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This show is an open exploration of the people and process behind E-Commerce. Through conversations with innovators in the space, we learn the stories of these leaders and their strategies for E-Commerce success. You can join our mailing list and access more content at itsrapid.ai.
David's past guests have included: Bryan Gildenberg from the CPG Guys, Todd Hassenfelt from Colgate-Palmolive, Anne Zybowski from Circana, Randy Mercer from 1WorldSync, Jared Taitel from PepsiCo, David Novak from Salsify, Harvey Ma from Albertsons Media Collective, Carter Jensen from General Mills, Pam Perino from Ghirardelli Chocolate, and many more.
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This week Dave is joined by Molly Hjelm, Corporate Vice President & Head of Retail Media at Ace Hardware's RedVest Media, . Molly shares what it takes to build a retail media network from scratch, while honoring the voice of thousands of independently owned stores. She breaks down what hyperlocal really means (it’s not just geography), how she applied learnings from grocery and dollar, and why in-store activation still matters in a digital-first world. Connect with Molly on LinkedIn Foll...
This week on Beyond the Shelf, we’re joined by Carter Zwick, Partnerships and Insights Lead at Snag, a retail activation platform helping brands get in front of the Gen Z shopper with smarter sampling and real-world insights. College students are some of the most valuable—and most overlooked—shoppers in the market today. So how do you reach them early and build brand loyalty that lasts? Carter shares how his own caffeine habits were shaped in a college dorm room, why brands need to meet stude...
This week's guest is Ash McMullen, Head of E-Commerce at Advantice Health. At Advantice, Ash leads eCommerce and Amazon strategy for the brands Kerasal, AmLactin, Triple Paste, Dermoplast, New-Skin and Domeboro. Dave and Ash explore: How Ash helped scale her dad’s Amazon business before agencies were even a thingWhy audience and content come before product in today’s innovation cyclesWhat it takes to rebrand brick-and-mortar hero products for today’s digital-first worldWhy micro-...
This week we're re-airing our episode from this past August with Paco Underhill, renowned behavioral researcher, retail anthropologist, and best-selling author of Why We Buy. Paco has spent decades studying how and why we shop—and what our behavior reveals about the changing nature of retail. In this episode, he and Dave dig into: How physical stores are evolving in a digital-first worldThe surprising shopper trend reshaping the beauty categoryWhat AI can’t replicate when it comes to in-store...
This week Dave is joined by Joanna Crishock, VP of Digital Merchandising & Operations at Ahold Delhaize USA. She shares how she’s helping iconic brands like Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, and The Giant Company stay agile, customer-focused, and digitally connected. From her early days in consumer insights to leading omnichannel strategy across merchandising, operations, and retail media, Joanna brings a powerful “why-first” mindset to every challenge. Dave and Joanna discuss...
What does it take to digitally transform a $50 billion supply chain business? This week's guest, Murat Genc, President and Chief Information & Digital Officer at McLane Company, shares how he’s helping a 130-year-old company embrace the future of technology. From his early days building algorithms in college to leading transformations at P&G, Whirlpool, and now McLane, Murat brings a rare blend of technical depth, leadership savvy, and startup mentality to every challenge he faces. Yo...
This week's guest is Brian Anthony. Brian was in retail media before it was even called retail media. From his early days at Triad, helping launch the first LeBron James campaigns on walmart.com, to his current work shaping strategy across RMNs and brands, Brian brings a wealth of perspective to the evolution of the space. In this episode, he and Dave talk about: The early days of retail media and how far it’s comeWhat makes great creative (hint: simplicity, alignment, and executi...
This week we welcome Melissa Burdick, Co-Founder and President of Pacvue, the leading Commerce Operating System that unifies retail media, commerce management, and measurement. A former Amazon executive with nearly a decade of experience, Burdick helped launch Amazon’s CPG/Health & Beauty retail business and was an early leader in Amazon Advertising. In 2018, she co-founded and bootstrapped Pacvue, scaling it from a startup into a global company with over 700 employees, supporting more th...
This week we’re joined by returning guest Jeff Cohen. Jeff is a go-to voice in the world of retail media. You’ll hear Jeff’s take on signal-based media, AI-powered ad creation, and the biggest creative blockers that brands still face today. He also shares why strategy, content, and creative execution can no longer live in separate silos Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn Follow Beyond the Shelf on LinkedIn Learn More about It'sRapid Get the It’sRapid Creative Automation Playbook Take It’s...
