been used in political situations, which can have serious implications, especially as deep fakes are getting harder and harder to distinguish. Also: an effort to combat photoshopped images and promote body positivity, CVS has launched a truth-in-advertising campaign called Beauty Mark, that puts a watermark on all untouched photos, and forces outside brands to identify any untouched images in their promotional campaigns. There are plenty of start-ups that have sprung up around this phenomenon, one being Truepic, an image-authentication company dedicated to combatting fake social media accounts, doctored photos as well as deep fakes. Want to be even more creeped out by all of this? There's a former Uber developer who has come up with a fake-face generator, and the images are a little too close for comfort. And just in case all of this isn't bad enough, here's a "deep fake" image of Steve Buscemi's face on Scarlett Johansen's body at an award's show. Personalization in 2020: Turning Regular People Into Models: Personalization, especially in retail has become a theme of 2019, and the tech is finally catching up. Phillip says that while most virtual try on applications are not very good, Warby Parker has changed the game. Warby Parker's AR powered virtual try on is so good, it's almost like looking in a mirror, and they are using the same depth map as Apple's facial recognition software for iPhone. Another company that's working to change the virtual try-on experience is SuperPersonal, an AI-powered virtual dressing room experience that would allow retailers to "multiply e-commerce photography to account for different ethnicities, skin-colors, and age-groups, without the need to shoot multiple models". "Personalization in 2020 is the whole website is literally you". Brian makes the point that because of the last 6-8 months of advancements in AI and machine vision, models will not be needed, and will only be required as "aspirational content." Levi's New Story: From Finished Goods to Customizable Clothing: One session that was good at Shoptalk was the keynote by Marc Rosen from Levi's, in which he talked about how Levi's was going to be offering customizable jeans. This changes Levi's from a company that just sells the finished product, to one that sells unfinished products that can be customized by the customer. And this is changing Levi's entire business model because now their fulfillment centers are part of the supply chain because they are becoming part of the manufacturing process when they process these customizable goods. And Levi's has eliminated a lot of the process that used to require manual labor to increase efficiency, replacing the old methods with laser-beams and finishes. Levi's has also hired an AI officer, to get better omnichannel data on customers. How Can Companies Get to Know Their Omnichannel Customers? So because 2019 is the year of clientelling, retailers and brands are having to build relationships with their customers, and they need the data to do it. Phillip points out that the more companies aggregate the data in-house and operationalize it as a tech company, the more they will be able to figure out what works, and what doesn't. During Brian's interview with Chris Homer from thredUP, Chris mentioned that thredUP has a policy of testing internally, and figuring out what works in-house, before bringing in tools to supplement those processes. Companies need to figure out what works best for them and double down on that, and they also need to build real systems to house all the data that is collected, in order to utilize it effectively. There's so much more to see and experience at Shoptalk2019! Stay tuned for more insights, and highlights from the show! Also, let us know, what was your favorite part of #Shoptalk2019 so far? Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Recorded live at eTail West 2019 - Brian sits down with Chris Homer of thredUP to talk about how data is assisting the "treasure hunt" in the secondhand retail market space. thredUP uses data, events, and preferences to help their customers find wardrobe pieces they'll love, and they use technology to assist them in having joyful experiences over and over. Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Brian interviews Chris Homer, CTO of thredUp, live from eTailWest! The second-hand market is growing exponentially faster than legacy retail. Thredup is partnering with the supplier, has increased the amount of apparel in their lineup. How has thredUP transitioned into a data-driven culture? thredUP is allowing its customers to treasure hunt under supervision, using data to increase their customer's experience and the chance of satisfaction in purchasing. thredUP: The Story Behind The Online Thrift Store: Chris Homer explains how thredUP started as a solution to James Reinhart's frustration with having clothes in his closet and yet nothing to wear. The store started as a peer-to-peer platform for men's shirts and has since expanded to include clothing, accessories, and shoes for women and children. In 2012 the company decided to do more work with the supplier, to actually increase the amount of apparel in circulation, now thredUP puts over 30,000+ items online every single day. thredUP accepts over 35,000 brands, which Brian points out is more brands then any traditional retailer would ever touch. Fun Fact: Second-Hand is Growing at Nine Times The Rate of Legacy Retail: The resell or second-hand market is growing incredibly fast, with thredUP's 2018 retail report pointing to resell growing at nine times the rate of regular purchasing. Chris says that thredUP has been compiling these reports for 2-3 years and is the result of internal and external data from the company's database and users. One thing that the thredUP team was amazed by is how many of their customers were shopping secondhand for the very first time through the platform, and this was made possible because of thredUP's emphasis on quality control. Another fun fact from the 2018 report: The resell market is expected to hit 41B by 2022, according to thredUP CEO James Reinhart. thredUP vs. Poshmark: Saving Customers Time and Patience: So what separates thredUP from other resell platforms like Poshmark? Well since Poshmark is a peer-to-peer platform, it requires sellers and buyers to be incredibly involved in the entire process. thredUP allows for users to clean out their closets and send items directly to the company in a convenient bag, and since so many brands are accepted this increases the possibility of items being accepted. One of the most intriguing things about thredUP is the actual system that items go through as they are processed, with a mix of both manual and automatic processes to ensure that only the best quality items are accepted and that sizing is accurate. And speaking of manual processes, each item that thredUp accepts is manually measured to ensure accuracy in sizing. Data, And More Data: thredUP's Data-Driven Culture Yields Actual Results: Chris points to thredUP changing the dynamic of their teams as one of the hallmarks of their success. thredUP teams were shifted from functional siloed teams to cross-functional teams focused on business goals. There's a reason this is so helpful: When teams are centered around goals as opposed to specific fields like marketing or engineering it brings ownership and accountability to the team itself. This approach also gives teams multiple options for how to extract and modify data that is actually relevant. Chris also mentions that while having these teams focused on singular goals may lead to more messiness, it encourages more creativity and execution, as long as regular maintenance is performed. Brian points out that data collection and implementation is not a technology problem; it's a people problem. Without the right team structure and culture, relevant data won't be utilized properly. thredUP is Making Thrift Shopping More Fun Through Personalization: One of the pillars thredUP operates under is: "Giving a personalized and convenient treasure hunt to your customer." Brian loved garage sales as a kid, thredUP is giving its customer an opportunity to both discover items that they'll love through a massive assortment and is making new purchase recommendations based on previous customer purchasing. As Brian points out, this is a form of guided commerce and will help customers make choices based on thredUP's actual personalization of data. So what are your thoughts on Secondhand Commerce? Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving super fast and Future Commerce is moving faster!

Brian sits down at eTail West 2019 with Ingrid Milman, eCommerce Strategist for Ann Inc (Ann Taylor | LOFT | Lou & Grey). Ingrid talks about customer expectations in the digital age, clienteling as a culture, and how to lace kindness into a brand culture from top to bottom - from employee interaction to customer experience. Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Brian interviews Ingrid Milman the Director of E-Commerce and Digital Marketing at Ann Inc. at eTail West 2019. Ann Inc really does have a brand offering for every type of woman. Brian wants Ann to bring their retail expertise to men's clothing Will consumers begin to treat physical products like digital options? From UX Design to Customer Experience: Ingrid Joins Ann Inc: Director of Digital Marketing & E-Commerce at ANN INC., Ingrid Millman, actually started her career as a UX designer at Goldman Sachs. After finding out that she didn't enjoy financial services, Ingrid spent a year in Spain studying art history, after which she moved back to the U.S and took a job with Este Lauder Companies as an e-commerce product manager, transitioning from data and UX design to a client facing position. At Estée Lauder Companies Inc for six years Ingrid worked on several big-brand partnerships, like the first partnership between MAC and Rihanna, which is ridiculously cool. Eventually moving on to Ann Inc. a company that Ingrid says is unique in that they serve women at every stage of life. A Brand For Every Stage of Life: Fit, Fabric, and Finances: Ingrid explains that Ann has built out relevant brands for women of all ages, and budgets. Ann Taylor which is marketed towards women who are their 30's and 40's and are already established in their careers (Ann Taylor also has a fabulous shoe selection). Loft is a younger, more casual, but still appropriate for work brand, which can also be transitioned to evening wear. And Lou and Grey, which is Ann Taylor's younger millennial sister brand is highly focused on fit, fabric (everything is super soft), and comfort. Ann Inc. also has Loft Outlets and Ann Taylor Factory Stores for more budget-conscious customers. Brian wants Ann to apply their retail expertise and selection to men's clothing. It's The Year of Clientelling: How Ann Inc. Brands Are Stepping Up Ingrid says that going forward brands are going to have to be incredibly customer-centric, centering their offerings around solving problems that customers have as opposed to focusing only on color pallets and mannequin outfitting. Brian loves this and points out that too many brands are focusing on color schemes as opposed to figuring out how to solve their customer's problems. Also, as Future Commerce pointed out in our prediction episode: It is, in fact, the year of "clienteling." So how does Ann Inc. hone in on clientelling? Well, one way is through their customer service experience. Ingrid describes how all Loft sales associates (in all 500 retail locations) are trained to be incredibly friendly to not only customers but to each other, creating a relaxed, and helpful environment for customers to shop in. "It's all about making fashion more accessible and breaking down those frustration barriers." And that easing of barriers to entry includes Ann Inc stores offering additional sizes beyond traditional sizing, including petite, tall, and plus-sizes:Ann Taylor Sizing Charts . An Unlimited Sustainable Closet: How Ann Taylor is Stepping Into The Subscription Space: Ann Taylor's newest initiative: Infinite Style by Ann Taylor, a subscription-esque service that allows you to build a rented wardrobe, and then exchange the items for new pieces. This service is so incredible because it allows a customer to essentially build an entire wardrobe around a season or weight loss, or changing trends. Infinite Style would be great for women who love new clothes, and staying on top of trends but have limited closet space. The service seems like an expanded single-brand Rent The Runway. Brian says that this is the future of clothes and that he wants this same initiative for men's clothing, Ingrid says that the future of retail is significantly more gender neutral and that retailers need to place more of an emphasis on fit and fabric in the long term. In the short term, retailers really need to focus on building out solutions t that are implementable. We enjoyed getting to speak with Ingrid, and hearing how Ann Inc is stepping up to build out a positive experience for their customers! Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Shoptalk 2019 is mere weeks away, and so we take the opportunity to look through the brands, the speakers, and the agenda! ALSO: Is voice dead? Why don't we talk about failure? What were the key takeaways from the 2017 and 2018 editions of Shoptalk and what are we hoping to learn in 2019? Show Notes: Main Takeaways: Phillip and Brian preview Shoptalk 2019. Levi's takes a second shot at an IPO, and it's going to a pretty big deal. Brian is ridiculously excited to see Shaggy. Phillip wants a Canada Goose freezer-esque dressing room for his house. Why isn't anyone talking about voice anymore? Pre-Shoptalk Shop Talk: So Many Speakers, So Little Time: Phillip is now officially #ShoptalkPhillip Brian and Phillip are pretty excited about Shoptalk's entire agenda. Everything that has been talked about on FC for the last two years was featured at Shoptalk2017. One panel Phillip really wants to see is the Swarovski panel on "The New Digital Innovation." Brian says that Shoptalk has so many panels and breakout sessions that Shoptalk FOMO is pretty much guaranteed. Gabrielle Chou from Allure Systems will be speaking at Shoptalk, Brian had the opportunity to talk with her at Shop.Org, where she had a lot of fascinating things to say about body data. Matthew Shay from NRF will also be speaking, which is interesting when you consider that NRF is a lobbying organization, and many of the retailers whose interests he would represent will be present at Shoptalk. ###Levi's Second Stab at IPO: Hopefully Better Than The Jacquard: Mark Rosen EVP and President of Direct-to-Consumer at Levis will be at Shoptalk speaking about what brands will look like in the future. And with Levi's on the verge of IPO, Brian is curious about what Levi's will do brand-wise post IPO. Phillip says he could do an entire show just about how much he knows about Levi's. One great thing about Levi's is how omnichannel they are, and how they are everywhere a consumer wants to be: Levis are being sold in Nordstrom, and in Costco (which is cool, kind of), and consumers can purchase straight from the source. Super cool project alert: Levi's is doing a lot of cool retail tech innovating, using laser beams for a custom fit. Levi's also has a fabulous sizing chart, that's consistent throughout purchasing locations. Cold Weather Aspiration Retail: Puffy Jackets in Palm Beach? Canada Goose is Phillip's breakout brand for 2018, even though he'll never actually need a puffy jacket in South Florida's weather. Brian, however, has outgrown his Amazon bought coat because Seattle is freezing, and may actually need a Canada Goose jacket. Is Phillip close to installing a Canada Goose-esque freezer dressing room in his house in a new level of experiential retail? Is there a message in all this about how consumers buy things they don't need all the time because there are so many options? Retail Conferences Need to Add a "Spectacular Failures" Track: With all the talk about what brands are doing right, why is there not a track at retail conferences for the failures that brands have had in the process? Phillip and Brian point out that failure is so valuable because it allows retailers to learn from each other's mistakes. Will FailureCon2019 hosted by Future Commerce be a thing? Holding discussions about failure is especially important this year, as so many well-known retailers are going out of business like Payless, ToysRus and eventually Sears. Pretty much everyone would attend such a conference, but who would sign up to speak? What Will The Next Generation of Tech Look Like? Kroger has announced their own payments system, as brands move forward with bringing payments into their eco-systems. There are only two panels on voice at Shoptalk, is this because voice is not being utilized, or because it's so commonly used that it's just part of mobile strategy now? What is Brian most excited to see at Shoptalk? Apparently the performance by Shaggy. Phillip poses the question to Brian as to whether anything new will be unveiled at the conference? At Shoptalk 2018 Google laid out a step-by-step plan for how merchants could leverage Google to sell more. On Twitter Steve Dresser makes a point about retail conferences: Retailers are very focused on long-term tech like AI and VR, but less of a focus is placed on mid-term technology that is easier to implement like electronic shelf labels. Brian is also really excited to see what the next generation of tech will look like, as a lot of the companies from this show will be the future of retailers. Will you be at Shoptalk2019? Feel free to say hi! Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

