RetailCraft - digital retail, ecommerce and brands - Retail Podcast

With us in the studio we Kate, from Tern.eco and Mats who founded Polarn O. Pyret (PO.P) in the UK, recently amalgamated from master-franchisee to part of the global operation. Kate Walmsley is a pioneering retail leader who has created a platform to integrate second-hand sales into a brand's offering, integrating the option to buy new, buy second-hand, within the same experience. Mats Nilsson, of...

Joining us in the studio at the end of 2022, Jennifer North, Head of Digital Experience at Hobbycraft, gives us an eye-opening insight to the demanding, innovative craft and hobby market in the UK, and their multipronged and entrepreneurial position. We hear about the craft customer - artists, hobbyists, businesses and the growing "sidehustle" generation of digitally-amplified creators - and how t...

Cocoon ( https://www.cocoon.club/ ) is a London-based circular subscription service for bag lovers. Not just any old bags - high end, desirable handbags. They operate a membership model, where a subscription unlocks access to the collection and weekly drops to support maintain freshness and energy. The business blends luxury service, product experience, sustainable and circular business models and...

Andy Jayes is a retail and digital veteran, and has earned that accolade given his background in BHS, House of Fraser, Selfridges, Virgin Megastores... along with covering the gamut of digital - from product and merchandising, via operations and development - to his current role as Digital Director at Fenwicks, the independently-owned, unique and quirky department store mini-chain. There's so much...

Camilla Henriksson is the Global Brand Innovation Manager at H&M, as well as the Global Head of Customer Experience for their Lifestyle Brands... that should give you a clue as to just how busy Camilla is, and the range of her interests. We caught up with her fresh from the launch of Atelier100, a global collaboration with another global Swedish powerhouse, IKEA. Atelier100 ( https://www.ateli...

Operating in 25 countries, with 49million active customers and featuring 5,800 brands, Zalando is a European fashion powerhouse that we've long tracked and admired. Megan Maley spoke at Shoptalk Europe 2022 when we launched the Global Elite 1000 report, and I invited her to share with us some of the dynamics, focus areas and directions of travel for Zalando from the vantage-point of her role as GM...

Provenance provides a framework for retailers and brands to assess, monitor and communicate their sustainability, and this has progressed from a technology play (developing data and blockchain services) into "sustainability marketing technology". We go behind the scenes with Jessi Baker, the founder and CEO, and along the way discuss the challenges of implementation, how brands are adapting to and...

Two major brands discuss innovation, digital, delivery and retail. We hear from Ali Holmes, Senior Ecommerce Director at Pepsico Europe, and Megan Ludlow, Innovation Partnership at Marks & Spencer. We mentioned that Ali had featured on the cover of InternetRetailing Magazine back in 2012 and you can see that edition here: https://internetretailing.net/magazine/internetretailing---july-2012-vol...

As we return to the studio, this is a conversation full of surprises, of twists, turns and revelations, and it's one of those serendipitous discussions that just leave you thinking "wow". We hear from Claire Bottle, the new-ish CEO of the UK Warehousing Association. Claire covers the serendipity that led from a secretarial role to a logistics leader, with the mentoring she received and how she now...

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC is a British multinational consumer goods company. Formed some 200 years ago it is a stalwart of the FTSE100 and turns over some £14bn (2020). It owns some global powerhouse brands in the health/hygiene/nutrition space, many of which are part of the fabric of UK society - Durex, Dettol, Airwick, Clearasil, Nurofen... In this episode we spend time with Greg Duce, Area Ec...

Another Tomorrow ( www.anothertomorrow.co ) is a startup that blends luxury with sustainability. It is interesting because it has digital 'baked into' the DNA - from traceability and sourcing through selling and a second life for products. The founder, Vanessa Barboni Hallik, bring a mixture of passion, flair and analytical insight to the fashion industry and has positioned Another Tomorrow at the...

In the digital studio for this episode we followed the path of comfortable word-at-home wear to one of the original pioneers of relaxed clothing - none other than Lands' End, with their strapline of "Let's get comfy". Initially visible in the UK via their catalogues and direct to consumer advertising, we hear from Constanze Freienstein, Managing Director, Europe, about the digital growth of the br...

After a number of attempts with our online studio system, we managed at last to catch up with Stephen Langford, Director of Ecommerce at Marks & Spencer. We appreciated his patience as we tried to connect and we benefitted from a wide-ranging discussion with him about e-commerce and the changes at the heart of M&S - an organisation that's simultaneously a permanent innovator and a national...

Our first episode of 2021 continues our Grocery theme, with this in-depth and wide-ranging conversation with Chris Conway, eCommerce Director at the Coop. We had recently interviewed Chris for our Grocery Innovation Report ( https://internetretailing.net/groceryinnovation2021 ) and couldn't wait to bring his insights to life on the podcast. Sadly, the gremlins of the internet decided we'd had too...

For our final episode of 2020 we 'beam into' the studio Rui Francisco of PepsiCo Europe and Dan Mahoney from Whittards of Chelsea. Rui and Dan remind us of a passion for products that bring a smile to customers' faces and their growing direct-to-consumer activities. Rui is up first. He's the European Ecommerce Director for PepsiCo, and we hear from him about their pan-European team, the moves to s...

Tales of transformation in the studio today. First up a conversation with Guy Magrath, recently Chief Digital Officer at Electrocomponents PLC (better known in the UK as the owners of RS Components, purveyors os millions of plugs, bulbs, suppliers for makers and menders around the world). Guy talks us through many years of change and progress at this global, complex business, culminating in his 5...

Chris Poad, Managing Director, Online at Tesco PLC joins us in the studio for a wide-ranging and extensive discussion. Fresh from a series of senior roles at Amazon (heading Fulfilment by Amazon, then Director, Amazon Business International), Chris has returned to the UK to take up the reins at Tesco's online activities - just in time to be in the eye of the COVID storm!  We segue from his career...

A bumper edition for the stifling dog-days of August!  We kick off with an in-depth chat with Mark Wright, Group Operations Director at Fat Face. Mark's got an incredible track record in retail - online, offline and multichannel - with stints as head of trading at M&S and as Managing Director, Omnichannel and Jack Wills. His role at Fat Face covers all operations and trading and so it was inte...

Still in lockdown limbo, we use the internet to speak with two guests from the beauty and electricals sectors.   First up is Aaron Winsloe, the Head of eCommerce USA for The Hut Group. We spoke with Aaron in his new office just before the group results were announced - an impressive 24% revenue growth to £1.1bn and a 22% increase in profits. With 66% of group turnover coming from the international...

As Lockdown continued, we caught up with our guests 'over the web'. Our first guest is Gracia Amico: chair, non-executive advisor and experienced CEO. In the past, she’s held senior digital and commercial roles at Burberry, TopShop and Hobbs, as well as CEO at Pets Pyjamas. After a period as Head of Digital Operations at Sun Capital, Gracia is now a non-executive Director at Stitched (the online c...

Thoroughly grounded in London, I luckily had some interviews from the ’time when travel was allowed’ and so we hear from Rikard Frost, Chief Consumer Officer of Alexander Wang Inc, when we visited him in New York City in January 2020. Then, further back in time, we chat with Pieter Heij, Multichannel Director at De Bijenkorf, the Netherland’s premier department store (and part of the Selfridges gr...

Jamie and I kick off this episode with our thoughts on NRF2020 - the National Retail Federation’s "Big Show" in New York. Held in January each year, this 40,000-visitor-1000-exhibitor behemoth is gradually turning into a packed ’retail week’. Jamie and I cover our impressions of the show and what’s new and noteworthy, as well as giving a summary of the highlights of our store tour in which we visi...

This bumper edition of the podcast is our ’Christmas present’, bringing interviews from New York retailers from three different sectors, but each innovative.   First of all we hear from Savannah Sachs. Avid followers of IR will remember that Savannah featured on the cover of our Magazine in March 2018 when she was with Birchbox, one of the early beauty-sector disruptors. Now we catch up with her a...

Podcasts really shouldn’t be this much fun! The word “iconic” is for once apt, as we have a wide-ranging chat in the studio with these two UK-yet-global retailers, Fortnum & Mason, and Liberty London. With over 400 years of history being them we hear how focus, sticking to your DNA and having a real personality infuse both retailers.   Zia Zareem-Slade (Customer Experience Director at Fortnum...

We’re back to school in style as Gail Shuman (Group eCommerce Director at Harvey Nichols), Jennifer Roebuck (Chief Marketing Officer at Feelunique.com) and Robin Phillips (CEO at The Watch Shop) join Vera Hartmuth and Ian Jindal in our London studio. We discuss luxury experience to sustainability and transparency, via brand management and business models to thoughts on loyalty and desirability in...