Future Commerce

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Our Sh*tty Robot Future Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we are bringing to you a new old piece of content that is more relevant today than it has ever been as we just celebrated our 2023 edition of Visions, our annual Audio-Visual Trends report, first with a launch in Chicago at our Visions Summit at the Retail Innovation Conference and then with the launch of our multiplayer experience and our new zine, the Multiplayer Brand. Visions Volume 4 is the biggest, baddest piece of content that we have ever produced, but that makes the content we did last year that much more relevant because from the vantage point of 2023, we can see how predictions and anxieties that we had in 2022 came true or were put to rest. ‍

It’s a great interview with Michael Miraflor, an incredibly prolific thinker and the Chief Brand Officer at Hannah Grey VC, and the then CEO and now President of Trade Coffee, Mike Lackman, to talk about the changing nature of work, how our roles in society are altered and our perspectives are altered by algorithmic timelines and how automation and AI are redefining all of the above. Listen now!

“Google, how do I speak to a human?”

“It's creating some dynamics where a much smaller number of people can drive outcomes with a much larger number of dollars. If we're not really effective at promoting financial literacy and asking some big questions about what's different looking 20 years ahead from what the last 20 years were like, then there's going to be some collateral damage in the system that I think is really bad for everybody involved.” - Mike Lackman
“You can automate things to make them more efficient, but you have to know how to do it well in the first place with a certain level of agency and authority and getting your hands dirty with it.” - Michael Miraflor
“Just blatantly throwing software at problems to solve problems, thinking that it's the software that overcomes the deficiencies of an impractical product or business, I think is itself inherently a challenge that we're all facing in our industry.” - Phillip Jackson
“One of the most frustrating things about customer service is when you end up on the phone with a system that is trying to replicate that of a human voice, human interaction, or human way of answering questions... You don't have to try to trick me to think that you're a person because you're just not. I would rather hit a series of numbers…to get you to answer versus me interacting with this AI as if you were human.” - Michael Miraflor
“You have to get a gauge on what young people are thinking as expressed by what they're wearing and what they're doing. If you can't really get a sense of that, because the dominant form of social media is encouraging the proliferation of micro trends that really aren't a reflection, but they send a smoke signal, then you might have something that's a bit problematic on your hands.” - Michael Miraflor
“The interesting piece here is that when we talk about this dystopian sort of like, well, this AI future, we're all going to get pushed around this and that. The alternative to that has to be an institution with enough trust and credibility that we're willing to let them become tastemakers, editors of newspapers, curators of fashion, pairers of coffee, those kinds of things.” - Mike Lackman
“There was a dark side to those things that we do see as unifying, which is they tend to have some sort of pretty strong editorial, perhaps even tyrannical authority associated with them to be able to set those standards in place. And I guess my point of jousting with you on that when we think about AI, the counterpoint to letting the system just run the algorithm unchecked is that someone has to put guardrails on that.” - Mike Lackman

Associated Links:

Learn more about Michael Miraflor of Hannah Grey VC
Learn morea about Mike Lackman of Trade Coffee
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI Should Empower Your Workforce, Not Replace Them Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

Brian Lange sat down with visionary Brian Roemmele this week, and luckily we get to listen in on a couple of hours of their conversation! Are you an AI user in the workplace? If so, Brian Roemmele challenges you to look at AI as a tool for creativity and empowerment, rather than replacement.