"Controlling my data will be a fundamental human right in the 2050's" Phillip and Brian recap Future Stores Miami and get deep into futurism on what the future of humanity and commerce looks like as we evolve from Homo Erectus, to Homo Sapien and finally to Homo Deus. Main Takeaways: Future Commerce was at Future Stores Miami last week, and the content was crazy good. Stance is allowing customers all the benefits of shopping in-store, with all the convenience of checking out online. The new wave of clienteling has brands building relationships on the customer's terms. Will consumers be able to control who can use and abuse their data? In-Store Shopping & Online Checkout: An Omnichannel Marriage of Convenience: Stance, a digitally native footwear brand with physical retail stores has moved into self-checkout, but still offers regular cashier based checkout as well. Phillip is apparently anti-footwear. One of the reasons this is so cool? Because it highlights a new digitally based analog system coming to brick and mortar. So how does Stance's online checkout work? Clients can shop in-store, and then use the website to check out from their phone, using Google Pay, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay or Paypal. Is one-touch payment the future of payment methods? Stance's core brand tenant is pretty magnificent: "we exist to celebrate human originality" Modern Clientelling: Building Better Relationships With Customers: One of the best parts of Future Stores was the focus on Clientelling, which is one of the themes of 2019. How can a brand engage with their customers, in a way that is both engaging and tailored to a customer's individual preferences? Swarovski is trying new things and taking some risks in its retail stores, with their Sparkle Bar which allows for customers to engage with the products without a sales associate. And it seems that the benefits of this risky business have paid off: Swarovski is seeing purchases at higher price points, more brand engagement by customers, and customers are spending more time in Swarovski stores. Another brand trying to understand it's customers better is Kohls, who's VP of Technology Shweta Bhatia, explained two buyer personas: A customer who picks up a black basket would be a customer who wants to be left alone as they shop, and a customer who picks up a red basket who want a sales associate to engage with them. It really is all about letting a customer have the experience they want. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Brands Try Not to Be Creepy With Tech: Data is continuing to be key in mapping out client experience, and Future Stores did not disappoint in that regard, Phillip got to interact with one of the technology vendors Tout Audio a speaker array that utilizes face-tracking and customer path journey to target audio directly to individual customers. The Future Commerce team got to test out this process, because Lianne and Phillip both engaged with the speaker system, and heard entirely different things. This points to the increasing personalization that retailers have been focusing on regarding customer engagement. So how are retailers collecting and using this data? KFC and Warby Parker both had a lot to say about this. Warby Parker is collecting a lot of data from clients, like purchase history and browser history, to make suggestions to customers. And KFC is working with global wifi deployment to find out where customers are shopping when they're not at KFC (which sounds creepier then it is) to create a better in-store experience for customers. Is Data Ownership The Human Right's Issue of 2050? Data is being collected from everyone, pretty much all the time, but who has access to that data, and how will they use it? In 2018 Benedict Evans said that the term "personal data" doesn't mean anything, and really isn't quantifiable anyway. Brian says that that people are going to have to learn how to manage their data, and will have to pick and choose who can use that information and for what purpose. Phillip recommends the book Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harrar, which asks the question of what humans have evolved to become after overcoming wars and destruction and disease? And lends another question, what will commerce look like when humans live to 100 or 250 years old? Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Phillip and Brian deliver on their 2019 predictions - AR is here, where is it heading? Retail wages - are they rising? Brands can finally compete with Amazon - and what about Charitable Commerce? All that and more - PLUS what the "retail apocalypse" was REALLY all about. Listen now! Show Notes: Main Takeaways: It's the prediction episode, so hold on to your hats, and suspend your disbelief. 2019 is going to be one big change my mind meme. It's the "year of the customer," and retailers are starting to add value instead of deep discounts. Can Walmart overtake Amazon in online sales? Retail workers will have to adapt to a new skill set, and retail companies will have to pay their workers more. Is Apple Making All The Wrong Moves in All The Wrong Places? Phillip's first prediction for 2019? That Apple will die a slow and painful death. Apple has been making a lot of "interesting" choices lately like it's HomePod speaker system that rather resembles a roll of toilet paper. Apple seems more focused on gimmicky features like Face ID (which some people may find just slightly creepy), and on making cooler iPhones, but other companies seem to be outpacing them in the long term. And Apple products are getting harder and harder to use, and do their upgraded features on IOS really make up for the hassle? Phillip wants everyone to know he is, in fact, an Apple fanboy. Brian makes the point that one of Apple's problems is that Apple is hitting the wall regarding innovation. After a long reign is Apple just not cool enough for consumers anymore? The End of Boring Retail: The Retail Apocalypse is Still Not a Thing: At NRF Doug Stephens stated that "Millennials don't have a low attention span, they just have a higher sensitivity to things which are boring." This may finally end talks of a Retail Apocalypse because it is all about adaptability for brands, and how they can build an experience for customers in-store and online. And a lot of brands are starting to highlight what this experience should look like, Canada Goose has freezer-esque dressing rooms so that customers can test their outwear against the elements. Phillip makes it clear that he doesn't go into boring stores and a personal favorite retail experience is the coach store where a customer can watch luggage tags engraved in-store. These experiences help the customer feel like they are a part of the brand's community, and it develops a sense of familiarity between company and consumer. This next wave of in-store experience will be the Nordstroms of the world investing in technology that will assistive in the shopping experience. The Year That Amazon Has To Compete: Also The Year of Walmart: Amazon may be losing its superpower: because mid-level retailers now have the ability to make up the difference with features like two-day shipping. And as Brian points out these retailers now can build better experiences then Amazon, and offer better customer service than Amazon. And Amazon has to watch it's back when it comes to Walmart, because the big-box retailer is playing a long game. Phillip says that Walmart and Amazon have taken entirely different paths: With Amazon creating several in-house brands and marketing those pretty hard. And Walmart is buying up brands that consumers already trust, to build up credibility and sell to a new kind of customer. Also, by the numbers, Walmart is stepping it up: with 43% growth in online sales in the third quarter. Mark Lore the head of e-commerce at Walmart says that this buying up of native brands will continue. As Retail Shifts: Higher Wages For a Changing Labor Force: During the holiday season, all anybody could talk about was that there were more retail jobs than workers. And on episode 83 of Future Commerce Phillip and Brian talked about how retailers were beginning to offer incentives to current workers, and also that as retail itself changed so would the retail employee. And Brian predicts that in 2019, we are going to see a new kind of worker, with updated skills and updated wages. And according to Nikki Baird, raising wages may allow retailers to hire more experienced, more adaptable workers anyway. And as Brian points out being able to train these employees in technology and data will help workers be better ambassadors for the brands they represent. Charitable Commerce Meets Second-Hand Commerce Second-hand commerce was a significant theme in 2018, with massive investment into second-hand commerce platforms like StockX (including by SalesForce Mark Benioff). And as Phillip points out second-hand commerce may not always be about pure profit and The American Cancer Society has discovery shops where they accept donations, and all the profits go to fund cancer research. This venture is the cornerstone of charitable commerce and second-hand commerce because people feel good both donating to help with a good cause and others purchase those items knowing their money is going to help others. And second-hand commerce is undoubtedly on the rise anyway, with a Thredup report that second-hand commerce could overtake fast fashion by 2027. And with luxury goods specifically, there is a significant focus on being able to authenticate products, the Future Commerce team met Entrupy, a startup in the Start Up Zone at NRF that does just that. Repurposing Retail Space: Building Communities Around Transportation: The Virgin Group chaired by British billionaire Richard Branson invested in Brightline, a high-speed railway company that currently travels between Miami, Ft Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach in Florida. Now Brightline, itself has a unique method of creating a community around its stations, taking real-estate that Brightline owns and turning those spaces into destinations. Phillip predicts that this kind of model may set the stage for the future of travel, especially as we all stop driving cars. Airports can become favorite restaurants spots and shopping hubs, especially for people who travel frequently. And malls, which have become ghosts towns in recent decades, could fill their retail spaces by showcasing small vendors and become a hub for commuters and travelers. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

