Future Commerce

Having Conversations That Don’t Exist in Other PlacesWelcome to Infinite Shelf, a human-centric show designed to help explore what it takes to make brands, products and services hit the right recipe of connection, relevance, emotional attachment, and, of course, profitability.Phillip and Brian of Future Commerce join Ingrid to welcome Infinite Shelf to the networkThe three play a game of “Get off my Lawn,” where INgrid has the guys guess what different TikTok lingo means.“When we talk about Infinite Shelf, the stuff gets onto the shelf somehow and the stuff gets taken off the shelf by someone. And the shelf is just the table that's being set for the meal that is being prepared. The shelf brings us together, but it's not about the shelf, it's about the people.” -PhillipThe Pendulum...better known as The Big Three (Amazon, Target, Walmart) are taking over our mindshare, wallet share, and going full force on the economy. But what happens when a smaller brand disrupts the industry?“How do we set ourselves up to be a part of what is currently going on with these big retailers but also be future focused on when the pendulum swings back the other way that we're ready and that we aren't blindsided by what the needs of the future consumer mindset is going to be?” -IngridWe have some exciting topics planned for Infinite Shelf, all revolving around open conversations from different POV’s, including: In-Store Tech, Influncers- Dead or Alive and Well?, how to organize and hire teams, and SO MUCH MORE!Stay in the loop with Infinite Shelf!  Let us know your thoughts on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook. We love hearing from our listeners!

Our Inability to Predict Demand The National Retail Federation predicts a whopping 10.5% increase in holiday spending this year.Maybe supply chain issues are overblown? Moselle is on a mission to provide e-commerce businesses with everything they need to create stable and scalable supply chains.The Beer Distribution Game is really just supply chain 101. If you have shortages or additional lead time in this game, you'll basically run into supply-demand issues. A lot of what's happening now is on the extreme end of it, where there's a lot of individual things in the chain failing or slowing down immensely.“Unless you have your own boats or private shipping method or have an exclusive way to bring your goods from one part of the world to another, you end up having to work within the existing system. And then when you work in that existing system, it's all about how can I get an edge?” -Lakhveer Jajj“The inability to predict demand in the physical supply chain is this thing that will never be overcome, our expectations are skewed by online services and that's just not how the physical world works.”- PhillipAssociated Links:Follow us on Twitter to catch our next Twitter Spaces!Learn more about Lakhveer Jajj and MoselleOur episode with Stephan AngoCheck out our most recent report: Nine by NineSubscribe to Insiders!Listen to more episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Building a New Type of Relationship“For the future of commerce to thrive, brands must be able to own those direct relationships with their customers.” -RosaIn recent news, Yotpo and Shopify have joined in a platform partnership to help accelerate  Yotpo’s growth and ultimately empower merchants to grow their relationships with consumers. “It’s never been more important than now to truly understand your customer. This partnership with Shopify allows us to grow that relationship and loyalty with customers.” -RosaHow does Yotpo  provide more value to customers compared to others? It’s the little things. Packaging, service, 24-hour chat help, and more. They work on delivering their promise to their merchants. When you give your customers choice and let them give the opportunity to set their values, they’ll feel a mutual value exchange. In the end, you will be better off because you will be using tools to build empathy rather than using tools to engage. We are needing a new type of marketer. The creative and the relational need to come together. This new marketer focuses on loyalty and creating relationships with customers at the same time.“Even if your customers are shopping in-store, you need to make sure you’re tying their online and in-store experience together. They need to stay connected” -Rosa Associated Links:Learn more about Rosa Hu, and YotpoListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceCheck out our latest report: Nine by NineSubscribe to InsidersHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

