Interview

Interview: Making Retail Safe for Discovery Again, with Gwen Morrison, former CEO of WPP's Global Retail Practice and a partner with Candezent Advisory

At a time when every step in the consumer journey must feel safe, retailers have an opportunity to revisit the power of technology and their people to signal safety while re-introducing moments of discovery to drive sales. Gwen Morrison, former CEO of WPP's Global Retail Practice and a partner with Candezent Advisory, brings her vast experience working on retail innovation to a new moment and a new challenge – but one she knows retail will conquer.

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Interview: Making Retail Safe for Discovery Again, with Gwen Morrison, former CEO of WPP's Global Retail Practice and a partner with Candezent Advisory

At a time when every step in the consumer journey must feel safe, retailers have an opportunity to revisit the power of technology and their people to signal safety while re-introducing moments of discovery to drive sales. Gwen Morrison, former CEO of WPP's Global Retail Practice and a partner with Candezent Advisory, brings her vast experience working on retail innovation to a new moment and a new challenge – but one she knows retail will conquer.

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Interview: Ecommerce Tech Stack History, 90s to now: a discussion with Dr. Adam Ferrari

Adam has a PhD in distributed computing from Cornell, was CTO of Endeca which powered the search and navigation for Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and hundreds of others in the 00s, and has 14 ecommerce technology patents to his name. Join us for this nerdy discussion of the history of the ecommerce tech stack from 1999 to now.

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Interview: New Omnicommerce Research, with Todd Szahun of Kantar and Kerry Curran of Catalyst and GroupM

The ecommerce and retail media landscape is shifting under our feet. Todd Szahun of Kantar and Kerry Curran of Catalyst and GroupM teamed up on a new foundational piece of research across both consumers and industry professionals. They join Rob and Peter to dig into the stats and takeaways that will inform marketing strategies in 2021.

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Roundtable: Pandemic-Inspired Store Designs

Walmart announced new store designs this week. Fast Company said "Walmart’s new store design proves browsing is dead. Get in and get out." Rob and Peter dig into a few of these new designs, and the takeaways for brands are different than you might think. 

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Roundtable: Since Everyone's Going Direct, Let's Get Better at It

When marketplace platform Mirakl gets $300m in funding, you know brands selling direct is no longer a fad. Inspired by a D2C trends report from Common Thread Collective, Rob and Peter dig into the omni-fication of D2C. 

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Interview: ROBOTS!! and how they will transform grocery shopping, with John Lert, Founder and CEO of Alert Innovation

For online grocery to be profitable and be a better experience, the costs and efficiency of pick and pack must come down. Turns out, the answer is...ROBOTS! John Lert, Founder and CEO of Alert Innovation, joins Rob ad Peter to discuss the automation of grocery stores at scale. 

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Roundtable: The New Model for Driving Growth

Turns out that the leading brands in each CPG category have generated only 25 percent of value growth in the US while small and medium-sized brands captured 45 percent of growth. McKinsey put out a report on what the new model for growth is, and the lessons can apply to any category.  Peter and Rob dig in. 

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Roundtable: Takeaways from McKinsey B2B Trend Data

Buying and selling behaviors have shifted dramatically in the B2B space. Justin King joins Peter on the podcast to dig into the survey data from McKinsey on US B2B decision-maker's response to the COVID-19 crisis and what he's seeing on the ground with manufacturers and distributors. 

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Interview: Creating Inclusive Products, with Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google’s Head of Product Inclusion

Today, the issues of diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of people’s minds, especially business leaders. For brands, it is more important than ever that inclusivity is built into your products throughout the entire process, from ideation to marketing and merchandising. Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google’s head of Product Inclusion, has literally just written THE book on why and how to build inclusive products. Peter spoke with Annie to dig into the principles and processes in her book, and how they apply to brand manufacturers, at a time when connecting deeply with each and every targeted consumer is vital to your brand success.

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Roundtable: The Nike Digital Road Map for Brands

Nike cut ties with some distributors this week. But that's one part of a digital-first strategy that has been years in the making. Rob and Peter unpack it all, and suggest lessons that brands building their digital road map can take away. 

