Retail Disrupted

Can "soft" skills really deliver hard numbers? In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg sits down with Matt Close, a 30-year Unilever veteran who proved that building a "happiness culture" isn't just nice to have—it's a massive growth engine. Matt served on Unilever's Executive Committee and led the €8B Global Ice Cream business for 8 years. During his tenure, he added €3B in growth by ta...

AI is no longer hype in retail - it's becoming table stakes. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, we're joined by senior retail and data leaders shaping the future of commerce: Keyur Govande (Chief Technology Officer at Depop), Daniel Bos (Senior Director of Data, Analytics & AI at Just Eat Takeaway.com), and Daniel Chasle (Chief Data Officer at New Look). Together, we unpack how AI is transformin...

How does an iconic luxury beauty group stay relevant in an AI-powered world? Recorded live on stage at London Tech Week 's AI in Retail Event in London, this episode of Retail Disrupted features Pernilla Nyberg, SVP & General Manager UK & Ireland at The Estée Lauder Companies. Pernilla shares how Estée Lauder is thoughtfully using AI and data to support creativity, innovation, and personalization...

International expansion isn't about copy-and-paste growth — it's about cultural intelligence.  In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg is joined by CMOs and leading global brand experts Katherine Melchior Ray and Nataly Kelly to explore why so many global brands fail — and what they should do differently to succeed across borders. From luxury retail and hospitality to beauty, fashion, an...

In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg shares her 2026 outlook and insights from the KPMG Retail Think Tank. She is then joined by international logistics expert Becky Lombardo to unpack how retailers can build resilient, flexible, and profitable supply chains in an increasingly unpredictable world. Becky shares practical insights on global trade disruption, nearshoring, returns, AI in...

Barcodes are the backbone of global trade. GS1 barcodes are scanned more than 10 billion times a day, helping over two million organisations worldwide identify, describe, and track products across the global economy. But while the barcode has existed for more than 50 years - largely unchanged - the needs of retail, brands, and consumers have evolved dramatically. In the final episode of Retail Dis...

Rice is the one of the most consumed foods in the world, but few people realise it's also a major driver of climate change. In fact, beef is the only food responsible for higher global emissions.  In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg sits down with Fergus O'Sullivan, Founder of Nice Rice , to unpack the problems with traditional rice farming and why it's long overdue for disruption. F...

Discover how The Elf on the Shelf transformed from a beloved family tradition into a multi-platform global holiday empire. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg sits down with Christa Pitts, co-CEO and founder of The Lumistella Company and creator of The Elf on the Shelf, to explore the power of nostalgia, emotional connection, holiday marketing trends, and building authentic brands in...

We're getting techie on this episode of Retail Disrupted! Natalie Berg sits down with Keith Dipple of Manhattan Associates to dive into the nuts and bolts of modern retail technology. From unified commerce architecture to versionless POS, real-time inventory visibility, and AI-enabled fulfillment, we unpack the systems and strategies powering seamless shopping experiences. Explore how retailers ca...

Argos has undergone one of the most visible transformations – from being a catalogue retailer to approximately 80% of sales now coming through digital channels. Heni Hazbay, Marketing Director at Argos, joins us for a candid look at how the Sainsbury's owned business is evolving for a digital-first world.  Tune in to hear all about its 'More Argos, more often' strategy. Heni tells us how Argos is...

Why do so few clothes actually fit? In this episode of Retail Disrupted, host Natalie Berg sits down with retail powerhouse Julia Reynolds to uncover why sizing has become fashion's most expensive blind spot - and how AI could finally fix it. With more than 35 years in retail, Julia has led some of Britain's best-known brands – she and her team founded the Florence & Fred brand at Tesco, which the...

Half of UK consumers say customer service feels overly automated, joyless, and exhausting. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Peter Cross — consultant, speaker, and author of Start with the Customer — joins Natalie Berg to explore how retailers can bring back the human touch. Peter reminds us that "customers would rather wait for good service than get instant bad service," and reveals what leade...

Live shopping is transforming e-commerce. It's a $120 billion global market that's expected to hit $2 trillion by 2030. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg speaks with Daniel Fisher, Head of Categories, Europe, at Whatnot - the largest live shopping platform in North America, the UK, and Europe. Every week, shoppers watch 340,000 hours of live content on Whatnot, helping sellers gene...

