Future Commerce

Being an Informed Consumer Requires Recognizing Disinformation 

• Searching the web can be a bit confusing these days with the addition of third party sellers, in a recent Washington Post article, the author stated “These days navigating Amazon, Walmart and Google's maze of third party sellers or judging hip looking social media ads requires the same kind of skills as identifying misinformation and conspiracy theories.” Phillip thinks this is the quote of the year.
• Mainstream media is coming to attack in spreading misinformation. With consumers not knowing how to determine a good product, it's creating bad commerce centered experiences. 
• “When you get good at identifying what a good product is and what a bad product is, you're actually building a skill that's applicable for a lot of other things.” -Brian
• Maybe things that are fun are actually just fear, uncertainty, and doubt. We fear that something will happen (i.e you fear the supply chain falling) which creates a lot of uncertainty, in the end creating a pit of doubt. But what if there’s a way to fix it? 
• Shipping has been experiencing troubles on all ends for over a year now, and as we approach the holiday season it's going to get worse again. Our research for the same products at different places of the next brand up, could result in losing brand loyalty. 

Associated Links:

• Washington Post article
• Cometeer
• Step by Step 
• Emmett Shine episode
• Get our latest report: Nine by Nine
• Subscribe to Insiders

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“If only there were a way to sample new products... in a warehouse of some sort?”

• If you’re not an influencer or active on social media, how can you sample a product as a consumer? How cool would it be if there was a way to get into a warehouse with every product available for sample! 
• “We need the raw, realistic community members, not influencers, sharing the content and saying, "these are my thoughts and this is how much better it is.’’ The people need to hear that. “-Kendall
• As consumers we often chase the newest luxury items, because we enjoy it. But we also chase experiences. What if we chased a different experience because we enjoyed doing things differently? 
• “It’s not just the product that’s the whole experience, but the ritual behind it. If you can create an experience at home and you’re willing to trade that off, there’s an equating experience behind it. ” -Brian
• Brands that are exceeding are creating incredible customer experiences. From ordering, to social media presence, to the delivery at their door. When a brand creates an experience, they create loyalty. 
• The two major modalities that consumers fall into are seeking something new or stocking up on something trusted. Consumers find themselves behaving in both modes in the same category, but with different brands. 
• “Part of the experience of doing business with a customer is to try to get them to purchase on the terms they want and not the terms you want them to.” -Phillip

Associated Links:

• Learn more about Kendall Dickieson, the FlexibleFoodie
• Brands mentioned in this episode: Gooey, Dandies, Cometeer, Canopy
• Our episode with Pashmina Lalchandani from Bar & Cocoa
• The Senses piece on $32 PB&J and the Luxury inflection point
• Original research by Rightpoint: Stocking Up and Seeking Out
• Get our latest report: Nine by Nine
• Subscribe to Insiders

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

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Bankruptcy and financial peril is the rite of passage for the Mall brand.

• The return of mall brands is upon us. But how did they make the turnaround? By taking risks, for one. Partnering with Kanye could be a mistake, or stroke of genius to take the storied brand back into the premium category and pivot away from availability to scarcity.
• “I actually see the partnership between Kanye and GAP as actually the start of the Gap turnaround. I mark that as the moment. From a cultural standpoint and brand standpoint, the partnership with GAP and Kanye was the turnaround. It marks the beginning for me.” -Brian 
• Brands like Old Navy are making a comeback by being more size inclusive with their recent campaign, Bodequality: offering all sizes, 0-30, XS-4X for all the same price. 
• “What Old Navy is doing is incredible and inclusive. It's the kind of thing that you need right now in order to make a turnaround. And in a time where I think, you know, folks are willing to spend money.” -Phillip
• And yet another win for a GAP brand, an incredible execution in partnerships comes from Athleta. Their partnership with Simone Biles and Allyson Felix is timely and relevant to our culture. 
• GAP is continuing to kill the game when it comes to partnerships. With recent news in getting Athleta partnered and being sold in REI. 
• “I've seen retailers miss the mark in the past. The fact that these storied mall apparel retailers are doing such an amazing job at sort of reframing who they are for this moment in the culture is impressive. But can they keep it up?” -Phillip 
• Malls aren’t dying, in fact they’re more alive than ever. With the recent trends of brand partnerships, malls will continue to make a comeback. 

