Retail Tomorrow Podcast Series

There is another pandemic affecting many retailers – a competitive pandemic that for years left many complacent or paralyzed, unable or unwilling to innovate to the degree necessary to survive. But then, when the coronavirus pandemic arrived, the acceleration of certain kinds of consumer behavior forced retailers to innovate on the run…though they didn't necessary think of it as innovating; they just thought of it as the bare necessity for subsistence. Today, in the second part of a two-part conversation, Gary Hawkins – who with his son Sterling Hawkins founded and runs The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART) – talks with Sterling and co-host Kevin Coupe about how to implement the building blocks necessary to achieve Retail 4.0 relevance – connected to consumers, contextual to their behavior, and reflecting imbedded cultural values of organizations and their leadership. The inevitable reality is that retailing is being dramatically remade. What remains to be seen is how many businesses will adapt and thrive. 

It was a decade ago that Gary Hawkins, who with his son (and podcast co-host) Sterling Hawkins founded and runs the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART), released a paper about Retail 3.0, describing how the industry had evolved to the point where marketing personalization, contextual relevancy and customer data-fueled brand-retailer collaboration had become critical to survival. Now, with a new paper, Retail 4.0, Hawkins argues that the digital transformation of retail will be breathtaking in its scale, scope, and speed. This digitalization of retail – the industry transmuting into a new, higher-order, ecosystem – will be accompanied by a radically different economic model, disrupting the entire industry.   In this, the first of a two-part conversation, Gary, Sterling, and Kevin Coupe talk about the cultural transformations that must take place within businesses if they are to have any chance of transforming their companies, setting the stage for the next step, which is implementation.

It was management guru Peter Drucker who once said, "Learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change, and the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn". Today's RT podcast guest is Terry Hawkins (no relation to co-host Sterling Hawkins), who for more than three decades has challenged organizations to be better at learning and teaching the people on their front lines by designing, creating, and implementing results-producing education systems. This is particularly timely since we are living in a time when the pandemic has disrupted so many businesses that it seems impossible to make internal training and education a high priority.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.  It may be a cliche, but it also never has been more true, especially because the competitive environment never has been more cutthroat. At the same time, technology and the pandemic have combined to create seismic shifts in consumer behavior. What does this mean? Retailers have to compete not just for every last customers, but every first customer. In this Retail Tomorrow episode, Sterling and Kevin use a close-to-home case study to examine what retailers are and not doing to attract new customers. (And at about 12 minutes in, Sterling comes up with a big idea that every retailer ought to adopt ASAP.)

What separates the winners and losers in the current pandemic-centric retail environment? Why are some retailers able to establish themselves as sustainably essential, while others are just momentarily relevant because people had to buy toilet paper somewhere? On today's podcast, Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe re-engage with Steve Dennis, president and founder of Sageberry Consulting and the author of  Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption, to continue their conversation about predictions and prescriptions for a post-pandemic future.

This week, in the first of a two-parter, Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe engage in a conversation with Steve Dennis, the author of “Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption”.  Published just as the pandemic hit, “Remarkable Retail” focuses on trends and behaviors – both in business and among consumers – that were accelerated by the coronavirus. The discussion focuses on the “eight essentials” of a remarkable retail experience – factors that cut across format and concept, building relevance and helping retailers avoid a descent into becoming "museums of disappointment".

Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe take a look back at last week's Congressional testimony by for technology CEOs – Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook, and Google's Sundar Pichai – at a hearing that shed more heat than light. They use comments by the four executives to launch a broader discussion about competition, differential advantages, and the importance for retailers to "find their inner barbecue." (Trust us. The metaphor works.)

Almost six months of pandemic-induced sheltering-at-home has led to a spike in alcohol sales…and Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe belly up to the bar to look at the marketing and merchandising innovations that companies are embracing, as well as technology inventions that are allowing businesses to bring the bar experience home. It is all part of the changing landscape that is defining the world of Retail Tomorrow.

On this week’s podcast, Gary Hawkins – the CEO of CART, the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology – joins Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe to do a COVID-19 technology checkup, diagnosing the problems retailers are facing and prescribing solutions for businesses looking to thrive in the current and challenging environment.

This week's special guest is Craig Dubitsky, founder of Hello Products and now the Chief Innovation Strategist at Colgate Palmolive. Craig talks to co-hosts Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe about his life as an entrepreneur, how that and his inclination to "question just about everything" translates to his work for one of the world's biggest CPG companies, how he works to be accessible to customers, and how math sometimes can be measured in smiles.

