The Retail Razor Show

S6E2 The Retail Growth Strategy Retailers Need for 2026 with Today’s Economic Realities, Tariffs, Fed Moves, and Consumer Shifts In this powerful episode of The Retail Razor Show, Dr. Rebecca Homkes, London Business School lecturer, Duke faculty member, high‑growth strategy advisor, and author of Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times, joins Ricardo and Casey to break down what retailers must understand about the economic outlook in 2026, shifting consumer behavior, and the strategic moves that separate winners from laggards. Rebecca explains why uncertainty is not a threat but a catalyst for growth, and how her Survive, Reset, Thrive (SRT) framework helps leaders stabilize quickly, reset strategy intelligently, and execute a retail growth strategy that works even in volatile conditions. She also unpacks the realities behind sticky inflation, tariffs, the no‑hire/no‑fire labor market, and the rise of the K‑shaped consumer economy. If you want to build a retail growth strategy that thrives in the face of market shocks, this episode gives you the playbook. What We Cover Why the economic outlook in 2026 is full of contradictions, and what that means for retail How the SRT loop helps leaders stabilize, reset, and thrive Real‑world examples of companies using SRT to turn crises into growth Why averages hide the truth about consumer sentiment The rise of the K‑shaped economy and the death of the “everyman” consumer Value vs. price: why consumers will still pay more for what they truly value How retailers should think about store formats, assortment, and experimentation The must‑win battles for 2026 Where AI actually moves the needle in a retail growth strategy Key Takeaways Uncertainty is the best time to grow: because customers, partners, and employees are more honest about what they value. Value ≠ price. Consumers want their dollar to go further, not necessarily cheaper products. The middle of the market is the danger zone. Retailers must choose: differentiated premium or true value leadership. Retail growth strategy in 2026 requires testing, iteration, and abandoning legacy assumptions. Economic outlook in 2026 signals a decoupling between GDP strength and consumer reality: leaders must plan accordingly. Subscribe & Follow 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 Rebecca Homkes, https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-homkes/ https://www.rebeccahomkes.com Author, Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times. https://a.co/d/0aXECIB2 Rebecca Homkes, is a high-growth strategy specialist, CEO and executive advisor. After more than a decade of advising her clients on developing, executing and innovating on strategy, Rebecca is sharing her proven and practical playbook in Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times. She is a Lecturer at the London Business School, Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, Advisor and Faculty at the Boston Consulting Group focused on AI and Climate and Sustainability, and a former fellow at the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance. A global keynote speaker and recognized thought leader, she is also the global Faculty Director of the Active Learning Program with the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), leads several fintech accelerators, and serves on the boards of many high-growth companies. She earned her doctorate at the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar and is now based in Miami, San Francisco, and London. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 01:10 Show Intro 04:40 Welcome Dr Rebecca Homkes 05:46 The Survive Reset Thrive Framework 08:04 Real World SRT Success Stories 12:55 Macro Economic Outlook for 2026 17:38 Understanding the K Shaped Economy 19:39 Value vs Price Strategy 24:06 Differentiation and Competitive Advantage 26:41 Store Strategy and Expansion 30:37 Consumer Experience and AI 32:34 B2B Software Experience Gap 34:04 Financing and Inventory Strategy 36:28 Supply Chain Robustness 38:10 No Regret Moves 40:40 Defining Right to Win 43:45 Hard Reset Strategy 45:51 Strategic Center of Gravity 48:24 Must Win Battles 49:34 Closing and Contact Info 51:36 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! Music Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S6E1 Retail Media’s New Reality: DSP Shifts, Agentic Commerce & Brand Strategy for 2026 Season 6 of The Retail Razor Show kicks off with a deep dive into one of the most important topics in commerce today: retail media. Ricardo and Casey sit down with Jeff Cohen, Chief Business Development Officer at Skai, to unpack the newly released 2026 State of Retail Media Report, created in partnership with Stratably. This episode explores how brands, versus retailers, are navigating the rapid evolution of retail media. From DSP shifts and CTV growth to AI adoption and agentic commerce, measurement challenges, and the widening gap between leaders and laggards, this conversation delivers the insights every brand marketer needs heading into 2026. What We Cover • Why retail media now commands nearly 30% of US digital ad spend • The rise of retail media maturity and what separates leaders from laggards • Why organizational structure is now a top predictor of retail media success • The growing importance of Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) • How brands should evaluate incrementality, attribution, and ROI • Why CTV and sponsored brand video are accelerating • The role of AI and agentic commerce in shaping future shopping journeys • What brands must do in 2026 to stay competitive Download the 2026 State of Retail Media Report (free): https://skai.io/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-state-of-retail-media-report/ Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guests Jeff Cohen, Chief Business Development Officer, Skai https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreycohen/ Jeff Cohen leads global business development at Skai, overseeing partnerships and innovation across the commerce media ecosystem. A recognized thought leader, he is focused on uniting brands, agencies, retailers, and publishers around the next era of growth. Previously, Jeff was Principal Evangelist at Amazon Ads. Chapters: 00:00 Preview Teaser 00:53 Show Intro 03:45 Welcome Jeff Cohen 06:24 Retail Media Maturity and Brand Strategies 08:30 Leaders vs. Laggards in Retail Media 12:12 Organizational Structure and Retail Media Success 17:35 Amazon Ads and DSP Insights 24:36 Evaluating Performance Across Platforms 27:45 The Shift to Full Funnel Advertising 29:46 Challenges in Measurement and Attribution 30:50 The Role of AMC in Retail Media 33:01 Incrementality and Budget Constraints 35:45 AI's Impact on Retail Media 37:10 Strategies for Brands in an AI World 42:54 Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts 48:21 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 and AGI, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Management, Careers, and Transformation, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Agentic AI and Digital 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 Transformation and 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 Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

