RETHINK RETAIL

Latest Episodes:

Retail Roundup: AI, Leadership & Retail Media Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to the Retail Roundup. Your weekly brief to help retail leaders decode the biggest news in retail, AI, and commerce—and understand what those developments mean in practice. To kick us off, VP of Editorial & Insights Jeremy Goldman, CEO Marie Chevrier Schwartz, and Senior Retail Analyst Lavina Suthenthiran break down a massive structural shift: the transition from tech experimentation to real-world deployment, the growing value of digitally native leadership, and why smaller brands must abandon corporate copycat strategies to survive. Inside This Week’s Episode: AI: From Experimentation to Practical Deployment - Retail AI has moved past superficial pilots into live, shopper-facing tools focused on solving real customer friction: buying certainty, listing friction, and automated cart building. - While brands are rushing to adopt AI, few have restructured their operations around it. Adoption is currently outpacing true business transformation. "More than 75% of companies are now using AI in their business functions, but only 21% actually redesigned their workflows around it, and only 16% have scaled it enterprise-wide." - Lavina Suthenthiran Rise of the Digitally Native Leadership - The traditional pipeline to top executive leadership is being disrupted. - Boards are now selecting leaders based on digital ecosystem thinking, media literacy, and community building. - Modern fields like retail media are so new that universities don't yet teach them. Retailers have to train their own future leaders internally. “While merchandising and store operations experience still matters, you know, I would say that we have to be really focused on where commerce is headed.” - Marie Chevrier Schwartz How Smaller Retailers Fight Back - Walmart’s multi-billion-dollar acquisitions of Vizio and Vibe.co show how retail giants are linking TV viewing data directly to what customers buy. - Smaller retailers must focus on hyper-specialized product categories, authentic storytelling from real experts, and building passion-driven communities. "Whatever you see Amazon and Walmart doing, you don't try to do the same thing because you're not going to be successful. You have to find other ways to kind of compete in a David and Goliath-like manner." — Jeremy Goldman Click play above for the full conversation on the trends shaping retail.

Moving Retail Tech Beyond the Pilot Phase Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

Retailers rarely manage to scale new storefront technology beyond a basic pilot phase. Demo modes simulate perfect conditions, but they completely ignore the chaotic reality of a live store. This operational gap kills widespread rollouts. Mark Propes, Chief Business Development Officer at Vusion, and Hitha Herzog, Chief Retail Analyst at H Squared Research, join Jeremy Goldman to pinpoint exactly why these retail trials hit a wall, and how brands can actually make in-store tech work. “Are you really building something that's durable enough and rugged enough for what happens in the aisle?" From fragile lab environments to a cracked data foundation, they break down the roadblocks stalling retail innovation. INSIDE THE EPISODE: - Why teams must build store tools for physical durability rather than treating them as fragile science experiments - How central strategic alignment solves the 95% failure rate of AI pilots - Why you must clean up baseline inventory metrics before touching advanced AI - How to shift evaluation metrics away from abstract vendor marketing and toward real operational numbers Stop blindly throwing disconnected tools at your tech stack. Listen to the full conversation above to see how teams turn experimental pilots into operational realities.

Next Phase of Retail AI: Agents & Infrastructure Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

AI is becoming embedded in retail operations, shifting the conversation from experimentation to scalable, sustainable execution. At Shoptalk Europe, Azita Martin (VP & GM of Retail, CPG & QSR AI at NVIDIA) joined Yael Kochman, Chair, AiR (AI in Retail) to explore what leadership looks like in this next phase. The discussion focuses on how leading organizations are approaching ownership, cost, and operational scale as AI moves into production. Inside the episode: - How retailers are adopting hybrid architectures that combine frontier models with smaller, task-specific systems - How AI is being applied across physical store operations, fulfillment, and real-time inventory management - Why cost discipline and infrastructure decisions will define the long-term viability of AI deployment Listen to the full conversation to learn the practical steps for navigating the next phase of retail AI

