October 13, 2025 • 37 mins
The fastest way to clarity in retail isn’t a louder megaphone, it’s a smarter network. Scott sits down with Paul Lewis, managing director of RETHINK Retail, to unpack how a global community of 500+ vetted experts, executives, and solution leaders is changing how the industry learns, collaborates, and executes. What began as a gap spotted at a conference, coverage without connection, has grown into a living system where operators bring real challenges into monthly mixers, stress-test ideas under Chatham House rules, and leave with practical next steps shaped by multiple perspectives.
Paul explains why RETHINK moved beyond a traditional media model toward a two-way platform: the pace of change outstrips any single newsroom, and the most valuable insights come from cross-disciplinary friction, AI meets HR, supply chain meets privacy, store design meets data science. We dive into RETHINK Advisory’s multi-expert approach, where small panels debate tradeoffs under NDA, and retailers get the benefit of agreement when it’s warranted and constructive disagreement when it reveals hidden risks. From short, targeted guidance to full project work and interim/fractional leadership, the model flexes to the actual shape of modern work.
We also go inside the Top Retail Experts program, how candidates are selected for true thought leadership, seasoned judgment, and real reach, and why geographic and functional diversity matter for better decisions. Then we zoom out to the near future: generative AI reshaping SaaS and roles, supply chains growing more complex and regulated, and capital markets pointing toward the next 24 months of innovation. With new partnerships across trade orgs and more local meetups, RETHINK is building a connected map of the industry so leaders can “turn on their high beams” and take the next curve with confidence.
If you lead a retail function, build technology, or drive growth and want sharper peers around your toughest questions, join us, subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with the topic you want us to tackle next.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:07):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to the
digital front door.
I'm Scott Benedict, and todayI'm excited to welcome someone
who is helping build one of themost influential communities in
modern retail.
Now, throughout my own retailingcareer, I've been fortunate to
cross paths with manyoutstanding leaders in so very
(00:28):
many aspects of retailing, frommerchandising to marketing, from
store operations to supplychain, and from e-commerce to
retail technology.
It's really exciting to havethis guest with us today.
Joining me is Paul Lewis.
Paul is the managing director ofRethink Retail, a global
(00:48):
community of retail leaders,thinkers, and change makers
drawn from every corner of ourindustry, from brand executives
to technologists and from supplychain experts to store
designers, and we're excited tohave them.
Under Paul's leadership, RethinkRetail has grown far beyond its
original immediate roots.
(01:09):
It now serves as a hub forconversation, for collaboration,
and for innovation, and isperhaps best known for its top
retail experts program, but alsois expanding its impact into new
initiatives like the RethinkAdvisory, which brings together
experienced executives that helpshape the future of retail
(01:31):
through shared insight andstrategic guidance to members
throughout the retail community.
We're going to talk a little bittoday about this community and
how it's evolving and where someof the most exciting
developments are happening inretail and what's ahead for
Rethink Retail in 2025 andbeyond.
And Paul, welcome, and we're soexcited to have us joining, have
(01:52):
you join us today.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
Oh, thanks, Scott, and thanks for that
introduction.
Yeah, there's just so muchexciting things happening at at
Rethink Retail and the differentcommunities.
And I would say the retail andmaybe these days, every industry
is, you know, in a state ofinnovation and change.
And the more that we can shareour knowledge with each other on
(02:14):
this journey, the the better weall, the stronger we all are.
SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
So, Paul, let's start with the origin story.
What inspired the creation ofResync Retail as a community,
and how did you envision itevolving from the early days
kind of to where it is today?
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Yeah.
You know, like a lot of uh greatideas, it it started over uh
drinks between uh Julia and myco-founder and myself when we
were at a conference in Miami,and um we talked about that
there was coverage um of theretail space, but what we really
saw was a gap between connectingthe top experts in the field
(02:55):
because there's so manyspecialized areas, you know,
within retail.
And um, you know, how do we howcould we facilitate that?
And um, you know, from that ideagerminated the the company.
Um, you know, I think it'shelpful to say that we define
retail very, very broadly.
(03:18):
Um so for us, retail is anyonewho sells things, you know,
products to a consumer.
So that includes uh luxury, uhapparel, grocery, restaurants,
uh convenience, big box,direct-to-consumer, uh CPG, you
(03:38):
know, that that very, verybroad, uh, all-encompassing
area.
And is when you have an areathat broad, the key is that you
need experts that can talk intoeach of those different uh
verticals or subverticals.
And we've been very fortunatewe've built a community of top
retail experts.
(03:59):
I believe the the smartest mindsin in the world on on retail.
We have over uh 500 of them.
It's an annual selection uhprocess that goes through a
committee and a lot of otherelements to build that.
But what that means forretailers and and what it means
for the mission of RethinkRetail is to help retailers to
(04:23):
solve their most difficultchallenges as well as capitalize
on their biggest opportunities.
And we do that not only throughour analysts, our researchers,
our media coverage, as there areother companies that do, but I
think our differentiator isreally our community of top
retail experts that are able totalk about everything, whether
(04:47):
that be uh an industry as or asubvertical as we talked about,
but also a role.
You know, we have uh people thatare experts in um supply chain,
experts in IT or uh security andrisk, uh experts in new
marketing strategies, experts inAI.
So we were able to bring allthese very specialized experts.
(05:11):
And then we have uh a globalgroup of these.
So wherever you are, whatevercountry you're in, we have
people with experience, youknow, boots on the ground, as
they say, in those countries toreally understand the cultural
elements, uh certain technologyhurdles and other elements.
So we're really able to provide,I think, the very best advice
(05:33):
for retailers to help themthrive.
SPEAKER_01 (05:37):
That makes a lot of sense.
And it feels like you kind ofevolved from being maybe
initially just a media brand toreally what sounds like a very
multidisciplinary of a reallydynamic multidisciplinary uh
community, what makes thatdistinction important and how do
(06:00):
you see see it shaping themission of Rethink Retail
perhaps over time?
SPEAKER_00 (06:05):
Well, I think the fact that we have all these
active experts, I just believethat being an expert today, you
know, if you think of any onemedia brand and we say this one
media brand and there, howevermany analysts, researchers,
journalists they have, whetherthat's five or 50, um, is still
(06:25):
small.
It's still a drop in the ocean.
There's so much going on, andthe pace of change is so fast
now that that you know what wasgoing on, you know, 90 days ago,
look at the involvement in inAI, is completely uh different
potentially, even just 90 dayslater.
And so um that old worldapproach of media that we are
(06:49):
going to know everything and beable to tell you exactly what
the answers are, I think isoutdated.
You have to have a morecrowdsourced, more open uh
approach.
And that's exactly the way thatwe've gone about it.
And so, and we also think thatmedia companies, by their
nature, are one-waycommunication.
(07:12):
Like they've got the bullhornand they're telling you what to
think.
But I think the best ideas andthe best strategies come from
two-way conversations.
And one of the things that we dois we invite retailers to mixers
every single month that areabsolutely free and allows them
to meet with these top retailexperts from all over the world
(07:32):
as well as other retailers andhave, you know, Chatham House
rules, discussions about wherethings are going and how is
supply chain innovating, how isjust in time, what is it, are
drone deliveries, you know, areality?
