Future Commerce

Get ad-free episodes and bonus content, including the full recording of this podcast, by joining Future Commerce+ at futurecommerce.com/plus

• 🆕 Access to our newest analysis feature for members, Field Notes, our retail space analysis briefing. Featuring brands like Swatch, Printemps, and Skims. 
• Access to our new Word of Mouth Index with Fairing, a brand new member benefit
• Save 15% on Future Commerce print journals and merch
• Exclus...

Are the days of product hype, Black Friday rushes, and format innovation behind us? Phillip, Brian, and Alicia hold Shoptalk Fall conversations to the light of agentic culture and predict an increasingly inevitable flattening of tangible novelty. PLUS: Alicia brings on-the-ground insight and breaks down key highlights and impactful sessions from Shoptalk Fall. 

Peak Format & Innovation Slump

Key takeaways:

• "Black...

Digital Shelf Institute’s Lauren Livak Gilbert joins us in the future: By 2030, successful commerce professionals will function as orchestrators rather than specialists. This transformation requires organizations to shift from hierarchical pyramid structures to more dynamic, amoeba-like models that can pivot rapidly to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. 

P.S. Listen to part two of this conversation on Unpacking the Digi...

Ingrid Millman Cordy returns to Future Commerce after her transition from Nestle Health Science to Chief Marketing Officer at HigherDose, where she's transforming infrared therapy and biohacking technologies into accessible wellness lifestyle products for everyone. Phillip, Brian, and Ingrid explore the intersection of intuitive wellness practices with data-driven marketing, the evolution of brand spirituality, and how premium well...

While everyone obsesses over AI shopping assistants, the real commerce transformation is happening in other spaces. Steve Norris from Logicbroker unpacks how Gen Alpha's $67 weekly spending habits, Roblox's 380 million users, and agentic tools are forcing retailers to reshape their operational backbones. 

Key takeaways:

• Loyalty has evolved from transactional to operational - Modern consumers demand authentic brand experi...

Klaviyo has become the de facto personal CRM for eCommerce. Ben Jackson, Managing Director for EMEA, joins us to unpack how brands move beyond campaign calendars into relationship-building at scale. We get into rocketship growth, why attribution is still broken, and how Castore’s multi-instance CRM model points to a future where both/and thinking beats false trade-offs.

If You’re Just Following the Data, You’re Following the Pas...

In a retail landscape obsessed with speed and conversion, Anthropologie has mastered something far more elusive: cultural alchemy. How do you transform a fleeting TikTok trend into a cross-category empire spanning everything from ceramic lamps to cashmere sweaters? COO Candan Erenguc reveals the operational artistry behind turning cultural moments into commerce gold, and why connection always trumps conversion. 

The Genius Behin...

Get ad-free episodes and bonus content, including the full recording of this podcast, by joining Future Commerce+ at futurecommerce.com/plus

• 🆕 Access to our newest analysis feature for members, Field Notes, our retail space analysis briefing. Featuring brands like Swatch, Printemps, and Skims. 
• Access to our new Word of Mouth Index with Fairing, a brand new member benefit
• Save 15% on Future Commerce print journals and merch
• Exclus...

Retail realist Kate Fannin joins Future Commerce to explore how today’s leading brands are redefining the store experience. Spearheading Field Notes, Kate is analyzing in-store experiences at SKIMS, Swatch, Rituals, and more. In this episode, she explains why Return on Experience is becoming a critical metric, how pop-ups act as brand laboratories, and what makes some stores unforgettable while others fall flat.

Key Takeaways:

Nicole Tapscott, Chief Commercial Officer at Knix, dissects the anatomy of category disruption in an era where authenticity trumps algorithms. Drawing from two decades of scaling high-growth consumer brands like Casper and Mejuri, Tapscott reveals how Knix has redefined the intimate apparel industry into a movement of destigmatization through authentic celebrity partnerships. The conversation unpacks strategic insights on navigatin...

In luxury resale, customer relationships can span decades as buyers become sellers and vice versa. Geronimo Chala, Chief Client Officer at Rebag, explains how the brand has evolved from a simple buyout model into a comprehensive lifestyle platform that prioritizes community over transactions. From developing membership models that grow customer funds by 27% annually to creating experiences where customers connect with each other ra...

In an era where retail often feels transactional, Akira has spent 23 years proving that personal connection drives business success. Eric Hsueh, co-owner of the Chicago-based fashion brand, reveals how their 40-store chain has scaled authentic relationships without losing its boutique DNA. Eric expands on how technology can enable human relationship, rather than replace it.

“I Believe In Stores”

Key takeaways:

• Au...

After 33 years of redefining retail, Anthropologie has mastered creating stores that serve communities rather than just selling to them. Mindy Massey, who oversees stores across North America and the UK after 26 years with the brand, reveals how they've shifted from conversion to connection—empowering 10,000+ employees as community curators while maintaining authentic relationships at scale. Her insights offer a masterclass in why ...

Live at Klaviyo London, Kunle Campbell joins Future Commerce to explore the tension between idealistic wellness brands and the realities of scaling in a capitalist system. Kunle and Phillip explore intentionality, identity formation, and how conscious consumers can navigate the cascade of marketing messages while staying true to themselves.

Know Thyself, Choose Better

Key takeaways:

• Pure idealism faces scalabilit...

Will systems-driven commerce be the death of our (Brian’s) peace? This week, Phillip and Brian explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping expertise, the chokehold inflexible systems have on modern life, and the meaning of the digital afterlife. Plus: learn how brands like American Eagle are balancing controversy and virality to shock themselves into relevancy while feeling minimal aftershocks.

One Year Closer to the Digita...

The hunt for certainty is killing creativity.

Rory Sutherland, chairman of Ogilvy and the poet of persuasion, joins us live from Klaviyo London to challenge marketing's obsession with thin-tailed attribution. Brands are facing an existential crisis in an increasingly brandless, chat-interface powered world, but Sutherland believes that current measurement models are not designed to allow marketers to test, fail, learn, and grow, sys...

A replay from VISIONS Summit: NYC featuring YouTuber and architect Dami Lee.

From the stage of VISIONS Summit at MoMA, Dami Lee reveals why the most chaotic spaces often teach us the most about what it means to be human. 

As a licensed architect turned YouTube storyteller with over 200 million views, she's discovered that making architecture approachable isn't about simplifying complexity, it's about finding the human stories embedde...

Get ad-free episodes and bonus content, including the full recording of this podcast, by joining Future Commerce+ at futurecommerce.com/plus

• 🆕 Access to our newest analysis feature for members, Field Notes, our retail space analysis briefing. Featuring brands like Swatch, Printemps, and Skims. 
• Access to our new Word of Mouth Index with Fairing, a brand new member benefit
• Save 15% on Future Commerce print journals and merch
• Exclus...

How is the next generation redefining what it means to shop, connect, and co-create in physical spaces?

Grab a pen and get ready to take some notes because Melissa Gonzalez and her firm, MG2 Advisory, have cracked the Gen-Z code through groundbreaking new research. But make no mistake, this isn’t more one-size-fits all data about a large, and highly nuanced, cohort. This is granular research that unpacks the social, behavioral, and ...