S2E7 Greg Buzek Breaks Down Shelf Intelligence - Computer Vision, RFID, and the Network Nobody's Talking About

Every retailer says they're investing in shelf intelligence. Cameras, smart shelves, electronic shelf labels, computer vision, RFID, autonomous robots. The investment list has been the same for three years running. So why are only 9.1% of retailers actually running current computer vision, and only 12.2% running current ESLs?

In this episode of Data Blades, Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Greg Buzek, President and Founder of IHL Group, to unpack the brand-new 2026 Retail Transformation Study: How Retail Leaders Outperform. It's the largest annual survey of retail technology leaders in the industry, and Greg's team interviewed more than 400 brands to build it.

The data tells a story the industry hasn't fully reckoned with yet. Shelf intelligence applications in retail are not a hardware problem. The cameras are everywhere. The ESLs are on the shelves. The RFID tags are in the boxes. What's missing is the network, the edge compute, and the architectural roadmap to actually turn all of that hardware into intelligence.

Greg walks through every layer of the modern shelf intelligence stack, the order he'd deploy it in if he were sitting in a retail CIO's chair this year, and the specific ROI numbers that separate the retailers winning at shelf intelligence from the ones still talking about it.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• What shelf intelligence actually means in 2026 and why the definition has expanded beyond "the manager walking the aisles" 
• Why the network is the deciding factor for every shelf intelligence deployment, regardless of which sensors you choose 
• How RFID sales winners outperform peers by 6.5x, and why Walmart is now tagging items under a dollar 
• Why computer vision deployment is still under 10% across retail, and the hidden reason most pilots stall 
• The controversial story behind electronic shelf labels, COVID, and the union pushback that's happening right now 
• How facial recognition reduces theft by 74%, and the cultural reasons it has not gone mainstream in the US 
• Why 80% of grocery SKUs sell less than one unit a week, and what that means for shelf intelligence and assortment strategy 
• Greg's recommended deployment order for retail CIOs: network first, then edge, then ESLs, then RFID, then computer vision

 
Resource Links
How Retail Leaders Outperform - https://www.ihlservices.com/product/how-retail-leaders-outperform/
Shelf Intelligence Report - https://www.ihlservices.com/product/shelf-intelligence-report-rebuilding-retail-relationships-through-automation/
Adapt or Be Outpaced - https://www.ihlservices.com/product/adapt-or-be-outpaced-tech-imperative-for-retails-midmarket/
Fixing Inventory Distortion - https://www.ihlservices.com/product/fixing-inventory-distortion-whos-winning-whos-failing-whats-working/
Closing the Execution Gap - https://www.ihlservices.com/product/closing-the-execution-gap/

Support Our Sponsors
This Episode is Brought to You By RetailClub.
Join 2,000 retail leaders at RetailClub AI Festival, September 22–24 in Huntington Beach. Dive deep into how AI is reshaping retail while soaking up the sun at a fully outdoor, beachside venue. Decision-makers from retailers and brands can attend with free tickets and up to $1,250 in travel reimbursement. Head to retailclub.com to learn more. https://retailclub.com/retail-razor-podcast

Subscribe & Follow

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

About Our Guests
Greg Buzek. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbuzek/
IHL Group. https://www.ihlservices.com/
RetailROI. https://www.retailroi.org
Greg Buzek is the Founder, President and Principal Analyst of IHL Group, one of the most respected retail technology research firms in the world. IHL's annual Retail Transformation Study is the largest survey of retail technology leaders in the industry, covering more than 400 brands across every retail segment. Greg is also the founder of Retail Orphan Initiative (Retail ROI), which this week surpassed $6 million in total grants to help children around the world through the industry's Super Saturday campaign.

Noted by RIS News as one of the Top 10 Influentials in Retail and the National Retail Federation as one of “The List of People Shaping Retail’s Future“, he has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from The Ohio State University, and 30 years of experience in retail market analysis, business planning, product development, and consulting with Fortune 500 companies. He is also a member of the Top 100 Retail Influencers from RETHINK Retail.

Chapters

(00:00) Teaser

(00:46) Show Intro

(03:45) Welcome Greg Buzek!

