WDCast

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably used some form of BOPIS (buy online pick-up in store), ship from store or ship to store. Retailers are pulling out all the stops to get goods to their customers on their terms. Yet most companies are ‘bolting-on’ the operation of these services, and not properly assessing or accounting for the additional needs (space, associates, product) of these growing orders. Well that’s where this week’s guest comes into play as Lee Peterson talks with Joanne Heyob, SVP Operations & Strategy Design at WD Partners. Joanne shares how her team works with brands to understand the floor plan, product flow, peak traffic times and so much more in order to create seamless experiences for the associates and customers.

How does a CEO make sure his 5,000 associates not only understand the vision of the company but also feel like they are a part of the plan and future? By making sure those people can do the things they need to do. Whether it’s solving problems, clarifying communications or clearing up miscommunication, the plates are in the air and they are a spinning. In this episode Tom Krouse, CEO of Donatos, joins Lee Peterson to discuss his path to becoming a CEO, his leadership style, the success of running a family business and why having fun is so important.

Is the retail apocalypse real? Or is the industry just correcting for past mistakes? Many past mistakes. It’s convenient to blame the rise of ecommerce, but in actuality there are other forces at play (too many malls, being over-stored, bad real estate investments) causing the mass exodus of both store brands and brick-and-mortar locations. This week Daphne Howland, reporter for Retail Dive, joins Lee Peterson to discuss said apocalypse as well as the history and future of malls, the 800-pound gorilla Amazon, and the rise/fall of department stores.

Due to their size, capital and footprint, Big Box stores are quick to meet customers’ needs today—whether in a store, via delivery or pick-up, we’re seeing consumers responding (positively) and doubling down on their loyalty to those Big Box stores. This week Áine Cain, Senior Retail Reporter with Business Insider and expert on all things Big Box, joins Lee Peterson to discuss how Big Box stores are competing with ecommerce giants (we’re looking at you Amazon), the reality of stores acting as distribution centers and the impact all of these changes have on their associates.

Pop-up stores have been around for 10+ years (can you believe it?!). As technology booms, stores close and Amazon sells more Alexas, the role (and opportunity) that a pop-up store has within a brand’s ecosystem has never been more interesting. The Lionesque Group (pop-up retail architects) was founded on the idea that a pop-up store is a space for brands to tell a story. This week their founder and CEO Melissa Gonzalez joins Lee Peterson to discuss the various roles of a pop-up store, the importance of balancing an experience with real-world ROI and why brands must fuse digital and physical to provide personalized experiences for their customers.

The adage “the customer is always right” is not new. But never has it been truer than this year. The “Uberization” of retail—give me what I want when and how I want it—has shifted the way customers expect to interact with brands and retailers and it’s not going to change anytime soon. This week Alison Embrey Medina, Director of Content at Retail X, joins Lee Peterson to discuss this exact notion including what brands need to do to evolve and which brands are already revolving around their customer.

There is no going back from the role technology plays in our life. In fact with the launch of 5G technology we will be able to access content, websites, conversations, etc. 100x faster than what we have now. And no one knows this better than Gen Z—this young cohort has never lived without technology and they are often the early adopters, influencers and drivers of what’s next. Marcie Merriman, Practice Leader, Cultural Insights and Customer Strategy at EY, joins Lee Peterson this week to discuss all things Gen Z, technology, retail and the intersection of the three.

Every other industry is built around the customer’s needs…except healthcare. Traditionally, the healthcare experience has been centered around the physician. When in reality, the experience should be created with the customer’s needs first (note the customer isn’t always the patient). The real unlock is when clinician & patient experiences merge and a solution can be found that benefits both parties. This week, Sara Saldoff, Sr. Director of Digital Marketing & Customer Experience at OhioHealth joins Lee Peterson to discuss this shift and how her team is using design thinking and empathy to pull the friction out of healthcare and create better experiences.

Because empathy is a function in all of us, it can be a trainable skill and can be one of the most powerful creative tools. When you can slow down and listen to others, be it clients, co-workers or customers, while maintaining complete self-awareness and an unbiased mindset, clear objectives can be determined that can tie back to a comprehensive strategy. This week, Andy House, Creative Director of Environments at WD Partners, joins Lee Peterson to talk about emotionally driven design and how leading with empathy can unlock innovation and collaboration.

A large company can’t run without an HR department. They are the behind-the-scenes force that feeds the culture of the company by bringing in the right talent at the right time. In fact, at WD Partners the HR group is called Talent Care. In this episode Jen Merkich, VP of Talent Care at WD Partners, talks with Lee about the inner workings of leading a people-first department, how to hire the right people and keep them motivated.