The Jason & Scot Show - E-Commerce And Retail News

EP165 - Amazon Alexa's David Isbitski David Isbitski (@thedavedev)is the Chief Evangelist for Alexa at Amazon. In this interview, we cover a wide range of topics including the growth of the Alexa platform, the evolution of the developer community, the future of voice, and voice commerce specifically. Don’t forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 165 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Friday, February 22, 2019 from the eTail West tradeshow in Palm Desert, CA. http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Founder and Executive Chairman of Channel Advisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.

EP164 - News live from ICSC OAC  http://jasonandscot.com Jason & Scot gave a presentation at the International Council of Shopping Centers Open Air Centers show in Austin Texas and got together afterward to record a news update. Amazon Project Zero - New brand protection program Walmart Earnings.  Same store sales up 4.2%, E-Com for the quarter up 43% (up 40% for the fiscal year), guidance for next year is that e-com will grow 35%.  Profitability of e-commerce continues to be a challenge for Walmart, and they expect that to continue.   Walmart stores offering "Online Grocery Pickup" (OGP)_ grew from 800 to 2100 stores this year, and is expected to grow to 3100 next year. JCPenneys Earnings. Revenue down 8.4%, same store sales down -4% (vs. 4.3% expected).  They announced the closure of 18 stores, and said to expect more in subsequent years). L Brands Earnings - Victoria's Secret same store sales down 7%, will close 53 stores. FedEx launched a new delivery robot, SameDay Bot Stamps.com dropped it's exclusive deal with USPS, a possible precursor to an Amazon partnership (or acquisition). Target launched Target Plus, a new invite only marketplace to expand Targets online assortment. Marketplace software vendor Mirikl announced a new $70M fund raise, reflecting investor confidence in the marketplace model. Jason will be at ShopTalk in Las Vegas next week and will moderate two panels: MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 TRACK 4, SESSION 4: 2:50PM - 3:30PM TOPIC: Selling on Marketplaces John Evons, VP, Global Direct-to-Consumer, KEEN Bridget Davies, VP, Revenue & Seller Growth EBay Jordan Bass, Head of eCommerce, The Wonderful Company TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019 TRACK 2, SESSION 5: 3:35PM - 4:15PM TOPIC: Creating a Single View of the Customer Charlie Cole, Chief Ecommerce Officer, Samsonite Steve Miller, SVP, Marketing & eCommerce, JOANN Stores Greg Fancher, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Express Jason and Scot will be giving a joint presentation (and recording a live show) from ChannelAdvisor Connect in Austin on April 8th and 9th. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 164 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday, February 28th, 2019. Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Executive Chairman of Channel Advisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.

Digital Alcohol with Diageo and Drizly  Jason & Scot will be podcasting live from the eTail West which is held Feb 19-22 in sunny Palm Springs, CA. As a special gift to listeners, you can use the code JASONSCOT for 20% off. This episode is a deep dive into the digital alcohol market with Diageo and Drizly. Taylor Burton (@TBurton86) is the VP of Strategic Partnerships at Drizly, the world's largest alcohol marketplace to shop beer, wine and spirits, currently available in 95 cities. Wayne Blum (@waynegblum) is is the Director, U.S eCommerce strategy and partnerships at Diageo,  A global leader in beverage alcohol, with over 200+ brands. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 163 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Monday, February 11th, 2019. Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Executive Chairman of Channel Advisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. http://jasonandscot.com 

EP162 - Amazon Q4 2018 Earnings Hot Take  Jason & Scot will be podcasting live from the eTail West which is held Feb 19-22 in sunny Palm Springs, CA. As a special gift to listeners, you can use the code JASONSCOT for 20% off. This episode is a hot take on Amazon Q4 2018 earnings Amazon Q4 Earnings Highlights $72.4BB, which is a 20% y/y increase $19.4B in Free cash flow Amazon grew North America 18% y/y and International 15% y/y, for a blended growth rate of 17% Unit growth decelerated to 14% from 15% in Q3 Revenue from brick and mortar down 3% Amazon Web Services - Grew 45% to $7.4B for the quarter and generated $2.2b in operating income which was up 61% y/y Marketplace 52% of units, down from 53% levels in Q2 and Q3 Wingo GMV estimate -> 150B GMV for the quarter.  $450B GMV for the year ($300B GMV in North America). Amazon Ad Business - grew 95% y/y  to $3.49B (Estimated $10B for the year) Pivotal estimates $38B by 2023 Jason & Scot will be podcasting live from the eTail West which is held Feb 19-22 in sunny Palm Springs, CA. As a special gift to listeners, you can use the code JASONSCOT for 20% off. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 162 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday, January 31st, 2019. Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Executive Chairman of Channel Advisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.