The other day, co-host Sterling Hawkins did something he hadn’t done for several months: he took an airplane trip. On this week’s podcast, he talks to Kevin Coupe about the experience – from his front door to the airport, the boarding area to the flight, and to his arrival in Denver,  then back again – and identifies the little moments and big adjustments that characterized the trip and how businesses have adapted to a new reality. The bottom line: the airlines that are working overtime to build up good will among customers have to be careful not to squander it, just as retailers need to think about how they will remain “essential” in a post-pandemic environment.

There was good news and bad news last week. May retail sales were up 17.7 percent, which was a lot better than the 14.7 percent drop in April and 8.3 percent decline in March – and not completely unexpected since economies around the country were beginning to open up. At the same time, one respected model suggested that COVID-19 deaths in the US could climb past 200,000 by October. That's higher than what was projected just a few weeks ago, and seems to be related to a number of  states that are seeing upward trends in newly reported cases. If Yogi Berra was right when he said, “It ain’t over ’til its over”, then it seems pretty clear that the pandemic ain’t over. That’s the starting point for Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Coupe to explore what retailers need to do to prepare for an extended period in which consumer behavior is radically changed, in which business strategies and tactics have to be adjusted for the new normal, and the extent to which the altered states of consumer and retailer reality will be sustained into the future.

This week, Michael Sansolo, research director for two Coca-Cola Retailing Research Councils (and a weekly columnist on MorningNewsBeat.com), joins Sterling and Kevin for a deep-dive into the rationales behind a pre-pandemic planning guide into how to build stores for the future. Using that guide as a starting point, they look at how current economic, cultural, and medical realities are changing that future, making it more uncertain than ever and yet replete with opportunities for retailers with the right mindset. The Council research reports referred to in this episode can be accessed at https://www.ccrrc.org

Lots of companies and business leaders talk about transformation, especially now, as they look to a post-pandemic future. But are they doing the hard work and engaging in the kind of tough and uncomfortable work necessary to make transformation happen? Sterling and Kevin offer numerous examples of how it can work – and some how is doesn't – concluding that sometimes you can't just transform the stuff that's not working, but actually have to transform the stuff that is.  Because it might not work forever.

This weekly series of Retail Tomorrow podcasts features Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART-The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe teaming up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. This week, Sterling and Kevin are joined by Chris Walton, CEO and Founder of Omni Talk: one of the fastest growing blogs in retail, and Third Haus: a retail technology lab and joint-venture with Xenia Retail, to talk about opportunities both embraced and squandered during the pandemic. Chris refers to the moment as a "retail reckoning" rather than as a "retail apocalypse", and talks about both small and large companies' approach to a changed marketplace. Plus, Chris, Sterling, and Kevin are examples of past prognostications that they got right, and admit to a few that haven't worked out the way they expected.

When the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic recedes, it will leave behind a retail landscape that is likely to be vastly changed. What retailers need to decide is whether their stores will be better for the experience – more in touch with consumers' needs and desires, more focused on providing differential advantages? Or, will they be diminished?– which is what happens when retailers simply hope that things will get back to normal. That's the focus of the conversation with this week's guest – Andrew McQuilkin, the Retail Market Leader as well as a Partner with BHDP Architecture, which you can check out at www.bhdp.com. Andrew, Sterling, and Kevin examine what retailers can do to make their customers both feel safe and actually be safer, and the challenges of retrofitting existing stores and building new stores to reflect changed realities.

In a new series of weekly Retail Tomorrow podcasts, Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART-The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe team up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. Airlines have one problem – lots of supply, but not nearly enough demand. Retailers have the opposite issue – tons of demand, but trouble in certain segments coming up with supply. And yet, there are lots of lessons for retailers to learn from how airlines have been dealing with the pandemic – about leadership vs. management, about shopper-centricity vs. an operations focus, and about the importance of finding the experience's pain points and doing everything possible to reduce friction for customers.

In a new series of weekly Retail Tomorrow podcasts, Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART-The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe team up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. This week Hawkins and Coupe focus on the mixed feelings that consumers seem to have about the governmental and business response to the COVID-19 coronavirus and the tightrope that retailers have to walk in order to send consistent messages to their shoppers, keep their own people safe, and alienate as few people as possible. As the country's economy begins to open up – albeit slowly and in fits and starts – retailers have to figure out the shape and dimensions of the world of Retail Tomorrow.