(06:04) What Shelf Intelligence Means

(08:51) ESLs and Union Pushback

(09:38) RFID Wins for Inventory

(13:14) Computer Vision and Robots

(16:00) Facial Recognition Debate

(19:22) ROI and Winner Benchmarks

(23:31) Customer Expectations and Stockouts

(26:11) Inventory Accuracy Crisis

(26:50) Shelf Intelligence Value

(29:44) Fashion Returns Problem

(32:18) Grocery SKU Overload

(37:56) Vendor Managed Compliance

(40:16) Butter Stock Club

(41:46) CIO Roadmap to Scale

(47:46) Show Close

About your Hosts
Helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Music

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S2E6 Scaling Agentic AI, GenAI, & redefining roles while building governance for the autonomous marketing era

Agentic AI isn’t coming — agentic AI is already here, and it’s reshaping how retail and CPG marketing teams operate. In this final episode of our three‑part series with Incisiv and Adobe, we break down how agentic workflows, autonomous decisioning, and Gen AI driven content systems are transforming marketing roles, governance models, and customer experience strategies.

Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Dave Weinand, Chief Customer Officer at Incisiv, and with Bruce Richards, Global Industry Strategy & Marketing Lead at Adobe. Together, they unpack the research behind the State of Customer Experience in Retail & Consumer Goods. They explain what marketers must do now to prepare for the autonomous era.

Key Topics Covered

• Why most brands are stuck in GenAI pilot mode — and how to finally scale
• The difference between content‑generation AI and decision‑driving AI
• How agentic workflows automate micro‑decisions across channels
• Where agentic AI delivers low‑risk, high‑value wins today
• Why AI governance is now a marketing imperative
• The rise of new roles: journey owners, AI operators, content system leads
• How AI‑powered discovery is rewriting SEO and customer acquisition
• What retailers and CPG brands must do to prepare for autonomous marketing systems

 
Why This Episode Matters
Retail and CPG leaders are facing a seismic shift: agentic AI is moving from assistive tools to autonomous systems that optimize budgets, personalize journeys, and manage content at massive scale. This episode gives marketers the blueprint to evolve their teams, redesign workflows, and build governance frameworks that unlock safe, scalable innovation.

Resource Links
State of Personalized Experience in Consumer Goods in an AI-Driven World - Report
https://business.adobe.com/resources/sdk/state-of-cx-consumer-goods.html
State of Customer Experience in Retail in an AI-Driven World - Report
https://business.adobe.com/resources/sdk/state-of-cx-retail.html

Subscribe & Follow

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

About Our Guests
Bruce Richards. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucefrichards/
Global Industry Strategy & Marketing Lead – Retail & Consumer Goods, Adobe. https://business.adobe.com/
Bruce Richards joined Adobe in 2018 and today leads Global Industry Strategy for Retail & Consumer Goods with a bold, future-forward vision. With more than 25 years of executive experience across Retail and Consumer Goods, Bruce is a driving force behind Adobe’s industry direction—helping brands innovate, adapt, and win in an environment where consumer expectations evolve by the minute.

Dave Weinand, https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-weinand-a62538/
Chief Customer Officer, Incisiv, https://www.incisiv.com
David Weinand is the Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Incisiv, Inc. – a research and insights firm focused on helping retailers and brands navigate digital transformation across online, store, and supply chain functions. Weinand leads customer success for the firm and manages research and benchmarking projects with its largest clients. In addition, he manages relationships with the retail community.

Chapters

(00:00) Teaser

(00:32) Show Intro

(02:48) Welcome Back Dave Weinand and Bruce Richards!

(03:49) Why GenAI Stays in Pilot

(05:49) Content vs Decisioning AI

(07:07) Quality Control and Trust

(08:48) Assistive to Autonomous Agents

(12:11) Low Risk Agentic Wins

(14:12) AI Governance Urgency

(16:50) AI Search and Discovery Shift

(19:54) New Marketing Roles Emerging

(22:58) Key Takeaways and Thanks

(24:41) Show Close

About your Hosts
Helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Music

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S2E5 The Truth About Customer Data Silos and What It Takes to Fix Them

In this episode of Data Blades, Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Bruce Richards, Global Industry Strategy & Marketing Lead at Adobe, to unpack the biggest barrier holding back modern marketing: retail data readiness.

