Retail Gets Real

How are current crises and the cultural environment impacting shopping behavior? Rachel Bonsignore, a senior consultant at GfK Consumer Life, says now is a critical time for companies to make their values clear in an authentic way as shoppers are more savvy than ever.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Throughout the last few months, Sam's Club has been innovating at a rapid pace, offering new tools to help customers and associates fulfill their needs and maintain a high level of service during very difficult times. Eddie Garcia, senior vice president and chief product officer for Sam's Club discusses how the company is adapting to members' needs, and what he expects will continue to change when the pandemic is behind us. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Karl Haller, the leader of IBM's Consumer Industry Center of Competence, who has been checking the consumer pulse regularly during the pandemic shares the most important things for retailers to know about consumers right now. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

In January, at NRF 2020, Retail's Big Show, we talked with Crate and Barrel CEO Neela Montgomery about her journey to retail and becoming the head of one of America's most popular home brands. And just a few weeks ago, Neela joined us for a virtual event as part of our NRF Retail Leadership series. Today, we're going to bring you highlights from both of those conversations. Neela's path to retail leadership, how so much changed virtually overnight amid the pandemic, and what the future of retail will look like. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Companies across the nation are collaborating in creative ways to lend a hand where needed during the pandemic. Saskia van Gendt, the head of sustainability for Rothy's, talks about how the Open Innovation Coalition is bringing together like-minded brands to share resources to support COVID-19 relief efforts, with the goal of helping one million people by July 1, 2020.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Sandra Oh Lin took her knack for creating fun STEM activities for her kids and turned it into KiwiCo, a monthly subscription box business that fuels kids’ passion for creativity. On this episode, Oh Lin describes how she went from engineer to entrepreneur and the lessons she learned the hard way as demand for the popular kids’ activity boxes quickly grew. Originally released July 1, 2019. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Food52 was created with the vision of celebrating a love of food with a like-minded community. With more people staying at home during the pandemic and turning to cooking for comfort, Food52’s massive community of engaged followers has grown even more. Listen to learn more about how the brand turns fans into customers with crowdsourced product launches that sell out in days and why consumers connect with their human approach to cooking.  Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

The pandemic of COVID-19 is hitting everyone hard, the retail industry included. Despite that, many retailers are coming together to find creative ways to help each other, their customers, and their communities. Today, we’re sharing the stories of some of those companies and how they are innovating to accommodate. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.  

Retailers are facing unique challenges in today’s environment. Today, we're looking at how consumer behavior is changing amid the COVID-19 crisis with NRF Senior Director of Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen. NRF has been checking in on how people have adapted to the coronavirus pandemic, including popular purchases, shopping methods, and the broader ways this impacts their lives and behaviors. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

How do you make shopping for LEGOs as fun as building them? That’s the question — and the ambition — behind Martin Urrutia’s work as the Head of Global Retail Innovation at LEGO. With more than 25 years of retail experience, his job is to push innovative retail practices that will keep the company at the forefront of customer expectations.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.