We're back with Season 8 and kick it off with one of the industry's leading thought leaders--Carrie Tharp, VP Strategic Industries at Google Cloud. With her past experience in senior leadership at Fossil Group, Neiman Marcus, and Travelocity, and current board roles at the National Retail Federation, Vera Bradley, and Rue Gilt Groupe, Carrie brings tremendous perspective on where retail is headed and the challenges and opportunities brands face.

In a wide ranging discussion we delve into the current state of cloud technology, where generative AI is headed (including the results of Google's new industry survey), and how retailers can accelerate their pace of transformation--including tips on how to deploy "test and learn" strategies. We also discuss specific use cases, including a recently launched partnership with Victoria's Secret to close the digital divide, expand conversational commerce, and a whole lot more.

Before we dive into our typical opening segment we engage in a bit of humble-bragging sharing our own news that the pod won the top "Retail Voice" award at this year's VIP Awards show.

We also announce some special pre-order bonuses for Steve's forthcomign book (see below).

Then we jump into our hot takes on the week in retail news, including whether the holiday season delivered the goods or not. Then its on to good news as Lululemon, Abercrombie & Fitch, and American Eagle take their sales guidance up. We follow it with bad news, however, as "new department store" concept Showfield's shuts down and competitor Neighborhood Goods retrenches. We can't miss the opportunity to talk about the success of the ludicrously capacious Stanley Quencher. We wrap up with the shocking news that physical retail is still not dead.

Presented by Celonis.

My new book--"Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption"--will be released March 12th. And for a limited time pre-order it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop,org, or any other retailer worldwide, and get some very special FREE bonuses.

Buy 1 Copy and receive:
- An exclusive PDF book excerpt
- An invitation to a private pre-launch virtual event.

Buy 5 Copies and receive:
- All the above, plus access to a small group virtual Q&A session.

Buy 25 copies or more and receive:
- All the above, plus a private one-on-one 20 minute Zoom consulting or executive leadership coaching session with me.

Simply email your receipt to leadersleap@sageberryconsullting.com and we will handle the rest!

About Carrie

Innovative Chief Digital Officer/Chief Marketing Officer with experience driving growth and business transformation in retail, consumer products and eCommerce based businesses. Creating data driven, customer centric strategies that drive growth through new customer experiences, digital innovation, and business model expansion. Currently focused on evolving retail capabilities for the new digital age - dedicated to building teams and experiences to serve customers in new and compelling ways.

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..

Steve will be back on stage at Shoptalk in Las Vegas and we've got a special offer for our podcast listeners to save an additional 10% on registration.

Retailer & Brands use Code: RBREMAR225 by going here.General Attendee: use code: GAREMAR360 here.

Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book.

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, a keynote speaker around the world and consumer growth consultant. 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 eCommerce Leaders podcast, and The Food Professor , Canada's top food industry podcasts and one of the top management podcasts in the nation according to Apple, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael on LinkedIn.

Be sure and check out Michael's Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!

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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