Retail Unwrapped - from The Robin Report

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Guest: Lindsey Scheftic, CMO, Owner and Founder, The CMO Sidekick

Fractional CMOs with blue-chip experience are sources of enterprise-level talent accessible even to mid-market companies. Couple that resource with AI tools that are moving at the speed of light, these strategic co-pilots are separating marketing winners from losers. With the explosion of video channel fragmentation creating a measurement nightmare and threatening attribution accuracy, and retail media networks evolving from a "necessary evil" into precision targeting powerhouses – both demand a new level of marketing expertise. Join Shelley and Lindsey Scheftic, CMO, owner and founder of The CMO Sidekick as they explore how marketing expertise is being fundamentally redefined. The traditional career path is dead, yesterday's marketing education is obsolete, and 65 percent of future marketing roles don't even exist today. Listen in to this provocative conversation to get up to speed on the future of marketing.

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!

Special Guest: Jonathan Gold, Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy, National Retail Federation

In a year of unprecedented economic uncertainty, the possible implementation of widespread tariffs has far-reaching implications for retail markets and consumer behavior. Beyond the immediate impact on pricing, these trade policies could fundamentally alter supply chain strategies, product availability, and market competition. Join Shelley and Jonathan Gold from NRF as they discuss all-things tariffs and how challenging it is for retailers to plan for sudden, unexpected policy changes. While some retailers advocate bringing manufacturing back to the U.S, the infrastructure, skilled labor, and economic conditions required for domestic production cannot be established quickly enough to counteract imminent, imposed tariffs. From a macro perspective, the current trade environment demands a strategic reassessment of supply chain diversity and risk management to thrive in an increasingly volatile global market.

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!

As part of The Virtual Robin Report Annual Forum, Robin Lewis had a conversation with Dave Kimbell, president of Ulta Beauty. Ulta Beauty was one of The Robin Report Retail Radicals for 2020. The Robin Report Retail Radicals Awards focuses on identifying the radical thinkers and doers exclusively in the legacy retail industry sectors. These radicals are driving the major transformations within their respective retail brands with challenges much larger and more complex than those of often-celebrated tech-driven startups. The Robin Report Index identifies quantitatively and qualitatively outperforming retailers and their innovators within five industry sectors.
Profits + Consumer Trends with Dave Kimbell and Robin Lewis (Originally aired November 11, 12:30-1:30 EST)

Consumers will redefine the retail experience, as they accelerate retailers’ response to new behaviors, demands and needs. Robin Lewis is in conversation with Dave Kimbell to deconstruct how Ulta has retooled its business models to manage the trifecta of a global health crisis, economic disruption and civil unrest. They also outline plans for a challenging Holiday season.
You can watch the video session and find out more about The Robin Report Annual Forum here:
The Robin Report Annual Forum
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For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!

As we enter 2025, what’s the imperative for retail going forward? We’ve identified three key shifts that are shaping the future of retail. Join Shelley in a review of Retail Unwrapped podcast highlights that preview retail things to come.

In hot topics of the moment, tariffs are top of mind for CEOs and CFOs and retail leadership is anticipating uncertain changes with the new administration. The industry faces a pivotal moment as tariff policies create a complex economic balancing act between manufacturing costs at home and consumer price surging for global sourcing. Discover more with Bayard Winthrop, Founder and CEO American Giant and Arick Wierson, award-winning journalist and TRR contributor in a Post-Election Recap for Retail.

AI is raising its head, a sleeping giant with integration emerging as the defining factor separating market leaders from laggards. Its impact on the retail industry will be broad and deep and brands that stay ahead of the technology and implement AI strategies that resonate with their target markets are better positioned to win. Learn more with The Next Frontier: Agentic AI Smart Shopping; The AI-Powered Merchant: Creativity Meets Retail Technology; and the Future of Retail Returns: Automation Meets Human Intelligence.

Effective retail leadership will shift as it adopts modern skillsets and strategies to manage a disruptive marketplace. Find out what right stuff is required to win with customers and an evolving workforce: Behind the CEO Curtain: What Modern Leadership Really Looks Like; Succession Planning in Retail...Pepsi Has It Right Four Female CEOs with Unique Retail Strategies; and John Venhuizen, President and CEO of Ace Hardware: A 2024 Crave Retail Radical.

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!

Guests: Bridget Johns, co-founder and CEO at To&From, John Andrews co-founder and CEO of Cimulate.
The future of retail is being fundamentally transformed by artificial intelligence, moving far beyond basic search functionality to create intuitive, personalized shopping experiences. Learn how AI is evolving from simple keyword matching to sophisticated understanding of consumer context and intent. The key to success lies in striking the perfect balance between AI automation and human expertise. Join Shelley, Bridget and John as they discuss how the emergence of Agentic AI -- autonomous shopping assistants that can understand complex requirements and preferences -- represents the next frontier in retail technology. The human element will remain crucial, particularly when deep product knowledge and curation are required. The most successful implementations will combine AI's processing power with retail domain expertise to enhance rather than replace the human touch in shopping experiences.

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.