In this episode we bring a review of the best and brightest from the show floor at NRF 2019 - we talk Innovation Lab, "Ingredient Brands", Shoppable AR, and much more. Listen now! Main Takeaways: Phillip and Brian podcast twice live from NRF Body data is still in vogue in retail-tech company spaces, but has anyone learned to implement it properly? Want a 3D rendering of Brian's face? Take our survey. Will Walmart finally impress Gen Xers? Clothes that fit the customer, not the creator's specifications need to be the future of retail. Millennials are killing the curse of boring retail. Everything's About The Innovation Lab: NRF Edition Part 2: Brian went on a curated tour of the Innovation Lab put together by Tusk Ventures, that highlighted all the latest in retail innovation. Phillip attempts a French accent. Allure Systems (who we last saw at Shop.org) was featured in the Innovation Lab, as were a lot of other body-data focused companies, proving that body-data is still all the rage in the retail tech space. Brian notes that body-data is a consistent trend, but as of yet, retailers have struggled with application, though Amazon purchasing Body Labs for 50MM may make room for better implementation. Allure is still running their Walmart case study. And it's pretty impressive to see how their body-data technology can help to cut costs and reduce time through the use of virtual models. 2019 is Going to be All About Clienteling: The Year of The Customer: Phillip points out that long-term customer engagement used to be much simpler because luxury retailing was 30-40 year career, and retailers had actual long term relationships with their clients. Retail turnover is pretty notorious anyway. And now these roles have been so diminished, that there isn't that same connection between retailer and customer especially in luxury. One example of modern-day"clienteling" Hero, a software company that connects the sales associate with digital info and then they can feed that back up to the website. Retailers should already know this: Building relationships with your customers really is the best way to build brand loyalty. Will Walmart Become a Grown-Up Version of Itself? Walmart isn't exactly known as a luxury retailer, and it hasn't always had the best reputation. Walmart has been trying to shed it's notoriety lately though, it opened a Lord and Taylor's flagship store, featuring several more upscale brands like Lucky Jeans and Vince Camuto. Walmart has also gone on an acquisition "shopping-spree" buying up popular brands like Bonobos and Modcloth, and expanding into plus-sized fashion with Eloquii. But Phillip says Walmart may have aways to go in convincing Gen Xrs because that generation views Walmart through a specific lens, and that lens is quite dirty. But still be hopeful because Walmart's future may involve becoming what Starbucks Reserve tried to be: an ultra-niche market experience. Perhaps Walmart could be Amazon 4-Star but with their own products. And speaking of house brands: Decision Minds, another Innovation Lab favorite helps retailers to make decisions on creating house brands and white-labeling products. And Decision Minds is already working with Wayfair, which makes them officially not #vaporware. Customer Service is Everything: Can Onfleet Deliver For Retailers? Super cool service alert: "Onfleet is the last mile delivery solution for companies in food and beverage, retail, pharmacy and more". Onfleet helps Phillip and Brian compare OnFleet to other service-based companies like Uber or Lyft because it allows for retailers to know where and when their products are. And one of the reasons that Onfleet is so unique is that it helps everyone involved in the delivery process: It allows for route optimization, direct contact with drivers, and has it's own auto dispatch engine. Phillip needs an Onfleet for optimizing grocery aisle routes. Are Custom-Fit Clothes The Retail of Past and Future? With body-data tech being all the rage, and with customers starting to expect clothes that are more tailored to their preferences, perfect-fit clothes may become a reality. Future Commerce has been talking about body data for two years, But with all the focus on individuality when it comes to clothes, retailers are starting to try to pair customers with clothes that fit better. Subscription companies like Stich Fix and Trunk Club provide prospective customers with detailed questionnaires so that they can find out not only the customers measurements but also their preferences on fit, color, and personal style. Manually entering measurements may not be the best way to get an actual perfect-fit, which is why the future of subscription boxes seems to be custom-made clothes. Which is ironic, because that's how the clothing industry (or poorer people sewed their clothes at home) started anyway. All clothes (and shoes) were custom before the advent of ready-to-wear. Survival of The Fittest: Only Non-Boring Retailers Will Survive: With all of the hullabaloo about the end of retail and the retail apocalypse, there's one lesson to be learned, and it's not that retail is dead. Millennials, spend differently, and expect different things from their shopping experience, and favor the in-store experience despite being part of the digital generation. Which means that retailers will really have to step it up if they want to stay relevant. Which should really shine a light on companies like Rituals Cosmetics, and Sheetz. Phillip moderated a panel with Emily Sheetz (from Sheetz) and Marjolein Westerbeek from Ritual Cosmetics USA, two companies with a solid focus on customer experience and innovation. It's companies with that strong emphasis on building customer relationships, bringing a customer experience both in-store and online, and consistent innovation that will survive and thrive. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Products that are sharable are all the rage - in part 1 of our recap of NRF we come to you live from the show floor and talk about how retailers are using customer engagement to shape how their product assortment and marketing are crafted. Listen now! Main Takeaways: Walmart is stepping up its technology game in a serious way. 2018 really was the year of open source, and sneakers, and content. Content continues to be king of community creation, and retailers are finally picking up the mantle. Behind-the-scenes ingredient brands are going mainstream A 2019 Future Commerce prediction episode is coming up: What will Philip and Brian forecast? Walmart Is Making Moves: Can They Beat Out Amazon? Walmart was well-represented at NRF by CTO Jeremy King, and it seems that Walmart is working to keep his promise (when he started at Walmart) of Walmart's tech stack becoming 100% open source. Brian mentions the-company-not-to-be-named (which starts with the letter A) less than 5 minutes into the show. Walmart Technology has come a long way, especially since they started on their acquisition shopping-spree. Brian is super excited about Walmart in every way, especially with how they are expanding their tech team by the thousands this year. In news that should shock literally no one who hasn't been living under a rock: 50% percent of all digital retail transactions in 2018 happened on Amazon. The real question remains: Who will win in the battle of the massive retailer? Commerce 2040: Looking Ahead to Retail's Future: Euromonitor International has put out a report that looks at what the future of commerce will look like, and the future looks a whole lot like Future Commerce predicted. Drones will continue to be popular in the future, which means that Pizza delivery drones could become a reality in the United States. And It seems that the term "experiential retail" is going to be around forever, and retailers will find new ways to engage consumers. Also: Luxury retail spares no detail, Canada Goose is using freezer-esque dressing rooms so customers can test outwear against the elements. This is taking experiential retail up a few degrees (or down a hundred degrees). Phillip and Brian conclude that while Macklemore would probably wear one of Canada Goose's winter jackets in a music video, he'd probably of purchased it second-hand. Practical AR Was Big at NRF: Next Step is Running in Virtual Shoes? Practical AR was everywhere at NRF: With Augmented Reality being able to help consumers and retailers in everyday-life. Unity3D had a really cool sneaker demo that was nearly photo-realistic. Even Amazon has been pushing their AR functionality (though not at NRF because they didn't show up in any real way).. Phillip describes the shoe demo: The shoe that they used was a Nike VaporMax which has a translucent sole, and with the exact environmental lighting combined with Nike's level of accuracy with 3D models, this "sneaker" was next-level-authentic. Phillip and Brian predict that real-time models of this level becoming the norm is pretty much only two years away. Show vs. Tell: User Generated Content is King in 2019: Retailers are starting to understand that user-generated content coming from social networks, is the best way forward for sales and brand authenticity. As Phillip points out Facebook is the only social network that has both the retail integration technology, and the trust of its users. Not even Facebook as it stands though: Basically just Instagram. Because somehow, Instagram has been completely divorced from Facebook's scandals. At least for right now. One great example of this push towards UGC: Farfetch has acquired Stadium Goods (the home of many a hypebeast worthy sneaker as well as limited edition streetwear) for 250 million. The real reason for this acquisition though: Stadium Goods partnerships with brands like Complex for content creation, and the retail experiences around those partnerships. For example: Zeitgeist-influencer-powered-content like John Mayer doing long-form interviews through Complex. Shareable Moments For The Win (Can You Even Instagram?) : Product development in 2019 is going to be all about creating "shareable products." Can retailers bridge the gap between social media and user experience? Brian says that now there will be two types of businesses existing in this space: Content-ready, or not content-ready. Investors are picking up the content-generation trend as well, with StockX picking up 44 million, Grailed raising 15 million, and the acquisition of Stadium Goods. Phillip says that 2018 is the year of the sneaker because of course it is. Amazon is Trying to Stay Relevant: RIP Sears: Amazon didn't even bother to show up in any significant way for NRF. Amazon is building a second headquarters, and also a third headquarters: Phillip observes that everyone interacts with Amazon for pretty much every aspect of life, which is what Sears used to be 100+ years ago. Brian quotes Jeff Bezos is saying that "Amazon may go bankrupt one day like Sears." Fun fact: Amazon looks they are doing a lot more hiring than other major companies, but there's a catch. Amazon only hires within their own ranks, and have to hire in-house for each new piece of technology. Google and Walmart are much more partnership-centric, and create many, many jobs not attributed to them (They've even partnered up with each other), so it's a much better story. Europeans May Understand Experiential Retail Better: Can U.S Consumers Adapt? Phillip hosts a panel with two companies with well-known customer experience, Ritual Cosmetics, and Sheetz Inc. Phillip observes that European retailers understand the idea of "experiential retail," and European customers may expect that level of service. Sheetz, a gas-station convenience store brand has built their entire brand identity on delivering the best experience for their customers, and they can do so because they know their customers so well to begin with. Somehow everything always comes back to Amazon. Collaboration is Cool: Ingredient Brands Built Finally Gain Customer Awareness: Phillip and Brian both want to see a Starbucks-Toms collaboration. Ingredient brands, which once were pretty behind-the-scenes, are going mainstream. Ingredient brands are brands that go into other brands products and aren't marketed directly to consumers, but they are brands that consumers already trust. Phillip thought ingredient brands referred to companies like McCormick: Which actually makes a lot of literal sense. Should McCormick have an ingredient food truck? Consumers are now actually looking for these ingredient brands, as opposed to just trusting their efficacy, with retailers like Woolrich becoming a lot more ingredient brand focused. Phillip and Brian Preview Prediction Episode 2019: Brian says 2019 is going to be all about using data to make informed decisions about products, this can refer to using past data to re-invent and re-brand (like Story does every season) Somehow this entire episode is about shoes. Phillip's 2019 prediction is that 2019 will be the "year of the customer," and more specifically the year of guided commerce, giving customers the ability to have the retail experience that they want. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

