The Voice of Retail WW’s Digital Transformation: Strategy, Leadership + Loyalty: Best of Conversations with CommerceNext #podcast
Today I am thrilled to be sharing a full episode from my all new Conversations with CommerceNext podcast featuring Jon Mandell, Senior Vice President of Global Membership Marketing and Commerce with WW. WW started their digital transformation long before the pandemic demanded brands to keep up with the great acceleration of eCommerce, and on this episode along with my co-host Scott Silverman we get an inside look at the process and people behind WW’s great leap forward and how the groundwork laid in the past is preparing them for future success.
Jon walks us through the overall process and strategy behind the transition, and how the pandemic changed the game. We ask Jon about his career, what he looks for when building a resilient team, and advice that he would give his past self.
To discover career opportunities with WW click here.
I launched the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast with my U.S. based partners to meet the top practitioners and thought leaders in the DTC & eCommerce marketing space, and explore both their tradecraft and share the learnings from their career journeys. Let's listen in now as Scott kicks off our conversation.
Thanks for tuning into this episode of Conversations with CommerceNext. Please follow us on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform where we’ll be sharing career advice and marketing strategies from eCommerce and digital marketing leaders at retailers and direct-to-consumer brands each and every episode. CommerceNext is a community, event series and conference for marketers at retail and direct-to-consumer brands. Through our online forums, interviews, webinars, summits and other in-person events, we harness the collective wisdom of our community to help marketers grow their businesses and advance their careers. Join CommerceNext events to meet other industry leaders and learn the latest ecommerce and marketing strategies. You can find upcoming events at CommerceNext.com
Jon Mandell
SVP, CXO, C-suite Leader → Brand Transformation Catalyst → Customer Engagement Strategist
Building, leading, and optimizing customer-centric organizations to drive growth and revenue has been the hallmark of my career. I leverage strategy, technology, operational excellence, and innovation to shape unique customer experiences that deliver value and engender customer engagement, loyalty, and retention. I excel in identifying business growth opportunities in organizations and developing them into impactful business drivers to increase revenue, income and previously untapped value.
My experience spans executive leadership roles (transformations, growth initiatives, M&A, turnarounds, and integrations) with leading public companies (WW & 1-800-Flowers.com), co-founder/COO/MD of 2 technology startups, operations and general management roles, and an early career with AT&T Wireless. As a leader, I am best known for expanding the vision for what is possible and forming cohesive, motivated teams to drive organizational growth boldly and systematically from the ground up.
CAREER MILESTONES
🔹 Transformed business model from transactional, subscription-based to community-based membership economy at WW. Catalyzed unprecedented incremental revenue gains. Created global retention practice.
🔹 Refocused brand USP to unlock exponential growth, revenue, market share, and CLV at 1-800-Flowers.com.
🔹 Created a business incubator and innovation lab: developed first ecommerce bot for Facebook Messenger, launched first Alexa skill to enable consumer sales via Amazon Echo, and introduced Gwyn, a gift concierge using IBM’s Watson AI platform.
🔹 Co-founded a startup with Salim Ismail (Yahoo!, Singularity U, XPRIZE, ExO); created organizational structure and led product and business development.
TRUSTED C-SUITE AND BOARD ADVISOR
CEOs, boards, VC firms, and executive teams have repeatedly sought my guidance, mentorship, and advisory services in lifting performance of customer experience ecosystems. I serve as advisor / advisory board member for leading companies such as Movable Ink, Braze, SmartGift, CommerceNext, and Zelcova Ventures.
ABOUT US:
Scott Silverman
An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
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.