Canadian eCommerce leader Tanbir Grover talks culture and insights plus veteran retail store operations and people leader April Sabral on how retailers can win in 2020

Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

First up in this episode Tanbir Grover joins me for the first of a two part interview, reflecting on his twelve years at the forefront of digital retail and eCommerce in Canada, working for retail brands including Sears Canada, Hudson’s Bay and Lowe’s Canada.  We talk corporate culture, the history of Canadian eCommerce and the state of online retail today   and how we got here from there and where we’re going next.

Next,  April Sabral joins me to kick off the new retail year sharing her incredible experience on the front lines of retail for twenty five years - from Starbucks, to Apple to David’s Tea.  April talks about what retailers should be thinking of in terms of their associates,  how your willingness to recommend scores need to encompass employee satisfaction, the recipe for success for retailers and driving in-store conversion through training and development and fills us in on her new venture, RetailU.ca

But first, let’s jump into part one of my interview with Tanbir Grover

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Thanks to Tanbir and April  for being my guests on this special episode  - now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week….

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, 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.