EP161 - Verizon Enterprise Solutions GVP, Michele Dupre  Episode 161 is an interview with Michele Dupre, GVP of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, live the National Retail Federation Big Show.  We cover a variety of topics including: Verizon's Holiday Retail Index Findings 5G and it's likely impact on commerce Security Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 161 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Tuesday, January 15th, 2019. https://jasonandscot.com

EP160 - CES 2019 Recap, and NRF Update Episode 160 is a recap of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, and an update from the Nation Retail Federation Big Show. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 160 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Monday, January 14th, 2019.

EP159 - 2019 Predictions and 2018 Recap Our annual predictions episode for 2019 and a recap of our 2018 predictions. 2018 Recap - Predictions made on episode 112 Scot Mallageddon 2.0 - We saw 7000 stores close in 2017, I think this accelerates in 2018 as the 30-40% of weak malls fail  closures. YES Amazon will NOT buy another offline retailer, triples down on private label. YES Amazon will squarely get in the last mile business in 2018 and compete with FedEx and UPS. NO Amazon’s ad group will get so large that they have to break out details about it and everyone will be shocked at how large it has gotten so quickly YES Walmart will make a big M+A - top candidates would be Instacart, postmates and eBay. YES Somebody acquires Magento, or they go public. YES 5/6 Bonus - Amazon comes out with Alexa powered wireless earbuds - because I want them. NO Jason Grocery gets disrupted by digital (led by curbside pickup).  Digital grocery doubles in US, at least one delivery firm peters out.YES Drug gets disrupted by digital. NO AI Gap - biggest trend of 2018 NO Voice - Huge but not for commerce. YES Payments - Retail digital wallets die (except Starbucks/Walmart/Amazon).  Bitcoin tanks. YES 3/5 Bonus - Amazon launches a wearable. NO .  Scot crushes Jason! 2019 Predictions Scot At least 5k more store closures in 2019  Amazon - Prof Galloway is big on Amazon having to create a AWS spinoff and has moderated that to tracking stock. I’m going to predict Amazon doesn’t do either of those things. But this WILL be the year they break ads out. eBay/Alibaba - I think this is the year when the both need to do something big and the stars are aligning for a combination there.   Shopify gets acquired by one of the big ad-based companies (facebook/google most likely)  Walmart stumbles in e-commerce Jason Amazon store count exceeds 1000 stores Walmart buys a last mile firm  Another big  bankruptcy (going to be a tougher than expected year, JCP, category killers Office, BBBY, Neiman) Mobile commerce revenue passes Desktop - Aided by PWA’s, and payment API’s we see mobile gap narrow Fads (Voice Commerce, Customer facing AI, SocialCommerce, VR BlockChain) Bonus: Amazon breaks out Prime revenue.   Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 159 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Sunday, January 6th, 2019. www.jasonandscot.com

EP158 - NYC Holiday Store Visits  We're in the peak of the holiday season, which means Jason is going to be visiting stores.  This year he went to NYC and visited 33 new or updated store concepts.  If you'd like to follow the tour yourself, here the Retailgeek NYC Retail Map. Some favorites this year included: Nike Dyson Allbirds Amazon 4 Star Casper Covergirl FAO Schwarz Glossier Google Hardware Macy’s (especially the B8ta shop-in-shop) Showfields Some disappointments included: Restoration Hardware Saks Apple Away Amazon News Bloomberg article had a great piece about the 1099 amazon delivery network Amazon extended delivery window Amazon new air hub in DFW WSJ article on CRAPfest Amazon Go in airports Small format Amazon Go Opening Amazon Go in UK Other News IBM sold its commerce platform (Websphere) to HCL Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 158 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Monday, December 17th, 2018. Happy holidays everyone... talk to you in 2019!

EP157 - Bain & Company Partner Cesar Brea  Ceasar Brea (@cesarbrea) is a partner at Bain & Company, focused in the Advanced Analytics and Marketing practices.  We cover a variety of topics related to the disruption and future of commerce. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 157 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Monday, November 19th 2018.

EP156 - Profitero's Keith Anderson Holiday Recap  Keith Anderson (@KeithAnderson) is the SVP of Strategy and Insights at Profitero.  Profitero is a leading global provider of e-commerce analytics for brands and retailers.  As head of strategy & insights for Profitero, Keith leads Profitero's product strategy and global analyst team.  In this episode, we discuss Keith's insights around last weeks Cyber-5 as well as 2018 in general. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 156 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday, November 29th, 2018.