Are the days of product hype, Black Friday rushes, and format innovation behind us? Phillip, Brian, and Alicia hold Shoptalk Fall conversations to the light of agentic culture and predict an increasingly inevitable flattening of tangible novelty. PLUS: Alicia brings on-the-ground insight and breaks down key highlights and impactful sessions from Shoptalk Fall. 

• "Black Friday is every day" has killed the magic of seasonal shopping - constant sales and price monitoring tools have transformed holiday anticipation into year-round algorithmic optimization, stripping away the communal excitement of traditional retail events
• We're trapped in efficiency over joy - consumers secretly crave the experiential magic of shopping but have locked themselves into frictionless "couch commerce" that prioritizes speed over satisfaction, leaving us operationally optimized but emotionally empty
• In-person retail needs to maintain its experiential advantage - many stores have become fulfillment centers where online order carts block aisles and associates are too busy pulling digital orders to provide the human connection that should differentiate physical retail
• Home Depot's efficiency wake-up call - Anne Marie Campbell revealed how using sales associates to fulfill online orders degraded in-store service, which inspired the retailer to create a separate team just for fulfilling online orders and ultimately protect the quality of service and experience 
• “Creators are basically the new Black Friday.” – Phillip
• “It feels like we’ve come to the end of product…People used to be crazy about TVs as an innovation product. Now, there’s no interest at all. You can get an 80” HDTV for $500. We’ve peaked at the end of format for a lot of these products.” – Brian
• “‘We’re here on earth to fart around.’ – Kurt Vonnegut” – Brian Lange

• Read our Shoptalk Fall recap on Insiders
• New Modes 2025 Report
• Salish Matter at the American Dream Mall

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Digital Shelf Institute’s Lauren Livak Gilbert joins us in the future: By 2030, successful commerce professionals will function as orchestrators rather than specialists. This transformation requires organizations to shift from hierarchical pyramid structures to more dynamic, amoeba-like models that can pivot rapidly to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. 

P.S. Listen to part two of this conversation on Unpacking the Digital Shelf. Catch Digital Shelf Institute’s report, Reinventing the Organization for Omnichannel Success.

• Stop asking where ecommerce sits - The right question is how to fundamentally change how organizations work to match how consumers actually shop across all channels
• Commerce leaders must become orchestrators - Future success requires professionals who can coordinate across sales, marketing, supply chain, and customer experience rather than operating in functional silos
• AI enables strategic thinking - By automating remedial tasks like content creation and competitive analysis, AI frees up human talent for higher-value strategic work and cross-functional collaboration
• Chief Growth Officers represent true omnichannel leadership - Unlike Chief Digital Officers (which were transitional roles), CGOs who own the entire consumer journey represent the permanent future of commerce organization
• Joint business planning must integrate all functions - Brands showing up as one unified company to retail partners will become essential for maintaining competitive advantage and accessing new opportunities
• [00:16:39] "We shouldn't be asking, ‘where does ecommerce sit?’ We should be asking, ‘how are we fundamentally changing how we work to match the way that the consumer shops?’" -- Lauren
• [00:12:01] "Instead of being a digital marketer and like a traditional marketer, you're just a marketer who understands digital in store and every single other channel, including social commerce that you're seeing your consumer shop at." -- Lauren
• [00:23:47] "The true definition of omnichannel is having a leader who is accountable for the entire consumer journey. That's what a Chief Growth Officer is." -- Lauren
• [00:42:46] "Because commerce is culture." -- Lauren

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Ingrid Millman Cordy returns to Future Commerce after her transition from Nestle Health Science to Chief Marketing Officer at HigherDose, where she's transforming infrared therapy and biohacking technologies into accessible wellness lifestyle products for everyone. Phillip, Brian, and Ingrid explore the intersection of intuitive wellness practices with data-driven marketing, the evolution of brand spirituality, and how premium wellness brands are finding their place between science and the metaphysical.

• Intuition Over Analytics: HigherDOSE allocates 15% to 20% of its budget towards experimental campaigns, balancing performance metrics with gut-driven brand decisions like Manhattan truck wraps
• Science Meets Spirit: The brand combines NASA-developed technologies with frequency-based wellness, hiring team members who have both data analysis skills and Reiki training
• Premium Democratization: At-home biohacking devices prove more cost-effective than recurring spa treatments, making exclusive wellness technologies accessible for daily use
• Post-Data Wellness: Consumers’ shift from tracking-obsessed biohacking toward intuitive, feeling-based self-care reflects a broader cultural movement that the brand embraces 
• [15:24] "We take a much more intuitive approach to wellness. I think the masculine biohacking world is very much about tracking your statistics and measurement... But we are trying more and more to relearn this type of methodology so it’s a lot more in tune with what we need." -- Ingrid
• [42:02] "The beauty of HigherDOSE is that we are actually where science meets the woo, right? There is tons and tons of scientific evidence that's been studied about the technologies that we sell." -- Ingrid
• [27:25] "It's funny to take a premium––really, frankly, elitist––brand and call it democratizing. But I agree. I think there's a lot of democratizing qualities about HigherDOSE." -- Ingrid
• [30:05] "When user-generated content started becoming popular, I was very deep in my premium luxury fashion and beauty headspace, where I was a late adopter. And I called it LGC, loser-generated content." -- Ingrid

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While everyone obsesses over AI shopping assistants, the real commerce transformation is happening in other spaces. Steve Norris from Logicbroker unpacks how Gen Alpha's $67 weekly spending habits, Roblox's 380 million users, and agentic tools are forcing retailers to reshape their operational backbones. 

• Loyalty has evolved from transactional to operational - Modern consumers demand authentic brand experiences over points and discounts, rewarding companies that consistently deliver on their stated values
• The supply chain is the overlooked frontier - While everyone focuses on AI shopping assistants, the transformative opportunity lies in agentic order routing, returns processing, and risk scoring
• Inventory visibility remains the ultimate blocker - Real-time visibility across distribution centers, stores, and supplier networks is still the foundational challenge preventing true omnichannel success
• "There are people that are buying now that aren't humans... That's just a weird statement when you say that out loud." - Steve Norris
• "We're moving from this transactional loyalty to more of this operational loyalty... which is like a brand's ability to be able to flawlessly execute on their position and their story." - Steve Norris
• "I used to hand-code web pages in Notepad.exe... I think we're in the notepad.exe stage of AI." - Phillip Jackson

• Learn more about Logicbroker
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Klaviyo has become the de facto personal CRM for eCommerce. Ben Jackson, Managing Director for EMEA, joins us to unpack how brands move beyond campaign calendars into relationship-building at scale. We get into rocketship growth, why attribution is still broken, and how Castore’s multi-instance CRM model points to a future where both/and thinking beats false trade-offs.

• The marketer's identity crisis: Evolving from channel specialists to customer relationship managers orchestrating holistic experiences.
• Scale meets personalization: Castore manages 32 Klaviyo instances while maintaining intimate relationships through strategic automation.
• Attribution's cultural revolution: How brands are moving beyond "either/or" to "both/and" so they can measure immediate performance while building long-term value.
• Channel affinity intelligence: AI identifies not just preferred channels, but optimal timing to eliminate fatigue.
• "There's not many brands that you would get tattooed on yourself. But if you're a sports fan, if you're a supporter of a national team or a football club... that means you really care about the experience you have with that brand." - Ben Jackson on Castore's passionate customer base
• "Rather than our reliance being quite heavy on sending out a load of email blasts to try and tick revenue targets... Let's tell those stories. Let's give the customer who we know is already incredibly passionate a reason to be loyal." - Max Holland (Castore) on content-driven relationship building
• "If you're just following the data, you're following the past. If you're following the competition, you're following what everybody else has done, and it's really difficult to differentiate if you're gonna do that." - Ben Jackson on creative marketing philosophy
• "Some of the impact you have as a marketer today, typically you take credit for the success in that moment. But some of it is about building that brand, building that customer experience... that doesn't just last for that point of one transaction. It kind of lasts over years." - Ben Jackson on long-term value thinking

• Castore - Athletic wear brand managing 32 Klaviyo instances for partner teams and clubs
• Rory Sutherland - Behavioral economist discussing explore/exploit marketing philosophy
• K London - Klaviyo's European conference with 1,500 attendees and waiting list

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In a retail landscape obsessed with speed and conversion, Anthropologie has mastered something far more elusive: cultural alchemy. How do you transform a fleeting TikTok trend into a cross-category empire spanning everything from ceramic lamps to cashmere sweaters? COO Candan Erenguc reveals the operational artistry behind turning cultural moments into commerce gold, and why connection always trumps conversion. 

• Community over conversion - Building authentic customer relationships drives long-term success more than short-term sales optimization
• Cultural instinct beats data - When responding to viral moments and cultural trends, intuition often signals opportunities before data can catch up
• Choice trumps speed - Customers value optionality in how, when, and where they receive products more than just fast delivery
• Localized curation wins - Store-specific assortments based on neighborhood demographics and customer needs drive expansion success
• Cross-category trend application - Scaling cultural moments across diverse product categories (from eccentric lamps to dog sweaters) maximizes trend participation
• [00:03:13] "[Our merchant teams] are ahead of the curve, predicting trends. And if I may be so bold, they're influencing trends." - Candan
• [00:05:53] "It’s symbiotic. Our goal is to give customers what they want. But I think …sometimes they don't know yet what they want." - Candan
• [00:20:04] "Connection over conversion. You build the connection, everything else will come." - Candan
• [00:16:41] "I don't think that the most important thing is speed. I think the most important thing is choice." - Candan
• [00:19:43] "We're also at a time where people are much more savvy than we give them credit for." - Phillip

• Listen to Mindy Massey, Anthropologie Global Director of Stores, on the latest season of Step By Step.