"Stores within stores" is a concept often spoken but seldom understood. With retail closures on the rise we look at how real estate is adapting to new digitally native brands, how flagships are shifting focus, and how companies like Cushman and Wakefield are helping brands get to market faster than ever. Listen now! Guest Brandon L. Singer, Managing Director @ Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. Show notes Main Takeaways: A perfect storm in physical retail vacancies has led to an emerging retail renaissance. Retail space is being utilized to bring a new experience to customers. For brands to survive, retailers need to see the internet as collaborative, not competitive. The most interesting store in the world is bringing new commerce straight to interested customers. Community seems to be the future of commerce, can consumers bond over toilet seats? The Retail Renaissance: The Re-Emergence of Brick-and-Mortar: Brandon Singer of Cushman and Wakefield explains that there have been two factors that have led to an uptick in traditional retail space vacancies: The rise of the internet, and e-commerce, and an increase in the cost of renting and maintaining space in new york city. Now, brands, as well as large tech companies and even some familiar faced traditional retailers are finding new innovative ways to utilize their space in a way that brings a sense of experience to their customers. Brian points out that though the United States is one of the most over-retailed countries, retail is still on the rise in new and exciting ways. Brandon makes the point that when the internet really started everyone said e-commerce was the end of brick and mortar retail. Lots of brands are moving from online to brick and mortar even if they're traditionally online are realizing that having a brick and mortar location can help increase customer retention and in-store experience. Phillip points out that in-store experience is also about entertainment. Internet vs. In-Store: Collaboration Not Competition: As Brandon points out, one of the biggest challenges for traditional retail is that they have historically seen the internet as their competition. Brick and mortar retail space with a value-added in-store experience combined with an online presence is crucial to success in commerce. And this has actually been the downfall for those retailers who's decision makers have been unable to adapt, and consider the internet to be collaborative. Here's looking at you Sears. "New commerce: a new initiative that is taking advantage of the new age of commerce." Brandon points out some brands that are doing this well: Bonobos, a formerly e-commerce only brand turned retail space into a showroom, called a Guideshop allowing customers to achieve optimal fit and feel before having their purchase shipped to their home. Warby Parker started out entirely online and moved into brick and mortar, and now has over 100 stores where customers can try on frames to best fit their face and their style. Fun fact: Sears's business model actually inspired Warby Parker, which is ironic to anyone who knows anything about Sears. Brian brings up the new Nike 68,000 sq ft flagship store, called the House of Innovation 000, which is all about the in-store experience, in just about every possible Nike-esque way. The Most Interesting Store In the World: A New Kind of Mall: One of Cushman and Wakefield's retail clients is Showfields, a direct to consumer retail outlet that in their own words: "We empower the brands of tomorrow with access to physical retail space at the heart of the direct-to-consumer conversation.". Showfields is a different kind of retail experience and will be set up in a 14,700 square-foot townhouse in Noho (Manhattan) with a real focus on experience for the consumer. A store-within-a-store retail trend. Phillip points out that this has concept has been somewhat tried by single-owner companies like Citizen Supply, but poses the question of whether this will be an opportunity for clicks-to-bricks without a commitment by brands to a full store-front. Brandon makes a comparison between ShowFields and co-working companies, who rent space to companies who don't want to have to make a significant investment in retail space for employees as they grow. Phillip declares that: "experience is at the forefront and the opportunity to browse and discover is at an all-time high." ShowFields is like the We-Work for physical retail space. Community Driven Commerce: Making Shared Values Cool Again: Amazon keeps trying to sell Phillip toilet seat covers because apparently, the push notifications for Chewbacca bobbleheads wasn't weird enough. How community can really drive commerce: Phillip ponders starting a community for toilet seat seekers. Brandon points out that community-driven commerce is becoming a huge focus in retail space. For example Fithouse: a fitness studio on a mission to bring lovers of boutique fitness classes together at a much lower cost. Who is the intended audience for a studio like this? People who already attend group-fitness classes, and share a love for fitness, but don't want to have to take on a hefty price tag for participating in that community. Brian points out that Future Commerce did an entire episode on community-driven commerce. Can Suburban & Rural Commerce Keep up With Changes in Retail? Brians asks Brandon what if anything is happening in suburban and rural areas concerning commerce? Macerich one of the largest mall operators is actually helping e-commerce brands develop brick-and mortar spaces. The program is called BrandBox, and it will give e-commerce brands unprecedented access to tools like foot-traffic analysis, and the lease agreement will only require a six to twelve-month commitment as opposed to a traditional lease of ten to fifteen years. Also: Simon Property Group another major mall owner has partnered with Appear Here to bring Edit which is a new shopping experience which allows tradionally online brands to "pop-up" at their local mall. And as Brandon says, once a brand has a successful pop-up-shop experience, it will lead to an expansion of a physical retail presence. Brandon Singer's best advice for retailers going forward: Brick and mortar and online are not competitive they are collaborative. Also, create the best in-store experience possible, millennials are going to want to experience your brand, so build that in for your customers in a brick-and-mortar setting. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Main Takeaways: "We are now at the beginning of the experience economy". Retailers are looking for a way to turn mobile browsers into mobile buyers. Millennials seem to be at the forefront of a data revolution. Mobile customers tend to commit to a purchase when they feel that their personal information is secure. Can mobile-commerce really beat out desktop conversions? How to Win Customers and Influence People to Purchase Mobily: Paypal (Braintree), Magento, and Hi Conversion are working together, along with other merchants and system integrators on The Mobile eCommerce Optimization Initiative to share data on the best (and worst) practices in conversion to sales in the mobile-commerce space. CEO of HI Conversion Zee Aganovic says that retailers took about 10-15 years to truly understand desktop-based (traditional) e-commerce. According to Zee the invention of mobile brought new challenges as the mobile-commerce customer is entirely different. Since individual merchants cannot handle the enormity of addressing their mobile-customer base by themselves (especially when they are competing with behemoths like Amazon), system integrators are teaming up to bridge the gap. Fun fact: Mobile is quickly becoming a much bigger piece of retail revenue, on Black Friday, mobile-based sales accounted for almost 40%, even though Black Friday is much more of an in-store shopping holiday. "This is all about experience economy + invent of mobile". The purpose of this community is to immediately provide value to merchants, where they get access to experience optimization tools, and community data (on par with the largest e-commerce companies) on what actually works, and what doesn't. Brian loves the idea of merchants sharing data to address markets because this makes it easier for merchants to achieve scalable results. Also, Amazon apparently has teams to address 1-click optimization, and probably everything else. Proper Data Usage Can Prevent Resource-Allocation Death Spirals: Phillip and Brian interview Hasan Elkomey, the SVP of strategic partnerships at Redstage, an e-commerce company with a focus on B2B. Philip asks how Redstage is helping retailers to become more data-centric, and how they can properly utilize this crowdsourced data to improve outcomes for customers? Hasan hits on a critical point: Sometimes data-based solutions seem minuscule but are incredibly effective: One test proved that adding a padlock to the checkout button improved conversion rates by 17.37%. Perhaps because customers feel more secure entering their payment details when they feel the website they are purchasing from is more secure? Data can also be used to justify budget-based decisions, allocation of resources, or cuts to funding, Phillip refers to this as the "death spiral". Hasan refers to himself as a grey-area millennial, and millennials seem to be leading the charge on proper data acquisition and usage by investing serious resources in doing so.   Millennials are at the forefront of digital transformation in e-commerce. So how can merchants get involved in this initiative? All any interested party has to do is go to mobileoptimized.org and sign up, and it really is all about the data: The more community data that becomes available, the more merchants will be able to utilize that data to produce optimal results conversion-wise in the mobile-commerce space. Mobile vs. Desktop: Battle of The Buying Power: Brent Peterson, Chief Evangelist for Wagento Creative, goes to bat for mobile, saying that new studies are proving that mobile-sales could, in fact, outperform desktop browse-to-buy conversion. One of these studies involves a security icon being added to the checkout page, ensuring the customer that all their information is encrypted and safe, and while this only increased conversion by 7% on desktop, mobile had an increase of 17.37%, which is pretty spectacular. One test that seemed to fail, surprisingly enough: Autofilling zip codes, which actually had a negative impact on conversion for mobile users.    Brian says that this data can help other retailers learn from these results, taking the ideas out of the realm of the possible, by putting some structure behind it. Brent makes it clear that these results are not necessarily uniform across demographics. "Challenge assumptions and use data to prove out outcomes". Wagento has offices all over the world, including an office in Minnesota. Guests: Zee Aganovic of Hi Commerce Hasan Elkomey of Redstage Brent Peterson of Wagento Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Main Takeaways: Wayfair has curated in-house brands and has seen success due to its focus on customer experience and lack of awareness of brand. Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to customer experience. Wayfair understands that investment in its own teams is the best way to fill gaps in talent. Wayfair is popping up in two physical locations this holiday season. Wayfair: E-commerce Ahead of Its Time: When Wayfair (then called CSN Stores) was launched in 2002, online shopping was beginning to pick up speed, although e-commerce certainly wasn't putting up the kind of numbers it is today (2.3T in sales). According to co-founder Steve Conine, Wayfair's target customer is a 45-55-year-old    woman. This is entirely understandable since women make about 94% of purchasing decisions when it comes to the home. And now, sixteen years later Wayfair is known as a major global brand. Wayfair customer base is mostly direct to consumer (B2C), with a growing portion of their business being B2B. Referencing Wayfair's new partnership with VR company Magic Leap, Phillip notes that it would be incredibly entertaining to see a person of that generation wearing a Magic Leap. How Did Wayfair Manage to Escape House Brand Criticism? The difference is that branding doesn't really exist in the home-furnishing marketplace. This is certainly not the case with massive retail marketplaces like Amazon, where certain brands are held up as higher standards of quality. Consumers are looking at where they purchase in this space, as opposed to who manufactures it. An exception to this standard, may be well-known brands like Kitchenaid. Wayfair tries to help customers better navigate this space by creating "house brands" (these brands actually accounted for 60% of  Wayfair revenue sales in 2017) where they put together the best pieces from different manufacturers and curate it into a collection, making it much easier for a customer to shop according to their style and budget. Wayfair Really is The Jimmy Choo of Home-Furnishing-Commerce: Wayfair really stands out as an "experience company" and can be placed in the same category as Jimmy Choo or Nike for constant innovation, and customer engagement. Some noteworthy moves? Wayfair has invested serious money internally, training their own teams in 3-D and machine learning, Super cool feature alert: Wayfair has a customer 3D library that they launched on SketchUp in 2017, to allow for designers to place furniture within their designs, Also, Through Wayfair's VR app (Wayfair View), customers can view furniture or decor in any space they chose. Wayfair has even utilized search tool Pinterest so that customers can curate their own furnished rooms, per their style and budget. This would be super helpful for those shoppers who want to ball on a budget. Phillip points out that this is what Zappos could've been in a bygone era. : Seek and You Shall Find Talent: How Wayfair Filled a Gap in The Market: Wayfair recognized the need for talent in high-level modeling and 2D rendering and decided to train their own team to fill the gap. The company also now offers a "3D university" curriculum to home furnishing suppliers and manufacturers, proving they want the entire industry to become more cutting edge and innovative. According to Steve, Wayfair has the most extensive 3D modeling teams in the entire country now. Brian loves this news so much. Speaking of innovation: Wayfair Next, Wayfair new R&D department set up to "explore next-generation experiences" is also doing some incredible things with shipping & logistics. Wayfair is working to fill another gap in the market for products over 100 lbs. This will allow Wayfair to control the entire process from ordering to the delivery. Is Wayfair Really Trying to Compete With Walmart and Co? Historical retail has been about how to keep costs as low as possible, which puts companies in competition with their supply chain. Steve says that they are really trying to create a platform where everyone can have a successful business, not trying to compete with massive retailers. Brian says that the culture of innovation that Wayfair has is best in class, and questions whether Wayfair would ever move beyond the home market. Steve says that Wayfair's focus really is on crushing it in the home category, and providing the best customer experience. Phillip promises to remind Steve of this moment when Wayfair starts selling subscription boxes. Wayfair's Brick and Mortar Experiment: Popping up This Holiday Season: Wayfair is wading into the brick and mortar craze, with two pop up shops for the holidays season. This will allow for Wayfair's focus on "customer experience" to seep into an in-store experience. Steve says that this is an experiment for the company to see where/if they fit into the physical space, and what opportunities they have to get products in front of customers. Anyone wondering if a Wayfair 4-Star could ever be a possibility? Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster

Main Takeaways: Retail consolidation is happening, and it really is survival of the best fit. Phillip really wants Alexa to stop trying to figure him out. Amazon raises its minimum wage to $15, but are workers really benefiting? Shopify launches a glorified Apple Genius Bar in Downtown LA. Adobe has an uphill battle in integrating its acquisitions into a seamless ecosystem. Traditional Retail is Making Moves in Pretty Much Every Direction: DSW, (everyone's favorite place to buy trendy ankle boots), has along with Authentic Brand Group has made a deal to acquire Camuto Group for 375MM. DSW will contribute 200MM to this deal. it seems Toys 'R Us has been revived. On October 1st the retailer filed papers in bankruptcy court to halt the auction of their intellectual property. In news that will shock almost no one: Sears (a company that has somehow survived for 132 years)  has filed for bankruptcy, and is simultaneously trying to tread water. Sears has already shuttered thousands of Sears and Kmart stores, and its future remains uncertain, to say the least. Levi Strauss has posted massive gains (10% for Q3), This news must be very exciting to lovers of high-quality jean jackets everywhere. Should Everyone Just Feel Sorry For Billionaire Bezos? Amazon raises its minimum wage to $15, and yet some are suspicious of the retail giant's sudden goodwill. Amazon has faced prior criticism for its treatment of warehouse workers, including insane production quotas, too short break times, and a "big brother environment at work. Some of these stories sound like they are from a different century. And some of the criticism may be warranted: NBC News is reporting that Amazon is cutting bonuses and stock options to those same warehouse employees. This allows Amazon to enjoy the political benefit, and public adoration, while still being able to undercut employees. While Amazon has received praise for the minimum wage hike from former critics including Senator Bernie Sanders, it is still being hit with criticism for the cutting of benefits. Phillip and Brian lament that poor Jeff Bezos cannot seem to catch a break . Shopify LA: Just Another Apple Genius Bar?. Shopify has set up shop in a brick and mortar space in downtown LA, the location choice being a mystery to most.                  According to Philip and Brian, this store is more proof of concept than anything else. Shopify putting its footprint down in a physical space seems to come at a time where digital and native brands are realizing they need to move beyond digital. Shopify LA seems to operate similarly to the  Apple Genius Bar. Merchants can come to the store for IT support and ask questions about Shopify's offerings.   Shopify seems also to be using this store to reposition themselves: many users would describe Shopify as an e-commerce platform or use terms that include "digital commerce". Instead, TechCrunch (and perhaps Shopify themselves) describe Shopify as "provider of payment and logistics management software". Does this sound like rebranding to anyone else? Will Shopify Ever Set Up a "Shopify 4-Star"? Since Shopify has set their new brick and mortar space to be more "Apple Genius Bar" than anything else, will Shopify ever set up a retail space similar to Amazon 4-Star? Moving from digital to a physical retail space would allow for Shopify to showcase the best of their merchant's products. Brian makes the case for Shopify not wanting to have to compete with Amazon. Philip argues that Shopify's competition wouldn't even be Amazon it would be Etsy. What would really set Shopify apart if they would enter into a physical retail storefront, would be an  element of product discovery mixed up with a really creative in-store experience. A lot of e-commerce merchants are realizing that reinventing brick and mortar and giving customers a really innovative in-store experience may be the way to really up their commerce game. Can Adobe Create a Seamless Ecosystem Through Its Acquisitions? Adobe is working hard to compete with heavy hitters SAP, Oracle and, Salesforce. One way Adobe is trying to accomplish this feat is through all of its acquisitions.   Adobe is an enterprise applications company because of Omniture and Magento and its experience manager. Through various strategic acquisitions, Adobe is trying to create a seamlessly integrated ecosystem with all of its working parts and acquisitions working together. Some of Adobe most recent acquisitions Magento, an e-commerce platform, and  Marketo, a marketing automation tool are signaling Adobe's attempt to best be adaptive for marketers. Adobe most significant mindshare is through their creative cloud. CEO Shantanu Narayen spoke at Magento EU all about Adobe's transformation from a deployed software model to a cloud-based company that is able to iterate faster and deliver software on a perpetual basis. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Main Takeaways: Amazon takes a third (actually more like fifth) leap into physical retail. Phillip takes a trip down memory lane, was Service Merchandise the original Amazon? This episode would make it into Amazon's 4-star store. Retailers may want to jump on the Amazon copycat train for better in-store curation. Amazon Opens Yet Another Retail Space: Is Brick and Mortar Back? Amazon adds another retail store to its collection, Amazon 4-Star will join Amazon Books and Amazon Go. This is the first of Amazon's stores that replicates Amazon in an in-store experience. Whole Foods also counts as an Amazon retail experience (Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2017). Amazon 4-Star will exclusively feature products from it's website that have a four-star rating or better. This will allow for more consumer confidence in quality. Still, with millions of products, Amazon will still have to curate the best products and create an engaging in-store experience.   Amazon 4-Star is the latest slap to the face of the so-called "retail apocalypse", and Amazon proves that innovation really can change the game. We learn that Phillip is really into the Hamilton musical. What Can Other Retailers Learn From the Amazon In-store Model? Retailers should follow the curation metric that Amazon has laid out in Amazon 4-Star and only source products that rank over "four stars." Amazon has replaced paper tags with digital "real time" electronic shelf labels, which will display not only the price of the product, but also Amazon Prime savings, and the number of reviews a product has received. This points to an understanding between Amazon and their customer base that new innovation is needed in retail, and that this type of in-store experience is the future of retail. Online vs. In-Store Shopping: Customer Experience Edition: The question remains, why would a customer patronize one of Amazon's brick and mortar stores, be it Amazon 4-star, Amazon Go, or Amazon Books when there's convenience in ordering online? Or if you live in certain parts of the country there's Amazon Prime Now with extra convenient two-hour shipping. Well, it's all about the experience that the customer is looking for, with Amazon in-store and online offering different modalities. An online, Amazon prime experience seems to be all about convenience. And really, who would ever want to have to leave their house to shop? Brian makes the case that this kind of retail experience is all about discovery, and finding the best of Amazon. Phillip time-travels to the 1980's, to a store called Service Merchandise, a catalog store with an Amazon vibe. I.e,. real-world analog Amazon. Will Amazon 4-Star be the Best of Amazon or All About Alexa? Scott Galloway in speaking at L'2s Amazon Clinic says that Amazon will spend billions to kill brands. It's pretty terrifying when the conspiracy theories about companies come to life. Alexa's in on all of this too, and it's all in the recommendations. Amazon is pushing their private label products through everyone's favorite voice assistant. So with Amazon expanding further into retail with Amazon 4-Star, will Amazon be honest in their in-store retail offerings? Phillip proposes the idea of an entire Alexa store. Brian and Phillip actually have faith in Amazon's ability to promote the best of Amazon's online products, and not use this store as their own personal brand marketing tool. Only time and sales receipts will tell. Brian and Phillip are planning a field trip to the first Amazon 4-Star store. Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster. Have you had an Amazon 4-Star experience? Let us know all your thoughts at futurecommerce.fm

Main Takeaways: California bans bots from pretending to be human. Finally, brands are getting on board will real-size fashion. Brian and Phillip banter over "chose your own ending" episodes. California Passes Law to Stop Bots From Behaving Badly: Bots have earned themselves quite a nasty reputation lately. Sneaker bots specifically have people (especially Phillip) aggravated with how they buy up sneakers, forcing sneakerheads to purchase sneakers after the fact at ridiculous prices. Retailer KITH got themselves in a not great situation after they tricked sneaker bots into purchasing the wrong sneakers (they were looking for the Nike OFF-WHITE Air Prestos) and customers who spent a lot of money are all kind of angry. California passes a law that bots must present themselves as such, sending brands a signal that they can't automate everything. Phillip makes a point that this will add another complication to users. The good news about this law is that it will prevent more reputable business from using bots poorly. Possible bot opening line after new law: "This is not a real person...... yet. Will Walmart's Latest Acquisitions Breathe New Life Into Their Brand? Walmart has always been seen as this lower quality brand, not being able to compete against other low-cost retailers like Target. Target markets itself as an affordable retailer for people who are both fashion, and wallet-conscious. However, it looks like Walmart is stepping up its style game. Walmart has also been picking up a lot of popular brands lately, outdoor retailer Moosejaw, vintage woman's retailer ModCloth, menswear retailer Bonobos, and now plus size brand ELOQUII. Will these popular brands find their way into a Walmart near you? Brian suggests that perhaps instead Walmart may merge some of these brands into a better "in-store" try on experience. Also noteworthy: The acquisition of ELOQUII as well as Bonobos expanding into "big and tall sizes" (ModCloth also offers sizes up to 4x) is pointing to a changing market. People come in all shapes and sizes, and retailers are beginning to honor that. Everyone should have access to clothing that looks good, and fits well. In fact a CoreSight report points to this. Choose Your Own Adventure Episodes: Flashback to the 80's: Phillip and Brian get into a heated Twitter debate about interactive content. Brian is definitely not a fan of "choose your own adventure" books from the 80's. Phillip contrasts them to video games, where you have to take the road less traveled repeatedly until you win. Why this is relevant: Netflix announced recently that an upcoming episode of sci-fi series "Black Mirror" (Netflix purchased the rights to Black Mirror in 2015) will contain an interactive element that will allow users to choose their own ending. According to Bloomberg, "Netflix is planning a slate of specials that will let viewers choose the next storyline in a TV episode or movie". And it totally makes sense that Netflix would be the first streaming service to venture into this kind of content because they have control over both the delivery and production. Regardless of whether Netflix's foray into this kind of content is successful, this move undoubtedly displays innovation on Netflix's part. If this is successful, who will be next to capitalize on this market? Possible contenders: Amazon, Disney, HBO. Apparently, this has all already been done. This World Does Not Belong To You: You May Not Even Own Your Face. A viral tweet from iTunes user Anders G da Silva revealed that Apple is removing supposedly permanently purchased content from user libraries. This may be the beginning of all of us needing to acknowledge that we don't really own anything, and permission for this is probably buried deep into Apple's terms of service agreement that no one ever reads. Also, is permanence overrated? With companies like Rent the Runway and Turo making headway, maybe so. According to Philip (who is being super foreboding this entire episode): With the future in digital, one day your HOA may be able to keep you from your garage if you haven't paid your fees. JetBlue has decided to launch the first ever biometrics terminal in Atlanta. Is anyone concerned with what they do with the images afterward? The FBI force a suspect's to open his phone with the Face ID feature, thereby allowing the agent to search through messages, and whatever else was on the phone. Are private companies becoming more "Big Brother" than the U.S Government? Letting Private Companies Make Our Financial Decisions: Yay or Nay? Petal, a financial tech company, has introduced a no-credit-needed credit card, where they use your financial history to determine terms. Cool features alert: this credit card has no fees(annual, overdraft or late fees), no deposit requirement, and a mid-range APR among other things. According to Nerdwallet, The company uses your income and liabilities taken through access your bank statements and financial history to determine creditworthiness This definitely opens up a conversation about financial accountability, and whether the private sector is a good place to help consumers make better choices about how they spend their money. Brian breaks Phillip's brain: Imagine a world where people don't have to make any decisions about their daily lives. Where everything can be taken care of through a subscription service. Clothing will be refreshed every season, and on budget, interesting meals will be both healthy and affordable, and no one will ever have to worry about anything. (Does this sound like a dystopian novel to anyone else)? Also sounds like something Amazon would love to deliver to customers. Go over to futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners! Retail tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Main Takeaways: Salesforce CEO Benioff goes on a multi-million dollar shopping spree. Amazon is setting up a new headquarters; Will it be in DC? Why doesn't anyone want to work for Target? Apple is creating lifestyle products that you can't (or won't) live without. Highlights from Shop.org 2018: The innovation lab outpaced last year's conference by far. Body related technology was a major focus. Amazon's acquisition of Body Labs earlier this year seems to have paved the way for a lot of new technology. There was a lot of interesting shelf-technology. Specifically, some cashierless stores using tech to update in-store displays on the fly. Tusk Ventures put together all the businesses for the conference. Brian congratulates them on a job well done. 2018 is a True "Content is King" Market: Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce is putting money into content-conscious companies, personally investing in StockX, Benioff also recently purchased Time Magazine for $190MM StockX is utilizing content well: they have a Youtube channel and compelling written material on their site. Shoes are all the rage right now thanks to content creator extraordinaire/artist Kanye West (Adidas)  broad release of Yeezys Media is creating hype through content properties like Highsnobiety and Hypebeast. Companies seem unafraid of wading into formerly taboo politically charged spaces. Two examples of this: Patagonia's "The President Stole Your Land" and Nike's Colin Kaepernick "Just Do It" ad. The risk these companies are taking seems to be paying off: Nike's stock has actually reached an all-time high, despite calls for a boycott. Also, Phillip channels Donald Trump from The Apprentice, and it's pretty terrifying. Head to Toe Tech Enabled Clothing: The Future of Fashion and Health? Apple is totally invested in the entire body, and is creating products that can report total body data. Phillip says it's time to take a drink to the future. The new Apple Watch, Series 4 includes an FDA approved EKG feature that will allow for the first over the counter electrocardiogram that can be saved in the health app for a doctor to view later. The new Apple Watch's fall detection feature can potentially save lives, when turned on it can check in after it detects a fall, and even call emergency services. Another brand doing some crazy things with body data: ZoZo a company based in Japan, is using body data from a "polka dot suit" and selfies to give Stitch Fix measurements to customers so they can have near perfect fit clothing. Phillip and Brian predict that full-on technology enabled clothing could be a reality in five years. Partnerships Between Tech Companies and Fashion: "Textile Tech" is now a thing, with companies working to make their customers lives easier. With the Nike Epic React sneaker release, the company changed the construction of the sole to be optimal for all sizes. Tech is being woven into everyday life, and it's changing the way consumers view both fashion and technology. Brian says that this head to toe tech phenomenon is allowing for users to build their own mini Iron Man suits. Apple: Is the Company Prepared for the Future? Apple, the world's first trillion dollar company, is uniquely skilled at creating products absolutely essential to everyday life. Apple needs to partner with the right brands. Phillip can't live without Alexa and really wishes Siri would step it up as a virtual assistant. Brian contemplates switching from Android to IPhone. Apple did just announce an A12 bionic chip that could decrease energy usage by 50%. This is a total technological breakthrough. While Apple may be able to create data centers in the palm of consumers hands within 3-5 years, there is still a question of what their competitors, namely Walmart, Amazon, and Google will come up within that time period. It really could be anyone's game. Amazon's Second HQ: Is Politicking Ahead? Business Insider speculates that Amazon will set up its second headquarters in Washington D.C. Clinical Professor of Marketing at NYU, Scott Galloway has a lot to say about Amazon on "Recode Decode." Phillip and Brian agree that all business get political eventually to protect their interests. Up until now, the President and Amazon haven't quite been on the same page about, well pretty much anything. In fact, President Trump has taken some real swipes at the retail giant. Could this change in 2020? If the President was granted a second term, perhaps. Amazon's probably been stealthily lobbying for years on regulations, will it's rumored location change bring their advocacy into the light? Why Can't Retail Companies Hire For The Holidays? Target had its best quarter ever, and yet like other retail companies is having trouble staffing up. A lot of retailers are having severe problems staffing up for the holiday season, possibly due to record-low unemployment. Retailers need 757,000 holiday employees this year, which is up 100,000 from the previous year, and they just cannot round out the numbers. Possibly due to this gap in the market, retailers have had to lower standards, which Brian's wife learned when she tried to shop at Macy's and found the staff there lacking in professional courtesy(to put it mildly). Since retailers are being forced to compete for workers, they are now beginning to offer unheard of incentives. Macy's is going to be offering "path to growth incentives", Kohl's will have discount days for associates, and JCPenney, whom none of us knew still existed, will be providing eligible part-time workers 401Ks, paid training and paid time off. This is a considerable departure from the way retail has operated for a long time. Also, the retail apocalypse? Still not a thing. This shortage will actually lead to more jobs in the retail tech economy, as retail continues to both innovate and automate. Retail Tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Main Takeaways: Fitzroy Toys manages to operate as B2B company with a B2C feel. The retail apocalypse is really just the end of boring retail. Big brands are having to get scrappy to keep up with start-ups. From 4th Grade to Fitzroy: CEO Stefanie Botelho's entrepreneurship journey actually began in toys: she started her first business venture in the 4th grade where she sold finger puppets to her classmates. The first ever version of Fitzroy Toys was created as a project in a coding class when Stefanie was in Harvard Buisness School. Fitzroy Toys (now rebranded as Fitzroy) actually began as a toy recommendation engine (a direct to consumer search engine) where consumers who were one step removed from a child could purchase toys based on recommendations. Fitzroy has a clear mission: to support different by connecting independent retailers to independent brands. Fitzroy is unique in that it operates as a B2B company and in a wholesale space. Unlike most wholesale companies, the UX and UI of the company experience allow consumers to feel like they are shopping on a B2C, retail-based space. Fitzroy is a tech company first, wholesale company second. How To Scale and Succeed in Business: Keeping customers as a north star is critical, and in Stefanie's (and Fitzroy's) case, by going to the brands after graduation she learned that there was a demand for wholesale in the toy space. Learn from others who have been in the space longer and have deference for their experience. Allow for organic growth: Fitzroy Toys rebranded to Fitzroy as the company moved beyond toys into other home/family-based verticals. Test before you fully implement any strategy: Before fully rebranding, Fitzroy held a soft-rebrand of the company and allowed for user feedback to guide the direction. Turning Wholesale Purchasing Into an Experience: By looking at all of the best B2C companies, and what they do right in regards to UX and UI, Fitzroy is able to create a B2C feel while remaining a B2B company. Super cool feature alert: Fitzroy has a universal cart so retailers can see what they are purchasing from multiple brands.   The entirety of Fitzroy's site is custom built, and all features are in line with creating a seamless uncomplicated experience for users. All brands on the site are vetted, and everything on the website is behind the login wall, with some items not available anywhere else. Retailers are able to sub-search for specific categories that may be important to their values/branding. They can search for things like organic, eco-friendly or even woman-owned business. This can allow those users to curate products that will be in line with what their customers values as well as their brand's. Also, because Fitzroy deals with both brands and retailers, they are able to provide their users with useful data regarding what their customers may want in terms of specialty purchasing. A lot of these retailers have customers who really care about the transparency behind what they are purchasing. The Real Retail Apocalypse: The End of Boring Retail: Retail is changing, and companies will have to begin operating on a more user-focused experience. One way Fitzroy is participating in this by working with brands and retailers to stock and purchase ADA-compliant products that are usable for children with learning or physical disabilities. Big brands are having to keep up with start-ups who are always innovating. Macy's (a quintessential "big brand") has acquired two companies Story and Bulletin both of whom are focused on creating unique in-store experiences for customers. Handy, a home services company similar to Uber in its model of on-demand service, is expanding their customer base. Startups like Glossier and Allbirds are dominating the market by focusing on things that consumers really value: comfort, individuality, naturally sourced materials and style. Stefanie Botelho's Recommendations for Merchants: Double-down on strengths: If you have a physical location, utilize the opportunity for in-store experience, and lean in to whatever your business is already really good at. Play your own game: "Think about that last mile problem and partner with additional tech to offer convenience to users." Think about what "experience" means to you: beyond pop-up shops or trunk shows. And cultivate that experience for your customers. Don't be afraid to have your own unique voice: Interpret your entire brand strategy and focus through that lens. Guest Stefaine Botelho - Fitzroy Toys

