Watson Weekend hosts Rick Watson and Nick Kaplan discuss the retail industry's current state, emphasizing AI's integration into shopping experiences, such as Walmart's partnership with OpenAI. They highlight the rapid innovation driven by AI, including new tools like OpenAI's video creation app, and note the proliferation of AI partnerships across major platforms like Salesforce. 

The episode's guest, Tommaso Tamburnotti, CEO of EasyShip, shares his journey from finance to e-commerce logistics, explaining how EasyShip was founded to simplify the complex challenges of cross-border shipping, especially in emerging markets like Southeast Asia. 

Tamburnotti details the rise of shipping label fraud, where bad actors exploit shipping labels to resell them at a profit, resulting in financial losses for carriers, platforms, and taxpayers. He discusses the types of fraud, its recent increase, and the industry's need for collaborative solutions involving AI and stricter KYC processes. 

The conversation also addresses the underinvestment in U.S. cross-border e-commerce, the impact of regulatory changes such as de minimis reforms, and strategies for brands to expand internationally by enabling global purchases and localizing their operations.

Tamburnotti emphasizes the logistical industry's scalability challenges and its potential for growth once larger tech-driven companies emerge.

The Watson Weekend is sponsored by Mirakl. Growth isn't just about speed; it's about direction. Mirakl gives you the infrastructure to scale. smarter, not just faster, with marketplace, dropship, retail media and a seller platform powered by AI and built for what's next.

Chapters

Welcome to The Watson Weekend - :00:20

Headline Hangover aka Stump the chump - 02:57

Tommaso Tamburnotti introduction -  15:02

Learning in Southeast Asia, complexity and lessons - 17:00

Shipping label fraud - 28:10

The different parcel fraud schemes - 31:08

Who pays for the label fraud? - 35:15

The $150 million scam in 2024 -  35:51

Cross-border e-commerce - 46:24

Show ends - 01:02:25

#watsonweekend #fraud #shipping  #shippinglabelfraud #crossborderecommerce 

The Watson Weekend is produced by  @RMWCommerce .

Subscribe to RMW Commerce YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RMWCommerce

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp