The Retail Podcast

Welcome to Five Things Friday – USA Edition. Each week we break down the most important signals shaping retail in the United States in under 15 minutes. This week Jill Dvorak joins the conversation to unpack major shifts across AI commerce, value retail expansion, festival marketing, celebrity entrepreneurship, and global brand strategy. In this episode we discuss: • ChatGPT pausing “agentic comme...

It’s Friday 13 March, and this week’s Five Things Friday UK Edition breaks down the retail stories worth watching right now. In this episode, we cover: Links mentioned SHEIN Xcelerator – https://sheinxcelerator.com/ John Lewis TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@johnlewis/video/7614188535574285590 John Lewis TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@johnlewis/video/7614188535574285590 Otiumberg Reels – https:...

Recorded live from the show floor at EuroShop, this episode features Vahan Vardanian, Founder and CEO of Kerpak, demonstrating an AI-powered autonomous retail platform that can transform almost any cabinet, fridge, freezer, or kiosk into a 24/7 unattended store. The idea behind autonomous retail is simple: take the store to where the customer already is. For years retailers focused on getting cust...

Discover how to bridge the gap between retail planning and execution in this interview with Costas Malamas, CEO of Dataviva. We discuss the "Retail Nervous System" and how a single unified system can handle everything from long-term analytics to real-time purchase orders and price changes. Say goodbye to "firefighting" and duplication of effort. Costas explains how Dataviva act...

How is data reshaping retail strategy? In this episode of The Retail Podcast, Alex sits down with Mark Bruce, a data and insights leader with experience spanning the shop floor, landlord-side retail operations, and portfolio analytics, to unpack what the data is really saying about retail right now. They discuss why experience-led retail continues to grow, why value-led operators are winning, why...

Retail is moving fast, and this episode breaks down five of the clearest signals shaping the high street right now. Alex and Simone Oloman, Co-Founder of Need It For Tonight, unpack Molly-Mae’s International Women’s Day activation, Marks & Spencer’s new Putney store format, Greggs’ vending machine move, the Dove x Bridgerton activation at Battersea Power Station, and EE’s new Oxford Street exp...

Retailers talk about UX. They talk about conversion. But too many still ship digital experiences that a huge part of the population simply can’t use. In this episode of the Wonderful Retail Podcast, Marion Ranvier (Executive Director, @Contentsquare Foundation) explains why digital accessibility is not a marginal issue—and why it directly affects conversion, retention, brand trust, and revenue. Ma...

Live from EuroShop in Germany on the ITAB stand, Alex is joined by co-host Simone for 5 Things Friday — unpacking the week’s most culturally relevant retail + brand moves. In this episode:Lidl’s London Fashion Week moment: a mini shopping-trolley handbag collab that stops people in their tracksGreggs enters wellness: a Pilates pop-up for the “sausage roll generation” to launch its new “matches”eBa...

AI is no longer optional in fashion, it’s infrastructure. In this episode of The Retail Podcast, we sit down with Antonia Dumitriu, Co-Founder & CEO of @Irisphera, to explore how AI-powered virtual styling is transforming online fashion retail. Irisphera offers online brands a plug-in virtual personal shopper that: • Detects correct sizing based on brand size charts • Identifies body shape and...

Liberty London meets Bridgerton, Quiz enters administration, and pop-ups are taking over the UK high street — this week's Five Things Friday covers the retail stories that matter. In this episode, Alex and Simone break down five major retail and fashion stories shaping the UK high street right now — from heritage brand activations and immersive beauty experiences to the harsh realities facing...

Retail is shifting fast across Asia-Pacific and this week’s Five Things Friday unpacks the signals every operator, brand and investor needs to watch. Low Ngai Yuen MD AEON360 & Ryf Quail (Managing Director, NRF Retail’s Big Show APAC & Middle East) joins the conversation with major personal news, and major market insight. In this episode: • Sephora partners with Olive Young to launch dedic...

At NRF, we sat down with Alyssa Hampton and Corinne Suarez, senior retail leaders at Marine Layer, to break down what’s actually driving success in modern retail. Marine Layer has built a fast-growing retail business by focusing on conscious consumers, low-pressure in-store experiences, and a people-first culture—all while scaling to nearly 60 stores and maintaining B Corp values. In this conversa...

Unified commerce is everywhere — but Pim Vijftigschild (Chief Commercial & Partner Officer at New Black) argues the next wave is bigger: contextual commerce. In this episode, we break down what “contextual” actually means in retail: capturing the interaction that leads to the transaction, rebuilding the “black book” level of customer understanding, and why most enterprise retail architectures...