Show Notes Main Takeaways: Brian gets to visit all the cool exhibits with all the cool toys in the Innovation Lab at Shop.org 2018. Personalization seems to be the name of the game in emerging technology. Avatars with a user's exact measurements may just be the preferred shopping experience of the future. Is it time to drop the E in e-commerce? Can Body Scanning with 3D Models Make Clothes Fit Better? While body scanning is always a hot topic, 3D Look invested 18 months of research and found that using 3D models can allow for more exact measurements. By using 3D models, 3D Look is able to get their margin of error down to 3 centimeters, and they hope to improve on that within the year. Unlike their competition 3D Look's body scanner can be used through one layer of clothing, which makes it much easier to use. 3D Look's technology will allow consumers to stop focusing on pesky numbers on letters, and instead on how clothes actually fit and feel. 3D Look's goal for 2020: To be utilized all across the e-commerce market. Finally, Everyone Can Wear Flattering Clothing: Allure Systems utilizes virtual fashion and virtual models, which can allow retailers to prepare a catalog without a massive price tag attached. The technology used is a massive Xerox machine to capture the garment in 360 degrees. Real diversity of size could actually be a reality in retail, with this technology finally making it possible to see a model of every size wearing any garment. This is excellent news for non-sample-size people who would like to know what clothing will look like on their specific body types. The future of this kind of technology may lie in personal avatars, which would further personalize a shopping experience, even allowing shoppers to see what the garment would look like if they gained or lose weight. From Data to Dresses (Or Dining Rooms): Shoptelligence uses basic product data to create ensembles. Either outfits or complete room decor. For shoppers, this can be a fully personalized experience where they design an entire room to their exact tastes. The system allows a user to enter details like budget, room size and even desired aesthetic, and the AI assistant can also make suggestions based on the data provided. Can we drop the e in e-commerce, and make way for new terms like home shopping experience, or on the go shopping experiences? According to CEO Laura Khoury what Shoptelligence delivers is "truly seamless personal assistance." In (and out of)Store Virtual Customization : Smart Pixels is 3D that you can actually touch. In-store virtual customization that allows for altering of colors, fabrics, and textures in store, and on the go. Smart Pixels currently uses tablets in store for customization but is hoping to be able to use actual samples of leather, suede, etc.. so that customers will be able to see customization not just as a picture on a screen but as something tangible. Can App-less Augmented Reality De-complicate the Buying Process? Seek sought to integrate AR directly without an app, because as they say consumers don't want to go through the hassle of downloading an app to view AR content. According to Seek when AR is integrated into the buying process "conversion goes up 30%" Seek is seeking to be the "Youtube" of AR in terms of hosting, hosting converted models themselves so they can be shown on any platform. AR improves the buying process because it allows consumers to actually see the product in their lives. Something for the Apple superfans out there: IOS 12 features app-less AR features. Innovation Lab Takeaways:       Brian and Ryan MacInnis (Director of Marketing at Voysis) agree that the success of technology can be based on timing. A great way for innovators to innovate is to understand and interact with their user base. Innovation lab is only going to get better regarding new tech and new depth.

Show Notes At the forefront of innovation: B-A-N-A-N-A-S. The One-A-Day Banana nearly broke the internet. One package, six bananas varying in ripeness so you can have the perfect ripeness each day. This could be a good solution for grocery delivery services because produce is a big challenge for them. It's tough to get the perfect avocado or banana when you order online. Rent the Runway has received a $200 million loan This will lead to even bigger growth for the growing clothing subscription service. Their business model aligns with studies that claim more young people are buying clothes just to share them on Instagram, then return them. Clicks Seeking Bricks In a recent interview Natalie Berg said "clicks are looking for bricks" There was a structural advantage for ecommerce at one time being online only, but now that ecommerce is more prevalent, brick and mortar can be an advantage again for fulfillment and custom experience. This is what makes Walmart a genuine threat to the big A. They have a huge structural advantage that can bolster their online sales. Can Target compete with Amazon and Walmart online? Target acquired Shipt to be more aggressive on their ecommerce front. There was a lot of hype about same-day delivery, but for many, the primary option is free two day shipping on orders of $35+. Their in-house brands for clothing and furniture offer unique value over Walmart and Amazon for certain demographics. Is Walmart still a bad guy? Amazon's competitive practices and working conditions make Walmart look like Trader Joe's. Walmart is slowly shedding the stigma it gained in the 90's and 2000's. Walmart has been a better contributor to the technology community, which has helped them get more web talent. Is Amazon basically Thanos? Jason Goldberg asked, "If Amazon were the only ecommerce provider in the US, could they implement a small but significant price increase?" or would offline retailers keep their prices low? This question is a helpful indicator for whether Amazon is crossing anti-trust lines. If Amazon and AWS were the go away, the internet would be devastated. Amazon continues to launch new in-house brands, spreading their reach. Though we may not be there yet, this conversation about Amazon is important. Ok, wait, maybe Google is Thanos Google has more data about us than any other company, by far. Why aren't we raising more flags about them? Targeting Discrimination Facebook hit with housing discrimination complaint by HUD because of filtering options that gave advertisers the option to filter by race, sex, religion, disability and other characteristics. This should add perspective for advertising in all fields and the common practices that may be deemed discriminatory. Enjoy the show? Leave us a review on iTunes.

According to Allen Nance email has transcended from a communication platform to a global source of identity for consumers the world over. The CMO of Emarsys sits down with us to talk about how this communication medium has a globally accepted protocol which may unlock the key to identity in a social and mobile commerce future. Listen now! Show Notes About Allen Nance (an "Email OG") Allen Nance was person in his family to graduate high school. He then attended Georgia Institute of Technology. After graduating, Allen founded one of the first ESP's (Email Service Providers) WhatCounts. After selling that company in 2010, he moved on to investing in ecommerce and marketing technology. When Emarsys entered the US market a few years ago, he met the founders and really loved their team and their platform. He joined their team shortly after. Is email dead? Every few months, someone releases an article declaring, "EMAIL IS DEAD!" Nance says "Ignore those." It is one of only global ubiquitous communication platforms that has ever existed on earth. It will continue to be a dominant channel. Email is the social security number of the internet, our digital ID. Email is the start of an omnichannel experience Don't think about email as a single channel. Email the single most valuable first party data identifier we have. This is essential for tying together Facebook Advertising, Google Display Network, mobile, and web experience. Email will endure because it is our greatest identifier online. "Not so fast" said the Asian market In Asia, SMS is the standard identifier online. Despite this, email remains the dominant channel in commerce. Mobile commerce is not growing at the same rate as mobile traffic In general, mobile traffic is increasing while web traffic is decreasing. But in commerce, mobile is only seeing this same exponential growth when it is in native interactions, like Uber or Apple Pay. As retailers define mobile first experience for commerce, email can move from a traffic channel to a transaction platform. In the future, email is the destination, not the journey Most marketers use email to send traffic to a destination, but in the future, email can become a destination for transaction, where purchases are made in the email itself. This future is dependant on advances in content personalization and security. Unleashing the "The Creative Renaissance" On the technology side of marketing, providers must develop their tools so that marketers only to develop strategy, develop content, and develop a creative experience. If software can become more industry specific and intelligent, the extra time spent on CSV files, dragging and dropping, and building campaigns, can be used to fuel creative work of marketers. No more empty software Too much software is "empty," leaving marketers to configure many touchpoints that could be automated. Often you buy a power point presentation, but you receive a piece of empty software. Software companies need to utilize data to give retailers a head start. Emarsys updates over 100 million data points per day. Their goal is to use this vast amount of consumer data to create better solutions, not just empty software. Allen Nance's near-term recommendations for marketers and merchants Understand that data is the single most valuable asset you have. People talk a lot about AI, but AI is not like Febreze. You can't spray AI on crappy data to make it smell good. It's better to have good data than a lot of data. Evaluate how you are using email as the digital identifier of your omnichannel strategy. How do I use email across point of sale, mobile, Facebook advertising, and Google Display Network? What Allen is most excited about for the future The divergence of the gap between mobile growth and mobile commerce. This is a huge opportunity for companies that think about this challenge. First party data is going to become the most valuable thing that marketers have. The idea of a "data collective" will become more prevalent where a multitude of retailers will share their digital data with each other. Individualized pricing. Industries can use personalized data to custom cater pricing on a large scale. Bring your voice to the conversation Have you experience empty software? What are you doing with your first party data?

