What Just Happened

The fashion industry, often criticized for lacking sustainable practices, finds its common defense in the notion of retail therapy. However, a paradigm shift for sustainability in fashion is on the horizon as professionals within the industry retrain in sustainable fields like agroecology and biofabrication. By 2025, consumers might be empowered with the knowledge of their shopping carbon footprint. For a deeper dive into sustainability in fashion, turn to insights from Paul Foulkes-Arellano, Founder at Circuthon Consulting on What Just Happened?

What Just Happened host Christine Russo and her guest, Andy Ruben, Executive Chairman and Founder of Trove, discuss the future of retail, the impact of brands entering the secondary market, and the growing importance of sustainability in retail. Ruben believes the secondary market presents significant sustainability and brand loyalty opportunities, particularly for high-quality brands with products that retain value post-purchase. In the episode, Ruben reveals that Trove is leading the industry, facilitating millions of second-hand sales, representing over 70% of all resale branded traffic worldwide. Brands that neglect to prioritize quality will likely struggle in this emerging retail landscape, whereas those with long-lasting, high-quality products should thrive.

As the conversation on climate moves from change to crisis, sustainability in retail is no longer a dream to obtain; it’s a necessity that industry leaders take meaningful action.

The retail industry, a notorious contributor to global waste and pollution, is a primary player in these dialogues. Recent studies suggest that around 85% of all textiles produced by the fashion industry end up in landfills, making it a significant sustainability challenge. So, where does the retail sector stand regarding environmental responsibility, and what efforts are currently underway to curb its impact?

Today’s consumers ask hard sustainability questions about the brands they shop for and expect answers. Buying into Better™ is changing consumer perceptions on the environmental impact of products; organizations like the NRF (National Retail Federation) provide information on the carbon footprint of retail products to help them make sustainable-conscious decisions in their purchases.

In this episode of “What Just Happened?”, host Christine Russo engages in an enlightening conversation with Scot Case, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the NRF, to look at the current state of sustainability in retail. Are they meeting the challenge?

Throughout the episode, Russo and Case discuss:

• The ongoing challenges the retail industry faces in its journey toward sustainability, from understanding complex supply chains to tackling issues like overproduction, resource management, and waste

• The crucial role of collaboration in overcoming these challenges and how solutions from one sector could potentially apply to others

• The emergence of a new generation of leaders in the retail industry who recognize the need for organizational change and systemic thinking to achieve sustainability goals

Scot Case, a veteran in the field of sustainability, has dedicated his career to understanding and addressing the economic and social implications of business practices on our planet. As the VP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at NRF, he works tirelessly to ensure that the retail industry recognizes its environmental responsibility and adopts practices that align with sustainability goals. His approach involves not only pushing for industry-wide changes but also working to embed sustainability considerations into the core values and daily operations of individual companies.

As the conversation on climate moves from change to crisis, sustainability in retail is no longer a dream to obtain; it’s a necessity that industry leaders take meaningful action.

The retail industry, a notorious contributor to global waste and pollution, is a primary player in these dialogues. Recent studies suggest that around 85% of all textiles produced by the fashion industry end up in landfills, making it a significant sustainability challenge. So, where does the retail sector stand regarding environmental responsibility, and what efforts are currently underway to curb its impact?

Today’s consumers ask hard sustainability questions about the brands they shop for and expect answers. Buying into Better™ is changing consumer perceptions on the environmental impact of products; organizations like the NRF (National Retail Federation) provide information on the carbon footprint of retail products to help them make sustainable-conscious decisions in their purchases.

In this episode of “What Just Happened?”, host Christine Russo engages in an enlightening conversation with Scot Case, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the NRF, to look at the current state of sustainability in retail. Are they meeting the challenge?