Media in Retail: Why Community Matters Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Media in Retail Today, RETHINK Retail officially launched Media in Retail (MiR), a new community built for the people shaping the future of retail media. To mark the launch, Community Chair Drew Cashmore joins Jeremy Goldman to discuss why the industry needs a dedicated space for connection, collaboration, and candid conversation. WHY MIR EXISTS: - Retail media has grown quickly, but there are still too few opportunities for authentic, honest conversations between the people building the industry. - MiR brings together brands, retailers, agencies, and technology partners in a year-round community built around shared learning, fresh perspectives, and real-world experience. - A Community, Not an Event - MiR doesn’t begin and end with an event. It’s a year-round community designed to connect, learn, and grow alongside peers across the industry. - The community is also meant to create pathways for emerging and aspiring retail media leaders, while opening the door to mentorship and shared learning across experience levels. WHY IT MATTERS NOW: - Retail media is becoming a core part of how retailers operate, engage customers, and drive growth. - “Retail media started in its infancy as a profit center for retailers to offset some of their operating costs. And it is quickly moved into the total flywheel that generates value for retailers.” - As the industry evolves, the decisions shaping its future shouldn’t happen in isolation. Progress depends on greater collaboration, stronger relationships, and a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing every part of the market. What Success Looks Like MIR IS BUILT TO: - Helping buyers and sellers better understand each other’s priorities - Creating opportunities for more productive conversations across the industry - Supporting the next generation of retail media leaders - Building stronger connections between the people shaping the future of the space Listen to the launch episode to hear why MiR was created, what it hopes to achieve, and how you can be part of the conversation.

Cracking the E-Grocery Code of Same-Day Delivery Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

Most grocers can launch same-day delivery. The real challenge is building a model that keeps customers happy while still protecting margins at scale. In this RETHINK Retail Podcast episode recorded at Shoptalk Europe, Top Retail Expert Sharon Yourell sat down with Rohlik Group leaders to break down how they built a profitable in-house same-day delivery operation across five markets. The conversation goes deep into the strategic side of eGrocery, including: - Achieving fulfillment orchestration across 25k+ SKUs with near-perfect inventory accuracy and minimal substitutions - The tradeoffs grocers face when customer relationships, transaction data, and margin ownership shift to third-party platforms - Why owning the customer journey and creating operational consistency are critical drivers of long-term eGrocery profitability A must-listen for grocers focused on building more resilient in-house operations. Listen above!

How Retail Innovation Is Shaping Grocery Operations in 2026 Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

On this special crossover episode between RETHINK Retail and Retail Razor, guest host Ricardo Belmar — founder of the Retail Razor podcast network — sits down with Aidan Mittra, Co-founder of OrderGrid, to explore how retail innovation is reshaping grocery operations, tackling margin constraints, and leveraging data to unlock the massive opportunities presented by AI and retail media networks. Key Takeaways - Acute operational and resource pressures remain: Margin constraints, high staff turnover, and shifting customer expectations create an incredibly complex environment where grocers must operate leaner than ever. - Clean data is required for emerging tech: Advanced solutions like AI-based pre-trip meal planning rely entirely on real-time, accurate inventory and product data foundations. - Isolated point systems must be connected: Novel solutions like robots, sensors, and electronic shelf labels generate useful data, but they lack the operational connectivity needed to orchestrate real-time daily tasks for overwhelmed store associates. - Stores are evolving into omnichannel hubs: Physical stores remain essential but are shifting to blend digital channels with experiential upgrades, such as utilizing smart carts, apps, and backroom fulfillment. - In-store retail media opens incremental high-value revenue: Grocers possess an invaluable goldmine of first-party customer data that can be activated inside the store to build a meaningful new income stream with real bottom-line impact. - Three factors separate future market leaders: Success hinges on structuring organizations around the customer rather than separate physical/e-commerce P&Ls, establishing strong data foundations today, and fiercely owning the customer relationship through loyalty. This episode digs deep into how a clean data foundation and operational connectivity position grocery operators to lead an increasingly complex and fast-moving retail landscape.

How to Win with RFID: Master the Intelligent Store Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

The Intelligent Store: Revolutionizing Fashion with RFID Real-time item visibility is the ultimate cornerstone of modern customer service. Drew Ehlers from Zebra and Matt Redwood of Diebold Nixdorf sit down with Top Retail Expert Marshall Kay to unpack the massive scale of RFID adoption. Inside the Episode: - Eliminating Audits: Moving to 99 percent stock accuracy to end painful annual manual counts. - Empowering Staff: Changing associates from task drivers into active customer experience providers. - Securing Returns: Using unique serial numbers to stop cross-store return fraud on high-rate items. - Fixed Infrastructure: The industry shift from handheld section scanning to always-on overhead systems. Stop counting inventory manually. Start running an intelligent network. Listen the Full Episode.

The Retail Shift: From AI to Lived Experience Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

In an era of AI-driven information overload, consumers are moving away from pure search queries and toward trusted, human-centered proof. “People want answers that are grounded in human experience.” David Trencher, Managing Director of Reddit (UK & EMEA), sat down with Lavina Suthenthiran to break down how consumer trust is actively shifting away from polished brand messaging and moving toward peer-to-peer validation. According to Trencher, AI and search may be the start of the journey, but they do not guarantee action. In fact, 60% of US users search for products with AI, and half of them go directly to Reddit to verify results. Inside the episode: - Why traditional retail funnels are failing: Learn how purchase intent now forms in community spaces long before a consumer hits a brand site - How brands must redefine marketing success: Discover why you need to look beyond last-click attribution to find where decisions are actually made - Why community participation must replace community control: Find out how to navigate digital spaces that actively reject polished corporate messaging Metrics, creative, and insights still matter, but the real question is: Are you part of the journey before the last click? Listen to the full episode above to find out.

Preserving Human Ownership: The Key to Measurable AI Success in Retail Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

As retailers scale AI across their operations, a clear picture is emerging of exactly where automation elevates the business and consumer experience, and where it creates friction. For Eyebuydirect, success came by optimizing technology to enhance human ownership and streamline pain points throughout the buyer's journey. In this episode, Eyebuydirect CEO and President Sunny Jiang sits down with Jeremy Goldman to break down how her team approaches AI as an employee-enablement engine. They discuss everything from deploying the technology across customer service and engineering to developing an AI-powered prescription scanner that solves a massive user friction point, driving higher conversion and deeper customer engagement. Inside the Episode: - Why AI should support people rather than replace accountability, ensuring teams continue to steer the business - Why curiosity, experimentation, and adaptability matter far more than surface-level enthusiasm when driving tech adoption - How Eyebuydirect's prescription scanner successfully solved a clear customer problem while tangibly improving engagement and conversion Listen above to discover practical strategies on how to successfully embed AI into your workflows.

AI in Retail: Operational Enabler, Not a Strategy Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

While agentic AI is reshaping operations, retail still runs on its core fundamentals: great products, strong brand identity, exceptional service, and operational excellence. In this week's episode of Retail Therapy, Top Retail Experts Ricardo Belmar, Brandon Rael, and Marie Driscoll break down why AI matters most as an operational enabler, not a creator of customer demand. “Keep the focus on the customer, keep the focus on the fundamentals, keep the focus on the product, the sourcing, the merchandising experience.” Ultimately, most retailers do not sell technology. They sell products and experiences. True brand heat and customer loyalty stem from sharp merchandising and powerful storytelling, not automated tools alone. Inside the Episode: - Why any technology implementation must start with strict business discipline rather than a tech-first rush - Why the most profitable automation happens in backend operations rather than through flashy, customer-facing tools - How to realistically evaluate what automated tools can and cannot do for the physical store and associate experience - Why the true financial impact of AI is incredibly difficult to isolate and measure using narrow, short-term attribution metrics The bottom line: AI can improve retail, but it can’t replace the fundamentals. Listen above to learn why the winning brands use AI to support what already matters, rather than pretending the technology itself is the strategy.

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