"Voice is dead", Hema launches experiential grocery, cast your votes with the blockchain! Also - which online mattress retailer is opening 200 stores in the USA? One guess, and it rhymes with "blasper". Listen now! Show notes Phillip's wife received a package from Care/Of Vitamins and it had someone else's pills in it (!!!!) When new companies enter the pharmaceutical and health space, how can we trust that they are being diligent in their quality assurance? RIP Voice Shopping? The Information have said only 2% of Echo users have ordered using their voices and 90% of that 2% (AKA .18%) didn't use it again. Are there future applications for voice in commerce, though? Brian theorizes there could there be in-context purchasing opportunities in audio/visual media. Voice is still growing in popularity 40% of adults use voice searches each day. In most cases still, voice compliments screen. We are long way from seeing voice as its own "channel." It can compliment existing channels, though. The problem with the voice assistants today (other than the fact that they might just be FBI listening devices with PR) Amazon, company with the best position for commerce releases a voice assistant. No one uses it for commerce. It has great hardware and technology. Most people use it for music. It's awful for web search, though. Google, the company in the best position for web search releases a voice assistant, but it lacks the commerce capability. Apple, the company with the best position for music, releases the worst voice assistant, and even its speaker is lackluster. China brings innovation in the grocery business Hema Market is like Amazon Go, but on steroids. Hem Market is backed by Alibaba. At the cashless grocery store, every item has a barcode customers can scan to trace the product's origin, delivery, and nutritional information. On your way out the door, you can pay using your smartphone or visit a face scanner that links you to your Alipay account. Smell you later, basic pencils In the back to school market, there are new products popping up like guided creative journals and scented pencils. These new innovations are driving significant profit over traditional options. This aligns with a larger pattern of creating luxury upgrades on commodity-type products. Consumers are more willing to supplement the mundane with something unique and new. As the economy improves, luxury purchases are increasing on low end goods. This could be why aspirational luxury brands are struggling. Phillip sites the luxury brand, whose name he could not recall, that burned all their extra stock to increase demand. IT'S BURBERRY, PHIL! Tracking inflation with the... kale index? Wages have risen, but prices has not. Base prices will likely follow. Is there a cleaner-eating, non-GMO, certified organic, locally-owned version of the Big Mac index for our present time? Casper is going "clicks to bricks" Casper is opening 200 stores in the United States. Mattress stores across the country are closing, what makes Casper different? Casper has built a recognizable brand and has a competitive price point. This is the result of the VC rapid-growth mentality. Now that they've saturated web sales, brick and mortar follows. Care/of ships wrong products Voice? Ded. 2% of echo users ever bought, 90% never use it again ACTUAL SOURCE Unnamed sources = who cares? Hema grocery concept store Blockchain voting via VOATZ - West Va. Bad Idea? or WORST IDEA EVER? New product categories arise in back to school sales Casper to open 200 stores Clicks to Bricks Couple charged with Amazon fraud scheme

Sucharita Kodali of Forrester Research joins us to talk about the unfortunate demise of Toys 'R Us and her new book, "Toys 'R Bust: Reasons One of the Country’s Most Revered Retailers Collapsed". Show Notes About Sucharita Kodali Sucharita is a retail analyst at Forrester Research with a focus on online retail and technology. She once worked at Toys"R"Us and is writing a book called "Toys R Bust" chronicling the rise and fall of the retail giant. Half the pay and a third of the productivity The Container Store theorizes that one great employee is worth three good ones, so they choose to pay 50-100% higher wages for their salespeople. Because of seasonal hiring and low pay at Toys"R"Us, there were low quality employees that were poorly trained and unmotivated. In a grocery setting, this results in errors like zucchinis in the cucumber pile. Many employees at Toys"R"Us were trained singularly and were unable to fill gaps and needs as challenges arose. Rewriting the fall of Toys"R"Us Sucharita counters the notion that private equity ruined Toys"R"Us. They had been in a tailspin for years before private equity entered the equation. Toys"R"Us struggled to compete against a certain Seattle behemoth. After their deal with Amazon severed, Toys"R"Us moved to GSI's platform. Writing a more perfect Toys"R"Us Could they have adopted a more customer-centric experience like Bonobos or Warby Parker? Could a more boutique shopping experience integrated with ecommerce fulfillment have worked? Despite a large array of interesting products in the toy market, Toys"R"Us received 50% of its inventory from just 20 vendors. Amazon Prime Day It was shocking to see an outage on Amazon's site, let alone on Prime Day. There were more sign-ups on Prime than on any other day prior. Amazon seems to play by its own rules. Despite a bad first impression, they still had a huge day of sales and signups. This says a lot about their brand trust. Speaking of Trust... Is Amazon at risk of being affected by anti-trust laws? Europe is cracking down. Will this reach the US? Marketplaces are incredibly easy to sell and there is not a lot of recourse or quality control right now. Many third-party sellers make false claims or deliver counterfeit product. Legislation could affect this soon. Magento, an Adobe Company Adobe is a major force in the digital world, but they lacked ecommerce presence. Adobe's acquisition of Magento expands their reach much further.

Show Notes About Monika Kochhar Monika Kochhar is the co-founder of Smartgift, a gifting platform that is working to solve the complexity of shopping for others. About Smartgift Consumer brands use Smartgift's platform to let gift recipients customize their gifts or swap them for other gifts of their choice from comparably priced recommendations. Gift senders pay for the item after the recipient has made their pick. A deeper look into the "Science of Gifting" Smartgift is taking rich qualitative and quantitative data to map out human behavior in gifting and shopping for others. By better understanding human behavior in gifting, they can make this process much easier for shoppers. A function built into Smartgift called the Intelligence Swapping Mechanism learns semantically over time and maps out buying preferences such as color, fit, and size. This helps shoppers easily buy the perfect gift for an occasion for a particular person. Smartgift hopes that over time analyzing gifting data will close the gap between what a gift shopper gives and what the recipient ultimately picks on their platform. Is tech changing people or empowering people? More specifically, are the way people gift or are gifting patterns affecting the way tech is created? Monika mentions that ecommerce only accounts for less than 10% of all shopping which points to the fact that we are still in the early stages of online shopping and what it could be in the future. The more technology begins to evolve and grow, the more we'll see changing mindsets and the more shoppers will use ecommerce as a way to shop for themselves and others. Amazon's Prime Day is an example of technology changing the way customers shop by encouraging people to shop online in large numbers for no other reason except that Amazon declared Prime Day a national holiday. Maybe the ability to purchase anything instantly has changed customers' impulse buying habits. One area in which technology is going to change based on the user is in the end-to-end giving journey. There is going to be a deeper need to get the gift right. For too long, the receiver experience has been an afterthought in retail. Monika believes in using data mapping to build a better shopping experience that places equal emphasis on the gifter and the recipient. Maybe the process starts with voice and ends with an augmented reality visceral experience of opening a gift. The recipient still has a choice on the physical gift after opening a digital version of the original gift sent by the gifter. How will Aunt Brenda feel when she finds out you didn't like the polka dot sweater she picked? How does the gift-giver feel in having their gift idea being replaced by the recipient. Does this diminish the satisfaction of the giver? Smartgift has found that, for the gifter, the joy comes in the expression of gift-giving and also in not having the guilt of giving something less thoughtful, like a gift card. Through Smartgift, happiness has been maximized on both ends of gift-giving; for the recipient and the sender. As long as gift-givers are allowed to express themselves thoughtfully in gifting, they are still happy if the recipient decides on something different. Is there room for personalization within smart giving? Gifters have started to express personalization in gift-giving through special notes and selecting digital gift wrapping. Gifters want to participate in the delight of gift-giving digitally so that it doesn't just feel like some sort of emotionless transaction. Thank you notes on the recipients side is an area of personalization that happens in smart gifting that has provided a wealth of data which helps us understand how recipients feels about a product or brand. How Smartgift can help users give back. Smartgift allows recipients the choice of sending cookies back to the gifter as a thank you gift after receiving flowers from the sender. Smartgift sees an opportunity to use in-kind gifting as a way to encourage recipients to get involved with giving back where the recipient is given the option to give to a charitable cause of the sender's choice as a thank you. In the future, Smartgift would like to partner with charities to make giving back more accessible to on their platform. Our best practices around conversion rate optimization might be misguided Our efforts are focused to one persona, the buyer, or the person purchasing for themselves. Smartgift is focused on a different persona, someone who is purchasing for someone else. Ecommerce has evolved to create a great shopping experience and now we're at a point where we can dive deeper into the metadata and what else is happening within the shopping journey. We can now work toward answering questions such as, "Why are they shopping?" and "Are they shopping for someone else?"

Show Notes We're turning two! After 7 years and 2 billion dollars Magic Leap created... Snap Spectacles? Magic Leap is a U.S. startup company that is working on a head-mounted virtual retinal display, called Magic Leap One, which superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real-world objects, by "projecting a digital light field into the user's eye", involving technologies potentially suited to applications in augmented reality and computer vision. After 7 years of funding and almost 2 billion dollars, Magic Leap shows off new Magic Leap One. The general reaction of the Magic Leap One has been disappointment. Magic Leap has partnered with several companies, including AT&T as a carrier partner for their wireless, who Phil asserts is the "worst carrier" in the US. They are "sort of definitely shipping"? We hear this every three months, so who knows when we'll actually have it. How has Build-A-Bear outlasted Toys-R-Us? Almost too good to be true "pay your age promotion" from Build-A-Bear seems bigger than any iPhone release, with lines of people wrapping around malls. Creative promotion, fun experience, a product that people build themselves and that lasts a long time. Innovative toy brands like Funko that have experiential retail or take a more storied approach to engage with customers tend to do better than those who don't. Build-A-Bear has more licensed products than not. Customers can further customize products they already know and love. Our modern mythology is influenced heavily by storytelling through movies, comic books, etc. (see Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology by Richard Reynolds) and these tie into the retail experience for fanbases. Build-A-Bear, but for adults Consortium is a NYC pop-up clothing shop that allows customers to customize their products much like Build-A-Bear but instead with fashion. Brands like Coach, Consortium, and even Nike are capitalizing on customers needs to have an affiliation with luxury goods. They have in-store offers in certain stores where personalized items can be made to order and the customer can take them home in a matter of minutes. The Nike Kicks Lounge in Omotesando, Tokyo sells blank shoes that customers can commission local artists to paint a design on them. They then dry the paint and the customer can take them home in about 20-30 minutes. Doing this adds a deeper meaning to the product by having a long-lasting piece of art that is connected to your community. This could play into different products that are longer lasting such as jackets, coats, and bags. AR in customization AR has become a powerful tool in customized products. Brands have been utilizing AR to allow customers to see products in their home. Amazon has also been pushing their AR functionality, which is already built into their app. Starbucks Innovation - The Grown Up Sippy Cup The inception of the Starbucks "sippy cups" started with nitro cold brew and now that the iconic green straws are leaving, the sippy cups are the future. What produces more backwash: straw or sippy cup? Dunkin Donuts bragged that they are getting rid of styrofoam by 2020. It's time for companies to make changes like this, even if it hurts their "brand". It's a positive example of companies that are saying, "it's not worth it". Adidas has partnered with Parley to create a running shoe that is made from 95% recycled materials. Yes, it's a good and positive message, but it could also spur some innovation and create new jobs and technologies. In 2023 we'll be styrofoam free and Jeff Bezos will be colonizing the moon trying to prove his rocket is bigger than Elon Musk's. It's the space race of the 60's but for Lex Luthor types. Full Circle The future consistently hasn't been delivering as quickly as we all hoped it would. Ex: Magic Leap We're in a sweet spot where there is too much technology in commerce to take advantage of. So much so that the advancement of technology in retail and commerce won't happen until we capitalize on what's here already. This show will become "Future Iterations of Things We've Already Been Talking About for a Long Time Commerce" One thing that hasn't changed is that consumers want a personalized experience. Now retailers are being challenged to have deeper meanings and stories for their products.

