Future Commerce

Phillip and Brian, AKA Clarks stan, are joined live at eTail in Boston with the Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Clarks, Tara McRae, as she shares about what she believes the future of commerce is, what makes innovation truly meaningful, and how a company can stay relevant after 200 years. And before that, the guys review a review of The Multiplayer Brand, complete with a couple of compellin...

Everyman brands may have amazing stories, great products, and incredible people behind them, but they aren't trendy. We do tend to forget how important they are and how different life would be without them. The Everyman is always within reach, always there for us. But this wasn't everyone's favorite result when taking the Archetypes quiz. Jesse Lazarus, Orchid Bertelsen, and Kris Gösser explain wh...

This season on Decoded, brought to you by BigCommerce, we're going to break down the ways that winning brands build and launch new products, how decisions are made, how goals are set, and how an entire organization collaborates effectively to bring a new product to life. In this episode, Phillip and Aaron talk with Penny Porterfield and Kabeer Chopra about this idea of concept to cart and bringing...

The holidays are upon us. Or are they? Well, the holiday merch is on display already in August. How has Black Friday/Cyber Monday evolved and what do vendors and merchants do to keep up and meet consumers where they are? The world has changed and so has the shopper experience and what they expect to experience. Listen now to hear Meghan Stabler, Senior Vice President of Marketing at BigCommerce, s...

LARPing {00:04:06} - “The first time I published a zine was in 2015 and I was at a point of my editorial life where I really wanted to have ownership over my work, and I wanted to publish articles that were long-form and a little bit more thought-provoking.” - Melissa {00:06:21} - “Your way out of algo chasing was to do something on your own and do it printed. Physical format is the way to free yo...

Brands that act as The Jester appeal not to the reason and logic center of our brains, but to the emotional center of our gut. In our personal lives and in business, we often need the reminder to not take things too seriously.  Denise Foley, Vice President of eCommerce and Direct to Consumer at The Bollman Hat Company, gives us her thoughts on the role of the Jester and why we could all use more o...

This season on Decoded, brought to you by BigCommerce, we're going to break down the ways that winning brands build and launch new products, how decisions are made, how goals are set, and how an entire organization collaborates effectively to bring a new product to life. Could a retailer be their own competition, and not necessarily in a good way, in the sense of chasing their own past a little bi...

To understand the future, you must understand culture. That’s the focus of today’s syndicated episode with our friends from eCommerce Fuel. Andrew Youderian sits down with Phillip to discuss the Future Commerce perspective on how cultures adopt commerce as a means of belonging, and how those behaviors are shaping our vision of the future. Listen now!  Real Brands Take Time to Build. We’re in too m...

Consumers hold more power than ever before, brands are at the center of a moment, and generative AI is creating an opportunity for people to make bigger cultural critiques. How far can you control how your images are being used? How much does your own literacy of culture and media enlighten your understanding of the nuances of the subtext? Why does this all really matter in commerce, art, and cult...

The Hero is the aspirational archetype that inspires and motivates with optimism and strength. Heroes are there for us, offering security and a reason to be better tomorrow than we are today. We've looked at the Hero before in this season of Archetypes, but not all Heroes are alike. Listen now as Ian Leslie, CMO at Industry West, shares his take on what it means to be the Hero as a person and as a...

What is the often-overlooked marker of body data? {00:08:55} - “The culture of commerce right now is participatory and people right now are building on each other's ideas so rapidly and in real time that they can manifest things that it used to be only a luxury brand could pull something like that off.” - Phillip {00:11:45} - “It's context collapse. This is effectively deepfaking the world, resett...

"In the future, every company is a media company." That’s hogwash, according to Tommy Walker. Tommy is all too familiar with this ideology and the pitfalls in the business of creating media and aggregating attention. Listen in to hear this insightful discussion and join the conversation. “Committed to the Bit” {00:05:03} - “Understanding the cost structure and what it takes to hire talent and all...

The Sage brings wisdom to those who inquire and mentors those who seek guidance in a kind, calm, and steady manner. They have accumulated knowledge and experience over time and are a valuable resource for others. A brand that acts as a wise Sage can help us open our minds to wisdom and create a more equitable world.  What if, as a merchant, you could go to that one place and get the support and gu...

Unless you’ve been under a rock somewhere, you probably are aware of the Barbie marketing machine ahead of the major motion picture release. What does this signify as a moment in our culture and the ways culture and commerce intersect? Barbie brought some major shifts when she first showed up in our world. What will this highly-marketed film bring with it? Alicia Esposito joins Phillip for an in-d...

Orchid Bertelsen has lived many lives in her journey from innovation to business ops. Ever heard of Nestlé’s digital human Cookie Coach, Ruth? Hint: She was heavily involved in the making of Ruth and its success in bridging the gap between technology and human connection. Be sure to stay tuned until the end to hear about the shifting dynamics between consumers and corporations in the digital age,...

The Outlaw defies, disrupts, and brings change by paving their own way. They challenge established ways of thinking, by pioneering and innovating fearlessly. The Outlaw represents the world of possibility that comes when coloring outside the lines. Meet our Outlaw, TUSHY Founder Miki Agarwal, and hear how she is taking the world by [sh*t]storm and will not apologize for it. No Butts About It {00:0...

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...

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 e...

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...

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 bein...

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-ba...

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 b...

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 th...

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 support...

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 a...