This week we're joined by Marie-Agnès Daumas. With a background spanning TerraCycle and Colgate-Palmolive, Marie-Agnès brings a career's worth of insight into retail leadership, sustainability strategy, and how to connect with the modern consumer. In this episode, she shares lessons from the frontlines of purpose-driven commerce: How to make sustainability resonate at the shelfWhy simple creative matters more than ever The surprising power of a faucet (!) How her team at Terra...
Dave’s guest today is Tim Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer at ProductWind, a platform helping brands use influencer marketing to drive real results—especially in retail environments like Amazon and Walmart. Tim’s career has spanned eComm, tech, and analytics—with past roles at CommerceIQ, Pattern, and 1010data. In this episode, he shares what he’s learned about launching products, winning with algorithms, and why influencers aren’t just for top-of-funnel anymore. We dig into: How to “market to t...
This week’s guest is Paco Underhill, renowned behavioral researcher, retail anthropologist, and best-selling author of Why We Buy. Paco has spent decades studying how and why we shop—and what our behavior reveals about the changing nature of retail. In this episode, he and Dave dig into: How physical stores are evolving in a digital-first worldThe surprising shopper trend reshaping the beauty categoryWhat AI can’t replicate when it comes to in-store experiencesThe friction points modern brand...
What do rocket science and commercial operations have in common? More than you think! In this episode, Mir Zaman, Vice President of Commercial Operations at Spectrum Brands, shares what he brought with him from the aeropsace industry to Amazon—and now to one of the most diverse brand portfolios in consumer goods. From challenging legacy systems to scaling creative content across categories like pet care, home improvement, and garden, Mir offers a clear blueprint for modern growth. We also div...
This week we’re joined by Meghan Corroon, Co-Founder and CEO of Clerdata. In a world full of spend reports, inflated ROAS claims, and buzzwords like "directional" or "efficiency," Clerdata helps brands see clearly which investments are moving the needle - and which are just noise. Meghan brings a deeply analytical mindset (honed through time at the Gates Foundation and beyond) and mixes it with real-world brand empathy. The result? A grounded, accessible conversation on what it takes to reall...
What if you could swap out your influencer campaign…for a NASA astronaut? This week on Beyond the Shelf, Eric Sheinkop, CEO of The Desire Company, breaks down why expert-led content is outperforming traditional UGC and influencer videos—and how his team built a community of world-class experts to power high-converting content across Target, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Amazon, and more. We get into: Why shoppers are craving real expertise at the point of purchaseHow expert-led videos improve convers...
This week we’re joined by Rocquan Lucas, VP of Content at Groceryshop and Shoptalk, where he leads speaker recruitment, agenda development, and content strategy for two of the most influential retail events in the world. Rocquan shares his journey from interning at Internet Week NY to curating high-impact events attended by thousands of the biggest names in CPG, grocery, and tech. In this episode, we talk about: How to design content for 5,000+ attendees – Rocquan shares the mix of research, ...
This week we’re joined by Alicja Spaulding, Founder of Status: Alpha, who helps marketing leaders operationalize AI, digital transformation, and creative agility. Alicja started her career in the music industry—cutting her teeth in the early days of digital disruption—and has since built brands in architecture, food, and now AI-enabled strategy. She’s worked with startups and mid-market manufacturers alike, helping them become more nimble, less siloed, and more prepared for what’s next. In th...
We're off this week, so we're re-airing Dave's interview with Walmart Connect's Diana Finster from earlier this month. They discuss: Walmart’s approach to closed-loop measurement and omnichannel ROIHow to balance scale and precision in media strategyThe launch of Walmart Connect’s Display Advertising API—and how partners like It’sRapid are helping advertisers move fasterWhat great creative looks like, and why it’s core to performanceWhat Diana is focused on heading into Cannes 2025We'll be ba...
This week we’re joined by Julie Clifford, Global eCommerce Acceleration & Capabilities Senior Manager at Church & Dwight. Julie’s journey from art teacher to global ecommerce leader has one big throughline: helping others succeed. In this episode, she shares how that mindset fuels her work in marketing tech, content strategy, and digital transformation across markets worldwide. We cover: Why global consistency matters—and where localization still winsHow to balance creative agility wi...
This week we're joined by Doron Ostrin, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Thanks – the customer-first ad network that’s transforming how brands show up after checkout. Doron shares why the most underutilized moment in digital commerce might just be the one right after a purchase—and how Thanks is turning it into a high-performing, brand-building opportunity. We also dig into: Why interruptive advertising needs a rethinkThe creative philosophy behind “ads that don’t feel like ads”How Thanks landed a ga...
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