Agentic Commerce, Retail Media, and the Human Experience: Season 6 Preview Season 6 of The Retail Razor Show is here, and we’re diving into the future of retail through the lens of Agentic Commerce and Retail Media. In this trailer, Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden introduce a season built around the collision of technology, content, and the human experience. As Agentic Commerce reshapes how consumers discover and buy products, Retail Media becomes the environment where every decision is influenced, measured, and optimized. This season builds on the momentum from Season 5, where we explored resilience, digital marketing, sustainability, resale, marketplace strategy, and leadership in an AI saturated world. Now we move into a new era where AI agents may shop on behalf of consumers, and retailers must understand how Agentic Commerce changes engagement, loyalty, and the path to purchase. At the same time, Retail Media continues to expand as a core revenue engine and a critical part of the customer journey. You’ll hear from innovators who are building systems powered by Agentic AI, leaders redefining Retail Media strategy, and operators proving that frontline teams can thrive when technology is designed to support them. This season explores how Agentic Commerce transforms merchandising, planning, and customer experience, and why the human connection still matters more than ever. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, iHeartMedia, YouTube, and Goodpods. Stay connected with us on LinkedIn, Blue Sky, Threads, and Instagram. If you want to understand where retail is heading in 2026, this is the podcast for you! Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube Chapters: 00:00 Cold Open 00:23 Intro to Season 6 00:50 Reflecting on Last Season 01:38 Introducing Agentic AI 01:51 The Role of Media in Retail 02:09 Human Connection in a Digital World 03:02 The Era of Agentic Commerce 04:03 Looking Ahead: Innovators and Leaders 04:44 Stay Connected and Engaged 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 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail and AGI, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Management, Careers, and Transformation, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Agentic AI and Digital 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 Transformation and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T.

S5E14 2025 Retail Year in Review - AI, Consumer Shifts, and the Future of Commerce with Guest Host, Alicia Esposito! In this Season 5 finale of The Retail Razor Show, guest host Alicia Esposito (Future Commerce) sits down with Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden for a deep, unfiltered 2025 retail year in review. Together, they unpack the biggest trends shaping the industry, from AI’s accelerating influence, to the emotional needs of today’s consumer, the rise of resale, the evolution of marketplaces, and the shifting definition of value. Across the Retail Razor Podcast Network - The Retail Razor Show, Blade to Greatness, Data Blades, and Retail Transformers - this year’s guests revealed a powerful through line: retail is no longer just about convenience or price. It’s about culture, community, emotion, and the human experience. This episode explores: • How AI is reshaping leadership, decision making, and personalization • Why consumers—especially Gen Z—are craving analog joy and emotional shopping • The rise of marketplaces like Temu and AliExpress • Retail media’s evolution and the coming disruption from agentic commerce • The loyalty shakeout and why brand equity matters more than ever • The explosive growth of resale and secondhand shopping • Holiday shopping behavior and the psychology behind “perpetual shopping lists” • The keywords that will define 2026: velocity and joy If you want to understand where retail is heading in 2026, this is the episode you can’t miss! Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest Host Alicia Esposito, Director, Content + Media Strategy - Future Commerce https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciaesposito/  Alicia is the head of content and insights for Future Commerce. At Future Commerce we are big on dissecting the intersection of culture and commerce and not just covering what's happening today, but also what are the ripple effects for tomorrow, and for the future. Future Commerce delivers consumer insights for e-commerce and retail brands. Newsletters, essays, podcasts, and research. For the risk-takers in Commerce! Future Commerce helps brands manifest vision and create goals which lead to future-altering impacts for their customers, and for the world around them. Chapters: 00:00 Preview 01:06 Introduction and Host Introduction 03:02 Balancing Automation and Human Intuition 06:57 Consumer Behavior and AI 10:18 The Evolution of Retail Experiences 18:21 The Importance of Brand Value 24:14 Challenges in Fast Fashion and Marketplaces 28:23 The Future of Commerce 31:36 Retail Media Evolution 36:50 Consumer Behavior and Shopping Trends 41:09 The Impact of Resale and Sustainability 50:12 Personalization and AI in Retail 53:16 The Keyword That Will Represent 2026 55:45 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail, & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5E13 Future of AI-Powered Consumer Insights with Trevor Sumner & Stan Sthanunathan In Season 5, Episode 13 of The Retail Razor Show, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden tackle one of retail’s biggest blind spots in consumer insights: the consumer sentiment gap. For decades, brands relied on surveys to understand shoppers. But what people say doesn’t always match what they do. Enter AI-powered shopper insights! Joining the conversation are Trevor Sumner (CEO of i-Genie AI) and Stan Sthanunathan (Executive Chairman of i-Genie AI, former EVP at Unilever and VP at Coca-Cola). Together, they reveal how billions of unfiltered signals — from searches, reviews, and social posts — can be transformed into real-time, actionable consumer insights that reshape retail decision-making. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: • Why traditional consumer surveys are breaking down • How AI and natural language processing uncover real customer behavior • The role of empathy vs sympathy in understanding consumers • How disruptor brands are reshaping competitive landscapes • Why augmented intelligence (AI + human insight) is the future of retail strategy and consumer insights Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guests Trevor Sumner, CEO, i-Genie.AI - https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevorsumner/ Trevor is a NYC-based entrepreneur, product and marketing executive and recognized startup advisor and angel. Trevor is the CEO at i-Genie.ai, the leading AI platform for consumer insights, revolutionizing an industry that had been dominated with antiquated survey methodologies by synthesizing tens of billions of searches, social and video posts, ratings and reviews and market data for industry leaders like Kenvue, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Bayer, Clorox and more. Previously, Trevor was Head of AI and Data Platform products for Raydiant, a leading VC-backed digital experience platform that is transforming over 250,000 digital touch points across 4,500 clients with AI, computer vision and data. Trevor came to Raydiant when it acquired Perch, a recognized leader in in-store Product Engagement Marketing, interactive retail displays and augmented reality, where Trevor served as CEO. Perch was named a Top Tech Company to Watch by Forbes, a Top 10 Retail Technology company by CIO Review and has won numerous Clio, Fast Company, Edison, Bloomberg and Digi awards. Stan Sthanunathan, Executive Chairman, i-Genie.AI - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stan-sthanunathan-1ab4035/ Stan Sthanunathan joined Unilever in July 2013 as Executive Vice President of Consumer & Market Insights. As chief provocateur, he headed up the insights function globally based in London. He retired from Unilever on June 1, 2021. Post retirement he has started an AI/ML enabled company called i-Genie.AI focused on delivering near real time insights and ideas to help business identify Next Big Thing. Prior to joining Unilever, he was Vice President of Marketing Strategy & Insights for The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, heading up the function on a global basis. Stan co-authored a paper on Building an Insights Engine that was published in Harvard Business Review, Sept 2016. He has also co-authored a book titled AI for Marketing and Product Innovation. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement award at TMRE 2022 event. Chapters: 00:00 Previews 01:23 Show Intro 04:43 The Consumer Sentiment Gap 05:37 Welcome Trevor Sumner & Stan Sthanunathan 06:30 Backgrounds of Trevor and Stan 09:11 Challenges in Understanding Consumers 16:58 The Evolution of Influencers 18:32 Limitations of Surveys and the Need for AI 25:46 Augmented Intelligence: AI + Human Insight 31:46 Challenges in CPG Innovation 33:02 Innovate: A Data-Driven Product 34:42 AI and Predictive Analytics 36:21 Democratizing Data Access 38:07 Mindset Shift for Rapid Actions 40:46 Adopting AI in CPG 48:16 Retailers and Data Utilization 52:59 Future of Brand Understanding 57:23 Conclusion and Contact Information 58:15 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail, & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5E12 The Future of AI in Merchandising & Buying with Noah Herschman and Jeff Fish In Season 5, Episode 12 of The Retail Razor Show, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Noah Herschman and Jeff Fish of Intelo.ai to explore how agentic AI is revolutionizing retail merchandising and buying. From the art and science of retail merchandising to the persistent challenges of planning and allocation, this episode dives deep into how collaborative intelligence empowers merchandisers, planners, and buyers to make smarter, faster, and more creative decisions. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: • Why merchandising is the “hub of the wheel” in retail success • The balance between creativity and analytics in buying decisions • How agentic AI enhances human judgment without replacing it • Real-world examples of AI improving in-season planning and merchandising financial plans • Why spreadsheets aren’t going away, but AI agents make them smarter • The future of retail technology and how Agentic AI delivers superpowers to retail merchandisers Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guests Noah Herschman. Senior Industry Advisor, Intelo.ai Noah is an ecommerce strategist who’s been shaping online retail since the 1990s. He’s held leadership roles at Amazon, eBay, and Groupon. As a Microsoft Senior Retail Industry Architect, he has worked with more than 150 global retail & CPG clients. Noah has lived in China for 15 years and fluent in Mandarin, Noah operates out of Hong Kong. He is currently a Senior Industry Advisor for Intelo.ai Jeffrey Fish, Co-CEO, Intelo.ai Jeffrey Fish Co-Founded the Chatly platform serving global retail & hospitality brands targeting the China market (exited to Salesforce in 2020). He then led Salesforce China in partnership with Alibaba Cloud. Now he's scaling up Intelo's Collaborative Intelligence Agentic Merchandising & Planning Platform. Chapters: 00:00 Previews 01:39 Show Intro 04:13 Welcome Noah Herschman & Jeff Fish 04:37 Guest Backgrounds and Expertise 07:33 The Importance of Retail Merchandising 11:41 Challenges and Solutions in Modern Merchandising 16:25 The Role of Agentic AI in Merchandising 23:09 Future of Agentic AI and Merchandising 40:04 Practical Steps for Retailers 41:36 How to Reach Out And Contact 42:10 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail, & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5E11 ThredUp’s Resale Revolution: Holiday Shopping & Gift Giving Trends with Alon Rotem The holidays are here and resale is at the center of this year’s shopping story! In this timely episode of The Retail Razor Show, Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Alon Rotem, Chief Strategy Officer at ThredUp, to unpack the company’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Report. From surprising insights on resale gift giving to how shoppers are embracing sustainable fashion and circular economy models, this conversation reveals why resale is becoming a mainstream holiday shopping strategy. We also explore ThredUp’s evolution from a secondhand marketplace to a Resale as a Service (RaaS) leader, powering branded resale programs for fashion retailers. Alon shares how ThredUp’s AI-powered innovations — including image search, natural language search, and personalized curation — are transforming the secondhand shopping experience and driving conversion. If you want to understand how resale, sustainability, and AI are reshaping holiday shopping in 2025, this episode delivers insights every retailer, brand, and shopper needs. Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest Alon Rotem, Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel, ThredUp Alon Rotem has served as ThredUp’s Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel since September 2024. Alon has also served as Chief Legal Officer since February 2021 and Secretary since March 2017 and previously served as General Counsel from January 2017 to February 2021. From September 2013 to November 2016, Alon served as the General Counsel of Rocket Lawyer Inc., an online legal technology company. From June 2010 to August 2013, he was an associate at Goodwin Procter LLP, a global law firm. Alon holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis. ThredUp 2025 Holiday Report - https://newsroom.thredup.com/news/thredup-2025-holiday-report ThredUp Resale-as-a-Service - https://www.raas.thredup.com Chapters: 00:00 Previews 01:13 Show Intro 04:51 Welcome, Alon Rotem - Chief Strategy Officer, ThredUp 08:38 ThredUp's Evolution and Resale as a Service 15:51 Implementing Resale Programs with ThredUp 21:31 Challenges and Successes of Going Public 25:36 AI Innovations in ThredUp's Shopping Experience 33:06 Insights from the Holiday Report 35:25 Consumer Behavior and Secondhand Gifts 36:24 Top Gifting Trends in Resale 39:49 The Role of Data in Resale 41:32 Consumer Funding for Holiday Shopping 47:21 Luxury vs. Mid-Market Resale 51:05 Sustainability and the Future of Fashion 55:11 Future Outlook 59:47 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail, & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

