The Voice of Retail My interview continues with SPUD.ca's Peter van Stolk plus Michele Sexsmith from Environics Analytics
Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of May 3rd, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
In this episode part 2 of my conversation with serial innovator Peter Van Stolk, CEO of SPUD. We hone in on global online grocery trends, talk about his innovative Food X platform and how is serves local consumers and small retailers alike, talk about the price of avacados and even make a few predictions of the future of online grocery sales in Canada.
Next a feature interview with Michele Sexsmith, SVP and Practice Leader, Retail, Real Estate and Entertainment Sectors from Environics Analytics talking about their work helping retailers understand Canadian consumer online shopping behaviours, how their Click-Spend product that is produced in partnership with J.C. Williams, can help retailers understand buying patterns right down to the local trading area, and a look for surprises in the data.
https://www.environicsanalytics.com/en-ca/
Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including the new york times celebrating Canadian retailer Indigo on their reinvention of book selling, tap into some data about beer sales in retail creating jobs, Nova cannabis opens in Toronto and Triple J’s Canna Space is Yukon’s 1st cannabis store - but entrepreneurs in Calgary are still struggling with a lease but no licence, Walmart opens an AI store and Amazon’s trojan horse strategy
But first, lets listen to the second part of my interview with Peter - we pick up the conversation talking about his FoodX platform - I ask him beyond the likes of Walmart using his platform, is it the case that local food retailers can also use the platform to address the concerns of his customers, who like to shop from their local grocers as well as SPUD but can feel a bit guilty not sharing their business with them as the smaller grocery players can’t afford eCommerce as a part of their business model….until now…
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/trump-border-closing-economy.html
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
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I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn
Join me again next week for my interview Retail Council of Canada Independent Retailer Ambassador of the year for 2019 Poppy Barley’s Kendal Barber, retail and loyalty marketing guru Rob Shields and very special guest Marina Strauss, veteran retail report for The Globe and Mail.
Until then, have a great week!
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.