Throughout the episode, Russo and Case discuss:

• The ongoing challenges the retail industry faces in its journey toward sustainability, from understanding complex supply chains to tackling issues like overproduction, resource management, and waste

• The crucial role of collaboration in overcoming these challenges and how solutions from one sector could potentially apply to others

• The emergence of a new generation of leaders in the retail industry who recognize the need for organizational change and systemic thinking to achieve sustainability goals

Scot Case, a veteran in the field of sustainability, has dedicated his career to understanding and addressing the economic and social implications of business practices on our planet. As the VP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at NRF, he works tirelessly to ensure that the retail industry recognizes its environmental responsibility and adopts practices that align with sustainability goals. His approach involves not only pushing for industry-wide changes but also working to embed sustainability considerations into the core values and daily operations of individual companies.

Consumers have multiple choices in spending their dollars, and today’s consumers invest in companies and brands that align with their values and needs. Buying into Better™ is more than a concept or a trend; it’s the way of the present in how consumers channel their purchasing behavior.

Brands don’t get judged on their quality alone. Consumers want to know that the organizations behind these brands are making strides in meaningful sustainability in both environmental and social governance.

Deloitte recently released a report on Buying into Better that looks into the future of the consumer industry. What Just Happened? host Christine Russo got an insider’s walkthrough of the report from Deloitte’s Vice Chair and U.S. Consumer Industry Leader, Anthony Waelter. Waelter told Russo that Buying into Better is a journey everyone is on, consumers and consumer companies alike.

“Reflecting over the past few years what organizations were focused on and what consumers were demanding, we recognized that we’re all moving toward a more utopian future despite all the dystopian impacts that are out there today,” Waelter said. “And when you think about it, consumers are using their dollars more and more to effect the change they want to see in the world, and they’re speaking with their wallets and demanding more reliable, safe, convenient, sustainable, socially just, and personalized goods and services.”

Russo and Waelter’s conversation on Buying into Better includes:

The importance of change, expecting change, and building change into corporate and brand strategies

Aligning personal values with purchasing consumer products

Breaking down the three M’s: models, mechanics, and markets, and how they interact with consumers and brands, selling and communicating

Understanding generational change from the enterprise-level leadership

“What we want people to get from the body of work is an understanding that what’s worked for the last forty years is not going to work in the future,” Waelter said. “We talk about things like reconfiguring supply chains in production to meet the demands of the consumer. We talk about things like massive shifts from one type of product that’s more of a tangible, durable good to a digital good and service. These require dramatically different skill sets in an organization.”

About Anthony

Anthony Waelter, as Vice Chair and US Consumer Industry Leader for Deloitte LLP, leads the overall strategic direction for its industry practice, including audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services. Waelter has nearly 30 years of experience providing financial, operational, and information systems advisory and assurance services to U.S. and global clients in the consumer products, manufacturing, chemicals, retail & distribution, and transportation, hospitality and services sectors.

Before his consumer industry role, Waelter led Deloitte’s Controllership Services practice and continues to serve as a member of its U.S. Finance Transformation leadership team. Waelter holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Accounting from the University of South Florida.

On this episode of the What Just Happened? podcast, host Christine Russo speaks with Warren Tomlin, Managing Partner at EY, on the new alliance his company just made with Shopify. It might seem strange for a company like EY to team with Shopify, but Warren makes a case for it. “It’s not about how it looks, it’s about how it works,” said Tomlin, referring to the fact that even if looks strange to some, this alliance is meant to help businesses’ e-commerce and sales, which is what matters most at the end of the day.

“It’s not about doing things differently in 2023, it’s about doing different things,” explained Tomlin. “How do you do things with your brand that you couldn’t have had or didn’t have permission to do even a decade ago?” He identified specific consumer behaviors and the way consumers engage with certain online stores, noting that other companies have not been catching up.

“Consumers, whether you’re B2B, B2C, or even in education, people don’t judge your brand, your organization, and the experiences they have there by your peer group necessarily, right? They compare the retail banking experience to the Apple Store, right? They compare your mobile app to Spotify or the airline that they check into,” said Tomlin. “And so, the consulting firms, yes, we’ve made a pivot to brand, but in reality, we’ve always worked with those brands often in the back office.” The EY-Shopify Alliance is then expected to help businesses stay up to date with online commerce standards which consumers have already become accustomed to and enjoy using.