The Modernity of Site SearchWe recount Brian’s visit to Aime Leon Dore’s flagship store in Soho, talk about the store design, the need for physical retail for “anchoring” the ultimate vision of a brand.We contrast the store design of ALD with another Soho shopping experience: Shinola. The future of digital requires having a physical experience. Brian’s ALD experience will likely drive future digital purchases.We’re in a brave new world of being introduced to brands. Price doesn’t matter anymore. User accessibility is what’s important. “In-store is the next frontier for digital.”- BrianThere is still a lot of opportunity to optimize the experience for shoppers, if stores are able to create a seamless instore and online experience there would be a lot more growth.GroupBy’s Roland Gossage joins the show to talk about the past, present, and future of customer journey orchestration, and the tools that help us do that today. The GroupBy Product Discovery Platform powered by Google Cloud Retail AI drives the world’s most relevant and highly converting eCommerce websites. In the beginning days of eCommerce, it was all about working to create an online experience and seeing it would work. Now, twenty years later, the game has changed.“80% of clients who hit a website that have a poor user experience are likely to never return. So the stakes are much higher.” -RolandThe market is ready for a plunge. It’s getting bigger and better. Bringing in new waves of technology helps all parts of the market. “The old analogy was garbage in, garbage out and that still exists today. We realized upfront that we had to solve the data problem first. So we had to create the golden record.” -RolandAssociated Links:The Twitter post of Brian’s shirt from Aime Leon DoreLearn more about Roland Gossage, and GroupBy Inc.Get our latest report: Nine by NineSubscribe to InsidersListen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Being an Informed Consumer Requires Recognizing Disinformation Searching the web can be a bit confusing these days with the addition of third party sellers, in a recent Washington Post article, the author stated “These days navigating Amazon, Walmart and Google's maze of third party sellers or judging hip looking social media ads requires the same kind of skills as identifying misinformation and conspiracy theories.” Phillip thinks this is the quote of the year.Mainstream media is coming to attack in spreading misinformation. With consumers not knowing how to determine a good product, it's creating bad commerce centered experiences. “When you get good at identifying what a good product is and what a bad product is, you're actually building a skill that's applicable for a lot of other things.” -BrianMaybe things that are fun are actually just fear, uncertainty, and doubt. We fear that something will happen (i.e you fear the supply chain falling) which creates a lot of uncertainty, in the end creating a pit of doubt. But what if there’s a way to fix it? Shipping has been experiencing troubles on all ends for over a year now, and as we approach the holiday season it's going to get worse again. Our research for the same products at different places of the next brand up, could result in losing brand loyalty. Associated Links:Washington Post articleCometeerStep by Step Emmett Shine episodeGet our latest report: Nine by NineSubscribe to Insiders