Despite massive investments in AI and personalization, most brands still struggle to act on their data in real time. The Adobe & Incisiv State of Customer Experience in Retail and Consumer Goods research reveals a hard truth: customer data silos and fragmented identity systems are preventing retailers and CPG brands from scaling AI in retail marketing.

Bruce breaks down why dashboards create a “maturity illusion,” why identity fragmentation derails customer experience, and what an AI‑ready data foundation actually looks like. From unified profiles to real‑time behavioral signals to built‑in governance, this episode gives leaders a practical roadmap for fixing the data layer before scaling AI.

You’ll also hear how retailers and CPGs face opposite data challenges, why culture change matters more than tech, and how experimentation and agentic workflows will reshape the future of marketing.

What You’ll Learn

• Why retail data readiness is the #1 blocker to AI‑driven customer experience
• How customer data silos create inconsistent journeys and wasted spend
• Why most brands overestimate their maturity, and how to close the activation gap
• What an AI‑ready data foundation requires (unified profiles, real‑time signals, governance, activation)
• How retailers and CPGs face opposite data problems, and how each can solve them
• Why shifting from intuition‑first to evidence‑first decision making is essential
• How experimentation culture accelerates learning and improves AI in retail marketing
• The role of GenAI and agentic workflows in scaling personalization

 
Resource Links
State of Personalized Experience in Consumer Goods in an AI-Driven World - Report
https://business.adobe.com/resources/sdk/state-of-cx-consumer-goods.html
State of Customer Experience in Retail in an AI-Driven World - Report
https://business.adobe.com/resources/sdk/state-of-cx-retail.html

Subscribe & Follow

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

About Our Guest
Bruce Richards. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucefrichards/
Global Industry Strategy & Marketing Lead – Retail & Consumer Goods, Adobe.
Bruce Richards joined Adobe in 2018 and today leads Global Industry Strategy for Retail & Consumer Goods with a bold, future-forward vision. With more than 25 years of executive experience across Retail and Consumer Goods, Bruce is a driving force behind Adobe’s industry direction—helping brands innovate, adapt, and win in an environment where consumer expectations evolve by the minute.

A specialist in customer experience, digital transformation, and modern marketing, Bruce partners closely with Adobe’s clients to design standout strategies and build the solution ecosystems that bring them to life. His career spans leadership roles in marketing, consulting, and customer advisory, where he led client services teams supporting some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Macy’s, Estée Lauder, Bloomingdale’s, Beiersdorf, CVS/pharmacy, and Hanesbrands.

Chapters

(00:00) Teaser

(00:26) Show Intro

(02:34) Introduction - Welcome Bruce Richards

(03:26) Data Readiness: The Biggest Barrier

(04:20) The Activation Gap & Maturity Illusion

(05:40) Identity Fragmentation & Customer Experience

(08:15) What an AI-Ready Data Foundation Looks Like

(10:39) Retail vs. CPG: Different Data Challenges

(12:47) Culture, Org Change & Shared Data Ownership

(16:09) From Intuition to Evidence-First Decision Making

(17:25) The Power of Experimentation Culture

(18:47) AI at Scale: Gen AI & Agentic Workflows

(20:35) Wrap-Up

(21:10) Show Close

About your Hosts
Helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Music

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S2E4 The Truth About Retail Customer Experience - What Adobe + Incisiv Discovered

In this episode of The Retail Razor: Data Blades, Ricardo and Casey kick off a three‑part series with Dave Weinand, Chief Customer Officer at Incisiv, to unpack the latest Adobe + Incisiv State of Customer Experience in Retail and Consumer Goods research. Consumer expectations are rising faster than most retail marketing teams can respond, and the gap between what shoppers want and what brands deliver is widening.
 
Dave breaks down:

• why customer experience continues to lag despite massive investment, 
• why traditional marketing playbooks are failing, and 
• how CMOs are shifting toward revenue‑driven metrics like CLV and loyalty. 

The conversation explores the operational pressures shaping retail marketing, including frictionless checkout, page speed, unified data, and the rise of technical marketers. Plus, a preview of episodes to come diving into how Generative AI and agentic commerce will change the game for marketers.
 
This episode is a must‑listen for retail leaders navigating the future of customer experience, AI‑driven marketing, and the organizational changes required to keep up with today’s customer experience.
 