In a new series of weekly Retail Tomorrow podcasts, Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART-The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe team up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. Continuing bad economic news has been leavened to some degree by some promising news on the healthcare front – a possible vaccine that could come faster than most people expected, and an experimental treatment that could reduce the number deaths related to the COVID-19 coronavirus. But, as the pandemic and its implications continue to play out, questions remain. What new consumer habits are being formed? How sustained will they be? And, what can/should retailers do to meet these needs and desires as they position themselves to be in the right place at the right time in the world of retail tomorrow.

In a new series of weekly Retail Tomorrow podcasts, Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART-The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe team up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. How will supermarkets be changed by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic? How will restaurants be changed? In the end, it almost certainly will depend on how consumers are changed – and for the moment, that's an open question, still to be determined by the degree to which the nation's citizens continue to shelter at home, and the extent to which the nation's businesses are able to open up. While nobody knows for sure at this point, one thing is certain, it will never look the same across the landscape that we refer to as Retail Tomorrow.

In a new series of weekly Retail Tomorrow podcasts, Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART – The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe team up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. One study suggests that the social distancing practices mandated by the COVID-19 coronavirus may be necessary until 2022 which could have an enormous impact on retailing specifically and business in general, not to mention the culture at-large. But at the same time, there may be an app out there that will facilitate contact tracing, and changes to in-store technology may be necessary in order to compensate for all the shifts in priorities taking place. And that's just the beginning of the conversation, as we explore the world of retail, tomorrow.

In a new series of weekly Retail Tomorrow podcasts, Sterling Hawkins, co-CEO and co-founder of CART-The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology, and MNB "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe team up to speculate, prognosticate, and formulate visions of what tomorrow's retail landscape will look like post-coronavirus. In this episode, Hawkins and Coupe look at how supermarket employees have established themselves as being 'essential' during a pandemic and what that means going forward … the growing movement toward making the wearing of a mask a requirement when entering a store … how restaurants and fast feeders are getting into the grocery game and the implications for the future … and how 'we're all in this together' means less to some retailers than others.

Digital strategies aren't just about creating alternatives to the brick-and-mortar shopping experience. Done effectively, they can actually bring people back to the store, while also eliminating customer anonymity, creating rich and actionable data, and deepening relationships between the store and consumer in a way that transcends the simple transaction. Our newest episode, which brings together a terrific panel of experts from a wide range of disciplines, was recorded at Google’s New York City offices during the recent National Retail Federation (NRF) Show.   Our guests: Matt Alexander, co-founder of Neighborhood Goods which has an unusual take on physical retailing with stores in Dallas and New York. Patrick Flanagan, Senior Vice President of Digital Marketing and Strategy for Simon, which has more than 200 properties in 37 states and Puerto Rico. Tom Furphy, CEO and Managing Director of Consumer Equity Partners, a member of the Retail Tomorrow podcast family, and a regular contributor to "The Innovation Conversation" on MNB. Jalna Silverstein, a leader in Ernst & Young’s Transaction Advisory Practice and its Real Estate, Consumer Experience, and Retail strategy.

Past episodes have focused on how technology can have an impact on business models and people's lives. In this edition, however, we drill down to talk about how technology affected one life … and, in fact, makes living that best life possible. We welcome Heidi Dohse, senior program manager in Google's Cloud – Health and Life Sciences division. Dohse's personal and professional story makes for a compelling narrative that is at once provocative and inspiring. Hosted by Kevin Coupe, MorningNewsBeat’s “Content Guy".

Emerging technologies in the health and wellness segment are empowering consumers who more and more are invested in selfcare. Recorded at the GMDC Selfcare Summit in Indianapolis, we talk about the technologies and trends, provide insights into how consumers will interact with these innovations, and offer guidance to companies looking to invest in this burgeoning segment. Our guests for this podcast are members of the regular Retail Tomorrow podcast family: Tom Furphy, CEO and Managing Director of Consumer Equity Partners Nancy Giordano, a strategic futurist who specializes in the post-digital world Sterling Hawkins, co-founder of the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology Hosted by Kevin Coupe, MorningNewsBeat’s “Content Guy”

There is a wellness revolution taking place – driven by enlightened consumer-thinking about selfcare, and startup companies are innovating in that space. In front of a live audience at the recent inaugural Selfcare Summit with GMDC, two such startup companies share how their strategies and tactics are helping retailers perform more effectively and efficiently in selfcare. Our guests: Monte Ahlemeyer, chief revenue officer at Accelerate Dan Bourgault, VP Sales & Business Development at Replenium Hosted by Kevin Coupe, MorningNewsBeat’s “Content Guy”