Key Points:

-EY has teamed up with Shopify to emphasize branding for businesses

-Online commerce needs to stay up to date with consumer expectations

-The EY-Shopify Alliance will help businesses succeed in e-commerce

The growth of cryptocurrency is a sign of how digitalization is the norm, even as it sees its own transformation. But the popularity of cryptocurrency is why its growth rate is slated to jump with a CAGR of 12.5 percent between now and 2030. However, market watchers can expect to see some shifts as changes in cryptocurrency continue to expand and become a growing level of importance in blockchain and other digital incentives.

What are some predictions in the foreseeable future for new technology in this growing digital world?

In a recent episode of “What Just Happened?” host Christine Russo interviewed Matt Wurst, the Cofounder and Chief Marketing Officer at Mint, about the evolution of cryptocurrency, tokens, and the rise of AI programs.

Wurst indicated that when NFT entered the picture its introduction was fast and moved relatively quickly, which is also why things have relaxed to make way for some new changes now. He said along with personalization of tokens, there will be bigger names becoming attached to NFTs, which will ultimately shape the future of it.

“The first phase of NFT or NFT 1.0, saw some missteps. Individual adoption of blockchain and crypto has accelerated over the last two years, but now we're starting to see strategies put in place, things are slowing down, and what was missing from all of that was almost like a marketing 101. So, I think big brands, whether they are music and publishing networks or CPG companies, or travel and hospitality brands, I actually think they're going to lead the next phase, and because they are adept at omnichannel content creation for social and for their owned and operated websites, I think those creators are going to be adapting to some theses new tools and we already seeing powerful models for companies to use that go beyond just collectability.”

Russo and Wurst also discussed …

1. How companies are adapting and utilizing cryptocurrency and digital media

2. Some of the recent and current shifts happening and how companies are keeping up with their digital marketing strategies

3. The growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs and what industries people can expect to see the most of its impact

“We're going to see feature length films created entirely by AI on a $5,000 budget in a matter of years,” said Wurst. “We’re seeing newsrooms at publications already leveraging Midjourney and Spatial to improve the quality of their art. So, I think we're going to see a combination of things, but from an everyday user perspective, improving the quality of their work to make them more efficient and more creative in other ways is going to be exciting. It’s already happening, but I think also as some of these free tools become more crowded and the paywall to enter … I think that'll start to differentiate a lot of things very quickly because the everyday usage will be still somewhat banal, but be really high-end work that AI can deliver based on really smart innovative use cases.”

Matt Wurst is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Mint. He was previously the Global Client Partnerships Lead at Jellyfish and has two decades of marketing experience.

With the collapse of the FTX exchange and one of its founders, the concerns surrounding the regulation of cryptocurrency have overtaken talks about its security. Currently, cryptocurrency is “regulated,” but the lack of uniformity in its regulation has left much to be desired about its safety, particularly for consumers. But self-regulation may be a solution to the future of regulating cryptocurrency.

What is self-regulation? And how would it work in a world with enforced regulation?

Crypto expert Gabby Kusz, CEO of Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association, elaborated on the regulation concerns of cryptocurrency with host Christine Russo in the latest edition of “What Just Happened?” The two further explored the concept of self-regulation and what it can mean for consumers, along with the safety measures it can introduce to the world of cryptocurrency exchanges.

FTX’s crash sent the crypto world into a tailspin when its founder defrauded investors and consumers out of billions of dollars. Re-emerging from the whole debacle were new calls for regulation, and the growing interest in self-regulation — a concept that could temporarily (or permanently) and potentially address cryptocurrency security, until a foolproof regulation is implemented.

“With self-regulation, it's not in place of, or as a substitute for — it’s a complement to that. Neither the industry or regulators or government are really able to do this on their own right now, and we can try to wait for 10 or 15 years until people build capacity, laws change, institutions are fully formed, or we can recognize that there's really a need today to start to take action …” said Kusz.

Russo and Kusz also further talked about the …

1. Outlook on the growing sense of urgency for self-regulation and the responsibility for doing so

2. Failure of FTX and how it crashed

3. Measures companies can take to ensure they reach all aspects of consumer needs in regulating

“If your end goal is to have products and services that are made for everyone and raise everyone up, then you have to begin with a framework that has that intentionally built in and that allows firms that are more diverse, better, more resilient, more globally competitive to thrive, and then ultimately consumers, the general public, the economy, and society win,” said Kusz.

