The Retail Podcast

Retail AI is moving quickly — and this episode looks at what that means for retailers, ecommerce platforms, brands, and technology leaders.

In this discussion, the hosts cover a range of retail and commerce stories, including Currys in the UK, European retail activity, Hasbro, TikTok influencers, Rep AI, Claude, Debenhams, and the wider shift toward AI-powered retail platforms. The episode also touches on funding activity, customer behaviour, platform launches, and how retail companies are responding to new technology.

Key themes in this episode include:

• AI in retail and ecommerce
• Currys and UK consumer electronics
• Hasbro and brand-led retail innovation
• TikTok influencers and commerce discovery
• Rep AI and retail technology funding
• Claude and AI platform relevance
• Debenhams and retail AI developments
• European retail market signals
• How customer behaviour is changing

This episode is especially useful for retail leaders, ecommerce teams, founders, marketers, and anyone tracking how AI is reshaping commerce.

Guest/context note: the transcript references Alex, Simon, and Christian, but the provided transcript does not include full names, roles, or bios.

Subscribe for more conversations on retail technology, ecommerce, AI, marketplaces, and the future of digital commerce.

00:00:00 — Episode Intro: Wednesday Retail News Roundup
00:00:22 — Welcome and What’s Coming Up
00:01:13 — Shop Talk and European Retail Signals
00:01:31 — Live Coverage and Market Context
00:01:50 — Currys and UK Electronics Retail
00:02:23 — Nordic CEO Discussion and Growth Context
00:03:01 — Retail Risk, Warning Signs and Monthly Updates
00:04:20 — Hasbro Launch Discussion
00:05:25 — Toy Companies, TikTok Influencers and Brand Strategy
00:05:49 — Rep AI and Retail AI Funding
00:06:09 — Claude and AI Platform Direction
00:06:51 — Investor Interest and Retail AI Momentum
00:07:22 — AI in Retail and Customer Behaviour
00:07:36 — Debenhams and Platform Launches
00:08:17 — Retail Data, AI Potential and Next Moves
00:08:42 — Final Segment: Retail AI Follow-Up

Retail brand protection is no longer just about stopping counterfeit products. For many brands, the bigger issue is margin loss.

In this episode of The Retail Podcast, Alex speaks with Megan Harman, founder of Thorn Crest, about how unauthorized sellers, copycat products, online price undercutting, broken case packs, and weak reseller agreements can damage retail profitability.

Megan explains how a small online pricing issue can quickly become a wider retail problem. If an unauthorized seller undercuts a brand’s intended price online, the brand may lower its own price to win the sale. Retailers using dynamic pricing may then match that lower price, and buyers may ask for price protection. What starts as a marketplace issue can become a full-channel margin problem.

The episode also explores why counterfeits are only one part of brand protection. Megan breaks down the different risks facing consumer electronics, apparel, CPG, beauty, and skincare brands, from stolen goods and mass liquidation to tampered packaging and social media copycats.

Most importantly, Megan explains why seller takedowns are often only a temporary fix. The long-term solution is rebuilding the foundation: authorized reseller agreements, updated warranty language, stronger distribution contracts, and clearer criteria for who is allowed to represent the brand.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why brand protection is really margin protection
• How unauthorized sellers create a race to the bottom
• Why online pricing problems can bleed into physical retail
• The difference between counterfeits, dupes, and unauthorized sellers
• Why consumer electronics, beauty, apparel, and CPG face different risks
• Why litigation is not always the best first step
• How brands can use reseller agreements and warranty language to regain control
• Why protecting good retail partners matters as much as removing bad sellers

Guest: Megan Harman, founder of Thorn Crest
Host: Alex, The Retail Podcast

Connect with Megan:
LinkedIn: Megan Harman
Email: Megan at Thorn Crest
Website: https://www.thorncrest.com/brand-protection

Subscribe to The Retail Podcast for more conversations on retail strategy, e-commerce, marketplaces, brand protection, consumer brands, and the future of retail.

The future of retail is being shaped by Asia.

Recorded live at NRF APAC 2026, this conversation features Isabelle Allen, Global Head of Consumer, Retail & Leisure at KPMG, discussing the trends transforming retail worldwide.

Topics include:

✅ Why Asia is becoming a retail innovation powerhouse

✅ How GLP-1 medications are changing consumer behavior

✅ AI adoption challenges facing retailers

✅ The growing wellness economy

✅ Technology modernization and data readiness

✅ What retailers must do to stay competitive

From AI to consumer spending shifts, this episode explores the forces that will define the next decade of retail.

Guest:
Isabelle Allen (KPMG)

Host:
Jill Dvorak (National Retail Federation)

Ryf Quail joins Alex to walk through the NRF 2026 APAC agenda just before the show opens in Singapore.

This episode is a practical guide to the sessions, speakers and themes shaping this year’s event, from AI-powered supply chains and retail media to omnichannel, luxury, malls, content commerce, Japan-style transformation and the rise of APAC as a global retail growth engine.