What We Cover

• Why only 12% of retailers personalize more than 75% of the journey
• How consumer expectations are outpacing retail marketing execution
• Why friction kills: checkout steps, page speed, and new KPI dashboards
• The shift from vanity metrics to revenue‑driven KPIs
• How marketing now owns more of the customer experience
• The rise of technical marketers and data‑driven roles
• Why unified data is the foundation for AI readiness
• Best Buy & Sephora as examples of customer‑journey‑based org models

 
Resource Links
State of Personalized Experience in Consumer Goods in an AI-Driven World - Report
https://business.adobe.com/resources/sdk/state-of-cx-consumer-goods.html

State of Customer Experience in Retail in an AI-Driven World - Report
https://business.adobe.com/resources/sdk/state-of-cx-retail.html

Subscribe & Follow

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

About Our Guest
Dave Weinand, https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-weinand-a62538/
Chief Customer Officer, Incisiv, https://www.incisiv.com
David Weinand is the Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Incisiv, Inc. – a research and insights firm focused on helping retailers and brands navigate digital transformation across online, store, and supply chain functions. Weinand leads customer success for the firm and manages research and benchmarking projects with its largest clients. In addition, he manages relationships with the retail community. Prior to that, Weinand was SVP of the technology division of EnsembleIQ and led strategic direction and sales programming of their four media properties, including Hospitality Technology, RIS News, Apparel, and Consumer Goods Technology. In addition, Weinand launched and built the EIQ technology group’s research division - EKN Research.

Chapters

(00:00) Teaser

(00:27) Show Intro

(02:52) Welcome Dave Weinand!

(04:26) Why Personalization Still Lags Behind Rising Customer Expectations

(07:48) Friction Kills: Checkout Steps, Page Speed & the New KPI Dashboard

(09:11) From Vanity Metrics to Revenue: CLV, Loyalty & Board-Level Accountability

(11:08) Marketing Owns More of the Journey: Org Structure, New Skills & Technical Marketers

(15:11) Is Consumer Behavior Outpacing Execution? Agile Testing, Autonomy & Speed

(17:13) Why Customer-Journey Org Models Are Hard (and How Best Buy & Sephora Did It)

(20:01) Data Readiness Before AI Readiness: Unifying Silos as the Catalyst

(23:02) Wrap-Up, Where to Find the Study & Subscribe/Follow

(23:42) Show Close

About your Hosts
Helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Music

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S2:E3 From Service to Sales: How Retailers Can Increase ATV with Gareth Johns

Retail store sales teams can no longer rely on delivering reactive service if they want to increase average transaction value. A proactive customer experience driven by passion and data are what’s required. In this episode of The Retail Razor: Data Blades, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden welcome back Gareth Johns, Chief Data Officer at TruRating, for the final installment of a three-part series. This time, the focus is on Average Transaction Value (ATV). A critical retail metric that goes beyond good service to embrace proactive, experience-led selling.

Gareth shares actionable data-driven insights on how retailers can:

• Shift from reactive service to proactive customer experience.
• Hire and coach staff for passion and communication skills, not just retail experience.
• Reframe sales KPIs to inspire rather than intimidate.
• Use real-time data to empower frontline staff and boost ATV.
• Balance authentic customer interactions with upselling strategies in fashion and footwear.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why ATV is more than just a number, it’s a reflection of customer experience.
• How coaching beats task management in driving retail performance.
• Real-world examples of retailers using TruRating data to grow ATV.
• The role of managers in shaping store culture and sales outcomes.

Whether you’re a retail executive, store manager, or innovator, this episode delivers practical data-driven strategies to increase ATV, empower teams, and build a culture of authentic selling.

Subscribe & Follow

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

Guest Spotlight:
Gareth Johns, Chief Data Officer, TruRating - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-johns-7166524/
Gareth Johns is an internationally experienced product and data development leader with 20+ years of expertise in using big data and technology to drive business growth for major retailers. He played a key role in scaling dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science, from a 30-person startup to an international powerhouse in marketing analytics and customer insights for Tier 1 retailers. After leading strategic initiatives across the US and Europe, he went on to Starcount before joining the TruRating team. Gareth is passionate about transforming the way retailers collect and use customer feedback. At TruRating, he’s helping businesses access real-time, transaction-tied consumer data at an unprecedented scale; revolutionizing how retailers measure and improve business performance.