All these different kinds oftopics and interesting
discussions.
And I think we're one of the fewgroups that really facilitate
(07:54):
that.
And I believe that that is, youknow, again, where the world is
is going versus just a media.
Like I'm gonna read in a I guessin the old days, a print
magazine, and it's somehow goingto tell me all the relevant
things, you know, for mybusiness.
This allows each of theparticipants, especially the
retailers, to control thedialogue.
Here's what I want to talkabout.
(08:16):
And so now they're able toselect the information that
they're going to discuss andactually get their questions
answered.
SPEAKER_01 (08:25):
That makes so much sense.
And I know this collection ofexperts has caused you and the
group uh to recently launchRethink Advisory, which brings
together some of the mostexperienced voices from a lot of
different areas in the industry.
I'm curious, what was thethinking behind that initiative
(08:46):
and what role does that groupplay in the larger context of
the Rethink ecosystem?
SPEAKER_00 (08:53):
Yeah, you know, I I think um, you know, and starting
from a place of of humility butalso honor is I just I and our
team found ourselves inconversations with retailers,
and so often, I don't know ifthey thought that we're their
their priest or theirpsychologist, but they uh after
(09:15):
the barriers come down and we'rewe're talking about things, they
start to tell me all theirproblems.
We're having a problem withthis.
We we think we need a new e-comarchitecture, or we've got to
figure out how to expand ArabEmirates, or we need an
affiliate marketing program, oragain, whatever it is.
And they will say that, and youknow, again, with humility, I'm
(09:37):
probably not the best expert onany one area, but I know a lot
of really, really smart people.
And so we were connecting them,but that became difficult uh for
them, and often they wantedmultiple experts to weigh in on
(09:57):
things.
You know, I I found one of thethings that we do for our uh our
clients, uh, and I'm jumpingahead and then I'll jump back,
but is that we often do sessionswhere we'll bring three or four
of the world's top expertstogether and we'll have a uh,
you know, a non-disclosureagreement, we'll have a problem
or an opportunity statement, andthen they'll hear from that.
(10:18):
And whether those experts agree,you know, that probably points
to that is the right approach,or they disagree.
It's really interesting for theclient, for the retailer, to be
able to hear those differentviewpoints and then select.
And then often they wantmultiple experts to work
together, or they want projects,and that becomes harder to
execute.
(10:38):
So we become that connectivetissue to allow them to have
access to all these experts andto bring them in and out of
projects or advice or otherinitiatives with their company
very easily.
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
You know, as you're talking, it strikes me that
that's probably pretty differentthan most retailers' engagements
with members of the consultingcommunity where they may hear
one perspective and one point ofview.
It feels like that's one of thedifferentiing, differentiating
aspects of this advisory groupis that a retailer would get to
(11:15):
hear multiple points of viewkind of to your to your point
and select from the one thatreally makes the most sense to
them.
Is is that the right way tothink about that?
SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
Yeah, absolutely.
I I think that you knowconsulting groups, you know, by
their nature, um tend to be, youknow, again, I won't name any
names, but we we all know anumber of uh different
management consulting firms.
Um, and they they tend to try tobring in both their internal
(11:44):
viewpoints, who they haveavailable on the bench, and then
their their littlemethodologies, which may or may
not be, again, that's a bit of acookie-cutter approach, may or
may not be the right one forthat particular retailer.
So I would say one is that we'regiving a much broader view of
(12:05):
different elements and areas andexpertise and allowing a lot of
selection.
The second thing is that umcertain management consulting
firms certainly have very highminimum fees in order for them
to get involved in a project.
And, you know, their goal is tocontinue that on an ongoing
basis as well, which creates umsome distance between them and
(12:30):
their clients to some extent.
And what's interesting about usis that we're able to provide
people even as small as just afew hours of time all the way to
project work, all the way to,you know, what we're seeing more
and more uh requests for areinterim and fractional roles.
I just lost my head of e-com.
Somebody's got to take it overand help us find the new head of
(12:52):
e-comm.
Can someone run this for 60days, 90 days, 100 days?
Um, you know, perfect forfractional roles.
Uh, another area is um, I'msorry, that interim roles.
Another area is fractionalroles, um, where they're like,
look, we kind of need this levelof supply chain brand
(13:13):
positioning, expertise from timeto time.
Maybe it's one day a week, maybeit's one day a month, but it's
not, it's not a full-time role.
And we can facilitate that wherewe you can have experts who are
working intimately with yourteam and producing the results,
but at the right volume.
I mean, I think that work, andnot to get off on a too broad of
(13:36):
another subject, but work wasdesigned for people going,
driving into the factory orwhatever have it, and it was 40
hours a week, and and we sort ofmade one size fits all.
The reality in business is thatdifferent skill sets you may or
may not need for that amount oftime and maybe not want that
level of responsibility that youhave all these employees.
(13:58):
And so having that ability tohave fractional interim or
project resources, I think isessential for success today.
SPEAKER_01 (14:07):
That makes a lot of sense.
And if I zoom out from theadvisory part of the business
and look across the rethinkcommunity in total, it it occurs
to me that there's a tremendousamount of diversity in the group
from marketing to merchandising,tech operations, just to name a
few.
What's the value that's createdfrom all of these different
(14:31):
disciplines kind of comingtogether in a community under
the heading of Retync Retail?
SPEAKER_00 (14:38):
Well, I I think there's so much.
One, and the information thatwe're able to obtain and and
share is incredibly valuable.
But you know, I would also saythat uh the challenge for many
businesses is that you can'tmake your best decisions in
(14:59):
silos.
You can't just sit only in themarketing stack and then uh you
know not include sales or notinclude uh human resources or
other things.
You have to look at things fromfrom many perspectives.
You know, you could say that AIis a IT uh issue, but uh AI is
(15:20):
also a human resource issue.
If you become more efficient andthat changes people's jobs or
potentially eliminates jobs,that impacts HR.
AI is also uh a security issue.
It's also a privacy issue.
You know, these are complexthings.
Supply chains are so much morecomplex than they've ever been,
(15:42):
you know, involving so manydifferent suppliers and
countries and tariffs and otherchallenges.
And so you need to have youwould benefit from having
broader views.
And that's one of the thingsthat we're able to bring is
experts, uh cross-disciplinaryexperts across many different
areas to tackle complex andchallenging problems and
(16:07):
capitalize on opportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (16:10):
No, and I think that makes a lot of sense.
One of the things that I'vefound kind of interesting about
Rethink as a community is thatit's not just uh it's not just
uh events like this where twopeople are talking uh across
video, but you do a tremendousamount of both executive
briefings and in-person events,particularly tied to major
(16:32):
industry events, whether it'sshop talk or grocery shop or
things like that.
And I uh seeing the team and youin particular really kind of
leaning in on that liveconnection, that that
face-to-face interaction, why doyou feel like those in-person
events are so essential to thecommunity's growth and to kind
(16:54):
of to addressing the mission ofwhat you and Julia originally
envisioned for Rethink Retail?
SPEAKER_00 (17:00):
Well, I'm glad you asked because I'm just a huge
believer in in people.
And what I think is happeningis, and this is being
accelerated by AI, but theamount of information that
floating out there is you knowvoluminous.
Like there is just so much, it'sit's hard to digest.