"FREAKING PRIVACY? HOW DOES IT WORK?" We dig into the privacy impacts of advancements in facial recognition software and how it has vast impacts on Global Commerce. PLUS: Brian has a huge announcement! Listen now! Show Notes Brian said "Sayonara" to Amazon. Now he's allowed to say Amazon. Amazon! Amazon! Amazon! Pills Prime Amazon acquired online pharmacy PillPack If your health food and supplements from Whole Foods don't work, now you can get your pills from Amazon too. This will likely play into whatever power move Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, and JP Morgan Chase are working on in healthcare. In the future, are pharmacists just glorified phone operators? Will physical pharmacies pivot and use their pickup windows for other purposes? What will move into your local Toys"R"Us? What will happen to our other shuttered retail spaces as ecommerce expands. How will digital native brands utilizing these vacant spaces? Capital One Cafe AKA How hard is trying to hard? Capital One is opening locations that double as coffee shops. Don't want facial recognition used on you? Become a juggalo. Facial recognition is ineffective in identifying people wearing juggalo makeup Whoop Whoop 2018 is kinda like Enemy of the State with Will Smith and Gene Hackman Except it's real life. All our favorite electronics may or may not be watching us and recording our every move. Amazon is piloting selling facial recognition to law enforcement. Speaking of Insane Clown Posse... Noveto is designing sound technology that beams sound directly to your ears, and your ears alone. Seriously. In the near future: You're walking through a store with no employees looking for an HDMI cable and you suddenly hear "Hi, can I help you find something?" How much do the tech giants really know about me? Facebook and the likes have extensive "profiles" with tremendous amounts of data about their users. Facial recognition can bind this digital information with the real world. GDPR Lite California has passed its own digital privacy law, similar to GDPR. This could have a large domino effect for internet retail. In the future, we might see service companies dedicated to manage privacy adherence for companies.

LIVE from IRCE 2018! The Supreme Court of the United States is about to make a decision in a landmark case which may affect how sales tax nexus is calculated for merchants in all 50 states. Dave Pelton, Product Line Leader at Vertex, breaks down how this decision could affect retail and how - regardless of the outcome - online merchants may be impacted going forward. Show notes LIVE from IRCE 2018 with Dave Pelton, Vertex Hi Dave Dave Pelton is the Product Line Leader at Vertex. Vertex is the leading and most-trusted provider of comprehensive, integrated tax technology solutions, having helped 10000+ businesses since 1978. They have services companies such as Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, and Target. Recently, within the last 5 years, they have moved into the ecommerce space. They have brought all of their knowledge from the high demands of bigger brands down to the mid-market at the right price point and service level. Taxes aren't the sexiest thing to talk about at a meet-and-greet cocktail party, but anybody who sells anything is a potential customer for Vertex. A lot of times businesses don't think about how they do their taxes as integral to their business, especially if they have them done in-house. It's very difficult for a company to make the switch to a tax provider. If a company is only in a small number of states, they opt to just put in the rules and rates themselves because it's not that big of a job. It's when a company starts getting into a larger number of states where things get messy because sales tax is different in every state. States crying foul States realize that by 2020, 40% of all sales will be online. That is a massive amount of revenue that they lose if they aren't collecting sales tax. To collect sales tax, the states must have a nexus. Nexus, also called "sufficient physical presence," is a legal term that refers to the requirement for companies doing business in a state to collect and pay tax on sales in that state. A lot of ecommerce business try and stay out of nexus so that they don't have to pay sales tax, causing the states to cry foul. The Supreme Court, after not seeing Congress act on this, is currently hearing a case that could change the rule of nexus from not whether you have physical presence but whether you are actually selling into a state. The case Wayfair vs South Dakota. In January the Court decided to hear the case and in order for them to do that, 4 out of the 5 justices had to say, "yeah, I think it's worthwhile to talk about this." Choose your own hypothetical adventure What happens if the Supreme Court decides if the rule stays the same? If it stays the same, the states will continue to go after the customers that aren't paying sales tax. What happens if the Supreme Court decides to create some federal standard by which we have to transact through? The Court doesn't want to be too burdensome on companies, but also wants to make sure that states receive their fair share. Is there any middle ground? One way or the other, it will be more/less burdensome for companies, and limit/increase sales tax revenue for states. Ok, so why Wayfair? Wayfair was picked for this case possibly because they have a smaller amount of nexus and because they sell large items in which sales tax can become significant. Bigger companies (like Amazon) might have seen this coming and have decided to comply to a certain degree. At one point, Amazon did have nexus in a small number of states but then started to move warehouses into more and more states for faster delivery. This gave them more and more physical nexus as well as the biggest target on their back. At the end of the day, whether companies have large or small nexus, everyone will be affected by the Court's ruling of Wayfair vs South Dakota. How would this affect the global economy, Dave? It will affect companies in other countries that are trying to sell their products to the US. Those international countries may even decide to tighten up their system and make sure they are getting dollars for every sale that's made in the US. This will affect everyone in the next year or two, so it's better to know all about it now and be prepared whether you're going to take that burden on yourself or not. Hey merchants Most businesses want to be acquired in the future. If you haven't taken care of your collection and remittance, the acquiring company will typically take an escrow out of the amount that they pay you, saying, "maybe you didn't get audited, but we're going to get audited". Companies need to think about other important reasons why they might want to collect and remit.

Community-building is powering everything from product innovation to commerce platforms. In this episode we dive into how to build a community and how to do it with authenticity. Plus: how did Kanye West's Yeezy brand shape the entire footwear industry in just 5 years? Show Notes Main Takeaways: Phillip realizes that some content ages better than others. Retail renaissance will always be relevant. How does community impact the world around us? Adidas vs Nike: Battle of the User Experience: Adidas cracks the Global Top 100 Brands 2018 list. Nike remains on the list at #29. According to Phillip, Nike is setting the stage for where footwear should be but is Adidas's app changing the buyer experience? Phillip almost buys Adidas after Nike sneaker sells out in 31 minutes. Adidas app seems to allow for a unique user experience, while Nike just seems like a responsive website. Does Adidas's unique approach to customer engagement mean they will pull ahead of Nike? Does Brian love Kanye like Kanye loves Kanye? Kanye's "Yeezy" changed the footwear game forever. Yeezy's used to be a luxury product, but production is ramping up to over a million pairs for the upcoming sneaker. Kanye West's ability to be a content creator and foster community is unparalleled in the sneaker industry. Yeezy is the brand other brands love to copy. Brian is definitely a Kanye West fan. Social Platforms and Communities: Reddit becomes the third most-used website behind Amazon and Youtube. Reddit surged ahead and surpassed Facebook. Facebook users seem to be all about engaging with Facebook and known social contacts. Reddit users create distinct communities and engage in community-based conversation. Commerce works in a similar structure to Reddit in terms of engagement: sharing experiences and sharing ideas. Magento is a great example of a "commerce-based community." Beyond the $$: Community Building is Helping Companies Grow: Early adopters of the web self-organized into enthusiastic communities like dial-up BBS. Phillip realizes he may, in fact, be older than Brian. Former Payless shoe rep built XO communications by installing dial-up services in Payless stores and is successful because he focuses on community rather than company building. Throughout the 90's and early 2000's, companies like Microsoft and Google follow this path as well. Everything comes down to community building: where products are sourced, how they are made, and the ethics of the process. Community Building Basics: Don't try to control the conversation or the message. Tell a story as a brand that fosters conversation. Let users engage in the conversation, and listen to feedback. Always be open to change and adaptation. Examples of Community Builders: King of Pops and Bitter Southerner: King of Pops makes popsicles popular by setting up shop at every music festival in Atlanta in 2018. King of Pops create community and conversation at their popsicles stands. The Bitter Southerner an online opinion magazine gives a voice to opinionated southerners sick of being caricatures, with related apparel. Wearing Bitter Southerner apparel opens up conversations about real "southern values", and allows for community building. The future of branding is all about having conversations. Retail tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.

Main Takeaways: Adobe moves to acquire Magento Commerce, an e-commerce platform with a massive community. Netflix manages to beat out everyone in a battle of the best content. If users agree to pay for social media, would Facebook ever change its ad-based model? Social media advertising may of turned Phillip into a sneakerhead. America's Second-Hand Economy: A Tale as Old as Time. Phillip and Brian celebrate landing in the for "second-hand commerce." Second-hand commerce is not a new concept, even beyond the modern sharing economy, and online secondhand retailers like Poshmark and eBay. Garage sales, where people could purchase previously owned items have always been a popular form of second-hand commerce. In fact entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk has lauded garage sales as a great way for people to find valuable items to re-sell for profit. The only entity that would probably care about statistics on garage sales is the IRS. And only to be able to collect back taxes on vintage video games being resold. Adobe and Magento: An Acquisition Made in Community Commerce Heaven: Adobe acquires Magento Commerce an  open-source e-commerce platform for 1.6 B. Considering Magneto' loyal community base, and growth it seems like this was a high-value buy. Magento posted sales of 170MM in 2017 and has done a lot to move upmarket. Adobe is kind of the master of enterprise level market, and has managed to get their product into every arena including business analytics, data storage, and consumer creative. This is the fifth straight episode about Magento, is this a Future Commerce record? Should Shopify be fearful of this acquisition? Shopify stock was down 4.2% at market close on the day that Adobe made this announcement. Perhaps Shopify should be afraid, Adobe could actually use Magento to compete with Shopify in their own market class. This deal is also indicative that e-commerce is not only not dead it may be what Phillip termed a "boom town". Also there is still tons of room for retailers to go and sell, because the retail apocalypse is still not a thing. Netflix Rises by Changing the Face of Content Forever: Netflix as of this episode has surpassed all other to be the largest peer to peer content provider. It only lasted a few hours, but they beat out Disney, a company with almost one hundred years of content production. Netflix offers users commercial free(and ad-free) content, and really has something for everyone, from cooking shows to comedy. Phillip recommends a comedy special on Netflix called "Jay Acaster Repertoire"   Because of paid-platforms like Netflix content is able to evolve beyond just the traditional advertiser based systems, and it will be interesting to watch what this "freedom of the screen" will produce. Is Premium Social Media the Future of Online Socialization? Will Facebook abandon their ad-based model in favor of a paid subscription model, and how would users react? If social media sites did start charging users (or offered premium accounts), it would follow the evolution of content, which through platforms like Netflix and Hulu have moved beyond being dependent on advertisers. Having social media sites dependent on user fees (at least in part) could lead to Facebook becoming a lot more user focused, instead of advertiser focused. This could mean more security and privacy. Advertising on Social Media: Have Consumers Lost Their Agency to Ads? How do advertisers market to consumers through social media in a way that can best serve their needs? Phillip gives some credit to social media advertising for turning him into a stylish sneakerhead. Advertisers offer what looks like a sweetheart deal to consumers: give us your data, and we will help you build your best self. Is this too good to be true? Phillip questions whether there is choice involved: are users being suckered into buying things they like but don't need? The short answer to this is that no one really knows. Want to know how Facebook targets ads to users?  Facebook uses 98 personal data points to make ads as relevant as possible. Data privacy is not a thing, and Facebook users should be aware of that. Or is targeted advertising actually offering a better quality of life in exchange for personal data? Also: due to privacy concerns, Twitter is offering users the ability to turn data sharing off which can lead to different problem. Since Twitter like Facebook is heavily dependent on ads, Twitter users would still have to deal with ads, but it would be much broader. Brian says that he would much prefer relevant ads. So the question remains: How much of what we buy is because of ads that are specifically targeted to our data? GDPR may affect Facebook and Twitter's ability to use targeted advertising or push ads onto their EU customers. Recent lawsuits that have hit Facebook and Google (to the tune of $8.8B) may lead to sweeping enforcement. These companies will want to move quickly to avoid further litigation. Retail Tech is moving fast and Future Commerce is moving faster. Go over to Futurecommerce.fm and give us your feedback! We love to hear from our listeners!