In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg sits down with global retail futurist Ariel Haroush, founder of Outform and the visionary behind Future Stores on Oxford Street. Natalie and Ariel discuss how physical retail should be reinvented for the digital age—where stores move at the speed of culture, powered by data, AI, and immersive experiences. Ariel also shares insights on brand activat...

TikTok is reshaping how people discover, explore, and buy products — and retailers are taking note. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, host Natalie Berg speaks with Paul Mears, Group Vertical Director for Retail & E-commerce at TikTok UK, about how discovery commerce is changing the path to purchase. Together they unpack the findings from TikTok's first UK Shopping Report , discuss how entertain...

Recorded at Manhattan Exchange 2025 in Antwerp, this episode dives into how AI is transforming retail — from search and discovery to customer service and the in-store experience. Host Natalie Berg and guest Ben Sillitoe unpack the biggest tech trends shaping retail's next chapter: agentic AI, post-purchase innovation, gamification, employee empowerment, and customer-controlled fulfilment. Expect f...

Marks & Spencer has just launched its first dedicated resale service on eBay — powered by Reskinned. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg is joined by Katharine Beacham (Head of Sustainability for Fashion, Home & Beauty, M&S), Jemma Tadd (Director of Fashion, eBay), and Matt Hanrahan (Co-Founder, Reskinned) to unpack this landmark move. 📺 This is a video episode so if you'd prefer to...

Amazon is shutting down its 19 Amazon Fresh stores in the UK — but is this a failure or part of the innovation journey? In this episode of Retail Disrupted , host and retail analyst Natalie Berg breaks down what went wrong, whether Amazon ever really intended to become a supermarket, and what this means for the future of checkout-free stores and grocery e-commerce. Expect sharp insights on retail...

How often do you notice the background music when you're shopping? 🎶 It's not just "noise" - it can shape how long we browse, how we feel, and even how much we spend. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg sits down with Ola Sars, music tech entrepreneur and founder of Soundtrack Technologies , the world's leading B2B music streaming service. Ola's journey spans co-founding Beats Music...

Menopause impacts 1 billion women worldwide — but retailers are still failing to meet their needs. In this episode of Retail Disrupted, host Natalie Berg speaks with Heather Jackson, CEO & co-founder of GenM , about how brands can better serve menopausal consumers. Discover how the MTick symbol is transforming the way women shop for menopause-friendly products, why this overlooked market represent...

Big changes are happening at Matalan. The 40-year-old British fashion and homeware retailer is making major investments in its stores, products, and digital capabilities as part of a multi-year transformation programme. On this episode, Natalie is joined by Phil Hackney, Chief Operating Officer at Matalan; Katherine Davis, Chief Retail Officer at Matalan; and Martin Ward, Head of Software for the...

A Pilates studio, health checks, biological age testing and free consultation hubs. These are just some of the features of Holland & Barrett's first experience store that opened in Cardiff earlier this year. On this episode, Natalie is joined by Richard Fisher, Design Manager at Holland & Barrett , leading the transformation of over 1,000 stores across the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, and Chri...

We're diving deep into the world of grocery retail in this special episode, dissecting the latest trends and innovations that are reshaping the sector. Natalie is joined by Mark Thomson, Director of Retail & Hospitality Strategy EMEA at Zebra Technologies . This video episode was recorded in a London studio. You can watch the full episode on YouTube or listen on your usual platforms! Mark and Nata...

Camille van Horne is the co-founder & CEO of Highstock , a B2B marketplace that connects big brands with unsold inventory to high quality, global wholesale buyers.  The start-up has raised $5.5 million from lead investor Greylock and Instacart co-founder Max Mullen.  Camille joins Natalie on the podcast to talk about how Highstock is disrupting the liquidation space for beauty and personal care br...

Recorded live on stage at London Tech Week, Natalie speaks to Kuru Subramaniam, Head of Product at Tesco, Francis Castro, Vice President, Global Customer Operations at Unilever, and Saul Resnick, CEO UK & Ireland at DHL Supply Chain. They discuss: From 'just-in-time' to 'just-in-case': how supply chains are adapting to disruption. How digital twins and predictive analytics can help businesses simu...