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Interview: From the Front Lines of Ecommerce, with Tim Madigan, a veteran of CPG commerce innovation

Tim Madigan, with marketing and ecommerce leadership roles at P&G, SC Johnson, and Tyson Foods, has been at the leading edge of commerce innovation his entire career. Now he is putting those lessons to work in industries as diverse as frozen lobsters and cannabis. Rob and Peter connected with Tim to glean the lessons learned along the way.

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Roundtable: The Marketplace Explosion

Seems like these days, everyone is starting a marketplace. Does a brand choose to play or not? Rob and Peter discuss the onslaught of marketplaces and the need to prepare for an ever-increasing array of places to show and sell direct. 

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Roundtable: Amazon in Political and Legal Crosshairs

We had to talk politics this week, because politics, and the law, impacted commerce this week. Rob and Peter review a California Appeals court decision, FTC actions, and the tech hearings and talk through the likely path ahead. 

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Interview: Influencer Marketing at Scale, with Lyle Stevens, co-founder and CEO, Mavrck

Brands are now spending upwards of $15 billion a year to manage and activate their influencer marketing programs. It’s grown from a few celebrities posting a video to millions of micro-influencers driving impact throughout the sales funnel. Rob and Peter sat down with Lyle Stevens, co-founder, and CEO of Mavrck, an influencer marketing platform, to identify what shifts are required across teams and processes to manage and optimize the impact of influencer marketing on your business.

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Roundtable: Book Report - Leap, by Howard Yu

This episode, we launch a new occasional format for the 'pod. A report on books that we think are worthy of your attention, and why. Rob kicks it off with his POV on Leap, by Howard Yu.

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Roundtable: The Impact of AI

An article in Vogue Business by Maghan McDowell catapults your hosts into an analysis of current and future impacts of AI in shopping.

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Interview: Achieving profitability on Amazon with Mark Power, CEO and Founder of Podean

As the importance of Amazon as both a sales channel and marketing channels continues to rise, it is critical that brand executives focus on how to achieve profitability on the world’s largest retailer. Mark Power, founder and CEO of Podean Marketplace Marketing, joins Peter and Rob to talk about the need to invest in the analysis, data, and actions to make Amazon a profitable channel.

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Roundtable: The Future (?) of Malls

Can brands rely on malls as an engine of retail moving forward? Rob and Peter deep dive on current trends and scenarios.

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Roundtable: How Niches Destroy the Mass Market

Based on an article from business and tech analyst Ben Thompson, Rob and Peter explore how the arc of the newspaper industry holds lessons for how brands will need to adapt to masses of markets to win.

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Interview: Jason Goldberg on Creative Commerce in the time of COVID

Listen in on a conversation with one of the smartest people in commerce and a podcasting legend, at least to us at the DSI. Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis and co-host of the Jason and Scot show, joins Peter and Rob to talk what the heck is going on in commerce and posit brazen predictions of the future.

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Roundtable: Bankruptcies, with a silver lining

It was a week of bankruptcies, including a surprise bid at JC Penney by Simon Group. Peter and Rob deep dive on what innovation may result from these painful transformations.

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Interview: Creative Testing in Social Commerce, with Narain Jashanmal, Director of ECommerce Partnerships at Facebook

Consumers hate friction in their shopping journey. The new capability on Instagram and Facebook to checkout directly on the social platforms offers brands a perfect testing ground to develop new end-to-end experiences in social commerce. Narain Jashanmal, Director of ECommerce Partnerships at Facebook, joined Peter to discuss how brands can make the most of this opportunity to connect directly with their consumers from discovery to purchase to advocacy.

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Roundtable: Amazon's Supply Chain Patent - Conspiracy or Virtue?

When Amazon files a patent to capture every product's supply chain, conspiracy theories about and regulatory regimes rear their heads. Rob and Peter discuss.

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Roundtable: Hooray for Creative Disruption!

It's definitely time to find the silver lining in the economic dark clouds. Rob and Peter put the week's news in perspective for the hopeful signs of the new digital age.

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Interview: From Bricks to Clicks: How Brand Manufacturers Can Future-Proof Business With D2C

In the first ever LIVE episode, Brent Bellm, CEO of ecommerce platform BigCommerce, joins Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez to share the latest data and trends, long-term business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) strategies, and actionable D2C insights.

