The Retail Perch

This episode is for everyone. Sterling Hawkins is an international keynote speaker, and the creator of the TEDx talk, "Discomfort is Necessary for Innovation". In this episode he outlines his 5 "No Matter Whats": Hunt Discomfort, Get a Tattoo, Flip It, Build a Street Gang, and Surender. He speaks about them in relation to retail, but in reality, they are applicable to life when growth is the goal. Listen as Sterling explains why you need to lean into discomfort in order to achieve transformative growth. 

Entrepreneurs and start-ups, this episode is for you. This week, Gary and Shekar get to pick the brain of venture capitalist, David Matthews from RevTech Ventures. David shares his ideas of what makes a successful start-up, what he looks for in start-ups, and what makes him run in the other direction. David explains the importance of automation and authenticity and how companies like Birdzi, Accel Robotics, The Citizenry, and Pensa Systems are doing it right.

Are you ready for the future of retail? This week on The Retail Perch, our host Gary Hawkins turns guest. Gary, in addition to being podcast host extraordinaire, is also the Founder and CEO of CART (Center for Advancing Retail & Technology). In this interview, Shekar asks Gary to walk listeners through his latest white paper, Retail 4.0: The Age of Metamorphosis. Among other insights from the paper, Gary outlines the three steps retailers have to take not just to be best in class today, but in years to come. Gary cautions retailers to innovate BEFORE they have to because by then it will be TOO LATE.

In this episode, Shekar and Gary discuss the latest news in retail technology. They offer their speculations regarding the Amazon/Spartan Nash relationship, and offer insights into biometric payment, delivery robots at Save Mart, Loblaws' health and wellness app, in cart scanning/self check out, and much more. Listen and enjoy!

In this episode, Shekar and Gary interview Ron Bonacci, VP of marketing and advertising at Weis Markets. Ron has day-to-day oversight of the company’s advertising, marketing and public relations activities.

The three discuss many trending topics and answer the question: how do you take the 'Nice to know' data and make it actionable? They also cover measuring churn, customer segmentation, lessons from Covid and why owning fresh is the key to retailer survival in the age of Amazon.

In this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar interview two of their favorite retailers from Coborn's Inc., Diana Barr, Director of Loyalty and Dennis Host, VP of Marketing. Coborn's began in 1921 and now boasts 120+ grocery, convenience, and liquor stores throughout the Midwest. Diana and Dennis walks us through the digital engagement powerhouse that Coborn's is today. They highlight the effects COVID-19 has had not only on their marketing and customer engagement, but also on the behaviors of their shoppers. This is a valuable interview for anyone in the grocery sector. Listen and enjoy!

Shekar and Gary interview Brian Numainville and Doug Madenberg, Principals of The Retail Feedback Group. Brian and Doug Share their insights on how surveys can help retailers engage their customers, the right and wrong ways to use survey data, what the future of surveys looks like in the COVID 19 era, and much, much more.

Once a month, Shekar and Gary will discuss current events in retails. In this month's Retail Roundup, they delve into Kroger's Q2 results, Amazon throwing its hat into grocery retail, drones, TikTok and so much more. Tune in to get their take on retail's latest news.

Today, Gary and Shekar dive into digital engagement and the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had in regards to it and the retail industry overall. The laid-back approach to digital engagement in previous years will not be enough to currently help retailers. Digital engagement is no longer an option, it's an imperative.

Are retailers staying relevant and personal with their communication strategies? If not, how do they do so? How do their websites, mobile apps, and social media come into play? Gary and Shekar offer advice on how retailers can not only keep up, but get ahead in the race to capture customer loyalty. Tune in to find out how.

Join Gary and Shekar as they discuss technology trends in Grocery Retail. They delve into the continued growth of e-commerce, digital engagement, the substantial presence of automation, and what role AI plays in it all. How will retailers remain profitable while investing in the technology necessary to remain relevant? Will adding technology to the traditional retail model be enough or do retailers have to deconstruct and build something new? Tune in to find out.