Retail Unwrapped - from The Robin Report

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! What is Richard Baker thinking? It goes against all omnichannel reasoning to break Saks into separate divisions - except to claw profits out of each, which will ultimately make Saks another real estate play. Just look at what happened to Lord & Taylor. Listen to Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Take a look at what's happening at Kohl's. Many activists make their move out of short-term greed and take down brands for short-term profit. Their goal? Replace current board members with activists' picks (Note: many bored, retired executives who want to get back in the game). The n...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! When is enough, enough? Boards have turned the CEO office into a revolving door out of impatience, supported by short-term, shortsighted strategic thinking. Truth be told, the longer a CEO stays in place to manage a crisis or turn around a company, the higher the percentage for long-term success. L...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Note to self: Inventory is a liability. The traditional retail/wholesale model is antiquated and irrelevant. The retailer is now the curator. Moving beyond the concession model is leasing real estate at the going rate and let brands do what they do best: deeply understand their customers and sell t...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! How Not to Think Like a Retailer Doug McMillon is shaking up conventional thinking and transforming Walmart beyond retail into a trusted advisor for its millions of customers. What did he do to make this behemoth brand into a touchpoint at the personal level for its loyal customers? Listen in as Ro...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! With the explosion of ecommerce comes the explosion of returns. Walmart, Amazon and Target ask customers to keep some of their returns for free rather than clogging their logistics systems with the hassle of low-value, no-resale merchandise costing the industry $550 billion a year. What if this pol...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! "Hey Milton Friedman, listen up! I'm just a small town economist wannabe, but what I describe is a more powerful, free-market capitalistic economy -- driven and sustained by the consumer who has the power to force commerce to give them what they want." So says Robin Lewis as he descr...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Three New Rules of Retail Complex market forces require intelligent, innovative solutions, powered by technology. Customer-centric strategies that are interconnected and change with the changing landscape deliver a competitive edge. Who's the poster child for this model? Tractor Supply Company...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The last mile delivery race is the key to a positive customer journey, and the last point of distribution must be as close to the consumer as possible. Amazon owns the science of distribution with its proliferations in delivery jets, trucks and drones supported by high tech. Now the last mile is co...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Listen in this week as Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, chief strategy officer for TRR, tackle the “Infinite Growth” pipe dream. Long story short, it’s a failed strategy of growth for growth’s sake that will not survive in the new world. Retailers are overstored and have been over producing, leadi...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! If you’re not careful, dysfunctional business strategies can highjack your future. Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, chief strategy officer for TRR reveal four key barriers that can sideline retail leaders. From lack of enlightenment and a siloed and sclerotic culture to insufficient capital and th...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! CEO Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, chief strategy officer of TRR talk about why brands shouldn't distribute through as many channels as possible, through all retail models, and their own stores. The threat is that they become too ubiquitous - "once hot and now they're not." T...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Purpose-driven business practices have become even more embedded in forward-thinking organizations. We explore how social justice, aesthetics and purpose impact all stakeholders and have become a new pillar of the retail industry. Robin Lewis is in conversation with William Lauder to discuss how be...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Planet + Responsibility Originally aired November 19, 2020 Sustainable business models have now become table stakes for the retail industry. Coupled with consumer demand and environmental imperatives, mindful resource management, circular commerce and a dedication to sustainability are embedded int...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! As part of The Virtual Robin Report Annual Forum, Robin Lewis had a conversation with Dave Kimbell, president of Ulta Beauty. Ulta Beauty was one of The Robin Report Retail Radicals for 2020. The Robin Report Retail Radicals Awards focuses on identifying the radical thinkers and doers exclusively i...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! People + Emerging Experience Originally aired October 29, 2020 We are entering the third wave of the digital economy that will be more connected and automated. Retail, voice, and visual will make us more networked systemically and operationally. What innovations are shaping the future of retail? Ho...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! In a lively and dynamic conversation, Robin Lewis taps into the insights and experience ofWilliam Lauder, Executive Chairman, Estée Lauder. They dig into emerging trends and theaccelerated changes in consumer behavior as a result of the pandemic; the fate of America’s retail industry and its strugg...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Provocative and insightful, Robin Lewis talks candidly about the power of technology in leading the way to innovative breakthroughs in the retail industry. Stacey Shulman, Chief innovation Officer and VP of the Internet of Things Group at Intel joins Robin in a freewheeling talk about how digitally...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Robin Lewis and his expert guests give a candid, real-time assessment of the state of retail in Q3 2020. The industry faces the trifecta of a volatile economy, potential second wave of coronavirus and ongoing civil unrest. How do retail leaders keep their balance and plan for a sustainable near-ter...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! With the retail industry reeling from the converging storm fronts of a global health crisis, massive economic disruption and ongoing civil unrest, Holiday 2020 will be unpredictable, at best. Will customers have the appetite to overcompensate for the past nine months, or will they hold back? Join R...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! The Robin Lewis Untapped series is a 30-minute conversation, one on one, with C-level giants across the industry and CEO/Founder of The Robin Report, Robin Lewis. In this episode, joining Robin, is Paul Charron, the former CEO of the iconic brand, Liz Claiborne. They discuss what new normal retaili...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! A perfect storm is three violent weather fronts, all colliding at the same time: Covid-19, an economic shutdown and the national movement for social justice, equity and inclusivity. Robin Lewis, in conversation with Mark Cohen and Don Unser, discuss how leadership can focus on these disruptive forc...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Get the scoop on “The Aging of eCommerce.” And vital issues such as the health of the consumer marketplace from three of NPD’s leaders: Don Unser, President of NPD’s retail practice; Matt Powell, VP/Senior Advisor over the sports segment; and David Portalatin, VP/industry advisor over the food cate...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Headache sized issues in “The Chaotic New World of Retailing” features Robin Lewis; Don Unser, President of NPD’s retail practice; and CEO of Vince, Brendan Hoffman. Listen in as they discuss personalization, sustainability, distribution strategies, the future and how NPD tracks it all. For more st...

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us! Listen in to have a learning experience from our “educators,” Don Unser, President of NPD’s retail practice, Zia Wigder, Global Chief Content Officer, Shoptalk and Steve Sadove, former CEO of Saks Inc. Learn about the fragmenting consumer “tribes,” and how NPD’s mountains of data tracks it all. Hea...