(17:23):
And I think that a lot of valueis derived from having
conversations, whether those bewith your peers at other
retailers, but also withexperts, and again, having that
ability to sort of tune and tiethings together.
And, you know, to go into likethe events that we do.
(17:43):
So we run a community uh calledGlobal Retail Leaders, um, which
is uh made up of uh directorlevel or hire at uh at a
retailer, uh people that uh wantto get together, and we tell
them, you know, look, this isprobably the most important time
(18:06):
that I've ever seen for you tobuild your personal brand and
your network and to give back tothe industry and share your
wisdom.
Um the industry benefits fromyou doing that, and and you
benefit from those connectionsuh and uh those experiences.
And so we try to facilitatethat.
(18:28):
We do um a variety of things.
So one thing is we have azero-cost speakers bureau.
So we work with uh you knowwonderful conferences, some of
which you mentioned, there'smany more that we work with that
want speakers on stage.
This is a great chance for uhretail executives to get out
there and to speak on stage.
(18:48):
Um we have our own events, asyou've mentioned, um, where we
have speaking opportunities.
Um and then we also include themin podcasts.
Um, we include them in reports.
Uh one of the things I I told uha busy uh C-suite executive that
I was talking to saying, hey,this is a good time to build
(19:09):
your personal brand.
We'd love to have you, you know,speak at at one of the uh
industry events.
Um and he said, Oh, I don'treally have the time to travel
for that.
And I said, Well, good.
We could do a podcast that'svirtual, it's like an hour.
He goes, Oh, my comms team, Idon't think they'll approve it.
I couldn't do that.
And I said, Well, it can be assimple as we have your headshot
(19:30):
and bio on file.
You could be walking through theairport and we could say, we'd
like to get a quote on yourthoughts of what is the top
challenge for supply chain in2025.
And um you could text that back.
We'll know your comms people.
We'll say, here's the quotewe're going to include with the
bio and headshot in the report.
(19:51):
Is this approved or do you wantto alter it anyway?
And we'll handle everything.
So it literally can be atwo-minute text exchange.
It can be that easy to get tostart building your personal
brand.
And so we create ways to dothat.
And one of the ways that we wesupport that is also our events,
as you mentioned.
We typically have dinners andhappy hours and other private uh
(20:13):
exclusive events for retailexecutives at the industry
conferences, um, as well as uhsometimes major metros and other
places throughout the year.
And we'd love to includeadditional retail executives in
that and give them theopportunity to meet others uh in
the field.
SPEAKER_01 (20:33):
That that sounds so neat and also so very necessary
uh to your point that not onlydoes it pull out the knowledge
and wisdom of some of thosemembers of that community, but
the sharing of that, thoseinsights is not only good for
the community and for theindustry overall, but certainly
for that that individual aswell.
(20:53):
You know, we talked a little bitabout the the grow global retail
leaders, we talked about retailadvisory, rethink advisory.
I'm curious about Rethink's topretail experts program.
It appears to me it's become oneof the most respected
recognitions in the industry.
How has that program evolved?
Because I believe it's beenaround for a few years, and what
(21:16):
does it reveal about thequalities that define kind of
effective and forward-thinkingleadership in retailing today?
SPEAKER_00 (21:26):
Yeah, uh it really has.
I mean, it's been around for Ithink six years now, or this
might be the sixth or seventhyear.
Um, and uh each year I think theprogram has uh gotten better.
Um what I would say is that I Iwould start with a selection
process.
So it's an application, it's anopen application.
(21:48):
There are no fees.
This isn't, we're not trying,we're trying to find the very
best minds in the world.
We're not trying to find thevery best wallets in the world.
So um there are no fees tobecome uh a member, but there is
an application process.
And the application process, uh,you know, well, I I don't want
(22:08):
to say everything about thesecret sauce.
What I can say on a basic levelis it goes through, we're
looking for, you know, that theteam that heads that up for me
says, uh, Paul, look, we'rereally looking for two things.
One, we're looking that theyactually are contributing true
thought leadership.
There, you know, there's a lotof people, you know, on social
(22:29):
platforms that like say, oh,that sounds really interesting,
but they're not actually puttingforward thoughts themselves.
They're not writing articles orbooks or videos or things.
They're just kind of commentingon things.
And we're looking for peoplethat are actually contributing
thought leadership.
(22:49):
They're speaking on stages, orthey've written a book, or
they've published a report, orthey write, you know, regular
compelling articles uh on eithertheir blog or on social media.
Uh, so that's the first piece.
The second uh piece is that wethen look at their experience.
(23:10):
We are looking for people whoare seasoned.
Doesn't mean that they're notyounger than myself, uh but we
because sometimes you do wantyoung perspectives as well, but
we are looking for seasonedpeople that have a strong but
informed point of view.
(23:30):
And then the third thing we lookat is is reach.
So we are looking forbest-selling authors, people who
are speaking on stage, peoplewho have a certain amount of
followers in social channels,because that is uh a pointer to
that their work is credible,right?
So we're looking across all ofthat.
(23:51):
So there is um a team that doesand compiles all that.
And then all those compilationscreate a bit of a bit of a
ranking, and I would say rankingis probably too strong.
That sounds like it'sdefinitively, but there's
probably piles like these peoplewere really strong, these
people, you know, A's, B's, C's,etc.
(24:11):
That all goes to a committee,um, which changes from year to
year.
The committee reviews all ofthat, but then another factor
starts to come in.
So, you know, if you say, Oh,I'm an e-comm expert and I'm
based in North America, it'sgoing to be really hard to get
in because we have a lot ofe-com experts in the North
(24:36):
American marketplace.
And uh so you would have to bepretty exceptional to make it.
That's not to say probablypeople get added every year, but
they are definitely the creme dela creme.
They are the top of the gamethat are getting added into that
space.
But we look at areas of need, dowe maybe not have an expert in
(24:58):
some, you know, I you I oftenuse the example like
cross-border taxationspecialization or something like
that that is much less common,but is also still relevant and
potentially interesting todifferent retailers.
So we look at areas where wemight not have either a again,
it goes back to those threepillars I talked about.
(25:19):
Is the vertical wellrepresented?
Do we have somebody in luxury?
Do we have someone in grocery?
Is the the role or the functionwell represented?
Is do you understand supplychain?
Do you understand marketing?
Do you understand IT or risk orsomething like that?
And then is the geography wellrepresented?
And so they are looking at allthose parameters and then they
(25:40):
come back with a formalrecommendation that goes back
through yet one more pass, andthen we we make those
selections.
But the goal is to really find,again, the very brightest minds.
And then the next phase is tocreate that community.
We we do that, we do theannouncement every year in
January.
It coincides with NRF's uh bigshow in New York.
(26:03):
Um, we do it right before that.
And then across the rest of theyear, we work at bringing that
community together.
Again, mixers with retailers sothey can ask questions and and
and talk with those people atabsolutely no charge.
By the way, being in the globalretail leader community is also
uh like the top retail expertcommunity, neither of those
communities we charge.
(26:23):
We want the right people.
It's about the quality of thepeople, it's not about who can
pay for those things.
And so um that gives them theopportunity to talk to these
experts.
SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
That is is so neat.
And you know, it occurs to methat having the opportunity to
interact with all these expertsfrom across so many different
disciplines and so manydifferent geographies in retail
kind of gives you and the team abit of a front seat for what's
coming down the pike, for what'shappening.
Are there maybe two or threetrends that you think retail
(27:01):
leaders really need to be kindof paying close attention to
right now to make sure they'reon top of where the business is
headed?
SPEAKER_00 (27:09):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, I would be remiss if Ididn't mention that, you know,
we also have solution providersthat that we work with.
And, you know, our expectationson solution providers is that
they are, you know, notproviding salespeople, but
they're providing their sharpestthought leaders in a space.
(27:29):
So, you know, I'll give you anexample uh with Microsoft, um,
you know, they're able to bringthe head of their uh retail and
consumer goods to uh help informus like what they're seeing, you
know, because they're privy totechnology developments that are
(27:49):
are still you know completelybehind the curtain that they
have not even announced yet.
They know what's coming.
And they don't necessarilyannounce that, but they say you
might want to prepare for oneexample, agenic AI is going to
have a huge disruptive uheffect.
And so they're giving us andthey're sharing that with our
members kind of like what'scoming next, what's down the
(28:10):
road, how do I see, because oneof the things my brother has
this analogy that I just love,and he calls it overdriving your
headlights.
And he says, you know, at atnight, you're dripping down the
load at 60 miles an hour.
By the time something shows upin your headlights, you've
you've hit that deer, you know,or you've you've hit that that
tree or whatever it whatever itis.
(28:30):
Uh and you know, I think that asyou think about what the pace of
innovation is doing to theretail industry, but to all
industries, is that we'regetting in a car going faster
and faster.
And I believe that we're drivingat night a little bit.
And if you are using the sameheadlights that you've always
(28:51):
used, you haven't turned yourhigh beams on, the danger of
there being a curve coming upand your car going off a cliff
is increased because of thespeed at which we're headed down
that road.
So it's more important than everto hear from many different
thought leaders to connect thedots.
It's like uh, you know, LiDAR ormulti-point things of like
(29:13):
looking, hey, there is a curvecoming up and you need to
prepare for it.
So I think the first thing isboth the community of experts,
but also the community ofsolution providers sharing where
they see that going.
We also include in our communityof top retail experts a number
of venture capitalists thatspecialize either uh I shouldn't
(29:34):
say venture capitalists,financial services.
So that's private equity firms,venture capital, even uh, you
know, some banks and and thingslike that that are very on the
edge.
And they're able to share withus.
I'm always fascinating when theysay this is where we're
investing because this is wherewe think, you know, what's the
Gretzky thing?
I don't skate where the puck is,I skate where it's going to be.
We're going, yeah, exactly.
(29:56):
Yeah, you know, that's what VCsdo, right?
They're trying to say where isthe puck going to be in in now
it used to be five years rightnow it's probably 24 months from
now where's the puck going to bein 24 months and honestly most
companies are skating to wherethe puck is it was three months
ago or something you know maybethree months out so being able
(30:17):
to turn the headlights on withthose BC insights where they're
investing where they see theworld about to transform is
incredibly valuable for ourglobal retail leaders to be able
to see that and have access tothat information and those
insights and and not just theinformation but again the
interactive information thedialogue with those venture
(30:37):
capitalists about like why areyou looking why are you
investing a billion dollars inthis what is it that you see
that's going to change what doesthat mean for my existing supply
chain or my existing SaaSarchitecture?
What is it Microsoft said theother day that AI is going to
have a profound uh impact on onSaaS and and and how that whole
(30:59):
business uh runs.
And so being able to see wherethat's going and to start
preparing because for manyorganizations this the extent of
change is so large that they'regoing to need ramp time to get
there.
And again if you you need tostart taking the curve well
(31:20):
before you're into the S curve.
You've got to start either youknow breaking or or figuring out
how you're going to make thosechanges.
SPEAKER_01 (31:28):
That's so exciting and it it is inherently such an
exciting time to be in involvedin in retail and and what you
you and the team are doing atRethank is so really compelling
and it kind of gives you a frontseat to to where things are
going on right now.
And I'm just kind of curiousfrom the the launch of this new
(31:48):
advisory group to the globalretail leaders community to the
top retail experts continuingcontent and events and a growing
network what's what's next forRethink Retail?
What new initiatives or ideas uhare you especially excited about
when we look at the back half ofthis year and into 2026 and
(32:10):
beyond what are you and the teamreally excited about yeah I
think there's a number of thingsfirst I'm excited about both
those communities I think youcan see it um the the top retail
experts and global retailleaders um continuing to
selectively grow that with theright the right people um I I
(32:31):
believe that that will continueto pay greater dividends and
even greater value as thoseorganizations grow in the right
way.
SPEAKER_00 (32:39):
In addition to that I would look at our partnerships
we partner with a lot ofindustry trade organizations to
make those trade events you knoweven more successful whether
that's to bring speakers theright speakers to those events
but also coverage and andpromotion uh and uh ancillary
(33:03):
events, uh dinners, happy hours,other ways for these executives
to meet because I think that'sone of the things that can be
intimidating if you are anexecutive and you're going to a
remote event and you don't knowanyone, you might be the only
person from your company goingpotentially.
Wouldn't it be so much nicer togo I've already met many other
executives who are going to goto this event in these virtual
(33:25):
mixers.
I already know Fred and Sue andJerry and I can't wait to see
them in person and have a drinkand talk about that and we're
going to sit you know next toeach other during the keynote
and talk about what that meantand things like that.
So we're able to organize all ofthose groups where you've you've
got real connections andnetworks.
So I'm excited about workingwith more trade organizations.
(33:48):
Again I mentioned all thesedifferent verticals we work in
um and we work with a lot oftrade organizations today but I
I think there's even more and Iwant to see uh more of the
smaller groups you know thatmight be organizing you know in
your case you know maybe there'sa conference in Bentonville
about you know things with withWalmart and with others um
(34:09):
that's interesting right thesesmaller groups as well so not
just the big industry events butsmaller industry events and ways
for people to get together.
You know if I'm in New York Cityor another major metro uh
anywhere in the world could Iget together with other experts
and retailers you know once aquarter uh and so I'd love to to
(34:31):
start broadening that and I'dlove to invite more retail
executives as well as moreexperts to get more actively
involved and to say where do youwant this to go?
I mean I really don't b while itis our organization I really
want it to be our organizationwhere people feel like they have
a stake and that they can giveideas and opinions and and help
(34:53):
us chart the course that we needto grow in.
SPEAKER_01 (34:56):
That's so exciting Paul and I'm so excited to not
only be a part of this but tohear kind of your vision for
where it's going.
And it really occurs to me thatthis is just such a necessary
connecting point for those of usacross retail that I'm so
excited to be not only a part ofwhat you're doing but to to
really see where it goes notonly the rest of this year but
(35:19):
into the future as well.
And so I'm really thankful foryou sharing with us a little bit
about it today and and to watchwhere it goes in the years
ahead.
SPEAKER_00 (35:28):
Yeah well thanks Scott and again thank you for
being part of our our top retailexperts uh community as well as
working with us on on advisoryand helping us I know you've
contributed a number of of greatideas about where the
organization can grow where thehow the communities can be
stronger and better and andthat's how we get better is by
having you know active memberswho uh express their their
(35:51):
thoughts and ideas and theircreativity uh so we we really
appreciate you as well you bet.