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Roundtable: Our Pandemic Buying Spree

Face it, it's been a tough week. So Rob, Peter, and production assistant Matt rattle off their favorite purchase experiences of the quarantime.

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Interview: Bringing Brand Purpose to Life in Digital Experiences, with Loic Moutalt, President of Royal Canin

During this time of quarantine, pets have become even more vital to many people's well being. Royal Canin, a petcare division of Mars, has designed products and product experiences that bring their purpose-driven mission to life. Loic Moutalt, President of Royal Canin, joins Molly Schonthal and Peter to discuss the path of their digital transformation and how they have brought these experiences to life in an agile way.

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Roundtable: The B2B Whisperer Returns

This week, Justin King returns with an analysis of the shifts in B2B at this time, and an urgent call to action for leaders to be ready as demand returns.

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Roundtable: Amazon? JC Penney? Wha?!

This week, Molly joins Peter to tackle the news and trends of the week, including Amazon's rumored purchase of JC Penney.

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Interview: How the Alcohol Beverage Industry Is Responding to the Surge in Demand from Digital Consumers, with Wayne Duan, VP of Ecommerce and Digital Commerce at Constellation Brands

One of the biggest growth categories during COVID-19 is alcohol beverages, and consumers are using digital platforms to get it. Wayne Duan, VP of Ecommerce and Digital Commerce at Constellation Brands joins Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez to discuss how the alcohol beverage industry is managing this rise in digital consumers, and what of these new trends may stick and apply across other categories.

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Roundtable: Snacking on DTC

This week, Rob and Peter weigh in on the Pepsico DTC launches of Snacks.com and PantryShop.com. Genius or folly? Plus, how much did those URLs cost?!?

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Roundtable: The Wile E. Coyote Effect

An outstanding Benedict Evans blog post inspires a conversation between Rob and Peter about whether retail will follow the print, camera, and RIM off a cliff. (https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2020/5/4/covid-and-cascading-collapses)

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Interview: The Lessons We Can Learn from Amazon on Building Winning Strategies and Culture with John Rossman

Peter Crosby and Justin King sit down with John Rossman, Managing Partner at Rossman Partners and former Amazon executive, to discuss what commerce leaders can learn from analyzing how Amazon builds its strategies and culture. We share takeaways from his book, Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas to Become a Digital Leader.

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Roundtable: The Questionable Morality of Amazon's Private-Label Business

The Wall Street Journal released an article this week with claims against Amazon for using Marketplace data to inform on their private-label business. Is what they're doing wrong? Rob Gonzalez gives his "rantifesto" on these accusations against the Amazon private-label business.

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Roundtable: Supply Chains and Regulators Getting Agile

Two of the most inflexible things in society are going rogue to respond to this moment. What will last? Rob and Peter talk supply chains and regulations, and it's way more interesting than you'd think.

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How Emerging Brands Survive - and Thrive - in a Downturn, with Karen Howland

Karen Howard, Managing Director of Circleup, an investment platform for early-stage consumer brands, shares data and insights on how emerging brands should think about surviving, and thriving, in the current environment.

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Roundtable: Why It Matters that Amazon Cut Affiliate Marketing

Amazon cut affiliate marketing rates this week. So what? Turns out, it is a wakeup call for brands about Amazon's market power. Rob and Peter unpack it all.

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Roundtable: Sure, They're Buying Online, But Do They LIKE It?

Big shifts happening in ecommerce. But they'll only last if the consumer likes them. Rob and Peter run through the shifts behind the stats.

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Roundtable: What Manufacturer Execs are Telling Us

Molly Schonthal, who leads the DSI's Executive Forum, joins Peter to share the hot takes from her recent conversations with brand manufacturer leaders.

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Roundtable: Manufacturers Lead the Way

It's been a week of watching manufacturers get agile to respond to these times. What of these innovations will last? Peter and Rob share the inspirations and implications of these responses.

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Roundtable: Tectonic Shifts or Snap Back?

There are some dramatic shifts happening right now in commerce. Are they likely permanent, or will they snap back? Peter and Rob highlight the major shifts and how digital pros can respond.