Don’t Throw the Baby out with the Bathwater

{00:03:30} “We're not designed to be in safety literally our entire life. We should always be a little unbalanced and a little challenged. So the same is true with AI. And that challenge forces creativity.” - Brian Roemmele
{00:16:40} “I also challenge you to accept the fact that you no longer have a cemented position on anything. That does not mean that you just don't have a position. It means the tree is flexible so the wind doesn't break the tree.” - Brian Roemmele
{00:21:24} “They'll tell me, “Brian, you're crazy. You're a charlatan. It's just math.” I go, "That's interesting. Now, we're dealing with human language. We're dealing with the psychology of humans that created the math. That's what you're seeing here.’" - Brian Roemmele
{00:30:06} “You're now going to become seven times more powerful because you're going to know how to use this technology in a way that's going to empower you to be stronger. It is not a replacement. It's a tool. The spreadsheet didn't fire the accountant. It made the accountant more powerful.” - Brian Roemmele
{00:37:23} “How do you train an AI system to understand good unless it knows bad? Now you can train good and bad, but the bad has got to be in there as a reference point because it needs a contextual way to identify.” - Brian Roemmele
{00:41:56} “We build a persona. We build a personality. Because that creates engagement. If you're just going to put out robotic statements and go to freaking a Google search or Wikipedia, it's not engaging. So if I'm going to have a customer-facing interface, that interface better be useful and engaging.” - Brian Roemmele
{01:28:11} “That machine is actually going to be able to have a bank and understand more of how I relate to the things that I find resonance with and find wisdom in. And it's actually going to be able to relate those things back to who I am and use an even more full understanding of the things that I find to be inspiring or the things that reflect me to interact with other people and other people's extended versions of themselves, i.e. their AI component. - Brian Lange

Associated Links:

Dive into more of Brian Roemmele’s work
Listen to our past episodes with Brian Roemmele
Did you see our VISIONS: Volume IV drop? Check it out here.
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Magician's Power Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

When a brand discovers the needs of their consumers and then provides them with that well, that is magic. For Keely Copeland, Founder of Second Chance Initiative, building a brand was about solving a problem that was bigger than her. She saw a need, she dreamed of a different way to meet that need, and then she began to build a brand that would bring hope to not just consumers, but also the women involved with the creation of their products. Listen now to this episode of Archetypes!

Empty Vessel

{00:04:27} “It was about how can we use commerce as a vehicle to create safe and secure jobs for women in recovery who are reentering the workforce so that they can come work in a healthy, secure environment for a few months, up to a year while they get back on their feet and then they can go back to either the career they used to have or something new altogether.” - Keely
{00:07:48} “There's a tug of war of power between the brand and the consumer. And in this tug of war of power brands believe that they wield some power in the organization. In fact, what we're realizing is that consumers wield unlimited power over all of us. We are at their mercy and we adapt our businesses to their desires, not the other way around. You can't shape their needs. You can only find or discover the thing that they want from you.” - Phillip
{00:10:08} “After Covid, there's a lot more alignment of priorities based on values that actually matter. I think for a long time we were trapped in junk values as a society, and when the world stopped for a few years, we got back to remembering what matters.” - Keely
{00:14:39} “For every creator, I have come to believe that the emptying out is just as important as the taking in because there's no room for the new idea if your mind's already full, if you're thinking about what you have to do tomorrow and the paragraph that you want to write next or the podcast that you want to record next. And so an empty vessel is, in my mind, exclusively possibility. And it doesn't get much more optimistic than that.” - Keely

Associated Links:

Learn more about Keely Copeland and Second Chance Initiative
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

[INFINITE SHELF] Succession IRL Jun 23, 2023

Show notes

Have you checked out our other podcast Infinite Shelf yet? Here is a taste of our latest episode: Succession IRL. Listen in with hosts Ingrid Milman Cordy and Orchid Bertelsen and don't forget to subscribe!

There comes a time when every DTC company hits the pause button and asks, “What’s next?” Cue the Patrick Bateman and Kendall Roy mergers and acquisitions quotes. If acquisition does end up being an option, when you cede power as a founder, will you be happy with what the new parent company decides to do? Will your legacy live on?

Secret Sauce

{00:11:11} “When we're talking about multinational corporations or larger corporations, usually you got to make sure that you've got a healthy business that you can just put your resources against in order to grow.” - Orchid
{00:16:28} “There's a reason why acquisitions don't have the most fantastic reputation for succeeding post-acquisition. A lot of that is because too much emphasis is put on the acquirer to solve those problems after the fact. My advice is to have the founder or have the people who are running that DTC business think about what is that secret sauce of the company.” - Ingrid
{00:17:53} “If you're a founder and you're selling, what you also have to be emotionally ready for is if the parent company starts to make strategic decisions about how to use the brand that you wouldn't necessarily agree with because it's not yours anymore. Post-acquisition is not yours anymore. That's why they paid you the money.” - Orchid
{00:25:44} “With growth comes mass, more mass opportunities. You have to be more approachable, you have to be more accessible, unless you are a true luxury good.” - Orchid
{00:32:03} “The people that you hire to help you be acquired, is another huge, important decision. They have to know your business and see the vision and see the purpose and be your champion just as much as the founders.” - Ingrid

Associated Links:

Follow Infinite Shelf on Instagram
Want to hear more? Check out past episodes here
Love your new co-host? Check her out on LinkedIn
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Winner Sells All Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Just in time for the release of his new book, Jason Del Rey sits down with Phillip and Brian and talks about his research in the histories of Walmart and Amazon, what he learned that matters to consumers today, and what he’d like to see in the future of commerce. His book, Winner Sells All: Amazon, Walmart, and the Battle for Our Wallets is being called “A riveting investigation of the no-holds-barred battle between Amazon and Walmart to become the king of commerce.” It’s a must read, and it’s out TODAY, June 20th! Listen now to hear more and get your own copy of the book everywhere books are sold!

Tug of War

{00:04:02} “I'm a sports fan, and rivalries are something that I grew up on. And this was just sort of an epic one: Amazon and Walmart. And I really wanted to just go inside and explain to readers both in and outside the industry what these companies' ambitions are, how they look at each other, and hopefully, you get some takeaways on why that matters for you, too.” - Jason
{00:09:29} “Maybe the innovator's dilemma is becoming the imitator's dilemma and that this competition in the marketplace is beginning to create challenges for both companies in having to imitate each other and potentially to wind up chasing red herrings.” - Phillip
{00:17:40} “What's gone on in physical retail for {Amazon} is a good reminder that your DNA is your DNA as it was for Walmart. And it's really hard to execute well and have the right vision that isn't all about using the new channel or new business to just strengthen your historical business.” - Jason
{00:24:26} “The way that this new generation of shoppers, especially a Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers, who could be the most prolific purchasing power generation of all time, what they think about those physical in-store experiences matters more than what I think about it.” - Phillip
{00:46:01} “I have a chapter about Doug {McMillon} in the book because I do think he's sort of under cover for how important of a position he holds.” - Jason
{00:49:20} “ I'd like to think a piece of future of commerce is also really figuring out a way that this industry is not such a drag on the environment. I think physical retail actually can play a big role in solving at least some of the short term issues there.” - Jason

Associated Links:

Find out more about Jason Del Rey and get his new book, Winner Sells All, out today!
Sign up HERE for eTail Boston 2023
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Brand Beyond the Box Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

What happens when a company is quick to make decisions based on real customer insight within a culture that celebrates collaboration between marketing and product development? You get a brand like ButcherBox that is building not only a great business but a subscription service that is providing transformation in the way families do dinner. Listen in and hear how Lesley Mottla and Kiran Smith are building teams that are continuing to build a passionate brand for their members! Lesley and Kiran will be sharing more of their strategies for building the ButcherBox brand live at eTail Boston this August. Future Commerce will also be there to bring you more great conversations from the show – come join us!

Data as Enabler

{00:05:24} “Like many companies, the company made technical decisions, and grew out of those technical decisions. You definitely come to a point where you have to really take a hard look at things and figure out what's the platform or pieces that are going to get you to the next level.” - Lesley
{00:08:51} “Our job is really in that first 90 days. How do you make someone really see the value of having the subscription? The value that they see in the inspiration is more than just the protein. It is about the solutions that you offer around it. Our goal is to create confident cooks.” - Kiran
{00:13:14} “I would be the happiest person if we could stop spending anything on marketing because our members do all the work for us. That's where we need to continue to head towards in terms of evangelism. That's the purest form of marketing because people believe their friends.” - Kiran
{00:15:33} “What Kiran and I have really worked on is at the executive level, we're working together on the strategy for the company and the strategy for the members. What's great is we both have a really good understanding that these things don't operate separately.” - Lesley
{00:19:17} “I love that the company won't dismiss the customer insights because they know it's coming from really good validated data that was intelligently taken. And then as they present the problems, they're going towards solutions.” - Kiran
{00:22:39} “We don't need perfect data to make a decision because otherwise we'll just be paralyzed. We’ll figure it out as we go.” - Kiran
{00:34:52} “Decision-making becomes a lot easier when a company is truly mission-driven.” - Kiran

Associated Links:

Sign up HERE for eTail Boston 2023
Find out more about ButcherBox
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The [True] Cost of Convenience Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to the membership revolution where suddenly airlines are the talk of the town. With a flat fee comes compromise, but are you willing to give up convenience for a cheaper price? Also, if you haven’t yet, take a look at your Shop Pay app and check your wallet out. You may have some cash to burn sitting in the account courtesy of the annual “Shop Pay Shop Day,” which totally existed before this year…right? Tune in now to hear the rest.

Loyalty is a Two-Way Street

{00:13:14} “The loyalty in the ERP space, and what your business actually runs on that has a lot of bearing on how you choose your eCommerce stack in enterprise.” - Phillip
{00:20:16} “What I've always realized, especially when being budget conscious, there's always a cost associated. It's either your time, your patience, or your dollars. And sometimes paying more means that you get a little bit more of your time and you save a little bit of patience.” - Phillip
{00:25:08} “We're becoming much more isolated from each other, so naturally, the workplace has become the place that has to help compensate for this because you have to have a community of people that you work with in the workplace. And that's why we have the rise of these social groups and mandated social groups within the workplace, not just for entertainment and for bringing your whole self to work, but there's also an element of just trying to find people and connect with people who have similar life experiences.” - Phillip
{00:33:00} “During economic downturns and uncertainty, brands tend to look at memberships or loyalty, maybe a subscription program, as the thing that makes up the difference. It is a lever for the business and not a benefit for the customer.” - Phillip
{00:38:06} “I've bought into things before where I'm like, "Man if I just bought stuff piecemeal a la carte, this would have been better." Why did I go for the bundle or the membership? And I now have paid way more than I would have otherwise.” - Brian
{00:50:55} “Getting people to the Shop app, it's adoption has a lot of opportunity. There are still a lot of legs, and there's still so much growth opportunity for that, as far as people using it for shopping experiences that Shopify hasn't even touched that yet.” - Brian
{00:51:51} “There is a wealth of new channel growth for tomorrow. There's something brand new happening right in front of our eyes. You want to talk about loyalty and how irrational it is, to capitalize on that, you kind of have to be thinking about the future, and you have to see this through.” - Phillip
{00:53:08} “This new channel, new platform growth that is being set up in front of us could come from somewhere else in the world and I think it would probably be open source because I think that that's how you tend to see things like this play out in international contexts is through open source projects.” - Brian

Associated Links:

Find out more about The Visions Summit at RICE 2023 and make plans to meet us there!
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Caregiver's Mission Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

For a customer to have a seamless experience while dealing with grief and trauma requires exceptional service and unbelievable logistics infrastructure. They need care. For the three founders at Titan Casket, Scott Ginsberg, Joshua Siegel, and Liz Siegel, this is core to their story as a brand. Listen now to this episode of Archetypes!

Direct to Exhumer

{00:01:38} The Caregiver continually supports others, making sacrifices on their behalf. They are honorable, selfless, and loyal. The Caregiver offers unconditional love and has a strong sense of responsibility for others to protect and provide a safe place where others can feel nurtured and cared for.
{00:05:36} “You may have seen us talk about being the Warby Parker of Caskets and that's not because we're direct to consumer. It's because what Warby saw was there was one manufacturer that controlled all the supply and they also owned the channels of distribution. And so they thought there was a better way of working outside of that. And it's the same thing in caskets.” - Josh
{00:09:56} “These are families right in the middle of it. They want to talk about their loved one. And so we hire very carefully, and the team we put in place has no limitations around how long they can spend with clients.” - Josh
{00:10:53} “We have a business. We make money, but at the same time, too, the client is saving 50% or more of what they would ordinarily spend at a funeral home. And we get to help every day.” - Scott

