Category: Non-food retail

  • Marketplaces are the New E-Commerce

    Marc Vicente, Group Digital Director at Kingfisher, joins Natalie for a comprehensive discussion around e-commerce, AI, marketplaces, retail media, and more.

    They explore:

    • Why omnichannel retailers are now embracing the marketplace model
    • The role of physical stores in e-commerce
    • Innovative partnerships: Deliveroo and the importance of speed
    • The significance of Black Friday for Kingfisher and why it starts earlier every year
    • Retail media: monetizing the marketplace and understanding the 3 stages of retail media implementation
    • From chatbots to personalized recommendations and visual search, how is Kingfisher enhancing the customer experience with AI?
    • The future of retail: what is Marc most excited about for 2025 and beyond?

    Marc’s bio:

    Marc leads the digital transformation and oversees the strategy and operations at one of the largest home improvement retailers in Europe – which has 82,000 colleagues across 2,000 stores in eight European countries, and a number of retail banners including B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama. Before Kingfisher, Marc spent 15 years delivering disruptive technology-based growth in senior international roles such as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Officer at Rakuten Europe and Chief Operating Officer at Cdiscount.com, the French e-commerce leader.

    Connect with Marc on LinkedIn

    Find out more about the Retail Disrupted Podcast by visiting retaildisrupted.com

  • Malls, Makeup and Meme Stocks with Gary Kusin

    GameStop and Laura Mercier Cosmetics co-founder Gary Kusin joins Natalie to discuss everything from malls and makeup to meme stocks. They explore the origins of GameStop – what inspired Gary and James McCurry to launch the world’s first video game store in the early 80s?

    They also explore:
    ♦ The pivot to makeup: Gary discusses how a conversation with former Macy’s Chairman Terry Lundgren sparked the idea for Laura Mercier.
    ♦ Continuous improvement versus continuous change.
    ♦ Customer centricity: why so many brands today fail to get this right.
    ♦ Kinko’s: Gary shares how, as Kinko’s CEO, he turned the loss-making business into to a highly profitable enterprise that was later acquired by FedEx.
    ♦ Meme stocks: Gary shares his views on the GameStop stock market frenzy.

    Retail Disrupted Podcast

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  • Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption

    Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, podcast host, and bestselling author of Remarkable Retail. He joins Natalie to discuss the findings of his new book, LEADERS LEAP: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption.

    The explore the cost of misunderstanding risk and why playing it safe is the riskiest strategy of all; why a complete metamorphosis of the leadership mindset is essential to thrive in the face of accelerating change; why some brands get stuck in the “unremarkable middle” and how to overcome internal complacency. Steve also shares the rationale behind his belief that many US department stores have no chance of turning themselves around, and whether the Dallas drone wars are a glimpse into the future of home delivery.

    Natalie also shares a few thoughts on Amazon’s 30th anniversary.

     

  • It’s a Density Game, with Deliveroo’s Paul Wilkinson

    Paul Wilkinson, Product Director at Deliveroo and former Tesco and Amazon exec, joins Natalie to discuss retail technology trends.

    They explore the evolution of quick commerce, why Deliveroo won’t chase 15-minute delivery and moving into non-food to “bring the whole high street to the customer”.


    Other topics covered include: learnings from the restaurant sector, supermarket collaboration, voice commerce and frictionless checkout.

  • Retail Veteran Nigel Oddy on Treating Shoppers as VIPs

    Natalie speaks to Nigel Oddy, currently CEO of the UK and Europe’s leading golf retailer American Golf, and previously CEO of House of Fraser, New Look, Matalan and The Range.

    The video version of this episode is available on YouTube and is part of a special collaboration with the Richmond Retail & E-commerce Directors’ Forum. Nigel will be speaking at the event alongside leaders from across the industry – Tesco, Charlotte Tilbury, TikTok, N Brown and more. 

    In this episode, Nigel gives us a sneak preview of what we’ll be discussing at the event. He shares what it was like running New Look during the pandemic, his biggest successes, what motivates him, the importance of spending time on the shop floor and why you must treat your shoppers as VIPs.

  • Why Currys is Nick Bubb’s 2024 Pick

    Wonderful to have Nick Bubb on the podcast this week. We discuss:

    🎄 Christmas trading results – winners and losers.
    💻 Why electricals retailing is poised for a comeback in 2024.
    📉 What JD Sports’ and Burberry’s profit warnings tell us about the state of retail.
    🛍 What went wrong at John Lewis and whether Peter Ruis can revive the brand.
    👗 Frasers’ stake-building strategy – what is the end game for Asos and Boohoo?
    🛒 Supermarket switching and the importance of physical stores in food retail.

    TLDL: skip to 26 minutes to hear 3 reasons why Currys is Nick’s tip of 2024. Last year, he picked Marks & Spencer so I’d listen up!