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Interview: Retailer Ad Platforms: Why, How, and Where to Invest with Russ Dieringer from Cleveland Research

Russ Dieringer, Executive Director of the Ecommerce Council at Cleveland Research, shares new research on how to evaluate and execute a strategy in the world of rapidly evolving retailer ad platforms.

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Roundtable: Keep Calm and Digitally Carry On

There is a necessity and an opportunity to lean into digital experiences in these times. Peter and Molly talk it through.

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Interview: Reading the Amazon Tea Leaves, with Eamon Kelly, Senior Research Analyst in Consumer and Ecommerce for Edgewater Research

Eamon Kelly, Senior Research Analyst in Consumer and Ecommerce for Edgewater Research shares his view of what is driving Amazon’s strategy in 2020 and what that means for manufacturers.

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Interview: Can you be both big and fast? with Angela Mangiapane, President, Mars Global Services at Mars

Angela Mangiapane, President, Mars Global Services at Mars on how to simplify, standardize, and automate to achieve both speed and scale.

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Roundtable: The Walmart Triple Play

Walmart had a very busy week of news, what with changes in merchandising teams, Walmart adds a +, and fulfillment news. Peter and Rob have it all for you.

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Roundtable: DTC Brands Find Out That Retail Is Hard, Meanwhile Kroger Has Big Week

It was a tough week for direct to consumer brands as grooming company Harry's had a major investment challenged by the FTC, and online consumer goods store Brandless shut down. Meanwhile, major retailer Kroger received a $550 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway. Peter and Rob break down what all of this means, and more.

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Interview: You Have Everything you Need to do Personalization at Scale, with Michelle Bacharach, co-founder and CEO of FINDMINE

Michelle Bacharach, co-founder and CEO of FINDMINE, outlines how brands can achieve personalization at scale through product expertise.

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Roundtable: B2C Geekout: L'Oreal Gets Personal

This week, Peter and B2C maven Molly Schonthal talk about L'Oreal's CES announcement, discovery in grocery, and China digital consumer journeys.

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Interview: Those Darn B2B Millennial Buyers and Their Questions with Steve Max, Director of Global Digital Commerce Strategy at TE Connectivity

Steve Max, Director of Global Digital Commerce Strategy at TE Connectivity, talks about how manufacturers must adapt to the new digital B2B buyer’s journey.

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Roundtable: The B2B Geekout Episode

This week, Peter and Justin King talk digital supply chains, new methods for managing payment terms, and...Legos?

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Roundtable: Will Casper ghost us?

This week, Peter and Rob do a deep dive on Casper's IPO filing and what it means for DTC. Plus, mockery of US states via their 2019 top Walmart purchases.

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Interview: How to be #1 with Mike Moumoutjis, General Manager, Goodbaby International

Winning in digital means picking your battles, building a test and learn strategy, and then scaling. Peter Crosby and Molly Schonthal spoke with Mike Moumoutjis, General Manager at Goodbaby International, to get real about what it takes to get closer to the consumer and become their first choice.

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Roundtable: Stores Close, but New Revenue and Margin Opportunities Ahead

This week, Peter and Rob dig into the 2019 store closing stats, and talk about some potential sources of new revenue and margin in 2020.

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Roundtable: How CPG Will Thrive in the Roaring 20s

This week, Peter talks with John Carroll, former VP/GM at Coca Cola, who shares his view on what CPGs must do to win in this new decade.

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Roundtable: 2020 B2B Dos, Don'ts, and Duds

In the first episode of this decade, Peter and Justin King tackle a list of dos and don'ts for B2Bs in 2020.

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Roundtable: Moncler Innovates, Coke Re-CMOs, Xeroxing Parts

In the ultimate episode of this decade, we discuss how Moncler and other brands drive innovation, the Coca Cola CMO returns and whether we will be Xeroxing parts in 2020.

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Interview: Test and Scale Social Commerce with Luke Garro, EVP and Content Director at GYK Antler

New commerce opportunities in social are popping up all the time. How do you test and scale these direct methods in an agile way? Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez spoke with Luke Garro, EVP and Content Director at marketing agency GYK Antler, about the best practices for brands to drive connection and commerce through social.

