The Age of Immersive Commerce with 5 New Digital’s Michael Zakkour - Part 1
Jan 1, 2025
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Michael Zakkour, Founder and Chief Strategist of 5 New Digital, shares his expertise in the rapidly evolving world of digital commerce. He discusses the holiday shopping trends and challenges for brands in 2024, focusing on the distinction between traditional and e-commerce giants. Zakkour explains the concept of immersive commerce, emphasizing the need for engaging retail experiences. He also dives into the adaptation strategies for oversized brands amidst financial pressures, highlighting automation and AI as essential tools for future growth.
Retail media strategies are evolving as brands must balance advertising efficiency with creativity to enhance consumer engagement in a competitive landscape.
Immersive commerce is crucial for retailers, as creating dynamic and interactive shopping experiences can drive sales and improve customer interactions with products.
Deep dives
CES 2025 and Retail Media Insights
The podcast features an upcoming breakfast briefing at CES 2025, hosted by CVS Media Exchange, where key players will discuss retail media investment plans for 2025. Andrew Lipsman, from Ads Media and Commerce, will present findings from recent interviews conducted with CPG brands about their strategies in retail media. This event is positioned as a valuable opportunity for brands and retailers to gain insights into future retail trends and consumer engagement strategies. Participants are encouraged to register for the event to ensure they stay ahead in the evolving digital landscape.
Holiday Season Retail Performance
The discussion highlights the robust performance of the 2024 holiday shopping season, revealing a year-on-year growth of 2.5% to 3% across consumer spending. Black Friday proved particularly strong, showcasing a 10% increase, while Cyber Monday surged by 13%. Consumers are increasingly favoring a select few retailers, with Walmart and Amazon emerging as top performers, in contrast to Target, which struggled. This trend illustrates a shift in consumer behavior, with an emphasis on a more concentrated spending strategy that benefits a smaller group of brands.
Emergence of Immersive Commerce
Immersive commerce is identified as a key focus for retailers moving forward, emphasizing the need for engaging and interactive shopping experiences both online and in physical stores. The conversation underlines that traditional digital interfaces often lack innovation, leading to stagnant conversion rates. By creating fun and social experiences that mimic the energy of popular retail environments, brands can enhance customer engagement. This approach promises to transform how consumers interact with products, driving sales through more dynamic, memorable experiences.
Retail Media Challenges and Opportunities
The podcast delves into the complexities of retail media, where brands face challenges in efficiently managing numerous advertising channels. The fragmentation of retail media networks (RMNs) is cited as a significant issue, with many brands over-indexing on paid media at the expense of creativity and brand awareness. The need for consolidation among RMNs is emphasized to streamline efforts and better serve brand strategies. Looking ahead, a balanced approach that encompasses both transactional and experiential elements is deemed essential for brands aiming to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Michael Zakkour, Founder & Chief Strategist of 5 New Digital, a consulting firm that focuses on short-term engagements that empower our clients to quickly break down the walls between online and offline commerce to reimagine how retail, D2C, technology, supply chain, content, and consumption must work together.
As 2024 comes to an end, we’d love to reflect on how this holiday season has gone for brands and retailers? What are you guys seeing?
As 2025 beckons, in the center store world it’s all retail media, volume challenges, you see so much more, what worries you and whats exciting?
We’ve hinted at unified commerce. What is it, and can you give us a full retail example? In your experience are brands working towards unified commerce?
How do today’s oversized overscaled brands adapt in the tight dividend focused P&L world they are in?
DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.
CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.
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