Think Retail

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It has been quite telling over the years working with retail brands, whenever you bring up the subject of employee engagement, it’s usually not a top priority. Everybody is so focused on e-commerce and social media that employees are often treated as an afterthought. And while digital is, of course, critical for any brand in bricks and mortar retail, people are the power behind real success. So why aren’t retail leaders more focused on leadership? 

April Sabral has had a long career in retail leadership with companies such as Banana Republic, Starbucks, and Apple. She’s the brains behind retailu, an online learning platform designed especially for retail leaders. In this episode, we talk about retail leadership and her new book, The Positive Effect. 

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A big buzzword for 2021 is optimism. Politicians, marketers, and even celebrities are cheering the world on as vaccination efforts roll out. And while the end of the pandemic may still be further away than we’d like, at least an end is in view. How does this relate to the retail experience? As we all know, shopping hasn’t exactly been a fun experience lately. It’s felt more like a military operation at times. That being said, wherever brands can bring a little bit of joy into their messaging and store experience, it will be most welcome. 

In this episode, we speak to Paul Goldsmith, who has years of experience managing retail brands, not just in Canada, but internationally. Most recently, he was leading design services for Walmart Canada, and that encompassed a broad portfolio, from private label, to in-store, to next-generation store design. In Canada, he also worked for Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws in product and marketing leadership roles. He describes himself as an optimistic person. And today we’re going to discuss why the world needs a good dose of happy thoughts, now more than ever. 

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How to get more people into your store is a question that retailers both big and small have been asking since the dawn of e-commerce. Add Amazon, a pandemic, direct to consumer online brands and a smartphone in the hand of nearly every consumer in North America, and the answer seems less clear still.

Mark Kinsley and Mark Quinn (also known as Dos Marcos) are both veterans in the retail industry and have written a book on this very subject. Come Back to Bed is a joint effort, bringing their expertise and experience in the mattress industry together to discuss core principles that can apply to any retail category. Today, we’re going to talk about these core principles as well as strategic tactics brands can implement.

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TikTok and Snapchat, Google’s antitrust lawsuit, AOC versus Zuckerberg, it seems like every day there’s a new factor that could change digital marketing, making it a moving target for brand marketers. With so much to stay up to date on, it can be hard to know where to focus your efforts. Luckily, our guest today lives and breathes the world of digital marketing.

Martin Waxman is a digital and social media strategist who also teaches at the Schulich School of Business, Seneca College and McMaster University. And we’re going to talk about the shifting landscape of digital marketing.

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The word transformation gets bounced around a lot, and like any other word that starts to become part of our marketing vernacular, it can start to lose its true meaning. That being said, when it comes to what’s happening in the world of retail banking, there really isn’t a better word to describe what’s going on. For banks leading this revolution, we’re seeing fundamental shifts in their model that are truly transformative. But for many banks, catching up with digital innovations has been enough of a challenge, and if you add COVID on top of that, it might seem like this lofty word is unachievable.

Today, we’re talking to strategist and President of SLD, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who has worked on numerous bank transformation initiatives, about why the time to embrace transformation is now, and why it’s more achievable than you might think.

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One of the buzziest and most debated tech terms of the last 5 to 10 years is artificial intelligence. To start off with, what does the term artificial intelligence actually mean? If you just Google “define artificial intelligence,” you’ll discover that even computer scientists and engineers don’t entirely agree on what to call everything that fits under the AI umbrella. And when it comes to putting it to use, there’s even less clarity. For retail brands, many of whom may be sitting on a lot of consumer data, understanding what options are available now, and what could be relevant tomorrow is key to staying ahead.

George Wang is a designer whose work bridges areas of innovation and technology, product development, and software. And he’s going to talk to us about what artificial intelligence means for retail design.

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What was your first job? Mine was as a teller at a big box store and there’s a very good chance your first job was also in retail. Maybe you were a busboy at a restaurant, or you bagged groceries or sold shoes at the mall. The retail industry is massive. In the U.S. one in four jobs are retail jobs. And yet working in retail is often seen as a default, not a choice to be lauded. 

Today’s guest, Ron Thurston, has had a long career in retail, starting off as a part time sales associate and now VP of Stores for Intermix, and his new book Retail Pride celebrates retail careers, including the accidental route many take to their positions. Today, we’re going to dig into some of the things he explores in the book to find out why and how leaders should make retail pride central to their culture.

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