Associated Links:

Learn more about Titan Casket
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

[STEP BY STEP] What Frameworks Should I use to Qualify Good Software for my Business? Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

This season on Step by Step, we are asking what does “seamless” mean to my eCommerce business and how do I demystify that in a way that helps me select the right solutions and softwares that make a seamless experience come to life? Just like the suiting and the apparel that KASHIYAMA provides to its customer, there is no one size fits all solution in eCommerce today. Selecting software correctly and well in your organization requires a lot of orchestration and effort and sometimes some frameworks and tips and tricks on how to do that well. BJ McCahill knows all about this and has incredible insights to share. Listen now!

In this episode:

{0:10:19} - “We calculated at one point there were over 10 million combinations of types of products that you can order. So just looking at the platform where we were going to house our website, that was a huge consideration. Even though initial order volume wasn't going to be that high, we knew the data complexity needed something that was robust and something that could support that.” - BJ
{0:15:13} - “Obviously all of these software companies are trying to sell you something. And so maybe they're putting their best foot forward. So you may need to dig a little bit deeper with recommendations from people in the industry, recommendations from agencies that you're working with to make sure that what they're explaining to you is how it works in reality as well.” - BJ
{0:19:05} - “Budget plays a huge role obviously in any business decision, but specifically in terms of software selection, you hear the term Total Cost of Ownership, and that is really, really key to think about. The number that you're seeing presented by this software or this agency is not maybe the total number that you're going to end up paying.” - BJ
{0:30:08} - “We needed to be able to offer a seamless experience between in-store and online and not every software was going to support that, but it was something that we learned was going to be key to our customer experience that we were offering to be able to really deliver that omnichannel experience for the customers.” - BJ
{0:31:59} - “One of the nuances in modern commerce is that you get to this stage of growth where the choices that you make severely feed back into the mindset of how you build your business and they become sort of sympathetic to each other. Having flexibility and being able to build quickly are underappreciated parts of having a software stack.” - Phillip

Associated Links:

Learn more about BJ McCahill and KASHIYAMA
Listen to more Step by Step episodes.
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Get your copy of Archetypes, our recently published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.com
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

[STEP BY STEP] What is the Importance of Consolidating my Technology? Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

This season on Step by Step, we are asking what does “seamless” mean to my eCommerce business and how do I demystify that in a way that helps me select the right solutions and softwares that make a seamless experience come to life? Join us as we hear from Michael Chen, Director of eCommerce Operations at Sugarfina, to break down the term “single handshake” and look more closely at consolidation of operations in your eCommerce business. Listen now!

In this episode:

{0:08:20} - “From the backend side, there are a lot of softwares we have to use to eliminate all the friction points from the time {consumers} find the website and go on the website to check out and pay. That should be really, really smooth.” - Michael
{0:14:32} - “Right now everything is in Magento. We have Adobe Live Search, we have Product Recommendations, and everything is working in one place. So I don't have to go to different places, which save a lot of time and headache.” - Michael
{0:16:01} - “Saving money is an important thing, but I would look at it as is the software actually better. If you're going to consolidate, is it actually better for the business? There are a lot of factors, so I wouldn't say saving money is the most important thing. There's a lot of research you have to do.” - Michael
{0:18:32} - “To extract the most amount of value from any piece of software requires an intimate understanding and time spent in using the software, and the hard things become easy over time. So you grow into these capabilities. You don't just turn it on on day one.” - Phillip
{0:23:51} - “You have to be focused on forward progress and continual improvement because your competitors are, and if they're doing it, you have to be more efficient and more optimized.” - Michael

Associated Links:

Learn more about Michael Chen and Sugarfina.
Listen to more Step by Step episodes.
Have you checked out our YouTube channel yet?
Get your copy of Archetypes, our recently published 240-page journal! Check it out at ArchetypesJournal.com
Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more of what we are witnessing in the commerce world!
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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