Gabby Kusz is the CEO of Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association. She has over 17 years of financial industry experience. Kusz is also a Leader on the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Network Leader for Prince Sultan University. She is an alumna of Georgetown University.

What does the next generation of B2B want? What does it need? Many believe it’s the metaverse. In 2022, more than 75% of U.S. marketers invested in metaverse-related activities. Top retail brands like Gucci and Lego saw the benefits of investing in the metaverse and leaped.

2023 tells a potentially different story. In its 2023 report on trends marketers may leave behind, HubSpot indicated that 29% of those surveyed indicated reducing their spending in the metaverse this year. How quickly mindsets change. Uncertainty about the future of the metaverse may have the B2B space asking, “What just happened?”

The situation could be that marketers haven’t found the metaverse’s sweet spot yet. However, some companies have invested in metaverse solutions that could pay off for B2B organizations in surprising ways. Mext B2B Metaverse is one of those organizations successfully creating virtual networking solutions for the metaverse.

What types of benefits can virtual networking platforms provide for those in the B2B space? It turns out to be quite a few. Mext’s CEO, Hanene Maupas, says Mext built its solutions to solve real challenges for B2B. She spoke with What Just Happened? and host Christine Russo about the potential of the metaverse to provide green solutions and better interconnectivity for B2B companies. In the metaverse, blending digital and in-person interactions creates a potentially powerful networking tool for B2B.

“These are new ways that will consolidate the advantages of the physical and also allow physical events to communicate digitally with everyone who can’t participate, to get knowledge and contribute in true ways in something very interactive,” Maupas said.

Russo and Maupas’ conversation includes:

• How organizations desire to become greener and do less travel leads to networking opportunities within the metaverse.

• Mext’s forward-looking goals regarding the B2B space

• Some of the inspiring aspects of the metaverse

“It’s the experience itself,” Maupas said. “I can discover new products and connect with people. I can attend events. You don’t need to travel anywhere. When you hear about things and cannot do anything because you don’t have the money, knowledge, or opportunity, it isn’t easy to do much about it and progress. With the metaverse, we give this chance to anyone.”

Hanene Maupas is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the semiconductor and internet industries. Maupas is a strong business development professional with skills in sales and marketing. She received her Ph.D. from the Ecole centrale de Lyon.

Tecsys provides supply chain management solutions to assist businesses in managing their operations in a way that is streamlined and effective. These solutions encompass a range of services, such as warehouse management systems, transportation management systems, order management systems, and supply chain analytics. Their cloud-based platform is both scalable and flexible, catering to businesses of all sizes. But what are some of the biggest challenges retail and logistics companies face when managing their supply chains, and how does Tecsys help address them?

On today's episode of the What Just Happened podcast, host Christine Russo speaks with Guy Courtin, Vice President of Industry and Advanced Technology, Tecsys Inc, to talk about the ways Tecsys' supply chain analytics solutions provide businesses with valuable insights into their operations, and how those insights can be used to drive improvements and savings.

Courtin's core advice: we think of retail from the Supply chain moving to the consumers. One way it does this is by offering a suite of solutions that enable retailers to manage their inventory and orders more efficiently, regardless of the channel the customer uses to make a purchase. This enables them to fulfill orders more efficiently and offer customers a more seamless and personalized shopping experience.

"We are doing a lot of work in automation and robotics, but how do we bring some of our partners in when those discussions are out there?” said Courtin. “I'm not buying robotics, and I don't want to be a hardware company. I want to be able to bring solutions to the table on my platform.”

Courtin continued "We've got a lot of very good solutions that we can bundle together to this platform, and let's talk about what it is from the retailer's perspective that is the biggest challenge today in potentially tomorrow."

Guy Courtin is a seasoned supply chain expert with decades of experience in the technology and supply chain space. Currently serving as Tecsys' vice president of industry and advanced technology, Guy holds an MBA in Management from the Olin Graduate School of Business, a Master's in International Relations from Loyola University Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross.