Reclaiming the Merchant’s Role in a Tech-Obsessed Retail World

Algorithms can rank, bid, and predict, but can they choose with taste? We open the door to a candid look at the merchant’s role in a retail world obsessed with technology, marketplaces, and media networks. From assortment strategy and pricing judgment to supplier relationships and inventory flow, we unpack the timeless skills that still separate a curated experience from a crowded feed—and how to protect them.

I share why the craft hasn’t changed as much as the environment around it, and how today’s tools—POS analytics, review mining, social sentiment, and inventory dashboards—should serve as force multipliers rather than replacements. We explore the art of weighting signals, spotting real trends versus noisy spikes, and using data to inform human intuition instead of steamrolling it. We also dig into the upside and downside of marketplaces and retail media: expanded access and new revenue on one hand, and the risk of turning merchants into listing managers and publishers on the other.

If differentiation, customer connection, and profitability matter, the merchant’s voice must anchor the strategy. You’ll hear practical ways to keep a clear point of view at scale, build supplier partnerships that create exclusivity and relevance, and align metrics with meaning so short-term gains don’t dilute long-term trust. Subscribe, share with a teammate who lives in dashboards, and leave a review—what’s your take: curate or compute?

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Scott's
Thoughts.
I'm Scott Benedict.
You know, uh I wanted to talkabout something uh today that's
that's close to my heart, andand that is, in my view, the
increasingly forgotten uh roleof the merchant in in modern
retailing.
Now, full disclosure, I'm amerchant by training.

(00:29):
I I did uh merchandising formore of my career uh than
anything else or any otherfunction.
So I may not be a completelyobjective uh viewer on this, but
here's what made me want to talkabout that today.
And that is in today'senvironment in retailing, so
much energy uh and investment isflowing into technology, into

(00:52):
marketplace platforms, intoretail media networks.
And don't get me wrong, thoseare powerful tools that are
reshaping how consumers shop andhow retailers generate sales and
revenue uh from their business.
But amid all of that buzz, allof that focus, the merchant, the

(01:13):
person who decides what productsa retailer carries, how they're
priced, how they'remerchandised, how they're
promoted, my view, uh often getslost a little bit in the
shuffle.
At its core, a merchant's jobhasn't really changed all that
much.
It's about selecting the rightproducts at the right time, at

(01:34):
the right price, aimed at thetarget consumer.
What that means is thatdeveloping a merchandising
strategy that aligns with theretailer's brand and their
customer promise is still veryimportant.
Building supplier relationships,sourcing neat new products and
negotiating terms, still veryimportant.

(01:56):
Forecasting inventory needs andthe flow of merchandise to hit
certain dates in which you wantthat product in or off your
shelf, whether it's a physicalshelf or digital shelf, and
watching what the competition isdoing, studying trends both in
products and in consumers, andapplying consumer insights to

(02:18):
what your product offering is.
All these skills are timeless.
They require judgment,intuition, the ability to
negotiate, and a deepunderstanding of the customer,
but they're now enabled by moreadvanced technology than ever
before.
And in fact, technology hastransformed how merchants do

(02:41):
their jobs in some really, in myview, exciting ways.
Merchants have access to moredata than ever before, whether
that's point of sale data,readings and reviews, social
media sentiment, uh, inventorydashboards, a number of
different tools.
But the challenge is not justhaving the data, but how to

(03:02):
weigh and utilize each of thedata points that a merchant has
to make good decisions and toinform human intuition.
Retailers uh can lean too far,in my view, into automation and
risk losing the art ofmerchandising, the ability to

(03:22):
see around corners and whattrends are going to emerge, to
understand a consumer'semotional drivers of a purchase
and to build product offering,product assortments that really
inspire consumers to shop withthem.
Marketplaces have expandedproduct asset uh access and have

(03:43):
reduced the risk for retailersbecause they don't have to own
all of that merchandise.
Retail media has created entirenew revenue streams for
retailer.
And both of these trends, in myview, if unchecked, can reduce
merchandising ability to becomemore than just a manager of
listings or someone who'sselling eyeballs or visibility.

(04:07):
In my view, that's notretailing, that's that's
publishing.
Merchant's voice is one thatensures that a retailer's
offering stays curated, even ina digital setting, but has a
point of view and has a customerneed uh uh really at their
focus.
Without strong merchants, in myview, retailing becomes clutter,

(04:32):
not clarity.
Retailers measure buyers'performance, the merchant's
performance by things likerevenue, profitability, the
positive flow of the inventory,and competitive set assessments,
how are you doing against yourcompetitive sets?
Now these mer these metrics areonly as strong as the merchants

(04:53):
shaping the offer.
If we allow, in my view,technology and media to eclipse
merchandising, retailers risklosing their differentiation,
their connection with theirtarget customer, and ultimately
their profitability.
So my message today is simplythis let's not lose sight of the

(05:14):
role of the merchant.
In modern retail, technology andmedia are essential, but they
are force multipliers.
They are not replacements formerchants.
The merchant is still the onewho brings together data,
consumer insights, and supplierpartnerships to deliver
something meaningful to ashopper.

(05:37):
Retail has been and always willbe, in my view, about people
making great choices on behalfof the customer.
And a merchant's role in makingthose choices remains vital and
always will.
That's what I've been thinkingabout.
I'm Scott Benedict.