This episode we begin the journey to remarkable by digging into Essential #1 in Steve's "8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail" framework. And we've gone global with a great panel of joining us from New York City, Montreal and London.

Our panel of experts, includes UNTUCKit CIO/CDO Lockie Andrews, digital strategist extraordinaire Carl Boutet and retail transformation consultant Oliver Banks.

We unpack the profound shift towards digitally-driven customer journeys during the past decade and the great acceleration brought about by the COVID crisis. We also discuss how to strike the right balance between the analog, more human world and being digital-first--reminding everyone that no consumer buys technology.

Lockie Andrews is the Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer at UNTUCKit and the CEO of Catalyst Consulting, a digital transformation consulting firm. You can learn more about Lockie here and check out Lockie’s latest thought piece on why the combination of digital and physical commerce is optimal for retailers and brands. Follow Lockie on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Oliver Banks, in addition to being a podcaster himself with The Retail Transformation show is experienced at leading, managing and coordinating large, complex change programmes and projects. These initiatives may be targeting improvement to operational processes, people and HR, technology and tools – or a combination of them all.

As the founder of StudioRx, Carl Boutet advises retailers, business leaders, b2c solution providers, companies and researchers on how to tailor their solutions according to consumers’ evolving needs and build effective commercial strategies at the intersections of technology, design and data. He is also acting managing director for the Quebec centre for commercial innovation and presently working on a book titled The Great Acceleration

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You can learn more about Steve on his website here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.

You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

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 fourth year in a row, 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.

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