Ryf explains why this year’s show has strong momentum, including a larger expo footprint, strong regional attendance and growing interest from markets including China, the Philippines and Indonesia. He then breaks down key agenda moments featuring leaders and companies including Matt Shay, Isabelle Allen, Anish Melwani, Scott Price, Woolworths Group, RELEX Solutions, Moloco, Pacvue, AEON360, DFI Retail Group, FairPrice Group, CJ Olive Young, Shiseido Japan, Maxim’s Food Group, CAA, Kering, Shopify, Scanteak, Manochi, OnTheList, Nestlé Japan, SM Supermalls, Reliance Brands Limited and Authentic Brands Group.

Key themes in this episode:

Why NRF 2026 APAC is expanding in Singapore

The biggest keynote and breakout sessions to watch

How AI is changing supply chain, stores, search and customer experience

Why retail media is becoming a major platform for growth

How APAC retailers are approaching omnichannel differently

Why malls remain central to retail in Southeast Asia

What India, Japan, China and Southeast Asia reveal about retail’s next phase

How content, talent and entertainment are becoming retail growth channels

Whether you are attending NRF APAC, following the agenda remotely, or tracking the future of retail in Asia Pacific, this episode gives you a clear roadmap of the conversations that matter.

This week on Five Things Friday UK, Alex and Simone unpack the biggest retail stories shaping the UK and European market.

The episode covers Ocado’s major tech partnership, Lidl overtaking Morrisons, and why the UK grocery market continues to be watched globally as a model for digital and physical retail. Alex also shares reflections from recent retail visits across Europe, including the Coach pop-up at Selfridges and the House of Rituals in Amsterdam.

Simone brings two key stories: M&S’s staff safety initiative with WalkSafe, and the unexpected but strategic collaboration between Little Greene and Hunter. The conversation also explores retail theft, frontline worker protection, experiential retail, lifestyle-led collaborations, and the rise of IP licensing in fashion and retail.

Featuring discussion around Coach, Selfridges, Ocado, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S, WalkSafe, JD Sports, Waitrose, Tesco, Rituals, Little Greene, Hunter, Marc Jacobs and LVMH.

In this episode:

Ocado’s role as a grocery technology platform
Lidl overtaking Morrisons in UK grocery
M&S, WalkSafe and staff safety
Retail theft and frontline worker protection
Rituals and the future of experiential retail
Little Greene x Hunter and lifestyle-led brand collaborations
Marc Jacobs, LVMH and IP licensing

Subscribe to The Retail Podcast for weekly retail analysis, market shifts, store visits and brand strategy conversations.

Retail is no longer just competing for customer spend. It is competing for attention.

In this episode of Podcast Sessions, Richard Fisher, Head of Store Design at Holland & Barrett, joins us live from the EuroShop floor to explore how physical retail is changing in the attention economy.

Richard explains why retailers now compete with Netflix, Disney, sport, and other entertainment platforms for people’s time. He shares how Holland & Barrett is evolving its store experience, from grocery concessions with Tesco and Morrisons to flagship learnings from Chelmsford, Bluewater, Cardiff, and Oxford Street.

The conversation also explores Holland & Barrett’s role as a health and wellness retailer, its mission to add quality years to life, and Richard’s distinctive “punk and showbiz” philosophy for store design: the balance between getting attention and creating a commercially successful retail environment.

This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in retail design, wellness retail, store strategy, customer attention, brand experience, and the future role of physical stores.

https://info.itab.com/video-social/euroshop-2026

In this episode, we cover:

How Holland & Barrett is evolving its store design strategy
Why retail is competing with Netflix, Disney and sport for attention
The importance of time and attention in modern retail
Holland & Barrett’s grocery concessions with Tesco and Morrisons
How store-within-store formats change the customer mindset
Why Richard Fisher uses the phrase “punk and showbiz”
What physical retail can learn from digital commerce
How stores may become part of the marketing journey
Why brand consistency matters across every retail touchpoint
What the next phase of retail design could look like

Guest: Richard Fisher
Role: Head of Store Design, Holland & Barrett
Recorded live from: EuroShop floor
Podcast: Podcast Sessions

NRF APAC 2026 is shaping up to be a major moment for retail in Asia Pacific.

In this episode, Ryf Quail, Managing Director of NRF APAC, joins Five Things Friday to preview the upcoming show in Singapore and explain why the event continues to grow across exhibitors, registrations, international attendance, and senior retail participation.

Ryf discusses the expanding expo, major keynote speakers, APAC retail leadership, the CEO Club, and what retailers and exhibitors should do before arriving at the event.

Topics include:

• NRF APAC 2026 show growth
• Retail leadership across Asia Pacific
• Keynote speakers and global retail brands

Featured organisations include NRF APAC, LVMH, FairPrice, Shiseido, Creative Artists Agency, Gill Capital, IKEA, Starbucks, 7-Eleven, H&M, Giorgio Armani, Sephora, Walmart, UPS and Coca-Cola.