Associated Links:

• Listen to Episode 89: New Commerce
• King Stakh’s Wild Hunt
• Phillip’s Twitter post
• CNN article
• The Business of Aspiration 
• Want to read more about the mall comeback? Check out our recent Insiders #102: Mall Luxury Experience 
• Get on the list for Nine by Nine! 
• Subscribe to Insiders! 

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

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DTC Comes of Age in Grocery

• Grocery is one of the most complicated forms of retail that exists, leading it to be the one of the biggest forms of retail. 
• “We talk a lot about retail. We talk a lot about CPG. And I mean, we talk a lot about eCommerce just generally, which a lot of focus of the scale of eCommerce has been in the direct to consumer movement over the last couple of years. But grocery is where it's at right now.” -Phillip
• The pandemic was in many ways a great accelerant for grocery. It’s allowed grocery retailers to evolve in many areas, including eCommerce grocery shopping. Grocery isn’t turning back to the way it was before.
• Because of this acceleration, grocers are innovating across all aspects of the business from eCommerce (which was virtually nonexistent just 5 years ago for most grocers), to supply chain, to adapting to changes in customer demand and expectations.
• Grocers are meeting the evolution of customer expectations by providing higher levels of personalization… which is also doubling as advertisement for products. 
• Why did Albertsons close their marketplace during the pandemic?? Literally no one actually knows and it wasn’t answered adequately in their session. Apparently, according to Chris Rupp it’s “just not who we [Albertsons] are.”
• Basically the whole world is just run from csv files. 
• The web marketplace is one of the hardest things to run, in fact it's almost impossible. In order to execute you have to have a product mindset innovation. 
• “There's been a lot of innovation and not just that at the retail level of grocery, but also at the product CPG sort of level of grocery as well. Over the past 18 months, we've seen a lot of new players in this market, and they’re all trying to get into the physical store.” -Brian

Associated Links:

• Phillip’s Tweet about Groceryshop
• Get on the list for our Nine by Nine report...coming soon!
• We provide the insights you need to shape the future of your retail business. Subscribe to our Insiders email. 

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We examine the 2021 retail trade calendar and review Retail X, the first retail trade industry event to take place since the start of the pandemmy. ALSO: The rise of the headless platforms, Telfar TV launch makes waves, and we’ve rolled out a new podcast brand identity. Listen now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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Our newest consumer research and trends report is here. NINE BY NINE uncovers the nine categories, and 81 brands, which are changing our world for the better. Get on the list to get an advance copy of the report. Launching next week. www.ninebynine.report

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On Headless, Influencers, and Live Streaming

• What does digital marketing attribution look like if there are no cookies? And what are people doing in response to this? Frantic behavior. 
• “Frantic behavior can be exciting because that means there is opportunity to be part of the solution.” - Gary
• Product market fit is beginning to become influencer fit. Consumers want to buy from experiences and from influencers they trust. Having a “genuine influencer” promote something to a consumer doesn’t take a lot of convincing.
• The law of platforms is always evolving. 
• “The platform always evolves where its ecosystem performs R&D for it, and then it makes its strategic bets and product roadmap based on what's getting market share, and in this case, capital allocation.” -Phillip

Associated Links:

• Learn more about Gary Benerofe
• Check out our interview with Lomi’s Matt Bertulli
• The Cookiepocolypse and the Zero-Party Data Opportunity with Ben Parr
• Our interview with Liyia Wu from ShopShops
• Subscribe to Insiders
• Sign up for the prerelease of Nine By Nine
• End of episode Com Truise tunes

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

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Accounting Platforms for Business Data that have Climate Impact

• SustainaBase is a software program that helps manage the carbon footprint of a company, akin to an accounting platform. SuistainaBase tracks carbon emissions, as well as water and waste metrics, taking data and science calculations to organizations to create meaningful actions.
• “Sustainability is important and it's something that we should be tracking like the way we track dollars. We should be checking to see if we're really making the reductions that we want to be making and the impacts that we want to be reducing.” -Gaida
• “Project Gigaton is a Walmart program, it's a big audacious program with a very meaningful goal. They’re working to avoid a billion metric tons of greenhouse gasses from their supply chain by the year 2030.” -Holly 
• Smaller companies may see some challenges in the sustainability approach but starting somewhere and starting small helps add to the change of creating meaningful actions. Starting these efforts from the beginning can be easier than starting them mid way with a larger company. 
• Carbon accounting can start anywhere but it has to start somewhere. One person isn't going to make a change but a community, the government, and a company working together will. 
• Ways decision makers can start small is by building opportunities for change within their organization, building community efforts, and sourcing companies that are working towards sustainability. 

Associated Links:

• Learn more about Gaida Zirkelbach, Holly Lichtenfeld, and SustainaBase. 
• Well Made podcast by Stephan Ango
• Sucharita Kodali joins the Future Commerce pod 
• Holly’s 3 C’s to Supply Chain Accountability 

Want to hear what else is next in commerce? Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce 

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God-Like Technology 

• Pattern is a family of purposeful brands providing the essentials to make, shape, and grow a home- the foundation of daily life.
• The times we are living in are culturally defining. People have a deep ingrained need for personal and internal connection, it's bigger than digital behavior, it's deeper.
• “There is a future where people are going to find some way to silence the digital noise” -Phillip
• With so many individual merchants comes a lot of fragmentation, similarly to how markets work there is disruption and consolidation, there's efficiencies to be found in all the fragmentations. 
• “In interpersonal relationships, it's good to work on your relationships, but in startups it’s good to lean into your strengths.” -Emmett
• There is going to be a huge graduation in DTC and see it become a world of diverse products being made in a very quality way to specific communities. 
• “Things are about to get more interesting in eCommerce. There are going to be smart and targeted smaller exits that will result in professional grade community specific products.” - Brian 

Associated Links:

• Learn more about Emmett Shine and Pattern
• Subscribe to Insiders 
• Check out our latest report: Service Is The New Storefront 
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce! 

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

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Facing the Cookiepocalypse

• Octane AI is the zero-party data platform for Shopify and eCommerce brands. 
• “We help stores and brands collect super valuable insights on their customers in a very direct opt-on kind of way and use that information to personalize the shopping experience.” -Ben
• How can brands bounce back from the cookiepocalypse? Stop depending on others and own your data.
• “Stop renting the relationship that you have with your customer from Facebook and Google and other platforms and collect data and build your own data profile, your own buyer profile of your customer… Octane AI is entirely built around collecting data and getting more explicit opt-ins and leveraging that data for better conversion rates and better personalization.” - Ben
• The beauty of zero-party data is that brands can leverage it in any way because their customers voluntarily gave it to them.
• “A salesperson’s job is not to persuade, a salesperson is not a persuader. A salesperson is a facilitator of next steps.” -Phillip 
• When looking at all these tools and apps we use, they shouldn’t be viewed as methods of persuasion, but as facilitators for the next steps.
• “The center of great AI is collecting data and having great data sets.” -Ben

Associated Links:

• Learn more about Ben Parr and Octane AI
• The Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns
• Melanie Travis episodes:
  • [Step by Step] How Does CX Drive Lifetime Value?
  • “People Aren’t Buying Into A Story, They’re Buying Into A Community”
• Subscribe to Insiders
• Check out our latest report: Service Is The New Storefront 
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

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