“If only there were a way to sample new products... in a warehouse of some sort?”If you’re not an influencer or active on social media, how can you sample a product as a consumer? How cool would it be if there was a way to get into a warehouse with every product available for sample! “We need the raw, realistic community members, not influencers, sharing the content and saying, "these are my thoughts and this is how much better it is.’’ The people need to hear that. “-KendallAs consumers we often chase the newest luxury items, because we enjoy it. But we also chase experiences. What if we chased a different experience because we enjoyed doing things differently? “It’s not just the product that’s the whole experience, but the ritual behind it. If you can create an experience at home and you’re willing to trade that off, there’s an equating experience behind it. ” -BrianBrands that are exceeding are creating incredible customer experiences. From ordering, to social media presence, to the delivery at their door. When a brand creates an experience, they create loyalty. The two major modalities that consumers fall into are seeking something new or stocking up on something trusted. Consumers find themselves behaving in both modes in the same category, but with different brands. “Part of the experience of doing business with a customer is to try to get them to purchase on the terms they want and not the terms you want them to.” -PhillipAssociated Links:Learn more about Kendall Dickieson, the FlexibleFoodieBrands mentioned in this episode: Gooey, Dandies, Cometeer, CanopyOur episode with Pashmina Lalchandani from Bar & CocoaThe Senses piece on $32 PB&J and the Luxury inflection pointOriginal research by Rightpoint: Stocking Up and Seeking OutGet our latest report: Nine by NineSubscribe to InsidersHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Bankruptcy and financial peril is the rite of passage for the Mall brand.The return of mall brands is upon us. But how did they make the turnaround? By taking risks, for one. Partnering with Kanye could be a mistake, or stroke of genius to take the storied brand back into the premium category and pivot away from availability to scarcity.“I actually see the partnership between Kanye and GAP as actually the start of the Gap turnaround. I mark that as the moment. From a cultural standpoint and brand standpoint, the partnership with GAP and Kanye was the turnaround. It marks the beginning for me.” -Brian Brands like Old Navy are making a comeback by being more size inclusive with their recent campaign, Bodequality: offering all sizes, 0-30, XS-4X for all the same price. “What Old Navy is doing is incredible and inclusive. It's the kind of thing that you need right now in order to make a turnaround. And in a time where I think, you know, folks are willing to spend money.” -PhillipAnd yet another win for a GAP brand, an incredible execution in partnerships comes from Athleta. Their partnership with Simone Biles and Allyson Felix is timely and relevant to our culture. GAP is continuing to kill the game when it comes to partnerships. With recent news in getting Athleta partnered and being sold in REI. “I've seen retailers miss the mark in the past. The fact that these storied mall apparel retailers are doing such an amazing job at sort of reframing who they are for this moment in the culture is impressive. But can they keep it up?” -Phillip Malls aren’t dying, in fact they’re more alive than ever. With the recent trends of brand partnerships, malls will continue to make a comeback. Associated Links:Listen to Episode 89: New CommerceKing Stakh’s Wild HuntPhillip’s Twitter postCNN articleThe Business of Aspiration Want to read more about the mall comeback? Check out our recent Insiders #102: Mall Luxury Experience Get on the list for Nine by Nine! Subscribe to Insiders! Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

DTC Comes of Age in GroceryGrocery is one of the most complicated forms of retail that exists, leading it to be the one of the biggest forms of retail. “We talk a lot about retail. We talk a lot about CPG. And I mean, we talk a lot about eCommerce just generally, which a lot of focus of the scale of eCommerce has been in the direct to consumer movement over the last couple of years. But grocery is where it's at right now.” -PhillipThe pandemic was in many ways a great accelerant for grocery. It’s allowed grocery retailers to evolve in many areas, including eCommerce grocery shopping. Grocery isn’t turning back to the way it was before.Because of this acceleration, grocers are innovating across all aspects of the business from eCommerce (which was virtually nonexistent just 5 years ago for most grocers), to supply chain, to adapting to changes in customer demand and expectations.Grocers are meeting the evolution of customer expectations by providing higher levels of personalization… which is also doubling as advertisement for products. Why did Albertsons close their marketplace during the pandemic?? Literally no one actually knows and it wasn’t answered adequately in their session. Apparently, according to Chris Rupp it’s “just not who we [Albertsons] are.”Basically the whole world is just run from csv files. The web marketplace is one of the hardest things to run, in fact it's almost impossible. In order to execute you have to have a product mindset innovation. “There's been a lot of innovation and not just that at the retail level of grocery, but also at the product CPG sort of level of grocery as well. Over the past 18 months, we've seen a lot of new players in this market, and they’re all trying to get into the physical store.” -BrianAssociated Links:Phillip’s Tweet about GroceryshopGet on the list for our Nine by Nine report...coming soon!We provide the insights you need to shape the future of your retail business. Subscribe to our Insiders email. 

We examine the 2021 retail trade calendar and review Retail X, the first retail trade industry event to take place since the start of the pandemmy. ALSO: The rise of the headless platforms, Telfar TV launch makes waves, and we’ve rolled out a new podcast brand identity. Listen now!

Our newest consumer research and trends report is here. NINE BY NINE uncovers the nine categories, and 81 brands, which are changing our world for the better. Get on the list to get an advance copy of the report. Launching next week. www.ninebynine.report