More from TruRating on increasing average transaction value:
https://trurating.com/events/atv-masterclass/

Chapters:

(00:00) Preview

(00:53) Show Intro

(03:23) Welcome Back Gareth Johns, Chief Data Officer, TruRating

(04:17) Challenges in Retail Staffing

(06:11) Strategies for Increasing ATV

(11:23) The Role of Data in Retail

(14:36) Coaching for Better Performance

(19:17) Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Music

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S2:E2 Retail Loyalty Unveiled: Epic Insights from Gareth Johns and TruRating
 
Retail loyalty is no longer about points and discounts. It’s about experience, personalization, and values. In this episode of The Retail Razor: Data Blades, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden welcome back Gareth Johns, Chief Data Officer at TruRating, to explore the new retail loyalty playbook for retailers.
 
Key Topics Covered:

• Why retail has one of the lowest customer retention rates across industries
• The myth of “owning” customers vs. being part of their shopping repertoire
• How 59% of customers return simply because of friendly service
• The hidden impact of staff interactions on repeat visits and long-term loyalty
• Why retail loyalty programs must evolve beyond discounts and focus on data-driven personalization
• The growing role of sustainability, ethics, and community values in retail loyalty strategies
• Real-world case studies of retailers using TruRating’s real-time feedback tools to uncover friction points and boost retention
• Why focusing on lifetime value (LTV) beats chasing lower customer acquisition costs (CAC)

 
Gareth shares actionable insights from nearly a billion points of retail data analysis, showing how brands can shift from transactional thinking to building authentic, long-term customer relationships.

Whether you’re in grocery, fashion, or specialty retail, this episode delivers sharp, actionable insights to help you future proof your retail loyalty strategy.

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

Guest Info:
Gareth Johns, Chief Strategy Officer, TruRating - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-johns-7166524/
Gareth Johns is an internationally experienced product and data development leader with 20+ years of expertise in using big data and technology to drive business growth for major retailers. He played a key role in scaling dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science, from a 30-person startup to an international powerhouse in marketing analytics and customer insights for Tier 1 retailers. After leading strategic initiatives across the US and Europe, he went on to Starcount before joining the TruRating team. Gareth is passionate about transforming the way retailers collect and use customer feedback. At TruRating, he’s helping businesses access real-time, transaction-tied consumer data at an unprecedented scale; revolutionizing how retailers measure and improve business performance.

More from TruRating about building loyalty:
https://trurating.com/events/customer-retention-in-retail/

Chapters:

(00:00) Preview

(01:10) Show Intro

(04:10) Welcome Gareth Johns

(04:24) Challenges in Retail Loyalty

(07:14) Importance of Store Staff

(10:24) Evolving Loyalty Programs

(13:12) Ethics and Sustainability in Loyalty

(16:26) Real-Time Feedback and Loyalty

(22:21) Final Thoughts and Recommendations

(26:11) Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S2:E1 Revolutionize Your Retail Strategy with Data-Driven Conversion Insights
 
Season Two of The Retail Razor: Data Blades opens with a sharp focus on the retail metric that makes or breaks growth: conversion rates.

Hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Gareth Johns, Chief Data Officer at TruRating, to reveal how real-time shopper feedback and data-driven insights are helping retailers unlock millions in revenue.
 
In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why conversion is the biggest untapped retail growth opportunity.
• The flaws in exit surveys, QR codes, and focus groups.
• How staff availability and customer expectations directly impact sales.
• A footwear case study that drove an 8% lift in conversion and unlocked $16.7M in revenue.
• Practical steps to increase in-store conversion rates and improve customer experience.

 
If you’re a CMO, COO, or CEO looking to optimize retail performance, this episode delivers conversion strategies you can act on today.

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

Guest Info:
Gareth Johns, Chief Strategy Officer, TruRating - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-johns-7166524/
Gareth Johns is an internationally experienced product and data development leader with 20+ years of expertise in using big data and technology to drive business growth for major retailers. He played a key role in scaling dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science, from a 30-person startup to an international powerhouse in marketing analytics and customer insights for Tier 1 retailers. After leading strategic initiatives across the US and Europe, he went on to Starcount before joining the TruRating team. Gareth is passionate about transforming the way retailers collect and use customer feedback. At TruRating, he’s helping businesses access real-time, transaction-tied consumer data at an unprecedented scale; revolutionizing how retailers measure and improve business performance.