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Roundtable: Drunk Shopping, VC DTC, Andy is Dunn with Walmart

Tis' the season for drunk shopping and executive exits! Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez discuss drunk shopping economy, VC-fueled DTC brands, and Andy Dunn exiting Walmart.

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Interview: Driving Digital Shelf Excellence with JJ Schmidt, Global Product Manager at Mars

The ongoing journey to digital shelf excellence at global CPG brand Mars holds lessons for every business leader. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Molly Schonthal, JJ Schmidt, Global Product Manager at Mars details the organizational and technology transformation required to get agile and achieve results.

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Interview: Technology that Drives Outcomes with Suzanne Abate from The Development Factory

A true digital transformation partnership between business and IT must focus on products, not projects. Outcomes, not outputs. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Molly Schonthal, Suzanne Abate, owner of the Development Factory, describes how technology products can contribute to higher levels of connectedness, productivity, and profitability.

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Roundtable: Fake Reviews and Lord & Taylor Gets Bagged

Yes, somewhere there's a millennial in Brooklyn writing fake reviews by the truckload. Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez talk the dark underbelly of the reviews world plus Lord & Taylor getting snapped up by Le Tote.

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Roundtable: Giving Thanks at the DSI

From robots to the evolution of ERP, we drop some gratitude for what we think are some of the coolest, best, most significant events in digital commerce in the past year. Featuring host Peter Crosby, as well as all three of the founding members of the Institute: Rob Gonzalez, Molly Schonthal, and Justin King.

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Interview: Deciding to Win in CPG, with Sam Gagliardi, SVP of Ecommerce at IRI

Digitally native CPGs are scrappy and focused. Big CPGs have scale and presence. To win, you have to be both. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez of the Digital Shelf Institute, Sam Gagliardi, SVP of Ecommerce at IRI lays out the decision path to CPG success.

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Roundtable: Nike Divorces Amazon & Forrester Reads Its 2020 B2B Crystal Ball

Our weekly roundtable explores the most important news and trends in manufacturing, and we take on Nike calling it quits with Amazon and what it means for everyone else. Also, Forrester analysts Joe Cicman and Allen Bonde issued their 2020 Predictions for B2B Commerce, and the panel weighs in. Featuring Peter Crosby, Rob Gonzalez, and Justin King.

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Interview: First-Mover B2B Advantage, with Brian Beck, Author of ‘B2B Billion Dollar Ecommerce’

For B2B manufacturers, there is still a huge first-mover advantage available in ecommerce channels. Brian Beck, the author of B2B Billion Dollar Commerce, joins the podcast to outline the strategies to show up and stand out on the digital shelf.

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Roundtable: Can IDs and Blockchain Stop Counterfeiting?

Our weekly roundtable explores the most important news and trends in manufacturing, and we investigate counterfeiting and winter sports entering the B2B ecommerce world in our latest episode. Learn more about Ralph Lauren’s plans to authenticate merchandise with IDs, find out why the blockchain dress exists, and learn how one company will let you trace your sweater back to the exact sheep it came from. Featuring Rob Gonzalez, Molly Schonthal, and Justin King.

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Roundtable: The Halloween Episode – What's Scary in Manufacturing?

On our weekly roundtable of what's happening in manufacturing, we're talking Halloween — or at least what's scary in manufacturing these days. Turns out, it's trade wars and industry-killing millennials. Featuring host Peter Crosby, Rob Gonzalez, and Molly Schonthal.

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Interview: Marketing Silos Must Fall: Interview With Sonesh Shah, VP of Marketing and Digital at Bosch Power Tools

To win on the digital shelf, brand and digital marketing can no longer be telling different stories — or chasing different outcomes. In an interview with Peter Crosby and Rob Gonzalez of The Digital Shelf Institute, Sonesh Shah, vice president of marketing and digital at Bosch Power Tools explains how he merged these functions for better customer experiences and better results.

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Introducing: Unpacking the Digital Shelf

Unpacking the Digital shelf is the only podcast created for manufacturers strategizing to win in the digital age. In this episode, we introduce you to a sample of the conversations you can expect in the episodes to come. Listen in!

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