SPEAKER_01 (35:57):
Well thank you for joining us and for uh those of
us uh that are watching todayit's clear that this community
is always looking for great andhigh value uh members of the
retail community to join pleaselook at the slide that we've got
up on the screen if you want tolearn more either about Rethink
(36:18):
Retail Broadly or about thedifferent communities or this
new advisory group just followthose links on the screen and
we'll get you connected ifyou're uh if you're already a
merchant a marketer atechnologist or part of one of
these uh areas of discipline I'mconfident that that Paul and the
group want to hear from you andand offer you the opportunity to
(36:42):
contribute to the group and soPaul again thank you for your
time and for joining us todayuntil next time for the Digital
Front Door I'm Scott Benedictthanks for listening to
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to the
digital front door.
I'm Scott Benedict, and todayI'm excited to welcome someone
who is helping build one of themost influential communities in
modern retail.
Now, throughout my own retailingcareer, I've been fortunate to
cross paths with manyoutstanding leaders in so very
(00:28):
many aspects of retailing, frommerchandising to marketing, from
store operations to supplychain, and from e-commerce to
retail technology.
It's really exciting to havethis guest with us today.
Joining me is Paul Lewis.
Paul is the managing director ofRethink Retail, a global
(00:48):
community of retail leaders,thinkers, and change makers
drawn from every corner of ourindustry, from brand executives
to technologists and from supplychain experts to store
designers, and we're excited tohave them.
Under Paul's leadership, RethinkRetail has grown far beyond its
original immediate roots.
(01:09):
It now serves as a hub forconversation, for collaboration,
and for innovation, and isperhaps best known for its top
retail experts program, but alsois expanding its impact into new
initiatives like the RethinkAdvisory, which brings together
experienced executives that helpshape the future of retail
(01:31):
through shared insight andstrategic guidance to members
throughout the retail community.
We're going to talk a little bittoday about this community and
how it's evolving and where someof the most exciting
developments are happening inretail and what's ahead for
Rethink Retail in 2025 andbeyond.
And Paul, welcome, and we're soexcited to have us joining, have
(01:52):
you join us today.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
Oh, thanks, Scott, and thanks for that
introduction.
Yeah, there's just so muchexciting things happening at at
Rethink Retail and the differentcommunities.
And I would say the retail andmaybe these days, every industry
is, you know, in a state ofinnovation and change.
And the more that we can shareour knowledge with each other on
(02:14):
this journey, the the better weall, the stronger we all are.
SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
So, Paul, let's start with the origin story.
What inspired the creation ofResync Retail as a community,
and how did you envision itevolving from the early days
kind of to where it is today?
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Yeah.
You know, like a lot of uh greatideas, it it started over uh
drinks between uh Julia and myco-founder and myself when we
were at a conference in Miami,and um we talked about that
there was coverage um of theretail space, but what we really
saw was a gap between connectingthe top experts in the field
(02:55):
because there's so manyspecialized areas, you know,
within retail.
And um, you know, how do we howcould we facilitate that?
And um, you know, from that ideagerminated the the company.
Um, you know, I think it'shelpful to say that we define
retail very, very broadly.
(03:18):
Um so for us, retail is anyonewho sells things, you know,
products to a consumer.
So that includes uh luxury, uhapparel, grocery, restaurants,
uh convenience, big box,direct-to-consumer, uh CPG, you
(03:38):
know, that that very, verybroad, uh, all-encompassing
area.
And is when you have an areathat broad, the key is that you
need experts that can talk intoeach of those different uh
verticals or subverticals.
And we've been very fortunatewe've built a community of top
retail experts.
(03:59):
I believe the the smartest mindsin in the world on on retail.
We have over uh 500 of them.
It's an annual selection uhprocess that goes through a
committee and a lot of otherelements to build that.
But what that means forretailers and and what it means
for the mission of RethinkRetail is to help retailers to
(04:23):
solve their most difficultchallenges as well as capitalize
on their biggest opportunities.
And we do that not only throughour analysts, our researchers,
our media coverage, as there areother companies that do, but I
think our differentiator isreally our community of top
retail experts that are able totalk about everything, whether
(04:47):
that be uh an industry as or asubvertical as we talked about,
but also a role.
You know, we have uh people thatare experts in um supply chain,
experts in IT or uh security andrisk, uh experts in new
marketing strategies, experts inAI.
So we were able to bring allthese very specialized experts.
(05:11):
And then we have uh a globalgroup of these.
So wherever you are, whatevercountry you're in, we have
people with experience, youknow, boots on the ground, as
they say, in those countries toreally understand the cultural
elements, uh certain technologyhurdles and other elements.
So we're really able to provide,I think, the very best advice
(05:33):
for retailers to help themthrive.
SPEAKER_01 (05:37):
That makes a lot of sense.
And it feels like you kind ofevolved from being maybe
initially just a media brand toreally what sounds like a very
multidisciplinary of a reallydynamic multidisciplinary uh
community, what makes thatdistinction important and how do
(06:00):
you see see it shaping themission of Rethink Retail
perhaps over time?
SPEAKER_00 (06:05):
Well, I think the fact that we have all these
active experts, I just believethat being an expert today, you
know, if you think of any onemedia brand and we say this one
media brand and there, howevermany analysts, researchers,
journalists they have, whetherthat's five or 50, um, is still
(06:25):
small.
It's still a drop in the ocean.
There's so much going on, andthe pace of change is so fast
now that that you know what wasgoing on, you know, 90 days ago,
look at the involvement in inAI, is completely uh different
potentially, even just 90 dayslater.
And so um that old worldapproach of media that we are
(06:49):
going to know everything and beable to tell you exactly what
the answers are, I think isoutdated.
You have to have a morecrowdsourced, more open uh
approach.
And that's exactly the way thatwe've gone about it.
And so, and we also think thatmedia companies, by their
nature, are one-waycommunication.
(07:12):
Like they've got the bullhornand they're telling you what to
think.
But I think the best ideas andthe best strategies come from
two-way conversations.
And one of the things that we dois we invite retailers to mixers
every single month that areabsolutely free and allows them
to meet with these top retailexperts from all over the world
(07:32):
as well as other retailers andhave, you know, Chatham House
rules, discussions about wherethings are going and how is
supply chain innovating, how isjust in time, what is it, are
drone deliveries, you know, areality?
All these different kinds oftopics and interesting
discussions.
And I think we're one of the fewgroups that really facilitate
(07:54):
that.
And I believe that that is, youknow, again, where the world is
is going versus just a media.
Like I'm gonna read in a I guessin the old days, a print
magazine, and it's somehow goingto tell me all the relevant
things, you know, for mybusiness.
This allows each of theparticipants, especially the
retailers, to control thedialogue.
Here's what I want to talkabout.
(08:16):
And so now they're able toselect the information that
they're going to discuss andactually get their questions
answered.
SPEAKER_01 (08:25):
That makes so much sense.
And I know this collection ofexperts has caused you and the
group uh to recently launchRethink Advisory, which brings
together some of the mostexperienced voices from a lot of
different areas in the industry.
I'm curious, what was thethinking behind that initiative
(08:46):
and what role does that groupplay in the larger context of
the Rethink ecosystem?
SPEAKER_00 (08:53):
Yeah, you know, I I think um, you know, and starting
from a place of of humility butalso honor is I just I and our
team found ourselves inconversations with retailers,
and so often, I don't know ifthey thought that we're their
their priest or theirpsychologist, but they uh after
(09:15):
the barriers come down and we'rewe're talking about things, they
start to tell me all theirproblems.
We're having a problem withthis.
We we think we need a new e-comarchitecture, or we've got to
figure out how to expand ArabEmirates, or we need an
affiliate marketing program, oragain, whatever it is.
And they will say that, and youknow, again, with humility, I'm
(09:37):
probably not the best expert onany one area, but I know a lot
of really, really smart people.
And so we were connecting them,but that became difficult uh for
them, and often they wantedmultiple experts to weigh in on
(09:57):
things.
You know, I I found one of thethings that we do for our uh our
clients, uh, and I'm jumpingahead and then I'll jump back,
but is that we often do sessionswhere we'll bring three or four
of the world's top expertstogether and we'll have a uh,
you know, a non-disclosureagreement, we'll have a problem
or an opportunity statement, andthen they'll hear from that.
(10:18):
And whether those experts agree,you know, that probably points
to that is the right approach,or they disagree.
It's really interesting for theclient, for the retailer, to be
able to hear those differentviewpoints and then select.
And then often they wantmultiple experts to work
together, or they want projects,and that becomes harder to
execute.
(10:38):
So we become that connectivetissue to allow them to have
access to all these experts andto bring them in and out of
projects or advice or otherinitiatives with their company
very easily.
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
You know, as you're talking, it strikes me that
that's probably pretty differentthan most retailers' engagements
with members of the consultingcommunity where they may hear
one perspective and one point ofview.
It feels like that's one of thedifferentiing, differentiating
aspects of this advisory groupis that a retailer would get to
(11:15):
hear multiple points of viewkind of to your to your point
and select from the one thatreally makes the most sense to
them.
Is is that the right way tothink about that?
SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
Yeah, absolutely.
I I think that you knowconsulting groups, you know, by
their nature, um tend to be, youknow, again, I won't name any
names, but we we all know anumber of uh different
management consulting firms.
Um, and they they tend to try tobring in both their internal
(11:44):
viewpoints, who they haveavailable on the bench, and then
their their littlemethodologies, which may or may
not be, again, that's a bit of acookie-cutter approach, may or
may not be the right one forthat particular retailer.
So I would say one is that we'regiving a much broader view of
(12:05):
different elements and areas andexpertise and allowing a lot of
selection.
The second thing is that umcertain management consulting
firms certainly have very highminimum fees in order for them
to get involved in a project.
And, you know, their goal is tocontinue that on an ongoing
basis as well, which creates umsome distance between them and
(12:30):
their clients to some extent.
And what's interesting about usis that we're able to provide
people even as small as just afew hours of time all the way to
project work, all the way to,you know, what we're seeing more
and more uh requests for areinterim and fractional roles.
I just lost my head of e-com.
Somebody's got to take it overand help us find the new head of
(12:52):
e-comm.
Can someone run this for 60days, 90 days, 100 days?
Um, you know, perfect forfractional roles.
Uh, another area is um, I'msorry, that interim roles.
Another area is fractionalroles, um, where they're like,
look, we kind of need this levelof supply chain brand
(13:13):
positioning, expertise from timeto time.
Maybe it's one day a week, maybeit's one day a month, but it's
not, it's not a full-time role.
And we can facilitate that wherewe you can have experts who are
working intimately with yourteam and producing the results,
but at the right volume.
I mean, I think that work, andnot to get off on a too broad of
(13:36):
another subject, but work wasdesigned for people going,
driving into the factory orwhatever have it, and it was 40
hours a week, and and we sort ofmade one size fits all.
The reality in business is thatdifferent skill sets you may or
may not need for that amount oftime and maybe not want that
level of responsibility that youhave all these employees.
(13:58):
And so having that ability tohave fractional interim or
project resources, I think isessential for success today.
SPEAKER_01 (14:07):
That makes a lot of sense.
And if I zoom out from theadvisory part of the business
and look across the rethinkcommunity in total, it it occurs
to me that there's a tremendousamount of diversity in the group
from marketing to merchandising,tech operations, just to name a
few.
What's the value that's createdfrom all of these different
(14:31):
disciplines kind of comingtogether in a community under
the heading of Retync Retail?
SPEAKER_00 (14:38):
Well, I I think there's so much.
One, and the information thatwe're able to obtain and and
share is incredibly valuable.
But you know, I would also saythat uh the challenge for many
businesses is that you can'tmake your best decisions in
(14:59):
silos.
You can't just sit only in themarketing stack and then uh you
know not include sales or notinclude uh human resources or
other things.
You have to look at things fromfrom many perspectives.
You know, you could say that AIis a IT uh issue, but uh AI is
(15:20):
also a human resource issue.
If you become more efficient andthat changes people's jobs or
potentially eliminates jobs,that impacts HR.
AI is also uh a security issue.
It's also a privacy issue.
You know, these are complexthings.
Supply chains are so much morecomplex than they've ever been,
(15:42):
you know, involving so manydifferent suppliers and
countries and tariffs and otherchallenges.
And so you need to have youwould benefit from having
broader views.
And that's one of the thingsthat we're able to bring is
experts, uh cross-disciplinaryexperts across many different
areas to tackle complex andchallenging problems and
(16:07):
capitalize on opportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (16:10):
No, and I think that makes a lot of sense.
One of the things that I'vefound kind of interesting about
Rethink as a community is thatit's not just uh it's not just
uh events like this where twopeople are talking uh across
video, but you do a tremendousamount of both executive
briefings and in-person events,particularly tied to major
(16:32):
industry events, whether it'sshop talk or grocery shop or
things like that.
And I uh seeing the team and youin particular really kind of
leaning in on that liveconnection, that that
face-to-face interaction, why doyou feel like those in-person
events are so essential to thecommunity's growth and to kind
(16:54):
of to addressing the mission ofwhat you and Julia originally
envisioned for Rethink Retail?
SPEAKER_00 (17:00):
Well, I'm glad you asked because I'm just a huge
believer in in people.
And what I think is happeningis, and this is being
accelerated by AI, but theamount of information that
floating out there is you knowvoluminous.
Like there is just so much, it'sit's hard to digest.
(17:23):
And I think that a lot of valueis derived from having
conversations, whether those bewith your peers at other
retailers, but also withexperts, and again, having that
ability to sort of tune and tiethings together.
And, you know, to go into likethe events that we do.
(17:43):
So we run a community uh calledGlobal Retail Leaders, um, which
is uh made up of uh directorlevel or hire at uh at a
retailer, uh people that uh wantto get together, and we tell
them, you know, look, this isprobably the most important time
(18:06):
that I've ever seen for you tobuild your personal brand and
your network and to give back tothe industry and share your
wisdom.
Um the industry benefits fromyou doing that, and and you
benefit from those connectionsuh and uh those experiences.
And so we try to facilitatethat.
(18:28):
We do um a variety of things.
So one thing is we have azero-cost speakers bureau.
So we work with uh you knowwonderful conferences, some of
which you mentioned, there'smany more that we work with that
want speakers on stage.
This is a great chance for uhretail executives to get out
there and to speak on stage.
(18:48):
Um we have our own events, asyou've mentioned, um, where we
have speaking opportunities.
Um and then we also include themin podcasts.
Um, we include them in reports.
Uh one of the things I I told uha busy uh C-suite executive that
I was talking to saying, hey,this is a good time to build
(19:09):
your personal brand.
We'd love to have you, you know,speak at at one of the uh
industry events.
Um and he said, Oh, I don'treally have the time to travel
for that.
And I said, Well, good.
We could do a podcast that'svirtual, it's like an hour.
He goes, Oh, my comms team, Idon't think they'll approve it.
I couldn't do that.
And I said, Well, it can be assimple as we have your headshot
(19:30):
and bio on file.
You could be walking through theairport and we could say, we'd
like to get a quote on yourthoughts of what is the top
challenge for supply chain in2025.
And um you could text that back.
We'll know your comms people.
We'll say, here's the quotewe're going to include with the
bio and headshot in the report.
(19:51):
Is this approved or do you wantto alter it anyway?
And we'll handle everything.
So it literally can be atwo-minute text exchange.
It can be that easy to get tostart building your personal
brand.
And so we create ways to dothat.
And one of the ways that we wesupport that is also our events,
as you mentioned.
We typically have dinners andhappy hours and other private uh
(20:13):
exclusive events for retailexecutives at the industry
conferences, um, as well as uhsometimes major metros and other
places throughout the year.
And we'd love to includeadditional retail executives in
that and give them theopportunity to meet others uh in
the field.
SPEAKER_01 (20:33):
That that sounds so neat and also so very necessary
uh to your point that not onlydoes it pull out the knowledge
and wisdom of some of thosemembers of that community, but
the sharing of that, thoseinsights is not only good for
the community and for theindustry overall, but certainly
for that that individual aswell.
(20:53):
You know, we talked a little bitabout the the grow global retail
leaders, we talked about retailadvisory, rethink advisory.
I'm curious about Rethink's topretail experts program.
It appears to me it's become oneof the most respected
recognitions in the industry.
How has that program evolved?
Because I believe it's beenaround for a few years, and what
(21:16):
does it reveal about thequalities that define kind of
effective and forward-thinkingleadership in retailing today?
SPEAKER_00 (21:26):
Yeah, uh it really has.
I mean, it's been around for Ithink six years now, or this
might be the sixth or seventhyear.
Um, and uh each year I think theprogram has uh gotten better.
Um what I would say is that I Iwould start with a selection
process.
So it's an application, it's anopen application.
(21:48):
There are no fees.
This isn't, we're not trying,we're trying to find the very
best minds in the world.
We're not trying to find thevery best wallets in the world.
So um there are no fees tobecome uh a member, but there is
an application process.
And the application process, uh,you know, well, I I don't want
(22:08):
to say everything about thesecret sauce.
What I can say on a basic levelis it goes through, we're
looking for, you know, that theteam that heads that up for me
says, uh, Paul, look, we'rereally looking for two things.
One, we're looking that theyactually are contributing true
thought leadership.
There, you know, there's a lotof people, you know, on social
(22:29):
platforms that like say, oh,that sounds really interesting,
but they're not actually puttingforward thoughts themselves.
They're not writing articles orbooks or videos or things.
They're just kind of commentingon things.
And we're looking for peoplethat are actually contributing
thought leadership.
(22:49):
They're speaking on stages, orthey've written a book, or
they've published a report, orthey write, you know, regular
compelling articles uh on eithertheir blog or on social media.
Uh, so that's the first piece.
The second uh piece is that wethen look at their experience.
(23:10):
We are looking for people whoare seasoned.
Doesn't mean that they're notyounger than myself, uh but we
because sometimes you do wantyoung perspectives as well, but
we are looking for seasonedpeople that have a strong but
informed point of view.
(23:30):
And then the third thing we lookat is is reach.
So we are looking forbest-selling authors, people who
are speaking on stage, peoplewho have a certain amount of
followers in social channels,because that is uh a pointer to
that their work is credible,right?
So we're looking across all ofthat.
(23:51):
So there is um a team that doesand compiles all that.
And then all those compilationscreate a bit of a bit of a
ranking, and I would say rankingis probably too strong.
That sounds like it'sdefinitively, but there's
probably piles like these peoplewere really strong, these
people, you know, A's, B's, C's,etc.
(24:11):
That all goes to a committee,um, which changes from year to
year.
The committee reviews all ofthat, but then another factor
starts to come in.
So, you know, if you say, Oh,I'm an e-comm expert and I'm
based in North America, it'sgoing to be really hard to get
in because we have a lot ofe-com experts in the North
(24:36):
American marketplace.
And uh so you would have to bepretty exceptional to make it.
That's not to say probablypeople get added every year, but
they are definitely the creme dela creme.
They are the top of the gamethat are getting added into that
space.
But we look at areas of need, dowe maybe not have an expert in
(24:58):
some, you know, I you I oftenuse the example like
cross-border taxationspecialization or something like
that that is much less common,but is also still relevant and
potentially interesting todifferent retailers.
So we look at areas where wemight not have either a again,
it goes back to those threepillars I talked about.
(25:19):
Is the vertical wellrepresented?
Do we have somebody in luxury?
Do we have someone in grocery?
Is the the role or the functionwell represented?
Is do you understand supplychain?
Do you understand marketing?
Do you understand IT or risk orsomething like that?
And then is the geography wellrepresented?
And so they are looking at allthose parameters and then they
(25:40):
come back with a formalrecommendation that goes back
through yet one more pass, andthen we we make those
selections.
But the goal is to really find,again, the very brightest minds.
And then the next phase is tocreate that community.
We we do that, we do theannouncement every year in
January.
It coincides with NRF's uh bigshow in New York.
(26:03):
Um, we do it right before that.
And then across the rest of theyear, we work at bringing that
community together.
Again, mixers with retailers sothey can ask questions and and
and talk with those people atabsolutely no charge.
By the way, being in the globalretail leader community is also
uh like the top retail expertcommunity, neither of those
communities we charge.
(26:23):
We want the right people.
It's about the quality of thepeople, it's not about who can
pay for those things.
And so um that gives them theopportunity to talk to these
experts.
SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
That is is so neat.
And you know, it occurs to methat having the opportunity to
interact with all these expertsfrom across so many different
disciplines and so manydifferent geographies in retail
kind of gives you and the team abit of a front seat for what's
coming down the pike, for what'shappening.
Are there maybe two or threetrends that you think retail
(27:01):
leaders really need to be kindof paying close attention to
right now to make sure they'reon top of where the business is
headed?
SPEAKER_00 (27:09):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, I would be remiss if Ididn't mention that, you know,
we also have solution providersthat that we work with.
And, you know, our expectationson solution providers is that
they are, you know, notproviding salespeople, but
they're providing their sharpestthought leaders in a space.
(27:29):
So, you know, I'll give you anexample uh with Microsoft, um,
you know, they're able to bringthe head of their uh retail and
consumer goods to uh help informus like what they're seeing, you
know, because they're privy totechnology developments that are
(27:49):
are still you know completelybehind the curtain that they
have not even announced yet.
