Keeping Commerce Weird

In this episode of Keeping Commerce Weird, Travis Hess sits down with RMW Commerce founder and Watson Weekly host Rick Watson to unpack what happens to digital agencies when AI, tighter budgets, and platform wars hit all at once. Together they unpack everything from doomed pricing models to the real opportunities ahead, while digging into how agencies can move beyond implementation work and actually own business outcomes. It’s part industry therapy session, part agency masterclass, and part roast of the world’s most unhinged professional platform.

Nearly half of consumers wake up already thinking about what to buy — which explains a lot about our overflowing carts and our collective inability to log off TikTok. In this episode of Keeping Commerce Weird, Travis Hess sits down with Future Commerce’s Philip Jackson and Alicia Esposito to make sense of a world where discovery, decision, and purchase now happen in the same scroll. From AI recommendations that hype you up to Gen Z treating malls like retro theme parks, they dig into what happens when culture, community, and commerce fully merge. Learn more in the full report co-authored by Future Commerce and Commerce, New Modes: Redefining Personalization in the Age of AI

In this episode of Keeping Commerce Weird, Travis Hess grabs a barstool with StrategyēM co-founders Bill Friend and Brian Walker — the analyst duo mixing speakeasy vibes with sharp strategy. Expect product enrichment for answer engines, agents that shop for you, and how poetry sharpens positioning. Plus: duck-fat bourbon, milk-clarified cocktails, and a definitive “Aperol? hard no.” Looking for more recipes and riffs? Check out the StrategyēM newsletter, Cocktails and Commerce.

Uh oh, is your shopping cart sentient? In this episode of Keeping Commerce Weird, host Travis Hess and Sharon Gee dive headfirst into the great AI unknown — where data is power, agents are customers, and shopping might just outsmart us all. Tune in to see why in the race to the future, weird is the winning strategy. Plus, don't forget to check out our BigSummit Youtube playlist for more AI insights.

Last year, shoppers spent a staggering $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday — and 2025 is already shaping up to be another wild ride. In this episode of Keeping ⁠Commerce⁠ Weird, host Travis Hess chats with B2C VP Al Williams about her winding road to Commerce and her first-hand survival tips for navigating the holiday rush. Along the way, Travis launches an unapologetic anti–pumpkin spice campaign, we uncover a few questionable holiday gifts from our guest's past, and everyone agrees that weird is the real holiday spirit.Check out our ⁠New Modes⁠ report with Future Commerce, plus explore our featured Commerce customers for gift ideas: ⁠Holliball ⁠and ⁠Skeeball

Last year, shoppers spent a staggering $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday — and 2025 is already shaping up to be another wild ride. In this episode of Keeping ⁠Commerce⁠ Weird, host Travis Hess chats with B2C VP Al Williams about her winding road to Commerce and her first-hand survival tips for navigating the holiday rush. Along the way, Travis launches an unapologetic anti–pumpkin spice campaign, we uncover a few questionable holiday gifts from our guest's past, and everyone agrees that weird is the real holiday spirit.Check out our ⁠New Modes⁠ report with Future Commerce, plus explore our featured Commerce customers for gift ideas: ⁠Holliball ⁠and ⁠Skeeball

In this inaugural episode of Keeping Commerce Weird, Commerce CEO Travis Hess and CMO Michelle Suzuki dive into the wonderfully strange side of modern commerce — where quirky ideas, bold brands, and unexpected customer stories redefine what it means to stand out. From sharing BigSummit conference insights to recounting some of their favorite Commerce customers (cuckoo clocks, anyone?) to discussing and the merits of drinking while ice fishing, Travis and Michelle prove that the future of commerce is anything but ordinary.
For a closer look into this year's BigSummit sessions, explore our Youtube playlist.
Browse this episode's featured merchants: Cattle Visions, Bavarian Clockworks, and Norsland Lefse.