Retail TouchPoints

More than 50% of brands plan to spend more on creators in 2025. But HOW are they spending this money, exactly? 🤔 Of course, the answer may depend on a brand’s category and specific business goals, but there’s some new data from LTK and Northwestern University that uncovers some fascinating industry-wide trends. Listen to this episode of #RetailRemix featuring Rodney Mason and Frank Dudley, who share how brands are: 📈 Partnering with highly engaged, niche micro-influencers to connect with the right cohorts at the right time. 🤝 Developing creator partnership agreements that are measurable and mutually beneficial. 📺 Amplifying and optimizing their creator investments by reusing content for retail media and CTV ad campaigns. 🤖 Using AI to create and deliver creator content at scale. 🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://buff.ly/4agw6QS

Amina Pasha has been in the #CPG space for more than 20 years, with successful tenures at P&G and The Honest Company. Her time at the Jessica Alba-founded brand unlocked a new passion for Amina: working with challenger brands that have values at the center of everything they do. She has spent the last five years applying her learnings with the brand at Thrive Market, which is making it easier for individuals and families to access healthy foods. Now, with the brand reaching its 10th birthday, Amina has some lessons to share. Listen to this episode of #RetailRemix to get her thoughts on: 🍎 The evolution of values-based brands, and the influence marketing has on driving brand differentiation. ⚖️ How she balances brand and performance marketing to accomplish organizational goals. ✏️ Ways to adapt and tailor marketing focal points based on persona behaviors and lifestyles. 👪 The distinct marketing and experience opportunities that Thrive Market has marketing to families specifically. ⭐ What’s top-of-mind for Thrive Market for the next five years. Listen to the episode here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/what-makes-thrive-markets-marketing-team-thrive

What are the keys to successful experience innovation? For Mars, it requires a more agile workflow that allows team members to adopt best-of-breed solutions quickly and efficiently. During this week’s #RetailRemix, Kyle Barz, Senior Director – Enterprise Architecture, Mars, Incorporated, shares how he helped drive the transformation of the M&M’S digital experience by partnering with Valtech. And most of all, he reveals how this first phase is driving the companies’ future work for the broader business. Kyle and Casper Aagaard Rasmussen of Valtech discuss: 🏗️ The state of composable commerce across the retail and CPG industry, and how it’s creating new standards for experience excellence. 🤝 How Mars and Valtech worked together to ensure teams and tech were aligned to a centralized mission and vision. ❤️ How M&M’S is harnessing the power of composable commerce across all channels and engagement touch points. 👉 Listen to the conversation here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/how-mms-sweetened-the-digital-experience-with-composable-commerce

You may think shopping online for a car (especially a used car) is overwhelming, even frustrating. Well, you wouldn’t be wrong. But Jim Lyski is trying to change that and make hunting for a used car seamless, even personalized to each consumer. As EVP and Chief Growth & Strategy Officer for CarMax, Jim is helping drive (no pun intended) the company’s AI efforts, which span various touch points and all stages of the buying journey. Listen to get details into how CarMax is: 🚗 Evolving its value proposition to align with the new needs and expectations of consumers. 🚗 Investing in chat agents that provide proactive and reactive support to shoppers. 🚗 Creating opportunities for virtual, high-touch discovery and customization. 🚗 Embedding personalization into the entire journey. Listen to the full episode here: LINK https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/why-carmax-has-revved-up-ai-innovation

#Socialcommerce is projected to hit $1.2 trillion in market value by 2025. Companies like Orca are helping brands and creators capitalize on this growth and completely transform commerce via livestreams, shoppable video and other content experiences. During this week’s #RetailRemix, host Alicia Esposito sits down with co-founders Max Benator and Lauren A. Stevens to discuss: 📺 How their TV roots inspired the mission and vision for Orca. 📹 The overall business model and how the company supports both brands and creators. ❤️ Why brands like e.l.f. Beauty, Samsung and Zappos are working with Orca to level up their social commerce strategies. 🤖 How they are thinking about the evolution of AI and its role in content creation. Listen to the convo here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/how-two-tv-execs-are-shaping-social-commerce

2024 has been a year of ups and downs. We saw consumer behaviors continue to evolve, and retailers aim to keep pace amid economic volatility and the rise of new industry trends and tech. But how are C-level executives navigating all these (and other) dynamics, while balancing the strategic vision and tactical requirements for success? During this week’s #RetailRemix, we’re replacing a session from the Retail Innovation Conference featuring three retail leaders: Nicholas Bodkins of Boisson; Karen Robinovitz of Sloomoo Institute; and Amy Jain of BaubleBar Inc. Despite representing different categories, these executives shared similar struggles and goals, and offered some enlightening guidance for attendees on: ⭐ How to balance strategic vision and tactical execution. 📈 Challenges with growing and scaling a business. 💡 Ways to cultivate a culture of innovation and strategic risk-taking. ✊ How to maintain your brand’s position as a category leader or disruptor. Listen to the full session here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/what-keeps-retail-leaders-up-at-night

In August 2024, the FTC issued a formal ban on fake reviews and testimonials — an effort designed to prevent businesses from purchasing and amplifying inaccurate, malicious or misleading user-generated content (UGC). Now, you may be thinking, “Well, I never farmed out #UGC to target my competitors, so I’m all good...” Well, this ruling has many nuances, and that means you may be going against it without even realizing! During this episode of #RetailRemix, Bazaarvoice CMO Zarina Stanford digs into all the details, including: 📱 Why new policies were needed as the #socialmedia landscape evolved and expanded. 📱 How some businesses monetized, even weaponized, UGC for their own gain, and what the new ruling means for brands as they aim to collect and leverage UGC to bolster their #omnichannel experiences. 📱 What brands can do to comply with new guidelines, and how they can elevate their UGC strategies moving forward. ➡️ Listen to the conversation here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/what-the-ftcs-fake-reviews-ban-means-for-your-ugc-strategy

If you’ve abandoned an online cart because the retailer didn’t have Apple Pay, you know as well as anybody that the payment experience matters. Now’s the time for retailers to closely assess what their shoppers want and elevate their checkout flows accordingly. During this week’s #RetailRemix, we explore the evolution of payment with Michaela Weber of BigCommerce and Mike Sutter of PayPal. Host Alicia Esposito asks them about: 🔥 What’s hot in the payment space, from BNPL to mobile payment and beyond. 🌎 How payment expectations vary by geo. 💵 How merchants can design seamless and value-added checkout flows. Listen to the two-part conversation here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/can-brands-compete-through-the-payment-experience

#Sustainability is all the rage these days, so much so that “greenwashing” is a major issue. 🍃 But on today’s #RetailRemix, Alicia Esposito has joining her the woman who helped shape the “ECOfashion” movement. Marci Zaroff gets behind the mic to share: ♻️ How sustainability has shaped retail and fashion, following her creation of the term “ECOfashion” in 1995. ♻️ Why she believes it’s time for #retail CEOs to talk about (and measure) the value of sustainability differently. ♻️ The creation and growth of @ECOfashion Corp, and how she has won the support of Nigel Barker, Hilary Swank and other industry superstars. Listen to the fascinating conversation here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/the-woman-behind-the-ecofashion-movement

Are those sleigh bells we hear? 🔔 Because on this week’s #RetailRemix, we’re exploring how merchants can “sleigh” the holiday season! We have Kyndryl's Brandon Rael on the show, and he has some thoughts on a top-of-mind issue in our world: value. For some, value is just about price, but for others, value is about service and experiences. During our discussion, we explore how social commerce, curation and personalization can come together to help brands elevate and differentiate their products and services this holiday season. Listen in to get his predictions, insights and best practices: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/how-to-get-on-shoppers-nice-lists-this-holiday-season

“Instagram Brands” are common nowadays, but VICI was one of the first brands to truly make a mark on the platform in 2012. Now, Co-founder and Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer Aimee Dudum Colorado is reflecting on the brand’s evolution and how it has been able to: 👕 Create fashionable yet affordable collections for women as their needs and preferences have changed. 👖 Tap relevant influencers and creators to finetune their marketing and merchandise strategies. 👟 Stand out effectively in an increasingly complex (and crowded) social media landscape. Listen to the full conversation here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/how-vici-shaped-the-future-of-the-instagram-brand #RetailRemix

Collabs are nothing new in the #retail industry, but we always ❤️ stories of companies coming together to contribute to a greater cause...especially if it is something that impacts so many communities in the U.S. For this week’s #RetailRemix, Alicia Esposito sits down with Allen Warch of Dollar General and Jenny Maloney of Bayer to discuss: 🍎 How both companies serve local communities by providing access to fresh fruit and vegetables. 🏫 Why their commitment to feeding communities inspired a new partnership surrounding National School Lunch Week. ✏️ The lessons both companies learned in 2023 and how they’ve applied them to their 2024 partnership. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/podcasts/how-community-involvement-influences-commerce