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Retail realist Kate Fannin joins Future Commerce to explore how today’s leading brands are redefining the store experience. Spearheading Field Notes, Kate is analyzing in-store experiences at SKIMS, Swatch, Rituals, and more. In this episode, she explains why Return on Experience is becoming a critical metric, how pop-ups act as brand laboratories, and what makes some stores unforgettable while others fall flat.

• Return on Experience (ROE) trumps immediate conversion: Great retail experiences build trust and engagement over multiple visits rather than forcing day-one purchases. Customers may visit four or ten times before converting, especially for luxury or investment pieces.
• Know your brand story—and tell it consistently: The most successful stores have crystal-clear brand identity. Swatch excels because they know exactly who they are across generations, while other brands confuse customers by mixing messages or defaulting to celebrity associations.
• Sensorial brands must commit fully: Stores like Rituals in Dublin create immersive experiences (offering green tea, trial sinks, strong scents) that keep customers engaged, while half-measures feel clinical and forgettable like many current luxury retailers.
• Physical retail is about experimentation, not just sales: Pop-ups and flagship stores serve as brand laboratories where companies test market reception, gather customer data, and create shareable moments—even when immediate sales aren't the primary goal.
• "People buy stuff, they buy things, but they pay for an experience." - Kate Fannin
• "If you like their stuff, go online"—the worst possible thing someone could say about a store experience. - Kate Fannin on SKIMS
• "I wish marketing would change their name to engagement because that's really what companies and brands and stores should be focused on." - Kate Fannin

• Field Notes: Future Commerce's new premium retail analysis product measuring in-store return on experience
• SKIMS flagship store: Clinical Fifth Avenue showroom experience
• Swatch Times Square: Interactive, multigenerational retail experience with hands-on elements

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Nicole Tapscott, Chief Commercial Officer at Knix, dissects the anatomy of category disruption in an era where authenticity trumps algorithms. Drawing from two decades of scaling high-growth consumer brands like Casper and Mejuri, Tapscott reveals how Knix has redefined the intimate apparel industry into a movement of destigmatization through authentic celebrity partnerships. The conversation unpacks strategic insights on navigating the post-DTC landscape, premium retail expansions, data-driven personalization, and omnichannel orchestration—essential intelligence for building next-generation brands that thrive on vulnerability. PLUS: We talk Knix’s latest campaign with Kristen Bell and the first U.S. store opening in New York City.

• Next-gen brands prioritize channel agnosticism over DTC exclusivity - Success comes from meeting customers where they are, whether that's TikTok Shop, Nordstrom, or intimate retail experiences designed for vulnerable conversations.
• Cultural barrier-breaking requires authentic celebrity partnerships - Kristen Bell's decade-long customer relationship with Knix created campaign authenticity that audiences could immediately sense, proving that real relationships trump transactional endorsements.
• Product innovation emerges from customer vulnerability - Knix's best product developments, from ultra-thin technology to natural fiber collections, stem directly from customer feedback about their most personal needs and experiences.
• Physical retail serves emotional commerce needs - In categories requiring trust and education, stores become "vulnerability corners" where trained staff facilitate intimate conversations that e-commerce cannot replicate.
• Mission-driven marketing survives economic pressure - As consumer spending tightens, brands with clear purpose and authentic intention will outperform those focused solely on transactions.

• "DTC is no longer a differentiator. It's just table stakes. These brands are no longer defined by how they sell their product, but why they sell, and how they integrate into a customer's life." - Nicole Tapscott [00:08:35]
• "The best campaigns are based on a true insight and great representation... someone that really represents that message in a real authentic way." - Nicole Tapscott [00:15:51]
• "Listen to the customer. They're usually telling you the answer... The if you build it, they will come mentality of former businesses does not work. You actually have to build it where they want it." - Nicole Tapscott [00:51:16]

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In luxury resale, customer relationships can span decades as buyers become sellers and vice versa. Geronimo Chala, Chief Client Officer at Rebag, explains how the brand has evolved from a simple buyout model into a comprehensive lifestyle platform that prioritizes community over transactions. From developing membership models that grow customer funds by 27% annually to creating experiences where customers connect with each other rather than just the brand, Rebag's approach demonstrates the future of loyalty in an omnichannel world.

• Community over transactions: Rebag shifted from viewing customers as individual transactions to building "a sense of community" where customers feel they "own the company" through membership and engagement models. - Geronimo [08:30]
• No channel separation: "There really is no separation between e-commerce and the physical stores" because customers naturally move between digital and physical touchpoints in their shopping journey. - Geronimo [05:31]
• Person-first data collection: Rather than focusing on brands and colors, Rebag captures customers' "internal self, their core beliefs" and lifestyles to create meaningful connections before any transaction occurs. - Geronimo [17:44]
• Curated solutions, not overwhelming options: When you have too much to offer, "we have to first get to know that customer, collect that data from them to then evaluate" which services will be most impactful, like "a concierge" at a resort. - Geronimo [23:29]

• Charles Gorra (CEO and Founder, Rebag)
• Elizabeth Lane (Chief Marketing Officer, Rebag)
• Partnership with Macy's Inc. and Bloomingdale's

• Learn more about Endear
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