Show notes
Did you miss #NRF2023 in January this year? No worries, we’ve got you covered this episode with our special NRF Recap! It’s all part of our special podcast cross-over series, #NRFLive, with the This Week In Innovation podcast. In Part 5, the final episode in the series, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Jeff Roster speak with the North America Lead for Retail & Consumer Goods at Avanade, Greg Jones. Join Greg, Jeff & Ricardo as they discuss the biggest trends and themes they saw at the show, from exhibitors, to startups, to what retailers told them were their main takeaways from the show. Regular cohost Casey Golden also joins Ricardo for a quick introduction and recap!You’ll also find out why this episode was not recorded live and in-person at #NRF2023 in the fabulous Avanade lounge. Instead it was recorded post-NRF – and yes, there is a story behind that! As a bonus, you can watch the video of the entire conversation on our YouTube channel. A big thank you to Avanade for sponsoring this series and making the recordings possible!News alert! We’ve moved up to #18 on the Feedspot Top 60 Best Retail podcasts list - please consider giving us a 5-star review in Apple Podcasts! With your help, we’ll move our way up the Top 20! Leave us a review & be mentioned in future episodes! https://blog.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/Meet your regular hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:Ricardo Belmar, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer for 2023, 2022 & 2021, RIS News Top Movers and Shakers in Retail for 2021, a Top 12 ecommerce influencer, advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and director partner marketing advisor for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft.Casey Golden, CEO of Luxlock, and RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer for 2023. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech!Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring E-Motive, and Overclocked, from the album Beat Hype, written by Hestron Mimms, published by Imuno. The Retail Razor ShowFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/TwRRazorConnect with us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/LI-RRazorSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTubeSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/RetailRazorShowRetail Razor Show Episode Page: https://bit.ly/RRShowPodHost → Ricardo Belmar,Follow on Twitter - https://bit.ly/twRBelmarConnect on LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/LIRBelmarRead my comments on RetailWire - https://bit.ly/RWRBelmarCo-host → Casey Golden,Follow on Twitter - https://bit.ly/twCaseyConnect on LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/LICaseyRead my comments on RetailWire - https://bit.ly/RWCaseyTRANSCRIPTS2E10e Avanade - Greg Jones[00:00:00] [00:00:00] Show Intro [00:00:00] Ricardo Belmar: Hello and welcome to a special season two episode 10 part five of the Retail Razor Show. This is the fifth and final episode in our multi-part series recorded live and in person at the N R F 2023 Show in January. I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar.[00:00:36] Casey Golden: And I'm your co-host, Casey Golden. Welcome to the Retail Razor Show, retail's favorite podcast for product junkies, commerce technologists, and everyone else in retail and retail tech alike. And welcome N R F fans to our hottake, hashtag N R F Live the mini-series.[00:00:56] Ricardo Belmar: Well, Casey, we are at the last episode in our crossover [00:01:00] event with Jeff Roster and his This Week in Innovation podcast, and this is a, a special final episode to close out the series. Thanks to our sponsor, Avanade that graciously allowed us to record the whole series in their, in their fabulous lounge space overlooking the main expo floor.[00:01:15] For this final episode, Jeff and I were fortunate enough to sit down with Avanade's Greg Jones, their North America lead for Retail and Consumer Goods, and, and also a friend of ours, to recap what we saw at N R F, talk about the state of startups in retail which AAuD actually hosted three startup showcases during NRF with Microsoft for Startups team and our fellow Retail Avenger, Shish Shridhar.[00:01:36] And two of our podcast guests came from those showcases, the 1 M robotics and Z blocks. They're both part of that program. And of course I know it's always near and dear to your heart anytime we talk about retail startups.[00:01:47] Casey Golden: It is so a big shout out to Avanade for supporting and sponsoring this crossover and just, wow. I mean, this whole series has been a celebration of [00:02:00] retail and just showing us what N R F was all about this year.[00:02:04] Ricardo Belmar: Absolutely. And you know, this discussion with Greg really highlights what I think so many in the media have been missing about the retail industry. That is really a more positive outlook about what's to come in 2023. You know, we hear about all the, the negative things that get reported, but that wasn't really the mood.[00:02:22] At this N R F and, and we talk about that in this in this episode, you know, positive in the sense that even with all of those headwinds that are out there and global problems and everything, retail still finds a way to innovate and finds a way to deliver great customer and employee experiences.[00:02:35] Casey Golden: Yes, and, and the customer experiences always begin with the employee experience, and often that starts with what software they're using or lack thereof. So really enjoy this highlight.[00:02:50] Ricardo Belmar: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, let's dive right in and listen to our conversation with Greg Jones from Avanade[00:03:01] Greg Jones Interview[00:03:01] Ricardo Belmar: Hello everybody. We are back to wrap up our N R F Live series that Jeff roster and I have been fortunate enough to speak to a number of fascinating folks during N R F Week and graciously as Avanade has sponsored us and gave us the space and facility to record. We're coming back after the show now with Greg Jones from Avanade to kind of talk through what stood out to us, what were some of the highlights of the show, and you know, see what where we think things are gonna go next. So, without any further delay, Jeff, what do you say? We just dive in.[00:03:36] Jeff Roster: Absolutely. Let's get, let's get it going.[00:03:38] Ricardo Belmar: All right. So please to welcome Greg Jones from Avanade. Greg, why don't you introduce yourself, kick us off and tell us a little bit about your background and what you're doing at Avanade.[00:03:47] Greg Jones: Yeah, absolutely. Ricardo. And, and look, thank, thank you both. Yeah, Ricardo and, and Jeff for the time and the opportunity. I think we're, we're. Yeah, really excited collectively on the, on nrf. You know, it was obviously great to be back in, back in person and, and [00:04:00] yeah, great to be able to have this conversation as well.[00:04:01] Cause there's a, a lot, a lot that got learnt and a lot that kind of excited the industry as well. So a bit of background. So Greg Jones run the, and look after the North America practice here at Avanade for retail and consumer goods. Avanade, you know, for, for those who don't know was a, a joint founded organization back in 2000 between Accenture and Microsoft.[00:04:20] We're a global system integrator, you know, over 60,000 people globally, but very focused around industry as a whole. And, and retail is one of the priority industries that we have. And that's what we definitely brought together as part of Avanade as and NRF was the opportunity to be able to showcase some of the capabilities that Avanade is delivering. [00:04:38] So bringing all of our expertise together. So I've been with Avanade for two years. Prior to that I was with Microsoft as part of the global retail team looking after everything from partner ecosystem and business strategy for quite a number of years. And again, pleased to be able to be here with yourself and, and Jeff.[00:04:54] Ricardo Belmar: Well, thanks very much for, for joining us, Greg. What, why don't you give us your sense of, [00:05:00] you know, obviously Avanade, you guys had a, a number of really great activities during N R F. You had the the breakfast session at the beginning of the week. You had some startup showcases happening with Microsoft for startups.[00:05:11] Why don't you, you know, give us what you think are some of the highlights from the various activities, and then maybe we can talk a little bit about what, things stood out to all of us from the overall, from N R F?[00:05:20] Greg Jones: Yeah, no, absolutely. I was gonna say, yeah, we, we did a, a lot to be able to, to really bring you know, the, the view of retail in the current climate as well. So we needed to make sure that, you know, we were coming to the event with capabilities. And some of the, the demos that we had that were very focused around helping organizations you know, get the value out of what they've got now as well.[00:05:40] And, and I would say that, you know, retailers as a whole yeah, I've never faced such a, a volume of, of, or a variety of challenges as well that that's facing them at the moment. And it's also facing and, and making some tough decisions. And that was part of the conversations that happened throughout NRF is that people are there.[00:05:55] To look at where they need to be able to pivot and how to be able to pivot their organizations, you know, during [00:06:00] the, the current climate at the moment as well. And I would say, yeah, through the discussions, there were two primary challenges that were, were being discussed, which is the, the need to control costs.[00:06:09] And also to, yeah, protect margins and there need to be a responsible retailer as, as well and around, you know, doing what matters in the current climate, being able to still ensure that delight experience for the customers. But there's also an element of the employee experience that really came through as part of the discussions that we had.[00:06:27] In particular a breakfast panel. That we did during nrf, where we had, you know, the Chief HR officer from Northern Tools and Equipment, very much talking about the importance of the employees and how through enabling those employees can continue that delight experience and, and be that, you know, continuation of that brand engagement with customers as well.[00:06:46] So, It was actually really interesting on, on some of the elements that that came together. The way that we really came, you know, to N R F was to be able to look at what we're calling yeah, we call it reignite Physical Retail, which is really bringing that [00:07:00] physical retail and, you know, obviously the online worlds together.[00:07:03] And how to be able to, you know, look at all aspects of that, that journey or, you know, what we're calling the, the customers. The only channel is how to be able to engage with that customer through all aspects of the channel of engagement, how we can help retailers and being able to do that. Yeah, it was great to be able to see the, the messaging landed very well with the, the client conversations.[00:07:20] You know, the discussions that we had with, uh, with customers was very on point in regards to, you know, the, the challenges that they're facing and how we can definitely help , but there are also some surprises out there as well that we could talk about a little bit later as well.[00:07:33] Ricardo Belmar: I'm, I'm curious in, in some of your client conversations, so some of the things I heard fairly consistently, and you, and you mentioned it at the beginning too, is this idea of you're trying to find and identify the things I need to do as a retailer to make my operations more efficient, to kind of lower that cost basis while still.[00:07:50] Doing it in a way that's not gonna impact my overall customer experience, particularly in store now, that I think we can all agree that we can put to bed all, all those worries about stores going away, that hadn't been [00:08:00] real narrative for so long that you know, we can now all safely point to and say, yeah, that's not happening.[00:08:04] Stores, stores are here to stay. But we're any, you know, was that a consistent theme that you heard as well?[00:08:09] Greg Jones: Yeah, it was, I mean, you know, obviously the, the stores aren't going away. At all. You know, we've all heard that the business models of stores have to change. You know, and that's, that's no secret. You know, you're looking at new store designs that are, are coming out across the globe of, of how to be able to provide more of a curated experience.[00:08:24] You know, and that, that in itself, I think is just part of the new business model that, you know, retailers are having to be able to make sure that the, the stores are, you know, the showroom. It's that way to be able to bridge , their online channels with the physical channels. And that pivot, I think definitely has been occurring more so post pandemic as well.[00:08:42] And I think that's where, where people are now starting to see we need best, best of both worlds. You know, we're seeing Nike as an example, that are, are very much looking at redefining their, their store environments you know, through that whole direct to consumer engagement and, and element that they're, they're driving for as well, which I think is, is super, super cool in regards to [00:09:00] what they're doing.[00:09:00] And. It almost like if I look at, you know, the Nike store in New York, it's a, it's a destination. You walk past there and people are there to do experience that, that whole engagement point. But I think it also came back to some of the, the fundamentals as well where retailers are, are sitting there going, we've invested in, in a lot of technology over the course of the last three years.[00:09:19] Are we getting the most out of that as well? And that's, again, that was a pivot of the discussion on kind of doing more with less or doing more with the investments that they've already made and, and looking at ways to be able to really squeeze the most out of those investments. Is there opportunities to be able to consolidate?[00:09:35] Absolutely. But it's also a way to be able to look at maximizing the investments that they've already put into place. So I'd be def definitely curious, like, you know, Jeff and, and Ricardo. I mean, you know, from discussions that you had with, with customers, did you look at that or hear in regards to getting more outta the investments that people have made to be able to, to reach the, the goals their wanting to achieve.[00:09:53] Jeff Roster: You wanna go first, Ricardo, or you want.[00:09:56] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, sure. I mean, from, from my perspective, I, I, I definitely heard [00:10:00] quite a bit of that, of, you know, what do I need to do to extract that benefit, right? From everything I've already invested in. I, I kind of, I tended to hear that coupled with, you know, this recognition that I, my goal isn't to cut a cost, right?[00:10:14] My goal was to gain efficiency. You know, strengthen some aspect of an operation that perhaps when we first created this new capability, the goal at the time was to just get that capability out there with, with not too much regard for how expensive was it gonna be to deliver it. And now was the time to figure out, well, now that I've delivered it and we have this cap, this customer facing capability, how can we do it in a more efficient way?[00:10:37] And if that means I have to invest in, in another, you know, supplemental capab…
Full show notes at the publisher 
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