BONUS - The Retail Razor: Data Blades Season 2 Trailer Data Blades Returns: AI, CX, and Retail Media for Executive Leaders Welcome to a special cross-release of the Season 2 trailer for 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 in your favorite podcast player and stay ahead of the curve with insights that drive conversion, loyalty, and operational excellence. New episodes drop starting tomorrow! 👉 Stay Sharp. Be Data-Driven. Harness AI. 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 your hosts:: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail & AGI, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers, and a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader. Plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Allianceadvisory council member. Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Tech Lore from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

BONUS - The Retail Razor: Blade to Greatness Season 2 Trailer Retail Executive Leadership & Coaching Insights for the AI Era Welcome to a special cross-release of the Season 2 trailer for Blade to Greatness — the podcast where retail leaders sharpen their edge. Hosted by Ricardo Belmar & Casey Golden, this series explores the essential skills & qualities every retail executive needs to lead boldly, stay sharp, & stay human in the AI era. In Season 1, we uncovered the fundamentals of great leadership: - how intrinsic motivation and autonomy unlock innovation - why positivity is fuel, not fluff - rethinking hiring, career development, & investing in people Season 2 takes it further with new retail executives & coaching experts — to share actionable insights on: - Building resilient & adaptable leadership cultures - Leading through disruption & transformation in the AI era - Practical coaching strategies for executives & C-suite leaders If you’re a retail leader, this season will help you sharpen your leadership blade & lead with clarity. Subscribe to The Retail Razor: Blade to Greatness show in your favorite podcast player! New episodes drop starting tomorrow! 👉 Stay Sharp. Lead Boldly. Stay Human. 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 your hosts:: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail & AGI, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers, and a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader. Plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Allianceadvisory council member. Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Swag, Tag and Brag from the album Beat Hype, written by Hestron Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5E10 From Task Overload to Customer Focus: AI Solutions for Retail Associates Retailers are asking store associates to do more with less—shorter staffing, longer task lists, and higher customer expectations. In this episode of The Retail Razor Show, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden explore how AI is reshaping frontline retail teams from overwhelmed to empowered. Joining the conversation are: • Jeff Strasser, General Manager of AI Business Solutions for Retail & Consumer Goods at Microsoft • Nolan Wheeler, CEO & Founder of SYNQ Technologies Together, they dive into: • The biggest challenges facing frontline store associates today: task overload, reduced staffing, and customer service trade-offs • How AI can automate and simplify corporate task lists, freeing up time for customer engagement • Why voice-first, hands-free AI is a breakthrough for associates, with SYNQ’s solution connecting two-way radios to Azure OpenAI for instant answers in the aisle • The importance of integration and governance when deploying AI at scale in retail operations • Real-world examples of AI reducing friction, improving training, and accelerating onboarding • How to measure success with the right KPIs: time-to-answer, customer satisfaction, and associate productivity • What’s next for AI in retail over the next 24 months—and how retailers can prepare their teams today This isn’t about replacing people—it’s about augmenting store teams with AI-powered tools that make their jobs easier, improve morale, and elevate the customer experience. If you’re a retail leader, innovator, or operator, this episode is packed with insights on how to start small, scale fast, and empower your frontline workforce with AI. Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guests Nolan Wheeler – CEO & Founder, SYNQ Technologies Nolan Wheeler founded SYNQ in 2015 after a successful multi-decade career in retail. With experience in asset protection, store operations, and store transformation, Nolan founded SYNQ with a vision for transforming how retailers think about operations and merchandizing. Nolan lives in Victoria, BC with his young family, spending as much of his time on the water as possible. Retail Clinic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetailClinic SYNQ Technologies - www.synqtech.com Jeff Strasser – GM, AI Business Solutions for Retail & Consumer Goods, Microsoft. Jeff oversees Microsoft’s AI Business Solutions portfolio for the US Retail & Consumer Goods enterprise customer segment. Jeffrey’s organization supports clients’ business priorities to grow revenue, optimize costs and deliver customer and employee satisfaction through AI led solutions. Recently, Jeffrey has been leading discussions on the application of generative AI to improve the efficiency of work and operations, accelerate decision-making, and support client leadership with strategies to build an AI first culture and deliver on business impacting solutions. Microsoft Cloud for Retail - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/retail/microsoft-cloud-for-retail Chapters: 00:00 Previews 00:54 Show Intro 04:27 Welcome Jeff Strasser & Nolan Wheeler 07:29 Challenges Faced by Frontline Store Teams 14:14 AI Solutions for Retail Operations 19:59 Voice AI and Real-World Applications 25:34 Data-Driven Retail Insights 30:55 The Power of Voice Agents in Retail 32:05 Integrating IoT and Voice for Seamless Operations 34:22 Building Effective AI Agents 38:21 Starting with AI: Metrics and ROI 41:18 Overcoming Barriers to AI Adoption 4 7:24 Future Capabilities and Getting Started 54:01 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail, & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T. Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5E9 Retail's Best Kept Secret: Discover How RetailROI Transforms Children's Futures In this special replay episode of The Retail Razor Show, we shine a spotlight on the incredible work of the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI)—a nonprofit transforming lives of orphans and foster children through the power of the retail industry. With a fresh introduction for 2025, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden revisit a heartfelt conversation with Greg Buzek, President of RetailROI, Vicki Cantrell, board member and retail legend, and Jeff Roster, former Gartner & IHL analyst and top retail expert, as they share the origin story, mission, and global impact of this powerful retail charity. Learn how RetailROI’s Super Saturday event at NRF has become the most meaningful gathering of the year, where retailers, tech vendors, and solution providers come together to help fund clean water, education, and life skills training for thousands of children worldwide. Hear inspiring stories of transformation, including previous keynote speaker Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC, and discover how just showing up at Super Saturday can help change lives. Whether you're a retailer planning for NRF, a technology supplier and potential sponsor, or simply passionate about retail’s role in social responsibility, this episode will move you to action. Join us in celebrating RetailROI’s rich history and accomplishments and learn how you too can become a RetailROI Champion. 👉 Learn more and register for Super Saturday at NRF 2026 at http://retailroi.org/super-saturday 🎧 Subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods to help us amplify this message of hope and impact! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guests Greg Buzek, President, IHL Group & President, RetailROI https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbuzek/ Vicki Cantrell, CEO, Vendors in Partnership https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickicantrell/ Jeff Roster, Former Gartner & IHL analyst, top retail expert https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-roster-8828b8257/ Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI), https://www.retailroi.org The Purpose of the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) is to raise awareness and provide real solutions for the more than 400 million vulnerable children worldwide. RetailROI has 3 primary goals: Bring Awareness to the enormous needs of orphans worldwide Encourage companies (Retailers, Vendors, Manufacturers) to create programs internally for their companies to help with the need Raise Funds through to help “feet on the street” charities who are making a real difference 00:00 Previews 01:16 Show Intro 06:43 I am a RetailROI Champion 17:53 RetailROI Discussion 20:03 How RetailROI Began 23:08 How RetailROI Works 26:57 Accomplishments 36:44 The Trips 44:06 Getting involved 51:35 Finding Charities 55:47 A little goes a long way to make a difference 01:02:53 Fundraising 01:06:08 More Great Work 01:13:32 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E8 Prime Day Unveiled: Trends, Sales, and What Lies Ahead for Retail Amazon Prime Day 2025 may be over, but its ripple effects are just beginning. In this episode, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Meghan Barden, Director of Global Retail Media at Rithum, to unpack the surprising data and shopper behaviors that emerged — and what they mean for retail and ecommerce leaders heading into the holiday shopping season. You’ll discover: • 📊 Prime Day outcomes that matter — from sales spikes to category standouts, and how they compare to past years • 🛍 Why the timing right after July 4th may have shifted discretionary spending patterns • 💡 Meghan’s expert take on how retailers can turn Prime Day insights into Q4 wins • 🔮 The strategic moves brands should make now to capture Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond Whether you’re a retail strategist, ecommerce operator, or simply fascinated by the biggest shopping events of the year, this conversation delivers actionable insights to help you outpace the competition. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest Meghan Barden - https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-barden/ Rithum - https://www.rithum.com Meghan Barden is an accomplished retail media strategist with over 20 years of experience in marketing and client services in both retailer, brand and agency environments. Currently serving as the Director of Global Retail Media at Rithum, she leads the company's efforts in helping brands and retailers leverage first-party data to create personalized and impactful retail media campaigns. Her expertise spans various facets of retail media, including strategy development, media planning, and campaign optimization. For more Amazon Prime Day analysis by Rithum, access the full report → https://explore.rithum.com/prime-day-guide-cont/prime-day-lessons-for-peak-shopping-season 00:00 Previews 01:01 Show Intro 10:09 Welcome Meghan Barden 10:17 Overview of Prime Day and Rithum's Role 12:20 Prime Day Anomalies and Trends 16:15 Generational Shopping Behaviors 19:20 Impact of Gen Z on Retail Strategies 24:54 AI and Authenticity in Retail 31:51 Preparing for Future Retail Events 37:59 Final Thoughts 39:11 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E7 Unplugged and Unscripted: Retail Club's AI-First Event Revolution w/ Krystina Gustafson What happens when you blend cutting-edge innovation, authentic community, and the brightest minds in retail? You get RetailClub—the AI-first retail event redefining how industry leaders connect, collaborate, and shape the future. In this episode of The Retail Razor Show, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden sit down with Krystina Gustafson, co-founder and Chief Content Officer at Retail Club and one of the visionary forces behind RetailClub. Krystina shares the inspiration behind this exclusive retail conference, how it fosters meaningful connections among AI changemakers, and why RetailClub is more than just another event—it’s a movement. 💡 What You’ll Learn: + Why RetailClub is unlike any other retail event you’ve attended + How the power of retail community is driving innovation and collaboration + The role of AI in retail and how it’s shaping the conversations at RetailClub + Behind-the-scenes insights from Krystina on curating impactful content and experiences Whether you’re a retail executive, tech innovator, or curious observer of industry trends, this episode delivers a front-row seat to the future of AI in retail! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest Krystina Gustafson, co-founder & Chief Content Officer, RetailClub - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystina-gustafson-908a5a14/ Register for RetailClub’s AI Deep Dive Retreat - https://www.retailclub.com Krystina is a co-founder and the chief content officer at RetailClub, a new retreats business from the founders of Shoptalk. RetailClub is building retail’s first AI-native community, bringing together 500 AI champions and changemakers for their inaugural AI Deepdive Retreat, taking place Sept 14-17, 2025 in Huntington Beach, CA. Prior to RetailClub, she was the senior vice president of content at Shoptalk and Groceryshop, the leading conferences in the retail, grocery and consumer packaged goods industries. She led the team that shaped the retail and ecommerce industry narratives across its four annual events – Shoptalk, Shoptalk Europe, Shoptalk Fall and Groceryshop – including agenda development and speaker selection. Krystina joined Shoptalk in 2017, after spending four years as a retail reporter and content editor at CNBC.com. Prior to CNBC, Krystina was a web editor at Women's Wear Daily, the trade publication for the fashion industry.She has interviewed prominent business figures from retail and beyond, including the CEOs of Target, Sam’s Club, The Honest Company and Warby Parker, Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, and “Shark Tank” shark Kevin O’Leary. 00:00 Previews 01:04 Show Intro 08:44 Welcome Krystina and the Importance of AI! 09:56 Introducing Retail Club and AI Deep Dive Retreat 12:03 Event Structure and Unique Approach 14:07 Challenges and Opportunities in AI Adoption 17:56 The Future of AI in Retail & Event Experiences 22:46 Data Readiness and Tech Maturity 27:04 Agentic AI's Impact on Retail Operations 36:36 Event Details and Future Thoughts 41:26 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E6 SHEIN’s Marketplace Evolution - A Conversation with George Chang, GM & Head of SHEIN Marketplace In this episode, we explore how SHEIN is reengineering what marketplace success looks like in the U.S., how loyalty is evolving post-2020, and why SHEIN’s unique approach to seller partnerships and social commerce is creating a new kind of ecosystem—one built for discovery, agility, and growth. From leadership roles at Rakuten, Mirakl, and Newegg to his current post as GM of SHEIN Marketplace, George Chang’s career reads like a playbook for scaling commerce in the digital age. Now a key member of the senior leadership team at SHEIN, George joins Ricardo and Casey to talk about building a curated, invitation-only marketplace tailored for Gen Z and Millennial consumers—where fashion, beauty, and lifestyle collide. Tune in for a conversation that spans everything from globalization to the next frontier in customer acquisition. Learn how George’s energetic & visionary leadership style is driving change at SHEIN while reshaping U.S. retail one bold move at a time. Whether you’re a seller, a strategist, or just marketplace-curious, this one’s got something for you! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest George Chang, GM & Head of SHEIN Marketplace. https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-chang-usc/ SHEIN Marketplace: https://seller-us.shein.com/homepage Prospective Sellers: https://seller-us.shein.com/get-started-shein-marketplace To learn more about SHEIN: https://www.sheingroup.com/ George is an Ecommerce and Marketplace veteran with Senior leadership roles at Rakuten, Newegg, Sears, Mirakl, VTEX, Spreetail, and Cymax Group. He is currently part of the leadership team at SHEIN U.S. and is leading the 3rd Party Marketplace business at SHEIN. He has a unique 360 degree perspective on Ecommerce Marketplaces having operated, licensed, consulted and sold on multiple marketplaces. 00:00 Preview 01:10 Show Intro 05:40 Welcome George Chang, GM SHEIN Marketplace 06:59 What Sets Shein Apart 08:55 Shein's Marketplace Strategy 11:50 Customer and Seller Experience 16:58 Expanding Beyond Fashion 20:16 Evolving with the Customer 22:06 Diverse Seller Community 24:03 Understanding Gen Z and Millennials in E-commerce 26:49 The Rise of Social Commerce and Live Shopping 30:08 Driving Customer Loyalty through Engagement 33:06 Sustainability Initiatives and Mindful Purchasing 35:15 Future of Marketplaces and Hyper-Personalization 38:08 Final Thoughts 39:36 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E5 Leading with Values: How Naturepedic Builds a Better Brand, with Arin Schultz What does it take to lead growth at the forefront of a movement for safer, healthier sleep? In this episode of The Retail Razor Show, we sit down with Arin Schultz, Chief Growth Officer at Naturepedic, a pioneering brand in certified organic mattresses and bedding. With over eleven years in the organic sleep industry, Arin shares how he’s helped Naturepedic expand its market share, launch innovative products, and build a trusted brand committed to health, sustainability, and safety. We talk about the evolution of the organic mattress category, how purpose-driven growth strategies translate to retail success, and the balancing act of leading multiple departments—sales, marketing, retail, R&D, and more. Whether you're in retail, health-conscious consumer products, or looking to build a values-based, mission-led brand, this episode delivers sharp insights from one of the industry’s most committed and capable leaders! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest Arin Schultz is Chief Growth Officer at Naturepedic, the leading organic mattress brand. As the lead on all Naturepedic marketing efforts, Arin develops and implements strategies that support the company’s business growth, customer retention, product innovation, consumer education initiatives and sustainability goals. Working for the certified organic, non-toxic mattress pioneer opened Arin’s eyes to the dangers of harmful chemicals and their pervasive presence in households across the globe. This knowledge has added a deeper purpose to his relentless push to help transform the brand’s vision into reality. A father of four and an empathetic listener, Arin’s success at Naturepedic is centered on his authentic understanding of the Naturepedic customer and his genuine desire to help families make the safest, healthiest sleep choices. 