As retail continues to evolve, online marketplaces are booming. Millions of sellers have turned to Amazon Marketplace to grow their retail business. Theo Prodromitis is the owner of Florida-based small business Spa Destinations, and she's become an expert in using Amazon's platform to her advantage. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
How can retailers bring the best of online thinking into the physical world? It’s a big question, but one retailers must tackle to give customers the experience, service and speed they will expect from retail in the future. Healey Cypher of ZIVELO is working to create the kind of tech that brings the advantages of digital into the store. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
Sur La Table is one of the nation’s largest kitchenware retailers and a huge component of the business is its culinary school — over 80 stores have a cooking school in the store taught by resident chefs, and more than 600,000 students annually take advantage of them. CEO Billy May talks about how this strategy helps Sur La Table acquire customers and keep them coming back for more. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
Nicole Panettieri is much more than a retailer – she’s an advocate for small business and her community. As the owner of The Brass Owl, a boutique in the Astoria, Queens neighborhood of New York City, Panettieri exemplifies what it means to be a community retailer that makes a real impact. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
Retail is evolving — gone are the days when a company needed was a good product or service. Now they need to create an experience, a brand and a community. To learn about how the most successful entrepreneurs do this, we talk to JJ Ramberg, the host of MSNBC's “Your Business” and the Been There. Built That. podcast. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
Shopping is no longer about visiting a store to pick up products. Consumers expect a visit to the store to be much more than browsing and checking out. Matt Corey, chief marketing officer for PGA TOUR Superstore joins this episode to discuss how the golf-focused sports store is using technology to design a stand-out experience both online and offline. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
The retail industry loves to talk trends, but SapientRazorfish’s Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg says that many are overhyped. So what will stick? Joining us at Shop.org 2018 in Las Vegas, Goldberg chats about the retail tech trends that will gain momentum in the coming year and why a solution is in sight for the “mobile gap” problem. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
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 ....
Shopping for bras is generally an unpleasant experience — so ThirdLove takes shoppers out of awkward dressing rooms and allows them to shop for underwear at home, using data to create a more personalized shopping experience and better products. Chief Creative Officer Ra’el Cohen shares how ThirdLove is disrupting the bra industry by “taking data and using it in a really personal way.” Learn more at retailgetsreal.com .
Brandless is “unapologetically a brand,” says co-founder and CEO Tina Sharkey, and it’s one specifically designed to appeal to millennials. On its online platform, Brandless carries everything from applesauce to knives for no more than $3, and all products are sustainably manufactured, organic and non-GMO. On this episode, learn how Brandless makes the business model work while also donating a meal to Feeding America for every purchase. Learn more at retailgetsreal.com ....
Back-to-college spending is expected to reach $55 billion this year, and many of those shopping for themselves are members of Generation Z. Katherine Cullen, NRF’s director of retail and consumer insights, discusses trends from NRF’s annual survey of back-to-class shoppers and how this generation of consumers that grew up with the internet and smartphones is shaping retail. Learn more at www.retailgetsreal.com .
Intel is at the forefront of today’s retail revolution, driving the technology that incorporates the best of the physical and digital store. Stacey Shulman, chief innovation officer for the retail solutions division at Intel, discusses Intel’s role in retail and some macro technology trends that affect everyone in retail. Learn more at www.retailgetsreal.com .
Boon Supply is a vertically integrated product company that gives 50 percent of each purchase to various causes and schools. It’s a disruptive new idea in the world of fundraising that already supports over 500 causes and gives $12.5 million to schools annually, and CEO Lily Kanter has some big ideas for how it can leverage capitalism to do better in the world. Learn more at www.retailgetsreal.com .
Julie Averill has been at lululemon athletica for just over a year and is still impressed by how innovative and entrepreneurial the 20-year-old company is. “It truly acts like the startup that it was,” she says. Averill talks about her role as chief technology officer — overseeing the tech that keeps the business running smoothly, from inventory and supply chain to store management and human resources — and opportunities for women to rise to top tech positions. Learn more at www.retailgetsreal.c...
FreshPaper is a simple but powerful innovation that keeps food fresh for up to four times longer, in or out of the fridge. It started as a middle school science project inspired by an Indian home remedy, but now makes a huge impact on food waste in over 180 countries. Founder and inventor Kavita Shukla tells the story behind the product and the difference her company has made in global communities. Learn more at www.nrf.com /retailgetsreal....
Brittany Underwood’s first visit to Uganda as a college student completely changed the course of her life. “I had never witnessed extreme poverty,” she says, and she just wanted to help. Fifteen years later, her nonprofit Akola Project helps hundreds of women through the creation, distribution and sale of handmade jewelry. In this episode, Underwood describes how Akola is on its way to achieving its mission of becoming the leading global retail brand that creates economic opportunity and transfo...
The “do-it-for-me” segment of the home remodeling and renovation industry is worth over $200 billion annually — but it’s fragmented, with no one having the largest percentage of sales revenue between countless individual professionals and small companies. Gary Kusin, chairman and CEO of Treehouse, a sustainable home improvement company, is on a mission to transform the industry and emerge as the market leader. Learn more at www.nrf.com .
In the Spring 2018 Consumer View report, NRF takes a look at how millennial parents, now ages 24-37, are shopping differently than previous generations of moms and dads. NRF’s Head of Consumer Research Katherine Cullen presents the findings to two parents — one a millennial and the other a Gen X-er — to get real-world examples that reveal shifting consumer behavior trends. Listen to learn more about how generational differences are shaping today’s retail. Learn more at www.nrf.com ....
Serving military troops, families and veterans at home and abroad, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service operates more than 2,700 facilities around the world. But when it comes to business, it’s not much different from any other retailer. “You have to innovate to survive,” says Director and CEO Tom Shull. On this episode, he discusses how the Exchange supports the military in all aspects of life and embraces innovation. Learn more at www.nrf.com ....
If businesses and individuals don’t take any steps to proactively protect themselves, they are increasingly at risk online. Theresa Payton, founder of Fortalice Solutions and cybersecurity authority on the CBS show “Hunted”, discusses how old school investigative techniques can be combined with new technology to protect businesses without sacrificing convenience for consumers. Payton also shares tactics that individuals can take to protect their private information. Learn more at www.nrf.com ....
Like many entrepreneurs, Stefanie Botelho created Fitzroy as a solution to a problem she faced: She was buying a lot of gifts for children, but it was tough to find something unique and special. Botelho built a recommendation engine to address the issue and adapted it for retailers as an online marketplace. Botelho’s platform now helps niche stores find emerging, independent brands that want to grow. On this episode, she discusses how it all came about. Learn more at www.nrf.com ....
Sara Whiffen loves to shop, but was running out of room in her closet. Applying the sales model she saw in the auto industry to fashion, Whiffen devised a way to keep her wardrobe looking fresh. Her tech startup Rohvi helps retailers like Amy Gardner, owner of fashion boutique Scarpa, give customers a way to affordably refresh their looks by returning previously worn items for store credit. Hear how the partnership is a win-win for both retailers and customers on this episode of Retail Gets Real...
When co-owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine took over Politics and Prose seven years ago, they took on a big challenge: Growing an independent bookstore to adapt with evolving customer needs while continuing to serve the community that has supported the store for 34 years. On this episode, Graham discusses why and how they are expanding the store and how Politics and Prose engages communities throughout Washington, D.C.
After over a century, Levi’s is still making waves. Brand President James ‘JC’ Curleigh explains how the company went through a reinvention to achieve its vintage and cool status. Keeping the core customer in mind, Levi’s never stops innovating. On this episode, Curleigh demonstrates the newest collaboration with Google, a denim jacket that’s far more than it looks.
Forrester Retail Analyst Sucharita Kodali knows a thing or two about how the retail industry has evolved over the years. For one, more brands plan to open stores versus close them this year. On this episode, she presents findings from the 2018 NRF-Forrester research report “State of Retailing Online” to crush the myth of the “retail apocalypse.”
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.
Ajay Kori knew nothing about the floral business. But after too many bad experiences when ordering flowers online, he devised a brand-new supply chain, from the growing process through delivery within hours of an order. On this episode of Retail Gets Real, UrbanStems CEO and co-founder Kori talks about how the startup is upending the online flower industry — and how it turned a disastrous Valentine’s Day into an advantage.
What do Warby Parker and STORY have in common? Entrepreneurs with a keen eye for innovation. Warby Parker’s Neil Blumenthal and STORY’s Rachel Shechtman come from different backgrounds, but they both built brands with a fresh take on retail. In this episode, the two friends chat about building a brand around a crazy idea, and how retailers can evolve with the changing retail landscape.
Dream job doesn’t even begin to describe Danielle DiFerdinando’s career. The young fashion designer started the Danielle Nicole brand of handbags as a student and has grown the business through partnerships with retailers like Nordstrom and HSN. In this episode, DiFerdinando talks about the thrill of working on a line of Disney and Harry Potter handbags, being named one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 and what drives her creative spirit.
After 25 years in business, DSW is re-evaluating its strategy and adopting new retail concepts to skip ahead of the competition. CEO Roger Rawlins and CFO Jared Poff join Retail Gets Real to discuss their recent successes and where the reinvention is taking the company. Hear how DSW is fighting the “retail is dead” myth and demonstrating how the company is alive and kicking.