Listen now for a practical preview of NRF APAC 2026 and the retail conversations shaping commerce across Asia Pacific.

AI is forcing a complete rethink of ecommerce, retail operations, and digital commerce architecture.

In this episode, Kelly Goetsch — President at Pipe17 and one of the most influential voices in modern commerce technology — explains why the “status quo is no longer acceptable” in the age of AI.

Drawing on experience across Oracle, ATG, commercetools, and modern AI-driven commerce systems, Kelly breaks down:

Why AI is a “categorically new way of work”

The shift from monoliths → headless → microservices → AI-native commerce

Why product catalog data is now mission-critical

The rise of UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol)

Why most retailers are still unprepared for AI

How startups are moving faster than enterprises

Why experimentation now costs dramatically less

The future of AI-powered shopping experiences

This conversation also explores:

Google vs OpenAI in commerce

AI agents and autonomous commerce

Retail infrastructure modernization

GEO / AI search optimization

AI-native workflows

Enterprise resistance to AI adoption

The next generation of ecommerce architecture

If you work in ecommerce, retail technology, AI strategy, composable commerce, digital transformation, or enterprise innovation — this episode is essential listening.

Topics Covered

AI commerce

Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)

Ecommerce AI strategy

Retail transformation

Product data enrichment

Headless commerce

Microservices architecture

AI-native organizations

Commerce infrastructure

AI agents in retail

About Kelly Goetsch

Kelly Goetsch is President at Pipe17 and a long-time leader in enterprise commerce technology. Across leadership roles at Oracle, ATG, commercetools, and Pipe17, he has helped shape modern ecommerce architecture and composable commerce strategy.

Chapter Timestamps

00:00 – Why AI Changes Everything

00:00:24 – Introducing Kelly Goetsch

00:01:28 – “The Status Quo Is No Longer Acceptable”

00:02:18 – Monoliths, Headless & The Evolution of Commerce

00:03:17 – Why Software Architecture Keeps Changing

00:04:07 – The Rise of Headless Commerce

00:04:54 – Why Microservices Changed Ecommerce

00:05:20 – AI as the New Commerce “Head”

00:06:02 – UCP vs ACP Explained

00:07:12 – Why Google Took Commerce More Seriously

00:08:16 – Why UCP Is Gaining Adoption

00:09:02 – The Real Problem Behind AI Commerce

00:10:22 – Pipe17’s Role in AI Commerce Infrastructure

00:11:12 – Why Retailers Are Still Waiting

00:12:31 – Why Most AI Ecommerce Metrics Are Misleading

00:12:48 – The Product Data Problem

00:14:07 – GEO, AI Search & Content Syndication

00:14:48 – Why AI Will Create Thousands of Commerce “Heads”

00:15:43 – The Cultural Problem Inside Retail

00:16:43 – Why People Disagree on AI Timelines

00:17:51 – Enterprise AI Friction Explained

00:18:41 – How Startups Are Using AI Differently

00:20:03 – Why Enterprises Fear AI Risk

00:21:16 – AI Changes the Cost of Innovation

00:22:14 – “Just Build It”

00:23:14 – How to Upskill Yourself in AI

00:24:29 – Why Companies Still Fear Change

00:25:11 – Final Thoughts

Amazon vs Perplexity could redefine the future of AI commerce.

In this episode of World Retail Signals, the panel explores:

• Autonomous AI shopping agents
• Retail workforce transformation
• WHP Global’s Marc Jacobs acquisition
• Greggs’ expansion strategy
• Wellness retail growth
• AI-powered customer experiences

A fast-moving breakdown of the retail stories shaping commerce right now.

Retail is entering a new era shaped by AI, organized retail crime, and a renewed investment in physical stores.

In this episode of Five Things Friday — USA Edition, Alex sits down with Jill Dvorak, SVP of Content at the National Retail Federation (NRF), to unpack the biggest retail developments shaping the industry right now.

Topics include:

• The bipartisan progress of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act
• Why retailers are increasingly concerned about digital fraud and organized crime
• Amazon vs Perplexity and the future of AI-powered commerce
• Why major retailers are aggressively expanding physical stores
• Target’s influencer-led collaboration strategy
• What NRF APAC in Singapore reveals about the future of global retail
• Localization, regionalization, and AI at enterprise scale

If you work in retail, ecommerce, technology, strategy, or consumer business leadership, this episode delivers practical insight into where commerce is heading next.

Chapters / Segment Markers

00:00 — Welcome to Five Things Friday
00:18 — Jill Dvorak and the NRF Explained
00:58 — Organized Retail Crime Bill Passes the House
02:12 — Amazon vs Perplexity and AI Commerce
03:24 — Why Retailers Need AI Guardrails
03:48 — Target’s Strategy and Influencer Partnerships
04:55 — Why Retailers Are Opening More Stores
05:59 — NRF APAC Singapore Preview
08:24 — NRF Europe Paris Preview
08:47 — Closing Thoughts