They know what's coming.
And they don't necessarilyannounce that, but they say you
might want to prepare for oneexample, agenic AI is going to
have a huge disruptive uheffect.
And so they're giving us andthey're sharing that with our
members kind of like what'scoming next, what's down the
(28:10):
road, how do I see, because oneof the things my brother has
this analogy that I just love,and he calls it overdriving your
headlights.
And he says, you know, at atnight, you're dripping down the
load at 60 miles an hour.
By the time something shows upin your headlights, you've
you've hit that deer, you know,or you've you've hit that that
tree or whatever it whatever itis.
(28:30):
Uh and you know, I think that asyou think about what the pace of
innovation is doing to theretail industry, but to all
industries, is that we'regetting in a car going faster
and faster.
And I believe that we're drivingat night a little bit.
And if you are using the sameheadlights that you've always
(28:51):
used, you haven't turned yourhigh beams on, the danger of
there being a curve coming upand your car going off a cliff
is increased because of thespeed at which we're headed down
that road.
So it's more important than everto hear from many different
thought leaders to connect thedots.
It's like uh, you know, LiDAR ormulti-point things of like
(29:13):
looking, hey, there is a curvecoming up and you need to
prepare for it.
So I think the first thing isboth the community of experts,
but also the community ofsolution providers sharing where
they see that going.
We also include in our communityof top retail experts a number
of venture capitalists thatspecialize either uh I shouldn't
(29:34):
say venture capitalists,financial services.
So that's private equity firms,venture capital, even uh, you
know, some banks and and thingslike that that are very on the
edge.
And they're able to share withus.
I'm always fascinating when theysay this is where we're
investing because this is wherewe think, you know, what's the
Gretzky thing?
I don't skate where the puck is,I skate where it's going to be.
We're going, yeah, exactly.
(29:56):
Yeah, you know, that's what VCsdo, right?
They're trying to say where isthe puck going to be in in now
it used to be five years rightnow it's probably 24 months from
now where's the puck going to bein 24 months and honestly most
companies are skating to wherethe puck is it was three months
ago or something you know maybethree months out so being able
(30:17):
to turn the headlights on withthose BC insights where they're
investing where they see theworld about to transform is
incredibly valuable for ourglobal retail leaders to be able
to see that and have access tothat information and those
insights and and not just theinformation but again the
interactive information thedialogue with those venture
(30:37):
capitalists about like why areyou looking why are you
investing a billion dollars inthis what is it that you see
that's going to change what doesthat mean for my existing supply
chain or my existing SaaSarchitecture?
What is it Microsoft said theother day that AI is going to
have a profound uh impact on onSaaS and and and how that whole
(30:59):
business uh runs.
And so being able to see wherethat's going and to start
preparing because for manyorganizations this the extent of
change is so large that they'regoing to need ramp time to get
there.
And again if you you need tostart taking the curve well
(31:20):
before you're into the S curve.
You've got to start either youknow breaking or or figuring out
how you're going to make thosechanges.
SPEAKER_01 (31:28):
That's so exciting and it it is inherently such an
exciting time to be in involvedin in retail and and what you
you and the team are doing atRethank is so really compelling
and it kind of gives you a frontseat to to where things are
going on right now.
And I'm just kind of curiousfrom the the launch of this new
(31:48):
advisory group to the globalretail leaders community to the
top retail experts continuingcontent and events and a growing
network what's what's next forRethink Retail?
What new initiatives or ideas uhare you especially excited about
when we look at the back half ofthis year and into 2026 and
(32:10):
beyond what are you and the teamreally excited about yeah I
think there's a number of thingsfirst I'm excited about both
those communities I think youcan see it um the the top retail
experts and global retailleaders um continuing to
selectively grow that with theright the right people um I I
(32:31):
believe that that will continueto pay greater dividends and
even greater value as thoseorganizations grow in the right
way.
SPEAKER_00 (32:39):
In addition to that I would look at our partnerships
we partner with a lot ofindustry trade organizations to
make those trade events you knoweven more successful whether
that's to bring speakers theright speakers to those events
but also coverage and andpromotion uh and uh ancillary
(33:03):
events, uh dinners, happy hours,other ways for these executives
to meet because I think that'sone of the things that can be
intimidating if you are anexecutive and you're going to a
remote event and you don't knowanyone, you might be the only
person from your company goingpotentially.
Wouldn't it be so much nicer togo I've already met many other
executives who are going to goto this event in these virtual
(33:25):
mixers.
I already know Fred and Sue andJerry and I can't wait to see
them in person and have a drinkand talk about that and we're
going to sit you know next toeach other during the keynote
and talk about what that meantand things like that.
So we're able to organize all ofthose groups where you've you've
got real connections andnetworks.
So I'm excited about workingwith more trade organizations.
(33:48):
Again I mentioned all thesedifferent verticals we work in
um and we work with a lot oftrade organizations today but I
I think there's even more and Iwant to see uh more of the
smaller groups you know thatmight be organizing you know in
your case you know maybe there'sa conference in Bentonville
about you know things with withWalmart and with others um
(34:09):
that's interesting right thesesmaller groups as well so not
just the big industry events butsmaller industry events and ways
for people to get together.
You know if I'm in New York Cityor another major metro uh
anywhere in the world could Iget together with other experts
and retailers you know once aquarter uh and so I'd love to to
(34:31):
start broadening that and I'dlove to invite more retail
executives as well as moreexperts to get more actively
involved and to say where do youwant this to go?
I mean I really don't b while itis our organization I really
want it to be our organizationwhere people feel like they have
a stake and that they can giveideas and opinions and and help
(34:53):
us chart the course that we needto grow in.
SPEAKER_01 (34:56):
That's so exciting Paul and I'm so excited to not
only be a part of this but tohear kind of your vision for
where it's going.
And it really occurs to me thatthis is just such a necessary
connecting point for those of usacross retail that I'm so
excited to be not only a part ofwhat you're doing but to to
really see where it goes notonly the rest of this year but
(35:19):
into the future as well.
And so I'm really thankful foryou sharing with us a little bit
about it today and and to watchwhere it goes in the years
ahead.
SPEAKER_00 (35:28):
Yeah well thanks Scott and again thank you for
being part of our our top retailexperts uh community as well as
working with us on on advisoryand helping us I know you've
contributed a number of of greatideas about where the
organization can grow where thehow the communities can be
stronger and better and andthat's how we get better is by
having you know active memberswho uh express their their
(35:51):
thoughts and ideas and theircreativity uh so we we really
appreciate you as well you bet.
SPEAKER_01 (35:57):
Well thank you for joining us and for uh those of
us uh that are watching todayit's clear that this community
is always looking for great andhigh value uh members of the
retail community to join pleaselook at the slide that we've got
up on the screen if you want tolearn more either about Rethink
(36:18):
Retail Broadly or about thedifferent communities or this
new advisory group just followthose links on the screen and
we'll get you connected ifyou're uh if you're already a
merchant a marketer atechnologist or part of one of
these uh areas of discipline I'mconfident that that Paul and the
group want to hear from you andand offer you the opportunity to
(36:42):
contribute to the group and soPaul again thank you for your
time and for joining us todayuntil next time for the Digital
Front Door I'm Scott Benedictthanks for listening to
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