The Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest

Today on our show:Commercetools CEO is out, so what’s next?Bigcommerce partners with Paypal to improve monetizationWill the new Ulta Beauty marketplace cook?Shopify and Lovable Integration Shows a Fire and Motion Strategy- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Walmart Partners With OpenAI, Cannot Hold Back the TideS&P Global Puts Tariff Costs at $1.2T This YearSalesforce Partners With OpenAISaks Struggles to Deliver in Q2- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Process Re-Engineering Is a Key Skill in the Age of AIStripe Link Moving More Consumer FacingIs OpenAI Building a Super App?Shopify CRO Bobby Morrison Forced Out- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

In this second episode of The CEO Spot, Rick Watson sits down with Matt Harris, Founder of Harris Digital. The interviews were conducted at Shoptoberfest 2025, discussing the state of B2B e-commerce and the challenges of 'hard commerce' faced by manufacturers and distributors.Harris explains that many companies struggle with legacy ERP systems, analog data management, and complex pricing models involving tiered and customer-specific discounts. He emphasizes the importance of product information management (PIM) systems in cleaning and centralizing data before launching e-commerce platforms. Harris shares his background, starting in the 1990s, with early e-commerce projects and how his agency helps mid-market manufacturers (with up to $1 billion in revenue) modernize sales by augmenting—not replacing—existing ERP systems. He discusses the friction caused by generational mindset shifts and private equity consolidation in these industries. On AI, Harris notes that while small-scale AI and analytics are useful, most enterprise AI projects fail to deliver revenue due to siloed data and unrealistic expectations; he advocates for building unified data lakes and warehouses as a foundation for future AI-driven business improvements.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:ChatGPT Is Actually The Ultimate In Influencer-Driven CommerceOpenAI x Stripe Agentic Commerce Protocol Has Makings of Silicon Valley Catfight- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:What the Hell Will Happen At Tiktok?Ryder Releases New eCommerce StudyKlaviyo Innovations Made Possible By Different Ecosystem ApproachOpenAI Announces They Are Pursuing Ads- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Rithum.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Google and Paypal Announce New Commerce PartnershipFireside Chat With Andy Jassy at Amazon Accelerate ConferenceThe First Q4 Holiday Predictions Appear- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Rithum.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

We have a special episode of the podcast this week. Today we preview a new podcast from RMW Commerce — actually a Youtube Exclusive, called “Oh Shift! Where SaaS Meets AI”.In this week’s episode, I interview the Shailesh Kumar, the SVP Of Engineering at Salesforce Commrece Cloud to talk about the company’s approach and pilots in the world of AI and Model Context Protocol or MCP.  To be clear, this is not any kind of sponsored interview.  It’s just an exploration of how the platforms - and I have asked them all to come on the program - are approaching AI and MCP, and what implications it has for brand and merchants.Today's episode is sponsored by Rithum.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Shopify Betting Big on DesignAmazon Still Stuck Muddling Through Day 2Why Software Sales Is Still Hard in 2025A New Podcast where SaaS Meets AI: Oh Shift- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Best Buy Relaunches Its MarketplaceTarget Earnings: Like a Slow-Moving Train WreckUpcoming RMW Commerce Events in Second Half of the YearWalmart Raises Revenue Guidance in Earnings Call- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Join Rick and special guest Nate Skiver, founder of LPF Spend Management, as they dive into a fiery discussion about the state of shipping in e-commerce. In this spicy wing-eating challenge, Nate debunks a major shipping myth and shares his expertise from over two decades in the retail and consulting world.In this episode, we explore:The biggest myth in shipping and why it's finally dying a slow death.How the e-commerce market has changed, creating more options beyond the "big three" carriers.The role of regional carriers and why more retailers are turning to them.How shipping technology advancements are making multi-carrier shipping easier to manage.Grab a glass of milk and get ready for a fast-paced, insightful conversation that will change the way you think about your shipping strategy!Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:We Once Made a Deal with Google. The Deal Has ChangedThe Unspoken AI Enthusiasm Gap At Large CompaniesThe Road Ahead for Commerce.comAn Update On Gnawing Your Arm Off, or Replatforming- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Amazon Reports Earnings, Dogged by AI QuestionsShopify Q2 Earnings Show Its Not Going AnywhereKlaviyo Delivers Growth, But Efficiency Still LackingRecap from Austin: Auctane’s Spicy Innovation Delivered Event- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 4 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Today on our show:Bigcommerce Rebrands as Just CommerceUPS Q2 Earnings Highlights Strange Economic TimesLast Flight of the Aggregator: OpenStore Valuation BurnsAmazon Pulled out of Google Shopping for AI, not for Advertising- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

In this debut episode of The CEO Spot, Rick Watson sits down with Dipti Desai, Founder and CEO of crstl, for an unfiltered look into one of the most quietly powerful protocols in commerce—EDI.From her early days as an electrical engineer in Silicon Valley to building mission-critical infrastructure for today’s omni-channel brands, Dipti shares the journey that led her to found crstl—a SaaS network designed to modernize the way suppliers and retailers communicate.We explore:The surprising origin story of crstl during the PPE crisisWhy EDI is more like the English language than a piece of legacy techThe difference between the application layer and the protocol layer—and why it mattersHow penalties, complexity, and digital transformation are reshaping supplier operationsWhy crstl doesn’t charge by seat and how it's enabling real collaboration at scaleThe future of B2B commerce in an age of AI, API, and protocol convergenceWhether you’re a founder, brand operator, or just EDI-curious, this episode unpacks how structured data exchange is fueling the future of retail—and why ignoring the "boring" infrastructure could be your biggest mistake.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp