William Gibson, the great American-Canadian speculative fiction author, once said: "The future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed." 

This episode features a deep dive into several key concepts to navigate the COVID economy and execute the journey to remarkable. First and foremost is the idea that much of the disruption that will determine future winners and losers is already in play, though we may yet see it or fully appreciate its importance. Second, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of managing by averages or becoming overly obsessed with more traditional channel-centric metrics. The customer is the channel, the lines between online and physical shopping are blurring and we must bust the silos that get in the way of a remarkable customer experience.

Our special guest is the one and only Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer for Publicis and co-host of the "Jason & Scot Show", one of the most followed and influential retail podcasts--at least until very, very recently. Jason helps unpack some of the most important trends in retail, explains how Amazon is actually extremely profitable in its retail division and sheds light on what is really going on with online penetration numbers and the critical role of digital influence on all of shopping. He also clues us in on how to pronounce "Publicis."

Learn more about Jason here.

Check out Jason's outlook for the holiday season in this piece for Forbes.

You can subscribe to the Jason & Scot Show here.

Steve's been talking about the blurring of the lines and the end of e-commerce for years. Here's one take from a few years back.

You can learn more about Steve on his website  here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. 

Steve shares his insights in his role as a  Forbes senior contributor and on  Twitter and  LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel  here.

You can learn more about Michael here (  www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn (  https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ )

SPECIAL OFFER for our listeners! SAVE 20% on registration for the all new Shoptalk Luxe event in Abu Dhabi January 27-29.

For more info go to https://luxe.shoptalk.com/page/get-ticket and then register using our special code : RRLUXE20

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google.  He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer.  If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.