This week on Five Things Friday (US Edition), we unpack the momentum shaping US retail and brand marketing right now—starting with strong sentiment coming out of NRF and rolling straight into the biggest advertising moment of the year: the Super Bowl. After a positive “Big Show,” retailers and exhibitors are carrying unexpected optimism into 2025. AI is no longer theoretical—brands are showing how...

In this edition of Five Things Friday UK, Alex and Simone break down the most important retail and brand signals shaping the future of shopping right now. From Reformation’s quietly embedded in-store technology to luxury pop-ups in Dubai malls, this episode explores what actually improves customer experience and what retailers should be paying attention to. We cover how technology should be woven...

Retail in APAC is hitting a breaking point where "freshness" is no longer a luxury it's a survival requirement. Ryf Quail and Yuen Low break down why traditional 6-month order cycles are killing brands and how AI agents are fundamentally changing how consumers discover products. The Value Proposition: In this APAC Edition of Five Things Friday, we go behind the scenes of IKEA’s flags...

In this episode of Five Things Friday, Alex sits down live at the show with Ryf Quail to unpack what made this year’s event the biggest on record from 41–42,000 attendees, packed expo halls, and record exhibitor meetings, to a major global expansion announcement that reshapes the future of retail events. Ryf shares first-hand insights on:Why exhibitors recorded 200+ meaningful meetings on the show...

How does a regional retailer scale to 86 stores in 7 years? We go on-site at BM’s La Finca flagship in Madrid with Regional Director José to uncover the "Anti-Commodity" playbook that is redefining grocery retail in Spain. In this episode, we explore:The 4 Pillars of BM: Why Fresh, Assortment, Service, and CX are non-negotiable. The 10,000 SKU Secret: How to offer "Full Basket"...

In this episode of Five Things Friday UK, Alex and Simon break down what the rescue of Russell & Bromley by Next really signals for the British high street, why consolidation is accelerating, and what it means for heritage brands. They also explore:Why the UK may be heading toward a three-giant retail landscapeA standout Valentine’s campaign from Thortful and how physical products stay relevan...

Host Alex is joined by Simone Oloman, Co-Founder & CEO of Need It For Tonight (NIFT) — often described as Deliveroo for quality fashion — for an honest discussion on what retailers are really prioritising right now. In this episode, we cover: Why Middle East retail (Abu Dhabi & Saudi Arabia) is being built for a new generation Simone’s role speaking at ShopTalk Abu Dhabi Why influencer col...

In this Five Things Friday – USA Edition, we sit down with Jill, SVP of Content at National Retail Federation (NRF), live from the largest NRF show ever. With 41,000 attendees, 1,000+ exhibitors, 550+ sessions, and 100 countries represented, Jill breaks down what actually mattered at NRF this year — and what retailers must take forward. Key topics covered: Why customer relevance now outweighs plat...

How will the $32 Billion AI Agent market change APAC Retail? In this episode, Ngai Yuen Low (AEON360) and Ryf Quail (Comexposium) reveal why your product pages need to be "machine-readable" by 2028 and how TikTok Shop is evolving beyond fashion. 🔥 Topics & Timestamps: (00:41) The "Wrapped" Strategy: Creating shareable retail moments(03:30) AI Shopping Agents: The $32B fore...

It’s almost Christmas and this week’s Five Things cuts straight through the noise. Alex and Simon break down what really happened this Black Friday, why the numbers matter less than the format shift , and what live shopping and brand activations tell us about where retail is heading next. From muted UK retail sales and changing Black Friday behaviour, to why Ralph Lauren’s activations are quietly...

This year, NRF is turning the dial up on everything: AI, interactivity, speakers and scaling a 40,000‑person global audience. In this episode, I sit down with Jill from NRF to unpack how the team is bringing the 2026 global theme “The Next Now” to life at the Big Show in the US – and why this could be one of the strongest speaker lineups yet. We dig into how what’s next is already here for retail...

In this episode, recorded at MAPIC in Cannes, we sit down with Shane Eldstrom, CEO of United Developers, the company behind Place Vendôme in Qatar – a project that has already become the #3 shopping centre for high-end fashion in the entire Middle East, just a few years after opening. Shane breaks down what makes Qatar’s retail market so distinctive, how Place Vendôme has scaled from opening to re...