Retail Gets Real

Originally released May 14, 2018: BARK, the makers of BarkBox, began where so many great companies do — in a heart-shaped bed on a cruise ship. Henrik Werdelin and his co-founders bonded over a mutual love for dogs and an obsession with making their furry family members happy. In this episode, Werdelin discusses how BARK’s dog-obsessed culture drives every facet of the business and attracts an army of similarly obsessed fans.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

How do you stay on the cutting edge of wellness while maintaining consumer trust? Sharon Leite, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, starts by asking a question: “How can we make this relevant for today and how do we make sure that we can take it forward into the future?” In this episode, Leite talks about how The Vitamin Shoppe is innovating around everything from the customer experience to CBD products. Sharon has learned how to take her years of retail experience fundamentals and apply them to turning companies around.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

What does it take to become the person responsible for creating some of the world's most-loved fragrances? Jo Malone, the creator of Jo Loves, shares her origin story and how she came to be called an English scent maverick. Learning to sell as a means of survival, Jo cultivated a passion for her business that has led to the creation of two global brands.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.  

Originally released Sept. 9, 2018: For millions of people around the world, Pinterest is the first stop on their retail journey — it’s a place to discover, get inspired and personalize. For retailers, Pinterest is an opportunity to engage with customers earlier and more often, well before a transaction takes place. To learn more about how brands of all sizes are taking advantage of this social media platform, we sit down with Amy Vener, the head of retail strategy at Pinterest.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Annie Agle, Director of Impact and Brand at Cotopaxi, shares how its customers are gathering around a mission of sustainability, conscious capitalism and an ambitious goal of ending poverty, as well as what other companies can learn from the startup’s unique approach to sustainable outdoor apparel.    Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.  

Zeynep Ton, the author of the book The Good Job Strategy, discovered that many of the expensive, productivity-draining problems faced in retail came down to poor labor practices. By focusing on creating good jobs for employees that lead to great customer experiences, companies can both save money and make their employees happy.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Alison Hahn, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for Color and Fragrance at Sephora, is at the helm of some of the most exciting innovations in the beauty industry. She joins Retail Gets Real from the NRF Foundation Student Program to share some of the cutting-edge initiatives Sephora is leading and where the beauty industry is headed. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

The consumer is constantly changing, and companies need to adapt and change quickly in order to keep up — or, even better, retailers can be proactive and get ahead of the curve. To tell us more about where the customer will be in 2022 and what retailers can do to prepare, we talk to Andrea Bell, Head of Insight for WGSN, who believes that the biggest point of differentiation in 2022 will be the dichotomy between different generations.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

TechStyle has built one of the most data-driven, deeply consumer-obsessed advertising groups by effectively building an internal agency that advertises across its portfolio of brands. They also have a unique membership model that rewards customers with better pricing and promotions, and in return, these members help TechStyle acquire more customer data. To learn more about the company’s unique model and where it’s headed in the future, we talk to Laura Joukovski, President of Global Fashion Brands for TechStyle.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

The NRF Innovation Lab at Retail’s Big Show showcases over 50 of the most groundbreaking technologies in the retail space. Sucharita Kodali, an NRF Innovation Advisory Committee member and a retail analyst with Forrester joins the show to talk more about the Lab, along with one of the innovators from the lab, George Shaw, CEO and co-founder of Pathr, the first AI-powered spatial intelligence platform that uses anonymous location data to derive business insights in real-time.  Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Indeed’s Director of U.S. Marketing Carmen Bryant and Economist Daniel Culbertson join Retail Gets Real from NRF 2020: Retail’s Big Show to share data-driven insights on the current state of the labor market and how retailers can adapt in a challenging environment.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Kate Ancketill, CEO and founder of GDR Creative Intelligence, discusses how technology is shaping consumer behavior, how retailers are responding worldwide and what the nascent “loneliness economy” looks like. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Rakesh Tondon is the co-founder and CEO of Le Tote, an online clothing rental business that recently acquired Lord & Taylor and opened its first physical location. Tondon shares how Le Tote is disrupting the fashion industry, why it’s opening physical locations and why it’s imperative for retail to continue evolving if it wants to survive. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

When Dave Bolotsky was transitioning from retail analyst to entrepreneur in 1999, he set out to create an online concept that would capitalize on the opportunities presented by the growing sector of online retail without competing with huge retailers. Twenty years later, UncommonGoods stands out as a business model that champions sustainability in all forms. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

While most of the industry is just starting to understand the possibilities of quickly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence and its applications for retail, Walmart is sprinting ahead with projects like its Intelligent Retail Lab, a fully operating store with an in-store AI lab. Mike Hanrahan, CEO of Walmart's Intelligent Retail Lab joins the show to share more about the lab and what it means for the future of retail.    Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

NRF 2020 Vision: Retail's Big Show is right around the corner, where nearly 40,000 retail industry attendees, and 800 exhibitors from 99 different countries joining NRF in New York City from January 12-14. To share what you can expect from retail’s biggest and best event, we talk to Susan Reda and Eric Olson, who helped program the event; Kevin Parakkattu, who is part of the committee responsible for curating the Innovation Lab; and Ellen Davis, who is president of the National Retail Federation Foundation and Senior Vice President of the National Retail Federation.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay looks back on why 2019 was a great year for retail and looks forward to how policy, societal shifts, and technology will affect retailers in 2020. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

This week, the Retail Gets Real team gathers around an open fire with chestnuts and a microphone to reflect on their favorite moments of 2019, featuring: Chip Bergh of Levi’s, Mary Beth Laughton of Sephora, Elie Donahue of Rothy’s, Michelle Kelly of Lilly Pulitzer, Becky Waddell of Take Care, Rachael Gruntmeir of Black Scintilla, Ed Stack of Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Lisa Bradley and Cameron Cruse of R.Riveter.   Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Katherine Cullen, head of NRF’s consumer research division, joins the show to share what happened between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, some surprising data about generational purchasing behavior and what shoppers have left to do this season. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

Re-commerce, experiences and CBD ... oh my! In this episode, we look ahead to 2020 with Susan Reda, editor of NRF’s STORES Magazine, who digs into the insights reported in STORES’ 2020 retail trends forecast. Read STORES’ full 2020 retail trends forecast to see the full list of predictions, and listen to the full episode to hear why Reda thinks experiential retail is maturing beyond Instagrammable moments and how wellness trends are shaping the future of retail. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.