Unpacking the Digital Shelf

As digital commerce enters its maturity phase, simply because it must, figuring out what the opportunities are to optimize and streamline key processes is a critical part of your growth strategy. Mert Damlapinar, Principal, CPG Digital Commerce Acceleration, EPAM Systems, lives on the front lines with his clients who are on that maturity path, and he joined the podcast to share insights and wise counsel from those experiences.

For 8 years Cara Wood, Salsify’s head of Brand Journalism has surveyed consumers across a growing list of countries to identify the shifting trends of consumer behavior on the digital shelf. 2022 was a year of shift from pandemic to inflation and recessionary fears. The results of the latest survey are now in, and Cara joined the podcast to lay out the chief takeaways, and what steps brands might take to drive discovery, conversion and loyalty based on how consumers are shopping today.

Growing ecommerce at a global brand from an idea to scale is an adventure only for the brave and very smart. Colette Richards, Director of Alternative Sales and Distribution at Barcel USA, the snack division of Grupo Bimbo, is one such person. And we were lucky enough to have her on the podcast to describe her journey, lessons learned, and what she sees ahead for the digital shelf in 2023. (Hint: it includes a shadow P&L.)

Zack Rubin, Director of Ecommerce and Marketplace at premium kitchen appliance manufacturer Zephyr, has been on a 3 year journey to build out their digital strategy. With a broad array of responsibilities and a very small team, Zephyr has managed to make their digital shelves gleam and earn the premium that their products deserve. A super power Zack brings to his role is digital retailer experience, as a category manager at Wayfair. Zack joined the podcast to share insights from both sides of the digital shelf equation.

Now in its 6th year and spanning the entire globe, the latest Ecommerce Organizational Benchmark Report from Profitero has hit the digital streets, and it is chock-full of insights on best practices in organizational design, capabilities development, and retailer-brand joint business planning. Andrew Pearl, VP Industry Insights at Profitero, joined the podcast to lay out the learnings, and the next steps to take to put every pixel to work.

With Amazon’s ad revenue now reaching around 10 BILLION a quarter, the discovery, research, and shopping experience on page 1 of search results has been dramatically transformed. But how? Does anyone know, and know what you should do about it? Turns out, yes. Acadia, the digital agency for challenger brands teamed up on a study with Analytic Index on a report called “In it to Win it: How Amazon is pay-to-play for brands, why that matters, and what to do to win”. How could we NOT get Kiri Masters, Head of Retail Strategy at Acadia, on the podcast to talk about it?

During the last few years, retailers and brands have invested heavily in people, process, and technology to create new digitally-led experiences for consumers to discover, buy, and get their purchases. This innovation has put pressure on the retailer P&L, which is naturally having a downstream impact on yours. This is a podcast audio version of a webinar featuring of course Lauren Livak, Director of the Digital Shelf Institute and driving force behind the Digital Shelf Playbook series from the DSI, and our special guest, Chris Perry, Chief Learning Officer & Co-Founder at FirstMovr. Together, in this second episode of their P&Ls Under Pressure Series they dive into the retailer P&L and talk through some trends and strategies to understand your most important customers’ financial priorities, and their impact on yours.

In this zany world we live in at the moment, achieving increased profitability is on every commerce leader’s priority list. In order to fully understand how to impact profitability it is vital to deeply understand your profit & loss (P&L) statement. There are some things on the P&L that cannot be influenced and there are some that can be. This is a podcast audio version of a webinar featuring of course Lauren Livak, Director of the Digital Shelf Institute and driving force behind the Digital Shelf Playbook series from the DSI, and our special guest, Chris Perry, Chief Learning Officer & Co-Founder at FirstMovr. Together, they dive into the manufacturer P&L and talk through some actionable strategies you can use to drive more profitability.

We are always grateful to have Andrea Leigh, formerly of IdeoClick and now Founder and CEO of ecommerce education consultancy Allume Group, on the podcast to put the data from the most recent earnings reports and shareholder meetings in perspective. Q3 was a hot one across shopper, ecommerce, and omnicommerce trends, and Andrea brought all the facts and analysis.

We all know the last 4 years in digital commerce have been earth-shattering, transformative and, well, exhausting. Now, however, feels like a moment in time where it’s not only possible but urgent to take stock of the shifts over the past several years and reassess how to move forward in a way that works for both consumers and your bottom line. Accenture recently did a new version of their annual massive consumer research, this time across 13 countries, that really clarifies the shifts that are here to stay, and the clarion call that creates to the C-suite to make sure to build a business that works for the long haul. Jeriad Zoghby, Global Lead for Omni-Channel Commerce at Accenture Song, joined us to explain what consumers are saying, and why you can no longer hide from the new realities of digital commerce. Or, as we like to call it, commerce.