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Every retailer preparing for autonomous delivery is watching the wrong vehicle; the real disruption isn't a drone or a sidewalk bot; it's the driverless car already parked in the customer's driveway.  These autonomous vehicles are the next curbside pickup agents. But what happens when dozens of unmanned vehicles all show up for the same six parking stalls at the same time? Join Shelley and Ben Seidl, CEO and Co-Founder of Autolane, as they discuss the potential crisis brewing at malls and stores for managing these fleets of cars. Major retail landlords, including Simon Property Group, Federal Realty, and Jamestown, are already installing driverless parking infrastructure across properties in Austin, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Jose, and beyond.  Planning ahead is never too early, and retailers need to be ready for new wave of autonomous deliveries.

Special Guest: Ben Seidl, CEO & Co-Founder, Autolane 

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Who's watching the lettuce? The cyclospora outbreak has 1,600+ confirmed, and 7,000 suspected victims. Americans are panicked about fresh produce, and Taco Bell has taken the toll from its Taylor Farms lettuce supplier. Join TRR contributors Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru and Warren Shoulberg, TRR Hit or Miss Editor, as they review the crisis facing retailers and American consumers. There is a deeper problem behind the crisis; FDA gave Taylor Farms the all-clear, only to reverse itself.  Listen in to learn how this food crisis isn't just a lettuce story, it's a preview of what happens when our government agencies are understaffed and unable to stay ahead of a parasitic outbreak. Phil and Warren reveal why Costco and Walmart have their own safety standards, how retailers can protect their customers, and why the industry should step up to overcompensate for compromised government agencies. 

Guests: Phil Lempert, TRR Contributor, the Supermarket Guru & Warren Shoulberg, TRR Hit or Miss Editor, Home Expert

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Growing dependence on AI has revealed how risk and trust are influencing customer shopping behavior. Join Shelley and Shiv Gupta, Chief Analytics and Solutions Officer at Volute Group, as they explore how AI is used as a confessional when consumers trust agents more than websites, data collectors, and even other humans. They also discuss why unprompted data is a rich information mining opportunity for retailers, plus how to use AI to determine a customer’s lifetime value, intent and probability of purchasing decisions, and how to leverage branding with unemotional, impartial AI feedback. Shiva believes, “Niche retailers are going to do a whole lot better than they've ever done before because they can define the product, audience, and service with a lot more clarity because they don't have a large spread of assortment.” Find out why what you say about your brand and your product may be less influential than what others are saying. As Shiv says, “The misconception is that if you speak louder, you’ll be heard better; but you need to speak smarter.” 

Special Guest: Shiv Gupta, Chief Analytics & Solutions Officer, Volute Group.  

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AI continues to make headline news throwing retailers into disruption. But the real news is that retail is in crisis and it’s in the physical store. Join Shelley and Mark Cohen, TRR contributor and former Director of Columbia University's Retail Studies Program, as they challenge the industry's obsession with technology and make an unapologetic case for getting back to basics. Listen and learn from a blunt, provocative conversation about the state of retail; it may make you feel uncomfortable, but it is an unvarnished assessment of how an obsession with AI is incapable of replacing intuition, vision, leadership, and the unpredictable human behavior that drives the retail industry.

Special Guest: Mark Cohen. TRR Contributor, former Director of Columbia University's Retail Studies Program, Retail CEO Veteran

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The biggest threats to retail are hiding in plain sight. And the biggest problems facing retailers are caused by not asking the right questions. This is not convenient management theory; it is missing the key signals that are reshaping the retail industry. Join Shelley and David Katz, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Randa Apparel and Accessories, as they challenge why reading the headlines is not the same as understanding what those headlines mean and why they matter. David’s gray swan model reveals how key trends are bellwethers for significant shifts. Listen and learn why boomers in America, GLP-1s’ resizing of America, climate risk, and supply chain concentration are trigger events that retailers need to pay attention to.  This conversation is surprising and provocative, and a call to action for critical scenario planning and foresight.

