Future Commerce

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**Future Commerce**

Future Commerce is the culture magazine for Commerce. Hosts Phillip Jackson and Brian Lange help brand and digital marketing leaders see around the next corner by exploring the intersection of Culture and Commerce.

Trusted by the world’s most recognizable brands to deliver the most insightful, entertaining, and informative weekly podcasts, Future Commerce is the leading new media brand for eCommerce merchants and retail operators.

Each week, we explore the cultural implications of what it means to sell or buy products and how commerce and media impact the culture and the world around us, through unique insights and engaging interviews with a dash of futurism.

Weekly essays, full transcripts, and quarterly market research reports are available at https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus

Latest Episodes:

The Great American Mall Comeback - The Return of Mall Brands Sep 24, 2021

Show notes

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.” -Phillip
And 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 Commerce
King Stakh’s Wild Hunt
Phillip’s Twitter post
CNN article
The 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!

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

"It's Just Not Who We Are" Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

DTC Comes of Age in Grocery

Grocery 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.” -Phillip
The 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.” -Brian

Associated Links:

Phillip’s Tweet about Groceryshop
Get 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.

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

Are Industry Events Ever Coming Back? Retail X and the Sacrificial Lambs of 2021 Sep 17, 2021

Show notes

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

Report Alert: NINE BY NINE 2021 Sep 10, 2021

Show notes

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

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

ASMR and the SaaSification of Experience (feat. Gary Benerofe) Sep 03, 2021

Show notes

On Headless, Influencers, and Live Streaming

What does digital marketing attribution look like if there are no cookies? And what are people doing in response to this? Frantic behavior.
“Frantic behavior can be exciting because that means there is opportunity to be part of the solution.” - Gary
Product market fit is beginning to become influencer fit. Consumers want to buy from experiences and from influencers they trust. Having a “genuine influencer” promote something to a consumer doesn’t take a lot of convincing.
The law of platforms is always evolving.
“The platform always evolves where its ecosystem performs R&D for it, and then it makes its strategic bets and product roadmap based on what's getting market share, and in this case, capital allocation.” -Phillip

Associated Links:

Learn more about Gary Benerofe
Check out our interview with Lomi’s Matt Bertulli
The Cookiepocolypse and the Zero-Party Data Opportunity with Ben Parr
Our interview with Liyia Wu from ShopShops
Subscribe to Insiders
Sign up for the prerelease of Nine By Nine
End of episode Com Truise tunes

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!

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

Project Gigaton: The SMB and DTC Impacts of Climate Accountability (feat. Gaida Zirkelbach and Holly Lichtenfeld of SustainaBase) Aug 27, 2021

Show notes

Accounting Platforms for Business Data that have Climate Impact

SustainaBase is a software program that helps manage the carbon footprint of a company, akin to an accounting platform. SuistainaBase tracks carbon emissions, as well as water and waste metrics, taking data and science calculations to organizations to create meaningful actions.
“Sustainability is important and it's something that we should be tracking like the way we track dollars. We should be checking to see if we're really making the reductions that we want to be making and the impacts that we want to be reducing.” -Gaida
“Project Gigaton is a Walmart program, it's a big audacious program with a very meaningful goal. They’re working to avoid a billion metric tons of greenhouse gasses from their supply chain by the year 2030.” -Holly
Smaller companies may see some challenges in the sustainability approach but starting somewhere and starting small helps add to the change of creating meaningful actions. Starting these efforts from the beginning can be easier than starting them mid way with a larger company.
Carbon accounting can start anywhere but it has to start somewhere. One person isn't going to make a change but a community, the government, and a company working together will.
Ways decision makers can start small is by building opportunities for change within their organization, building community efforts, and sourcing companies that are working towards sustainability.

Associated Links:

Learn more about Gaida Zirkelbach, Holly Lichtenfeld, and SustainaBase.
Well Made podcast by Stephan Ango
Sucharita Kodali joins the Future Commerce pod
Holly’s 3 C’s to Supply Chain Accountability

Want to hear what else is next in commerce? Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

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

Don't Call it a Pivot (feat. Emmett Shine, Co-Founder of Pattern) Aug 20, 2021

Show notes

God-Like Technology

Pattern is a family of purposeful brands providing the essentials to make, shape, and grow a home- the foundation of daily life.
The times we are living in are culturally defining. People have a deep ingrained need for personal and internal connection, it's bigger than digital behavior, it's deeper.
“There is a future where people are going to find some way to silence the digital noise” -Phillip
With so many individual merchants comes a lot of fragmentation, similarly to how markets work there is disruption and consolidation, there's efficiencies to be found in all the fragmentations.
“In interpersonal relationships, it's good to work on your relationships, but in startups it’s good to lean into your strengths.” -Emmett
There is going to be a huge graduation in DTC and see it become a world of diverse products being made in a very quality way to specific communities.
“Things are about to get more interesting in eCommerce. There are going to be smart and targeted smaller exits that will result in professional grade community specific products.” - Brian

Associated Links:

Learn more about Emmett Shine and Pattern
Subscribe to Insiders
Check out our latest report: Service Is The New Storefront
Listen 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!