We dropped in at Groceryshop in Las Vegas for an in-depth discussion of not only the strategies and tactics preoccupying many of the attendees, but the motivations behind the decisions they are making with regard to brand identity and technology – all of which may determine their ability to survive. We sifted through the presentations and exhibits looking for nuggets of wisdom that have the potential to animate and differentiate a retailer. Lisa Sedlar, CEO at Green Zebra Grocery Scott Moses, Managing Director at PJ Solomon Bob Perry, Director of Business Development at NBC Universal Tom Furphy, CEO/Managing Director at Consumer Equity Partners Hosted by Kevin Coupe, Content Guy at MorningNewsBeat

This episode, recorded in front of a live audience at the recent City Immersion in Boston, goes inside the evolving world of LL Bean, the iconic catalog business that has engineered a dramatic and highly successful shift into omni-channel retailing through transformational leadership and a willingness to disrupt from within. Our special guest, Stephen Smith, the first outsider to run the company, offers a unique perspective on how the legacy retailer transformed to a new model that is 21st-century marketing-savvy. Hosted by Kevin Coupe of MorningNewsBeat.

The second of two podcasts recorded on the exhibit floor at the United Fresh Produce Association show in Chicago, we look at how companies go outside their traditional lanes to explore new consumer connections and marketing advantages as they seek fresh (in every sense of that word) levels of relevance and resonance to the shopper. Our two guests are retail executives from different geographic areas but who, as the retail world goes through a series of revolutions, seem to have more in common every day: Greg Corrigan, senior director of produce and floral at Raley’s and chairman of United Fresh Tony Stallone, the “produce guru” at Ahold Delhaize-owned Peapod Hosted by Kevin Coupe of MorningNewsBeat This edition of the Retail Tomorrow podcast is sponsored by Hillphoenix, shaping the future of retail through technology and design innovation.

In this new episode, recorded at GMDC’s annual General Merchandise Conference in Denver, we focus on the ways startups are working to disintermediate traditional retailers, how retailers can turn these innovations to their own advantage, why cultural resistance within companies can be the ultimate enemy of progress, and even brainstorm about a business model that could’ve made Toys R Us relevant again. Panelists:  Patrick Fore, CEO and co-founder of Fleat   Sterling Hawkins, co-founder of the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART)   Hosted by Kevin Coupe, MorningNewsBeat’s “Content Guy”  

In this new episode of the Retail Tomorrow podcast, recorded on the exhibit floor at the annual United Fresh Produce Association show in Chicago, we focus on the the opportunities and challenges that the selfcare movement creates for companies looking to take advantage of it, how retailers can go beyond their four walls and develop an “outpost marketing” strategy, and the degree to which information can be the most compelling marketing tool. Our guests: Michael Stebner, director of culinary for Sweetgreen, the salad-centric fast casual restaurant chain Peter Steinbrick, director of national sales at Melissa’s, an importer and distributor of exotic and specialty fruits and vegetables The host: Kevin Coupe, MorningNewsBeat’s “Content Guy” This edition of the Retail Tomorrow podcast is sponsored by Hillphoenix, shaping the future of retail through technology and design innovation.

In this new edition of the Retail Tomorrow Podcast, we discuss the unique partnership between Kroger and Microsoft, developing cutting edge innovations that will take each of them to the next level when it comes to things like digital shelving, video analytics, sensor networks, temperature tags … and beyond. And here’s the thing – the innovations that emerge are not proprietary, but will be available to any retailer looking to leap into the future! Kevin Fessenden, Senior Product Manager at Sunrise Technology, a Kroger company Chris Dieringer, Senior Director of Industry Solutions for the Retail and CPG Industry at Microsoft Host Kevin Coupe of Morning News Beat

Hooray for Hollywood! This podcast comes to you from the Retail Tomorrow City Immersion in Los Angeles – which may have more storytellers per capita than any other place on earth. We shared visits to Google’s new campus in Playa Vista, in the converted hangar where Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose once resided and some of the most interesting and experiential retail spaces in the city. Panel guests: Cody Rapp, CEO of Calmist, a fascinating and growth-focused retail concept  Lori Schwartz, founder of Tech Cat, which helps marketers shape their narratives in a fast-evolving environment Amanda Solosky, co-founder/CEO at Rival Theory, which is developing game-changing AI capabilities that will impact the relationship marketers have with shoppers Mariya Zorotovich, director of Responsive Retail Strategy and Incubation at Intel Corporation, which helps to make all this possible Hosted by Kevin Coupe, MorningNewsBeat’s “Content Guy”  

