Welcome back everyone! We are back with a new episode discussing FinTech - what it means, the implications around data, technology and of course regulation because where you have technology, you will find regulation follows. Carl tells us about the futures of FinTech in the retail space and we discuss network effects, benefits FinTech brings to consumers and to retailers, such as cross border transactions so tune into this podcast and follow us on Linkedin to stay up to date!

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This week, Carl and Arta recap the 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday reports! With the season of door-crashing and sale frenzies being something of the past, the future of retail sale periods involves a much higher focus on online deals. Tune in to here some of the figures and some of our perspectives on what level of sale would be enough to gain our attention and whether consumers will need to be weaned off these dramatic sale discounts in future when retailers struggle to sustain them.

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What a whirlwind of a weekend it was in the world of AI with the firing of OpenAI co-founder and CEO, Sam Altman. Days later, he is back but the impacts of this will continue to be felt - what does it mean for the role of governance in AI? This episode, Carl and Arta discuss OpenAI, Microsofts moves, seeing a Facebook like coup happening in 2023, and a lot more.

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This week, the news that Netflix is "adding retail to its roster" is on our minds and Arta asks a big, fat, WHY. Why would this be the move for Netflix and what are they hoping to gain? Tune in to hear Carl's insight - Netflix may hope to connect their digital consumers to physical consumers and use these stores to better understand what consumers want and in this experiential economy, where Taylor Swift has the power to raise the US GDP, Netflix may be in for a ride!

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This week, Arta and Carl get technical and discuss automation and operations in the quick service/fast casual food and beverage industry - think Starbucks, Sweetgreen and Blank Street Coffee. We dive into the effects on employees and Carl raises the point of how saving consumers time is highly desireable and it's not a one size fits all in how consumers act. Tune in to hear more about this topic!

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This week Carl asks Arta about how her first retail industry conference (The Lead Summit in NYC) went! We discuss her key takeaways - how the circular economy, creating community, and innovative brand engagement were all top of mind.

(This episode was recorded in July - but there was a posting error so posting again now)

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This week, we're discussing the breaking news that the Federal Trade Commission has filed a long-time coming lawsuit against Amazon and Carl tells us how this might play out. The FTC's chair Lina Khan wrote about the Amazon Anti-Trust Paradox and it seems there may be an impending shift in whether companies like Amazon can continue to do everything in service of the customer as this idea perhaps is challenged by a view of now acting in service of society more collectively. Tune into this quick episode to get the rundown!

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This week, we're asking Carl to tell us about his job as a retail strategist / prescriptor / consultant and what these mean in practice. Who seeks out a retail strategist? And how long can they help a retailer or brand? Carl tells us about how his experience as a small business founder operating within Costco armed him with the empathy to understand both sides of the coin and this helps him identify solutions in the retail space. Tune in to hear a key question: what skill should an emerging retail leader, like Arta, be looking to develop for success in the future of retail?

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It was about time we spoke about the circular economy and sustainability in retail! As sustainability has become more top of mind in the past decade, retail businesses are thinking of how they can implement the 5 Rs - recycle, refurb, reuse, repair and reduce and we can't deny there is a huge consumer led demand for companies to do better.

Particularly in fashion, there is a huge growth in second hand, resale, and even renting businesses and in this episode we discuss whether consumers are really ready for sustainability or whether they might still hold back.

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This week Arta and Carl take a look at Wilko, a UK mixed-goods retailer, which is shutting down after almost a century in the business. Unfortunately high street staples have been dropping off and this episode explores the likely causes - supply chain issues, a business model that no longer works or just the latest evolution in the world of retail that demands more of our retailers - as well as what happens next..

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