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

Bye Bye, Third Party Data Tracking (feat. Ben Parr, President and Co-Founder of Octane AI) Aug 13, 2021

Show notes

Facing the Cookiepocalypse

Octane AI is the zero-party data platform for Shopify and eCommerce brands.
“We help stores and brands collect super valuable insights on their customers in a very direct opt-on kind of way and use that information to personalize the shopping experience.” -Ben
How can brands bounce back from the cookiepocalypse? Stop depending on others and own your data.
“Stop renting the relationship that you have with your customer from Facebook and Google and other platforms and collect data and build your own data profile, your own buyer profile of your customer… Octane AI is entirely built around collecting data and getting more explicit opt-ins and leveraging that data for better conversion rates and better personalization.” - Ben
The beauty of zero-party data is that brands can leverage it in any way because their customers voluntarily gave it to them.
“A salesperson’s job is not to persuade, a salesperson is not a persuader. A salesperson is a facilitator of next steps.” -Phillip
When looking at all these tools and apps we use, they shouldn’t be viewed as methods of persuasion, but as facilitators for the next steps.
“The center of great AI is collecting data and having great data sets.” -Ben

Associated Links:

Learn more about Ben Parr and Octane AI
The Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns
Melanie Travis episodes:
- [Step by Step] How Does CX Drive Lifetime Value?
- “People Aren’t Buying Into A Story, They’re Buying Into A Community”
Subscribe to Insiders
Check out our latest report: Service Is The New Storefront
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

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

“Spoiled For Choice”: Acquisitions and Roll-Ups for Amazon FBA and DTC (feat. Keith Richamn, Co-Founder and CEO of Boosted Commerce) Aug 06, 2021

Show notes

“FBA” - Fruit by the Acre? More like Fulfillment by Amazon

Boosted Commerce is an eCommerce platform working to distribute the most up-and-coming brands on a global basis.
“We started Boosted really as a way of identifying these amazing businesses and brands that people have created.” -Keith
Amazon is the world's largest shopping mall, and its importance is only going to increase over time. By getting a spot in this shopping mall, Boosted will be able to create great long-term success.
What should a brand look for in terms of the future? Durability, packaging of the product, and the brand elements created.
“What's unique about this ecosystem is maybe the speed at which you can get profitable doing that.” -Keith
“We're 25 years into the digital commerce revolution. There's a lot of things that have yet to even happen, we're right at the very beginning. What an incredible time to sort of amass a critical mass of all of these capabilities.” -Phillip
Retail is changing every day and we’re learning that the stories behind the brands matter.
“The story matters more and people are wanting to believe and believe that they're buying a product with a greater vision or sense.” -Keith
eCommerce is going to get more and more satisfying as a consumer and grow exponentially, those things are just fundamental. No one is going back to the way it was before.

Associated Links:

Learn more about Keith Richman and Boosted Commerce
Subscribe to Insiders
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm

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

Modern Brands Need Waste Innovation (feat. Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela) Jul 30, 2021

Show notes

Burn Your Own House Down Before Somebody Else Does

Pela is a waste innovation platform. Selling the world's first compostable phone case along with eyewear, countertop compost systems, and haircare.
“We design waste out of the human experience. We’re a weird combination of commerce DTC, while also investing in material science, and figuring out how to get waste out of everyday products.” -Matt
“One of our core values at Pela is community. Community is taking care of the whole. We have this belief that you should leave the campsite better than you found it.”- Matt
There are a lot of ways to build consumerism without waste. One way Pela is working on building this is by creating their product, Lomi, a compost machine. Throw in your leftover food at night, go to sleep, wake up, and you have compost.
The idea behind Lomi is to have distributed waste management: to have innovation and waste be consumer-driven rather than government-driven.
“If every home in America had a Lomi, 80% of their food waste would be reduced. Not only is that reducing food waste, but the carbon footprint for all waste management would drop dramatically.” - Matt
“It would be great if more entrepreneurs started looking at innovations as a legit competitive advantage. Yes it’s risky, but if you’re trying to build real value, it’s the way to go.” -Matt
DTC and eCommerce brands are at the starting point of major innovations for the future of commerce and how we experience products that better our lives and society.

Associated Links:

Learn more about Matt Bertulli and Pela
Episode 178 with Jack Defuria from Parade
Subscribe to Insiders
Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

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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Bankruptcy and financial peril is the rite of passage for the Mall brand.

Associated Links:

DTC Comes of Age in Grocery

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On Headless, Influencers, and Live Streaming

Associated Links:

Accounting Platforms for Business Data that have Climate Impact

Associated Links:

God-Like Technology

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Facing the Cookiepocalypse

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“FBA” - Fruit by the Acre? More like Fulfillment by Amazon

Associated Links:

Burn Your Own House Down Before Somebody Else Does

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Related Podcasts

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Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Future Commerce

Bankruptcy and financial peril is the rite of passage for the Mall brand.

Associated Links:

DTC Comes of Age in Grocery

Associated Links:

On Headless, Influencers, and Live Streaming

Associated Links:

Accounting Platforms for Business Data that have Climate Impact

Associated Links:

God-Like Technology

Associated Links:

Facing the Cookiepocalypse

Associated Links:

“FBA” - Fruit by the Acre? More like Fulfillment by Amazon

Associated Links:

Burn Your Own House Down Before Somebody Else Does

Associated Links:

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