This episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast was recorded live at Shoptalk Europe.

On June 8, 2022, Parag M. Parekh, co-Chief Digital Officer at Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, stopped by the RETHINK Retail podcast booth to chat with host Gabriella Bock about IKEA's rapid digital transformation since the COVID-19 pandemic as well as why "being good is good business."

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of the RETHINK Retail podcast, host Julia Hare sits down with The Vitamin Shoppe CEO Sharon Leite.

During their conversation, Sharon shares stories from her recent appearance on Undercover Boss and reveals some pretty interesting findings from The Vitamin Shoppe's 2022 Health and Wellness Trend Report. Julia and Sharon also discuss TikTok and how businesses can best prepare for viral social media trends.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Host: Julia Hare

Produced by Gabriella Bock

Host Melissa Minkow sits down with Bridget Dolan, Global Managing Director of Shopping Partnerships at Youtube.

During their conversation Bridget shares her journey to Youtube after spending 20+ at Sephora and dives deep into how she is helping bring Youtube's shopping vision to life for retailers and brands.

About the guest: Bridget Dolan is the Global Managing Director of Shopping Partnerships at Youtube where she has rolled out shoppable videos and live shopping on the platform, while spearheading exciting new partnerships with retailers and brands such as Target, Walmart, Samsung and Sephora.

About the host: Melissa Minkow is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer and the Director of Retail Strategy at Digital Consultancy, CI&T.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Host: Melissa Minkow

Produced by Gabriella Bock

CBRE Vice President and CRE Fast Five Host Karly Iacono is here to share good news for retail! According to Karly, we have flipped the script of brick-and-mortar doom and gloom, and are seeing double the number of announced store openings vs closings for 2022.

On this episode, we discuss all things retail real estate including consumer trends, BOPIS and how migration during the pandemic has impacted the markets, as well as Karly's predictions for where is real estate headed in the near and long term.

About the guest: Karly Iacono is a Senior Vice President in CBRE’s Capital Markets, Investment Properties group and the host of the widely followed commercial real estate video series CRE Fast Five, which offers a weekly overview of the most pressing topics in commercial real estate.

Karly is also a senior advisor within the exclusive Net Lease Property group, comprising a national team of top level brokers located in major metropolitan areas across the United States that specialize in transacting single-tenant assets and net-lease portfolios nationwide.

Be sure to check out CRE Fast Five at: https://www.youtube.com/c/CREFastFivewithKarlyIacono

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Hosted and produced by Gabriella Bock

Hello RETHINK Retail listeners! Today we are celebrating our 200th podcast episode. Joining the show is our producer Gabriella Bock, Natalie Arana, our brand marketing manager and Paul Lewis, RETHINK Retail’s co-founder and managing director.  

Join us as we reminisce on why we launched the show and how it set the foundation for RETHINK Retail as an entity. We also answer your audience-submitted questions and play a few rounds of "who said it" with quotes of guests pasts. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

On this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast we are joined by guest Oliver Brunschwiler. Oliver is a board member and former Lead Link of FREITAG, a global brand that creates one-off bags and accessories made from used truck tarps and fully compostable textiles.

We discuss the story behind the FREITAG brand, the similarities between snowboarding and business leadership, and how the pandemic reframed the future of sustainable retail.

About the guest: Oliver Brunschwiler first joined FREITAG in 2014 as the company’s Head of Brand before becoming CEO in 2018.

By the end of 2021, he decided to distribute most operational roles into a leadership collective, fostering inclusive, organizational progress to focus on his long term mission and strategic projects: enabling the brand‘s potential, unlocking sustainable growth and designing its circular business model transformation.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Hosted and Produced by Gabriella Bock

The Metaverse certainly seems to be on everybody’s mind this year but, so far, everyone we’ve spoke to seems to have a different definition of what the Metaverse actually is.

On this episode, we go straight to the source as Julia Hare sits down with Eva Press, vice president of the global business group at Meta.

During their conversation, Eva reveals how social commerce has evolved during her time at Meta, the role technology will play in tomorrow's retail landscape, and delivers the scoop on what retail will look like in the Metaverse.

About Eva Press: Eva is vice president of the global business group at Meta, where she leads Meta’s sales and account teams in the US for the Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods and Health verticals. Eva and her teams focus on partnering with large, complex, traditional advertisers to navigate the disruptions shaping the marketing landscape.

Before joining Facebook, Eva spent ten years in Brand Management at Kraft Foods, leading such iconic brands as Planters Nuts and Oreo Cookies. She holds her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and undergraduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Host: Julia Hare

Produced by Gabriella Bock

Hello and welcome back to the RETHINK Retail Podcast. On today’s episode we are revisiting a discussion from the RETHINK Retail archives. Recorded in November 2019, Julia Hare sits down with Alexander Genov, head of customer experience research at Zappos.

A pioneer in human-centric experience, Zappos differentiates itself through its top-tier customer service—a strategy that Genov says helps the brand create a lasting emotional connection with its customers, which in turn, results in customers who are extremely loyal to the brand.

Now of course, a lot has changed since we recorded this episode in 2019, and as a result of the pandemic we are seeing many more brands adopt a human-centric approach to retailing, which is something Zappos has been doing for two decades.

During their conversation, Julia and Alex explore Zappos’ exceptional customer service culture, the power of transparency and trust, and why it’s imperative that retailers get to know their customers at an individual level.

Thanks for tuning in and we hope you enjoy this special episode from the RETHINK Retail vault.

Host Gabriella Bock is joined by Leilani Han, executive director of commerce at Wirecutter, a New York Times-owned product review publication that attracts an average of 12 million readers a month. During their conversation, Leilani discusses the evolution of affiliate marketing as well as how Wirecutter tests products, identifies strategic partnerships and earns the trust of its readers. 

About Leilani Han: In her role at Wirecutter, Leilani is focused on driving strategy for affiliate revenue, licensing, programmatic and other strategic partnerships. 

During her tenure, she has diversified direct partnerships with dozens of brands and strengthened existing core partnerships, while overseeing the success of deal and tentpole events in conjunction with other Wirecutter leaders. This work has helped the product-recommendation company significantly grow affiliate revenue year over year. 

Leilani has over 15 years of experience, beginning her career at Nielsen's online division before pivoting to focus on affiliate marketing over the last dozen years. She has specialized in commerce content since 2016.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Hosted by Gabriella Bock

Produced by Gabriella Bock

Edited by Chase Atherton

In this episode, host Gabriella Bock catches up with Marie Driscoll, Coresight Research's Managing Director of Luxury and Retail, to discuss Marie's experience and observations from World Retail Congress where she moderated a panel on seizing opportunities within new markets and channels.

Marie and Gabriella also discuss the state of retail, Gen Z and opportunities for luxury in the metaverse.

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know by subscribing to our channel and giving us a 5 star rating us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

- - - - - -

Hosted by Gabriella Bock

Produced by Gabriella Bock

Edited by Chase Atherton