Special Guest: David Katz, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Randa Apparel & Accessories

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Everyone thinks AI will replace the workforce. But that’s the wrong assumption. The real question is what human work will become more valuable once machines handle the basics.  Join Shelley and Ron Thurston, author of Retail Pride and Human Pride and a 30-year retail veteran across Apple, Gap, Tory Burch, and Saint Laurent, as they challenge the automation narrative that most retail leaders are getting wrong. Learn how to strengthen data and insights with AI while humans provide the essential judgment. Making the distinction between automation and judgment is how to determine the best AI technology to invest in. Listen and learn how human memory and pride are the gold standards for ensuring brand trust. 

Guest: Ron Thurston, Strategic Advisor and author, Human Pride 

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The weakest link in most data strategies is the human factor; it’s the team members who can’t agree on measuring what matters. Add to that, communications often break down in the best tech solutions to deploy and how to integrate them to prevent data fragmentation. Join Shelley and Tim Shea, Founder and CEO of Latticework Insights, as they unpack why culture, not code, decides whether a retailer's next analytics dollar will be profitable. Fast facts: Agentic commerce is already filling shopping carts before customers reach a retailer's site, and most brands have no real lever to influence which products an AI agent selects. Plus, organic search visibility is collapsing as AI overviews and sponsored results dominate the page, pushing traditional discovery to page two or three. Listen and learn how to be a better data strategist with analytics that are evaluated with the same rigor as marketing spend, as a return on investment rather than an obligatory expense. 

Special Guest: Tim Shea, CEO and Founder Latticework Insights 

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AI search is growing at over 300 percent while traditional browser search is declining. Most retailers and brands are completely unprepared for what that means for their search visibility. Join Shelley and Heather Holmes, Founder of Publicity for Good, as they unpack how brands need to think like their customers and understand how they use agentic search engines including ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Key signals: Consumers are bypassing a brand website, asking AI for recommendations and going directly to purchase. Over 90 percent of what AI surfaces in search results comes from earned media, not paid advertising; brands cannot buy their way to the top of an AI search result. And credibility through legitimate reviews, third-party features, directory listings, and high-domain-authority publications all influence how AI ranks a brand. Listen and learn how to figure out this complex AI paradigm.

Special Guest: Heather Holmes, Founder of Publicity for Good 

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As organized crime gets bolder and more sophisticated, so do the tools that retailers can deploy to stop criminals in their tracks.  ORC has become a $112 billion annual loss for retailers with mass theft feeding fencing operations across a retail enterprise. Every retailer needs to be concerned about what these gangs are up to, how they're infiltrating their organizations and impacting not just their profitability, but also the safety of their customers and their employees. It has gotten so flagrant that 90 percent of frontline workers say they’ve had situations in the store that make them feel unsafe. Join Shelley and Gary Sankri, Retail Lead at Esri, as they discuss risk assessment and reveal the strategies and forensics tools retailers can use to reverse this ORC tide. They explain how data sharing, facial recognition, parking lot surveillance, escape routes, license plate readers, timing analysis, heat maps, RFID scanning tools and high-tech security cameras that are loaded with heat and sonic sensors that are valuable ammunition in arsenals to fight retail crime. Listen and learn how to be highly-alert and proactive to help prevent ORC. 

Special Guest:

Gary Sankary, Retail Industry Lead, Esri

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Just released, ICSC and McKinsey do a deep dive in a new report, “Shopping in the age of AI: Redefining stores for a new era.” Spoiler alert: Agentic AI could drive up to $1 trillion in U.S. retail revenue by 2030.  Join Shelley and Stephanie Cegielski, Vice President of Public Relations and Industry Education at ICSC as they dig into the findings. Find out how speed of agentic adoption is outpacing most retail roadmaps and what happens when consumer expectations and spending behavior converge in an agentic powered marketplace. Meeting the expectations of highly informed consumers will rely on AI for everything from convenience to discovery. The big question? Are your retail operations ready? Listen and learn how to catch up to the future. 

Special Guest: Stephanie Cegielski, Vice President, Public Relations & Industry Education of ICSC

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.