Show notes
Our special guest this week is Amit Sharma, Founder & CEO at Narvar, the post-purchase platform for e-commerce. Amit brings tremendous experience to his current role, having held leadership positions at Williams-Sonoma, Walmart and Apple. Narvar was recently named to Fast Company's annual list of most innovative companies.We unpack why so much of the industry's historical focus has been on demand generation and customer acquisition while largely neglecting customer retention and engagement throughout the whole customer lifecycle. In a fascinating and expansive discussion we learn about opportunities to increase customer lifetime value through technology that helps to better manage customer expectations, proactively engage customers for improved cross-sell and upsell and reduce returns. We also explore why not nearly enough is being done to achieve sustainability objectives.But first we kick-off with the retail news that caught our attention, including a big week of earnings reports from Dick's Sporting Goods Macy's, Best Buy and many more, which all seem to point to a dampening in consumer demand owing to inflation, a growing inventory glut and tepid e-commerce growth. We also dig into Nordstrom's somewhat surprising results and what to make ofAmazon trying to unload excess distribution space. We wrap up wondering whether layoffs at Getir, Gorillas and Klarna could be the canary in the coal mine.Lauren Thomas episodehttps://remarkable-retail-a0721f60.simplecast.com/episodes/behind-the-scenes-of-retail-reporting-with-cnbcs-lauren-thomas Scott Galloway episodehttps://remarkable-retail-a0721f60.simplecast.com/episodes/season-finale-with-special-guest-scott-galloway About UsSteve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks , The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext! You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn. Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! Possible links? Lauren Thomas episode Scott Galloway episode
About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.