More from TruRating about optimizing conversion:
https://trurating.com/blog/5-takeaways-from-our-conversion-analysis-masterclass

Chapters:

(00:00) Preview

(00:41) Show Intro

(03:17) Welcome Gareth Johns, Chief Data Officer, TruRating

(03:57) Challenges in Measuring Conversion

(08:36) Effective Shopper Feedback Mechanisms

(13:54) Case Study: Footwear Brand Conversion Success

(18:22) Key Takeaways and Actionable Insights

(20:11) How to Learn More

(20:53) Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

Season 2 Trailer - Data Blades Returns: AI, CX, and Retail Media for Executive Leaders
 
Welcome to Season 2 of The Retail Razor: Data Blades—the podcast that slices through complex retail research to deliver sharp, actionable insights and retail strategies for executive leaders in the AI era. 
 
In Season 1, we cut through the clutter with data-backed insights to identify strategies for:

• Inflation’s uneven impact across age groups—where seniors felt the pinch more than younger shoppers.
• Shifting shopping habits—like 74% of consumers using lists to control spending.
• The power of values in loyalty—with 77% of consumers saying brand values matter more than discounts.
• Self-checkout and employee experience—where well-informed store teams drove a 27% increase in average spend.

 
Now in Season 2, we’re going deeper. Hosts Ricardo Belmar, RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert & NRF 2025 Retail Voice, and Casey Golden, RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert, preview what’s ahead:

• Exclusive insights from TruRating and top retail analysts to hone your data-driven retail strategies.
• A focus on three pillars: Customer Experience, Retail Media, and Employee Experience.
• How AI is reshaping retail strategy—from predictive personalization to AI-powered workforce tools.
• Revisiting themes of trust, transparency, and loyalty with fresh data and new perspectives.

 
If you're a VP, CMO, COO, or CEO in retail looking to make smarter, data-driven decisions for AI-first retail strategies, this is your podcast. Subscribe now and stay ahead of the curve with insights that drive conversion, loyalty, and operational excellence.

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail data insights:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S1:E6 The Power of Knowledgeable Store Teams
 
In the final episode to Season 1 of the Retail Razor: Data Blades, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden welcome Georgina Nelson, CEO of TruRating. Georgina discusses the significant impact well-informed store teams have on retail performance. Highlighting a global sporting goods retailer's success, Georgina reveals that 90% of shoppers acknowledged receiving multiple product options from staff, leading to a 27% increase in average shopper spend. The conversation emphasizes the importance of personalized customer interactions, cross-selling, upselling, and the tangible benefits of sales and product training. Insights are derived from TruRating’s innovative approach to gathering customer feedback directly at the point of sale, showing how it supports retailers in enhancing store performance and creating holistic shopping experiences.

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

Chapters:

(00:00) Show Intro

(01:12) Georgina Nelson - The Strategic Advantage of Well-Informed Store Teams

(09:40) Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S1:E5 Revolutionizing the Checkout: How Choice Impacts Purchase Behavior
 
In this episode of the Retail Razor Show: Data Blades, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden are joined by Georgina Nelson, CEO of TruRating, to explore the essential role of consumer choice during the checkout experience. Georgina shares insights gathered from over 14,000 customers across the US, UK, and Australia about their preferences for self-checkout versus manned cashiers. The discussion reveals that while convenience stores see a higher preference for self-checkout, segments like apparel still lean towards manned cashiers due to the nature of the shopping experience. Additionally, data indicates that perception of limited checkout options can lead consumers to spend significantly less. We highlight the importance of retailers investing in offering choices to avoid dips in transaction values and improve customer satisfaction. We also look at practical approaches for retailers to balance between technology and human assistance at checkout, ensuring an optimized customer journey!

Don't forget to like and subscribe to The Retail Razor: Data Blades for more episodes on customer experience, retail marketing, AI in retail, and data‑driven transformation!

Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utube

Chapters:

(00:00) Show Intro

(01:12) Georgina Nelson - Perception of Choice is Essential During the Checkout Experience

(09:13) Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AIand Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! 

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.