Episode five of the Retail Tomorrow podcast offers a deep dive into the promises and challenges inherent in the cannabis industry. While it is still not part of the mainstream retail world, the momentum is there for an inevitable explosion of product, marketing muscle, and profit – especially in the Selfcare segment. Taking us inside the business are two cannabis industry experts: Genevieve Gilbreath, Co-Founder, General Partner, Springdale Ventures Mary Olivar, Managing Director, Greenbelt Capital, Inc. Thanks to host, Kevin Coupe.

Prepare to be dazzled. This Retail Tomorrow podcast comes from the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, and features a provocative look at the changing shape of retailing, a discussion of why retailers should target being “fluid” rather than “frictionless”, and how a new definition of experiential marketing can be a game-changer for retail. Hosted by Kevin Coupe. This episode's guests include: Amber Allen, founder/CEO/Chief Strategist at Double A Labs Becky Banasik, VP of merchant success at DOSH Marie Chevrier, founder/CEO of Sampler Nancy Giordano, the strategic futurist who created Play Big Inc.  

From the floor of the National Grocers Association (NGA) Show in San Diego, podcast host Kevin Coupe engages with a power-panel of retailers and experts in a discussion on the unique technology challenges and opportunities independent retailers are facing. Our guests for episode three include: Lauren Johnson, CEO/President, Newport Avenue Markets Lisa Mangino Swanson, Communications Director, Hugo's Family Marketplace Sterling Hawkins, Co-founder, Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART) Tom Furphy, CEO/Managing Director, Consumer Equity Partners Glen Terbeek, retired and previously Anderson Consulting’s Smart Store Retail Tomorrow is a GMDC initiative which hosts a series of “immersion” conferences where people can deep-dive into not only best-practices, but next-practices in retail. Past event locations include in Silicon Valley, Toronto, Seattle, and New York, with upcoming 2019 events scheduled for Los Angeles and Boston. Learn more at www.retailtomorrow.org

Don’t miss episode two of the Retail Tomorrow podcast where we talk about ‘buy online, pick up in store’. Some call it BOPIS; some call it click-and-collect. No matter what you call it, while this segment of e-commerce presents challenges, it's also an enormous opportunity for retailers who want their brick-and-mortar stores to remain relevant and satisfy an established consumer need. Recorded at Google's New York City office during the recent National Retail Federation show with host Kevin Coupe, we convene a panel of expert to open our eyes to the possibilities: Lee Peterson, EVP of Thought Leadership at WD Partners Ben Conwell, Senior Managing Director & National Practice Leader of the E-commerce Fulfillment Group at Cushman Wakefield Jeff Baskin, VP of Operations at Radius Networks Dror Cohen, Chief Of Staff of Waze Ads at Waze Chris Lydle, Retail innovation Lead for Google   Retail Tomorrow is a GMDC initiative which hosts a series of “immersion” conferences where people can deep-dive into not only best-practices, but next-practices in retail. Past event locations include in Silicon Valley, Toronto, Seattle, and New York, with upcoming 2019 events scheduled for Los Angeles and Boston. Learn more at www.retailtomorrow.com

Join us as we launch the new Retail Tomorrow podcast series dedicated to facilitating and catching behind the scenes conversations on retail innovation. Enjoy our debut episode hosted by Kevin Coupe at the Consumer Electronics Show, where we discuss trends and the larger issue of how retail can develop a culture that embraces disruption. Our guests on this episode include: Morri Chowaiki, Head of Sales and Retail for Daymond John at The Shark Group. Seraj Bharwani, Chief Strategy Officer at AcuityAds. Tom Furphy, CEO and Managing Partner at Consumer Equity Partners. Benjamin Winters, Vice President, Marketing Services & Automation at Ideoclick.   Retail Tomorrow is a GMDC initiative which hosts a series of “immersion” conferences where people can deep-dive into not only best-practices, but next-practices in retail. Past event locations include in Silicon Valley, Toronto, Seattle, and New York, with upcoming 2019 events scheduled for Los Angeles and Boston. Learn more at www.retailtomorrow.com