Brick & Mortar Reborn

Running an omnichannel business involves a lot of different moving parts for your online and offline locations, but how do you connect all those moving parts to provide your customers with the most seamless experience? Today’s guest says that’s one of the biggest challenges her customers face. Allison Auclair is the Vice President of Product Management at Oracle NetSuite. In today’s episode, she discusses how customers use NetSuite, why creating a great customer experience is so important,...

Online experiences became more important for brands during the pandemic, which has led to a lot of creativity when it comes to services like Jebbit. But how does that translate to in-store shopping? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Pamela Erlichman, Chief Marketing Officer at Jebbit. She discusses how Jebbit technology works and how customers use it, what declared data is and how it’s used, and how Jebbit can be used in-store as well as online. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔...

The demand for digital, remote shopping services has only grown since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The company co-founded by today’s guest has been around for years, but you can understand how they would have picked up in usage since early last year. Andre Hordagoda cofounded Go Instore, a service that allows consumers to use video to talk to sales personnel and shop, giving them an in-store experience but from their homes. Listen in to today’s interview to learn more about...

It’s not always obvious how a shopping center or mall can engage consumers and pull in foot traffic, but today’s client has ideas. Peter Tonstad is the CEO of Placewise, a company that works with malls and other types of shopping centers to attract customers, benefit tenants, and bridge online and offline gaps. Listen in to hear what Peter has to say about what should be done differently post-pandemic, how malls can successfully engage shoppers, and what smaller strip centers can do to build...

What does online shopping really have to do with driving customers into the store? What if you learned that in-store experiences often start outside the store and that some of the best in-store experiences start online? That’s what today’s guest will be talking about. Oscar Sachs is the Co-Founder and CEO of Salesfloor. Listen to his interview to learn how the platform works, how store associates can use the platform even with in-store customers, and how virtual shopping can be used to...

Fashion retailers have been through a difficult period, but at this point, their customers miss them as much as they miss their customers. Chris Kaighn is the Senior Vice President – Boutiques, Real Estate, and Strategic Partnerships at Francesca’s. Listen in to hear what she has to say about changes she’s seen in the landscape during her time in this role, the top demands of her customers, and what to look for in associates. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Chris’s background and...

What is hyper-wellness? How do you blend medical services with non-medical services, while meeting all of the regulations and requirements involved? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Jim Donnelly of Restore Hyper Wellness and Cryotherapy. Listen in to hear what Jim has to say about how he knew when to scale, what makes his services unique, and what makes people say “wow” when using his services. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Jim’s background and how he got started with...

You’re already familiar with SMS messages, but you may not be familiar with their power as a marketing channel. Today’s guest works for a company that harnesses that power and uses it to drive consumers into their customers’ retail location. Listen in to today’s interview with Brian Malkerson, Chief Revenue Officer at Attentive. Today, Brian discusses what it was like building Attentive, how customers work with a company like Attentive, and how people on the consumer end interact with the...

How important is workforce management and what tools do employers use to do it? Listen in to today’s interview with John Orr, the SVP Retail at Ceridian. In today’s episode, he talks about the customer use cases for Ceridian’s services, the challenges that brick-and-mortar spaces are currently facing, and how customers are thinking about employee treatment, retention, and workforce management since the pandemic. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ John’s background ✔ What Ceridian...

Footwear can fit better and feel better, and Volumental is proving it. Today’s episode features Alper Aydemir, the CEO and co-founder of Volumental. Listen in to hear more about what Volumental does and what the role of Volumental and similar technology is in the future of retail. In today’s episode, Alper discusses what his typical clients are like, how the company’s tech works with the client, and what technology retailers should be thinking about for the future. Topics Discussed in...

What differentiates a luxury brand from other types of brands, and what do luxury brands need to do in order to drive value and keep on thriving, even during an event like a pandemic? That’s what you’ll hear about today from Tony Drockton, Founder and Chief Cheerleader at Hammitt, a company that sells luxury purses and bags. Listen in to hear what Tony has to say about value drivers, customer experiences, and what wholesale brands should be doing if they want to transition to selling...

Resale has many differences from other types of retail. What gets the retail customer in the store? What keeps them coming back? And with their business model, how seriously may they be affected by an event like a pandemic? That’s what you’ll hear today from Kate Paynter, a franchise owner who had to close all of her stores for eight weeks at the beginning of COVID. Hear how they operated, how they survived the shutdown, and how they came back in today’s episode. Topics Discussed in...

Buying shoes can be a treat if you have the right shoe-buying experience. Today’s guest, Jared Margolis of Payless, wants to bring a clean, attractive, omnichannel experience to the shoppers that come to Payless, both in the US and internationally. Listen in to hear what Jared has to say about why he joined payless, what he thinks is important when it comes to omnichannel, and what kind of changes his company is making to the in-store experience. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔...

Even if a value-driver seems obvious, businesses might still miss it. Today’s guest mentions a few seemingly obvious things, like providing basic needs and understanding the consumer, that some brands still struggle to get right. Jeremy Goldman is a Principal Analyst at Insider Intelligence, and in today’s episode, he discusses value-drivers he’s seen over the past few years, frameworks for building a memorable brick-and-mortar experience, and how to encourage people to come back to the...

What is digitization and why is it so important right now? That’s one of the subjects that today’s guest talks about. Dustin Jones is the founder and CEO of the Unified Commerce Group, and he joins the podcast today to give his perspective on brick-and-mortar retail as a buyer. Listen in to hear what Dustin has to say about his acquisition of Frank and Oak, how to define a next-generation retail brand, and how to scale globally. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ Dustin’s...

Post-pandemic, is a location still as important as it used to be in retail real estate? And how can a retailer get the location that they need in order to make their venture a success? Today’s episode features an interview with Bart Waldeck of Tango Analytics. He discusses what Tango does and the types of clients they attract, how their software can help clients, and what the role of the brick-and-mortar store is going forward. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ What Tango does ✔...

Western is an interesting niche for a brand. It is a niche, but it is also a niche that a large part of the population participates in, so there’s a lot of opportunities there. Today’s guest is Paul Hedrick, founder of Tecovas, a Western brand. Listen in to the episode to hear Paul talk about what his brand is all about, how he grew his physical locations quickly, and how to make an accessible luxury product. Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode: ✔ How Paul founded Tecovas ✔ What the...

If you aren’t too familiar with it, you might think that appointment-based shopping only recently blossomed because of the pandemic, but today’s guest says that appointment-based shopping had proved itself long before the emergence of COVID-19. Listen in to today’s episode to hear John Federman, CEO of JRNI, a company that helps retailers create and change their customer’s experience with appointment-based services. John discusses what his customers are looking for, why in-person...

How has the pandemic affected the investors that retail stores need? Today’s guest works with retail investors and has insight into the issue. Gabriella Santaniello is the Founder and CEO of A Line Partners, a retail research firm. Gabriella is a retail industry expert herself with years of experience in the field. Listen in to today’s episode to hear more about A Line Partners and what they do and to find out what Gabriella thinks about changes due to COVID, how retailers could improve...

What’s it like to try to run a mall during the height of the COVID pandemic and lockdowns? Today’s guest knows. Marina Satoafaiga is the Marketing and Business Development Manager at The Shops at Montebello and she has a lot to say about how the community around the Shops at Montebello was affected by the pandemic and the changes since, and how the changes in the community affected retailers. Listen to Marina talk about how to connect and engage with shoppers during a pandemic, interactions...