00:00 Preview 01:45 Show Intro 07:21 Arin Schultz, Chief Growth Officer, Naturepedic - The Mission 08:43 The Founding Story of Naturepedic 12:09 Challenges and Growth in the Mattress Industry 17:13 Retail Expansion and Customer Engagement 19:30 Product Innovation and Sustainability 23:10 Industry Environmental Impact and Continuous Product Improvement 35:20 Customer Experience and Meeting Their Needs 38:21 Replacing Your Mattress & Customer Service Excellence 43:20 Sourcing and Tariffs Impact 49:53 Embracing AI in Marketing and Operations 56:28 Advice for Growing a Values-Based Brand 59:23 Final Thoughts 01:00:38 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E4 Empowering Women in Retail Tech: A New Era of Leadership In Season Five, Episode Four of The Retail Razor Show, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden engage in a captivating conversation with Shannon Flanagan, a seasoned retail leader and founder of Retail Women in Tech (RWIT). Shannon shares her journey from folding jeans at 18 to leading billion-dollar business transformations and emphasizes the importance of embracing change and innovation in retail. The episode underscores the critical role of diversity and inclusion in driving the industry forward, touching on the challenges and opportunities for women in tech and retail. Shannon discusses her vision for RWIT, a community aimed at fostering connections, mentorship, and leadership among women and allies in the retail tech space. With insights on change management, the impact of AI in retail, and the power of allyship, this episode offers valuable perspectives for retail professionals and tech enthusiasts alike. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube About our Guest Shannon Flanagan, founder of Retail Women in Tech, https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-e-flanagan/ - Retail Women in Tech, https://retailwomenintech.org Shannon Flanagan caught the retail bug at 18 and never looked back. A retail strategist, AI enthusiast, and career change practitioner, she brings a 360-degree perspective on retail transformation—from product creation to customer experience—shaped by her work with hyper-growth startups to Fortune 500 retailers, consulting firms and tech companies. As a strategic partner and top industry voice, she collaborates with RETHINK Retail, RetailWire and the RetailAICouncil to drive conversations that shape the future of the industry. As the founder of Retail Women in Tech, Shannon has built a global community dedicated to creating life-changing connections for women and allies who share a passion for retail and technology. As social as retail is, there are surprisingly very few communities representing every facet of the industry. Shannon is on a mission to change that—stay tuned for more to come! 00:00 Preview 00:51 Show Intro 05:26 Welcome Shannon Flanagan 06:14 Shannon's Retail Journey Begins 08:47 Insights on Change Management 10:21 The Importance of Diverse Perspectives 15:03 Challenges in Hiring for Innovation 24:00 The Birth of Retail Women in Tech (RWIT) 34:42 Addressing the Leadership Gap 38:39 The Challenge of Asking for Help 40:36 The Harsh Reality for Female Founders 45:08 The Importance of Allies 49:01 Building a Supportive Community 59:32 The Future of Retail Women in Tech 01:06:22 Final Thoughts and Call to Action 01:08:53 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E3 From Retail Pride to Human Pride: Navigating Leadership and Connection with Ron Thurston In this episode, Ron Thurston returns to discuss his new book 'Human Pride' and its themes of optimizing human potential in a world increasing its reliance on technology and AI. The conversation takes us through Ron’s extensive experience leading major retail brands, his journey from publishing his first book 'Retail Pride' to 'Human Pride', and the crucial balance between human connection and technological efficiency. We explore various aspects of leadership, including the importance of empathy, curiosity, and the significant role of human connection in the workplace. Ron emphasizes the need for self-reflection, understanding core values, and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships despite technological advancements. Rejecting 'hustle culture' in favor of fostering meaningful connections and optimizing individual strengths, Ron highlights the need for human-centric approaches to recruitment, leadership, and career development via examples and insights from his own career. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with practical insights and inspirational stories that underscore the power of pride and human potential in the workplace! About this episode's partner newsletter: The SKUpe Running a retail business means making nonstop decisions—inventory, staffing, marketing, tech. The SKUpe is the weekly newsletter designed to help you make smarter calls, faster. Curated by industry experts, The SKUpe delivers clear, trustworthy insights on what’s working for small and mid-sized retailers today. Join 20,000 retail decision makers who rely on it to stay sharp and ahead of the game. Subscribe to The SKUpe at https://www.theskupe.co/?cid=678aaa6cd5126?cid=679bca6723dd3 About Ron Thurston: Author, “Human Pride: Optimizing Your Potential In A Digital Job Market” Ron Thurston is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and bold voice in the movement to reimagine leadership in a world transformed by technology. His new book, HUMAN PRIDE: Optimizing Your Human Potential in a Digital Job Market (May 2025), delivers a powerful roadmap for standing out, staying relevant, and thriving in the future of work. With over 30 years of executive experience leading teams at iconic brands like Apple, Gap, West Elm, Tory Burch, Bonobos, and Saint Laurent, Ron knows how to build winning cultures that drive performance. His first book, RETAIL PRIDE (2020) became a career-defining guide for thousands of industry professionals, helping them reclaim confidence and purpose in their work. As the creator and host of the Retail in America tour and podcast, Ron spent over a year traveling across 30 states in an Airstream to spotlight the real stories and remarkable people shaping retail’s future. Today, he serves on multiple retail tech supplier advisory boards, helping brands integrate AI and digital tools without losing sight of what matters most: people. A sought-after keynote speaker, Ron brings energy, insight, and inspiration to global conferences, C-suite offsites, and corporate events. His message resonates across industries: your greatest competitive advantage is human. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube 00:00 The SKUpe Newsletter 00:34 Show Intro 06:51 Welcome Back, Ron Thurston! 07:43 Discussing Ron's New Book: Human Pride 08:46 The Importance of Human Connection in Retail 10:24 Optimizing Human Potential in a Tech-Driven World 15:37 Defining and Standing by Non-Negotiables in Job Search 22:54 The Role of Empathy and Curiosity in Leadership 26:48 Challenges in Modern Hiring Practices 35:11 The Future of Work: Balancing Technology and Human Connection 38:15 Career Longevity and Brand Affinity in Retail 41:56 Navigating the Fast-Paced Industry 43:36 Adapting to Office Culture 44:39 Broadening Job Search Perspectives 47:40 Leadership with Empathy and Emotional Intelligence, But Without Titles 51:21 The Future of Work and Technology 59:11 Balancing Technology and Human Connection 01:05:26 Final Thoughts and Takeaways 01:09:58 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2024. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, and a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is the CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert for 2023 and 2024, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E2 Influencers, Gen Z, & Beyond Social Commerce: Lessons from AliExpress with Chris Carl Welcome to the second episode of Season 5 of the Retail Razor Show! Join hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden as they dive into the fresh tactics and cutting-edge strategies that are driving the future of retail and e-commerce with Gen Z. In this episode, they are joined by Chris Carl, the US Head of Marketing for AliExpress (Alibaba Group), to discuss ‘the new playbook for digital marketing’ fresh from his insightful session on marketing to Gen Z at eTail West! Discover how AliExpress is capturing Gen Z's attention, building a robust social media presence, leveraging influencers like David Beckham, and exploring the future of cross-border shopping with a full-funnel marketing strategy. Chris shares the impressive growth metrics (500% increase in social media following, for example) and innovative campaigns that have set AliExpress apart - think social commerce, live shopping, Gen AI, and TikTok Shops. Plus, new enticing innovations in logistics to help onboard more US-based sellers to the AliExpress marketplace. Whether you're a product junkie, retail leader, or commerce technologist, this episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss! About Chris Carl: Chris Carl is a strategy, operations, and marketing executive with a proven track record in retail, beauty, spirits, lifestyle, hospitality, and luxury goods. As the first US Head of Marketing for AliExpress, Chris focuses on making online shopping more engaging and affordable. Since May 2023, Chris has increased order volume by 60%, increased brand share of voice by 75%, expanded headcount by 400%, boosted social media following by 500%, and doubled brand awareness. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube 00:00 Show Intro 03:04 Introducing Christopher Carl from AliExpress & His Background 05:43 Conversation with Chris Carl, Head of US Marketing for AliExpress 08:52 Cracking the Code with Gen Z 16:00 AliExpress's Social Media and Influencer Strategy 21:22 Leveraging Social Media for Brand Growth 23:30 Navigating the Shifting Digital Marketing Landscape 25:46 The Future of Social Commerce and Live Shopping 28:17 The Importance of Brand Personality and Humor 31:50 AliExpress: A Unique Business Model 35:09 Expanding AliExpress's US Presence 38:45 The Future of Cross-Border E-Commerce 42:20 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2024. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, and a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is the CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert for 2023 and 2024, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5:E1 Unleashing Retail Media's Potential: A Conversation with Drew Cashmore Welcome to Season 5 of the Retail Razor Show! In our premiere episode, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden dive deep into retail media with special guest Drew Cashmore, Chief Strategy Officer at Vantage and a pioneer in the retail media space, with a background scaling Walmart Connect to a $2 billion business. Drew shares his insights on the evolution of retail media, the driving forces behind its rapid growth, and the challenges retailers face in scaling their media networks. Drew also discusses the importance of workflow automation, the use of first-party data, and the balance between digital and in-store media. We highlight the necessity for retailers to invest in their media capabilities to stay competitive and speculate on the future direction of retail media. We also touch on the complexities of managing multiple media platforms and the potential for consolidation within the industry. Packed with valuable insights, don't miss out on this must-listen episode for product junkies, commerce technologists, retail leaders, and everyone in retail tech! Plus, learn about the Retail Razor Podcast Network's exciting new shows! About Drew Cashmore: Drew is a retail media strategist and thought leader with a background in building, commercializing and scaling new business models in the retail sector across the globe. Heading up strategy for Vantage - the platform that powers self-serve and managed-service for The Home Depot among other retailers - Drew is helping to architect the next generation of unified retail media technologies. He was an original architect of and former executive at Walmart Connect in the U.S. and Canada, helping to scale the retail media business to $2BN and beyond. In addition, Drew was a founding member of Walmart eCommerce and the CMO of SoftBank-backed Live Shopping platform, Firework. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube 00:00 Show Intro 07:38 Unleashing Retail Media's Potential: A Conversation with Drew Cashmore 08:43 Drew's Background in Retail Media 10:28 The Evolution and Challenges of Retail Media 14:18 ROI and Measurement in Retail Media 18:34 The Future of Retail Media 26:41 First-Party Data and Consumer Privacy 34:47 In-Store Media and Workflow Automation 47:21 Retail Media is a Different Business Model 50:06 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 51:05 Show Close Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2024. Thinkers 360has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, and a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is the CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert for 2023 and 2024, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

S5 Trailer - Retail's Next Chapter: AI and Media Meet Humanity Join hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden in Season Five of The Retail Razor Show as they explore the intersection of AI, media, and human connection in retail. This season will examine the power of AI-powered personalization, retail media evolution, and the role of in-store associates in enhancing customer experiences. Key discussions will include how AI makes retailers more resilient, the impact of media on commerce, and the next wave of retail tech innovation. Tune in to understand how technology transforms shopping, selling, and scaling while emphasizing that retail's core is human connection. Subscribe and follow for sharp insights and expert opinions so you don't miss out on unlocking new opportunities in retail! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTube Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech: Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, and a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and is the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft. Casey Golden, is the CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech!