Beyond The Shelf

This week we welcome Melissa Burdick, Co-Founder and President of Pacvue, the leading Commerce Operating System that unifies retail media, commerce management, and measurement. A former Amazon executive with nearly a decade of experience, Burdick helped launch Amazon’s CPG/Health & Beauty retail business and was an early leader in Amazon Advertising. In 2018, she co-founded and bootstrapped Pa...

This week we’re joined by returning guest Jeff Cohen. Jeff is a go-to voice in the world of retail media.  You’ll hear Jeff’s take on signal-based media, AI-powered ad creation, and the biggest creative blockers that brands still face today. He also shares why strategy, content, and creative execution can no longer live in separate silos Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn Follow Beyond the Shelf on Lin...

This week we're joined by Marie-Agnès Daumas. With a background spanning TerraCycle and Colgate-Palmolive, Marie-Agnès brings a career's worth of insight into retail leadership, sustainability strategy, and how to connect with the modern consumer. In this episode, she shares lessons from the frontlines of purpose-driven commerce:  How to make sustainability resonate at the shelf Why simp...

Dave’s guest today is Tim Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer at ProductWind, a platform helping brands use influencer marketing to drive real results—especially in retail environments like Amazon and Walmart. Tim’s career has spanned eComm, tech, and analytics—with past roles at CommerceIQ, Pattern, and 1010data. In this episode, he shares what he’s learned about launching products, winning with algori...

This week’s guest is Paco Underhill, renowned behavioral researcher, retail anthropologist, and best-selling author of Why We Buy . Paco has spent decades studying how and why we shop—and what our behavior reveals about the changing nature of retail. In this episode, he and Dave dig into: How physical stores are evolving in a digital-first world The surprising shopper trend reshaping the beauty ca...

What do rocket science and commercial operations have in common? More than you think! In this episode, Mir Zaman, Vice President of Commercial Operations at Spectrum Brands, shares what he brought with him from the aeropsace industry to Amazon—and now to one of the most diverse brand portfolios in consumer goods. From challenging legacy systems to scaling creative content across categories like pe...

This week we’re joined by Meghan Corroon, Co-Founder and CEO of Clerdata. In a world full of spend reports, inflated ROAS claims, and buzzwords like "directional" or "efficiency," Clerdata helps brands see clearly which investments are moving the needle - and which are just noise. Meghan brings a deeply analytical mindset (honed through time at the Gates Foundation and beyond)...

What if you could swap out your influencer campaign…for a NASA astronaut? This week on Beyond the Shelf , Eric Sheinkop, CEO of The Desire Company , breaks down why expert-led content is outperforming traditional UGC and influencer videos—and how his team built a community of world-class experts to power high-converting content across Target, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Amazon, and more. We get into: Wh...

This week we’re joined by Rocquan Lucas, VP of Content at Groceryshop and Shoptalk, where he leads speaker recruitment, agenda development, and content strategy for two of the most influential retail events in the world. Rocquan shares his journey from interning at Internet Week NY to curating high-impact events attended by thousands of the biggest names in CPG, grocery, and tech. In this episode,...

This week we’re joined by Alicja Spaulding, Founder of Status: Alpha, who helps marketing leaders operationalize AI, digital transformation, and creative agility. Alicja started her career in the music industry—cutting her teeth in the early days of digital disruption—and has since built brands in architecture, food, and now AI-enabled strategy. She’s worked with startups and mid-market manufactur...

We're off this week, so we're re-airing Dave's interview with Walmart Connect's Diana Finster from earlier this month. They discuss: Walmart’s approach to closed-loop measurement and omnichannel ROI How to balance scale and precision in media strategy The launch of Walmart Connect’s Display Advertising API—and how partners like It’sRapid are helping advertisers move faster What...

This week we’re joined by Julie Clifford, Global eCommerce Acceleration & Capabilities Senior Manager at Church & Dwight. Julie’s journey from art teacher to global ecommerce leader has one big throughline: helping others succeed. In this episode, she shares how that mindset fuels her work in marketing tech, content strategy, and digital transformation across markets worldwide. We cover: W...

This week we're joined by Doron Ostrin, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Thanks – the customer-first ad network that’s transforming how brands show up after checkout. Doron shares why the most underutilized moment in digital commerce might just be the one right after a purchase—and how Thanks is turning it into a high-performing, brand-building opportunity. We also dig into: Why interruptive advertis...

This week we’re joined by Diana Finster, Head of Agency, Media & Tech Partnerships at Walmart Connect. Diana’s team is leading the charge on what retail media can be—bridging physical and digital, performance and storytelling. With deep experience across brands, agencies, and platforms, she’s uniquely positioned to talk about the evolving relationship between content, commerce, and conversion....

It’s one thing to sell snacks or sneakers online. It’s another to sell dumpster lids and hydraulic cylinders. This week we’re joined by Kevin Creese, Director of Ecommerce at Wastequip, where he’s leading the charge to modernize how waste handling parts are discovered, bought, and supported online. Dave and Kevin dig into the heavy-duty realities of B2B ecommerce—where the SKU count is high, the d...

This week we’re joined by Nate Moran, Senior Director of Growth, Digital Strategy & Analytics at Edgewell Personal Care—the company behind brands like Schick, Banana Boat, Wet Ones, and more. With a career spanning Red Bull, Newell, Unilever, and now Edgewell, Nate brings a sharp perspective on what it takes to turn data into decisions and insights into impact. In this conversation, Nate and h...

What do hiring, podcasting, and great marketing all have in common? If you ask Daniel Torres Dwyer, the answer is the same: it’s about trust, not transactions. Daniel wears a few hats—he’s the Co-Host of The FMCG Guys podcast and Director of Executive Search at Dwyer Partners—and at the heart of both roles is one thing: helping people find the right fit. Whether that’s matching a candidate to a ro...

This week we’re joined by Celia Van Wickel, Director of Digital Commerce at Russell Stover Chocolates. With a background spanning media, data, neuroscience, and digital commerce, Celia brings a rare and well-rounded perspective to the fast-evolving world of retail media and e-commerce. She and Dave cover everything from aligning marketing and sales for seasonal campaigns to how neuroscience influe...

Dave sits down with Tina Mehta, former CMO at Chloe’s, to explore what it really takes to grow a challenger brand in today’s CPG landscape. With a background that also spans powerhouse companies like Mars Chocolate and Chobani, Tina brings deep experience across brand management, shopper marketing, and e-commerce. She shares how her team at Chloe’s redefined frozen treats, how to stretch every mar...

In this episode of Beyond the Shelf , host Dave Feinleib sits down with Manu Sareen, Founder & CEO of I2O Retail, to explore the evolving challenges of brand protection, unauthorized resellers, and AI’s role in retail transformation. With deep experience at Amazon and Best Buy, Manu brings a sharp lens to the nuts and bolts of e-commerce—from the basics of availability, pricing, and PDP optimi...

This week we're re-airing a fantastic discussion we had back in February with Media, Ads + Commerce's Andrew Lipsman. Andrew is an independent analyst and consultant with deep expertise in retail media, digital advertising, and consumer trends.  He authors the popular Substack newsletter Media, Ads + Commerce where he shares key insights and trends in retail media and the broader adverti...

From unpaid intern to VP of Digital Strategy & Analytics, Scott Kennedy has had a wild ride in the sports and e-commerce world! In this episode of Beyond the Shelf , host Dave Feinleib sits down with Scott to unpack his journey, the meteoric rise of pickleball, and how AI and data are transforming e-commerce. Scott shares how Franklin Sports—the official batting glove of Major League Baseball—...

How is AI reshaping e-commerce, retail media, and business transformation? In this episode of Beyond the Shelf , Matthew Adam Smith, Founder & CEO of Two Isaacs, shares how brands and retailers can leverage AI and automation to drive business growth, creative strategy, and better consumer experiences. With a background in retail transformation, including the launch of Walmart Connect, Matthew...

How do you manage digital content at scale for some of the world’s most iconic snack brands? In this episode of Beyond the Shelf , Eric Altschul, Director of Digital Commerce Content at Mondelēz International, shares how content, digital shelf strategy, and automation play a critical role in winning in eCommerce. With over 10 years at Mondelēz, Eric has helped drive content innovation across brand...

For a limited time, Jungle Scout customers can get their first Product Detail Page Image or Banner Ad created free by It'sRapid! Reach out to sales@itsrapid.io with code "JS2025" to find out more! Expanding on Amazon and beyond requires a deep understanding of marketplace trends, retail media investments, and digital shelf strategies. In this episode, Chris Barnes, GM, Retail and Al...