Special Edition: Michael LeBlanc interview with CJOB Winnipeg Radio Talking Retail Returns Dec 27

And many Happy Returns! Great chatting with Brett & Lauren from CJOB Radio in Winnipeg about the art & science of retail returns! Be sure and listen through to the end - great conversation between hosts Brett & Lauren after our interview about how they (consumers) expect returns to work at retail and the opportunity to surprise and delight customers & win repeat business.

Retail returns are an expected element of the business model for retailers (average ~8% overall, online returns average between 15-20% depending on the commodity. Particularly at this time of the year it is a great opportunity to delight customers with a smooth returns process.

How important are returns to the business model? When I worked at The Shopping Channel, Rogers Media executives who wanted to understand our business better was invited to spend a day in the returns area of the warehouse - you would learn everything you needed to know about the business model!

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.