Future Commerce

How does a 76-year-old legacy retailer reinvent itself as a tech-powered ecosystem? Lisa Horton, Chief Communications & Creative Officer at David’s Bridal, dishes on the company’s grand modernization and how they’ve expanded to accommodate the next generation’s Gen-Z-sized aspirations.  Here Comes the Algorithm Key takeaways: David's Bridal's "Aisle to Algorithm" pivot puts AI at the center of everything — from merchandising to internal communications. The Style Squad ambassador program bridges employee creators ("Dream Makers") and external influencers, offering the most aggressive affiliate commission in retail at 20%. David's captures 90% of brides who enter their ecosystem — a first-party data advantage few retailers can match. The definition of "influencer" is broadening: word of mouth is influence, and everyone is influential. David's is building beyond bridal — eyeing the post-wedding household, where the majority of purchase decisions are made. [00:00:54] "We're basically a startup inside of a 76-year-old retailer." - Lisa Horton [00:12:09] "We have shifted in the last 12 months from being a legacy retailer to a 360 degree wedding planning ecosystem." - Lisa Horton [00:13:12] "Word of mouth is influence. And everyone is influential." - Lisa Horton [00:22:06] "Everything that we do moving forward is always going to come from a place of how do we mitigate her stress? How do we make her feel excited and seen and celebratory in every moment." - Lisa Horton Associated Links: Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recorded live on the Shoptalk Spring show floor, Phillip and Alicia sit down with Leah Logan, VP of Retail Media Transformation for Inmar Intelligence, and Andrew Lipsman, Founder & Chief Analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce, fresh off a spirited on-stage debate about agentic commerce. We debunk AI Traffic Apocalypse predictions and make the case for creators as a critical yet overlooked retail media channel.  The AIpocalypse, Explained Key takeaways: AI referral traffic currently accounts for just 0.1–2% of retailer traffic; it has also led to eCommerce site traffic growth, not decline.  Consumer intent data, not bottom-funnel ads, is where LLM advertising will find its footing. Creators are a media channel that predates the hype, and the measurement has been there for years. Retail media's growth depends on graduating from ROAS to incrementality — the sooner, the better. [00:11:08] "The next big trend already exists. People just haven't really wrapped their heads around it yet." — Andrew Lipsman [00:26:09] "We have to stop looking at CPMs and start looking at investments." — Leah Logan In-Show Mentions: Retail Confessions Podcast Buy STRATA Associated Links: Check out Future Commerce on YouTube See our in-depth analysis of Shoptalk’s theme: “Retail in the Age of AI”  Read our post-event digest in The Senses Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recorded live at Shoptalk, Phillip and Brian sit down with Heather Rivera, Chief Business Officer at Wing (an Alphabet company), to talk about how Wing has crafted our five-minute delivery future. Spoiler: the novelty of drones wearing off might be the best thing that ever happened to the industry. Building the Drone While We’re Flying It Key takeaways: Wing's fastest recorded delivery: 2 minutes, 37 seconds. Average is under five minutes. 25% of Wing customers order three times a week – habit, not novelty. Wing just announced its largest residential drone delivery expansion yet, with Walmart, covering 270+ store locations. ~70% of Walmart SKUs fit in Wing's current delivery box – roughly 50,000 products. Wing recently doubled its payload capacity from 2.5 lbs to 5 lbs, opening new SKU and category possibilities. [00:20:39] "I want this technology to become unremarkable for people because it just becomes part of the way they go about their lives." – Heather Rivera [00:13:09] "I predict there's gonna be whole sets of new companies that design existing products to fit into the five pound baskets." – Brian Associated Links: Get STRATA Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oreos are Baptist, Biscotti are Anglican, and we're losing our minds. Cookie theology, meme reality, mass hallucinations, the price of attention, and more on the full After Dark episode – accessible to Future Commerce Plus members.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recording LIVE from the show floor of Shoptalk Spring 2026, the Future Commerce team brings our hottest takes and deepest insights from this year’s event. PLUS: We celebrated the launch of our newest zine, STRATA Vol. 001, with over 150 of our favorite people (including Snoop Dogg?). Get your copy at futurecommerce.com/strata.  Our Week In the STRATAsphere Key takeaways: AI was the headline theme, but the humanity angle landed harder with attendees. In-booth content creation has become the industry standard; Future Commerce pioneered it in 2017. FedEx's Jason Brenner reframed logistics as a brand trust moment, not just a last mile. Victoria's Secret CEO Hillary Super showed what vision-led turnarounds actually look like. Curious people will always find leverage. AI just multiplies what they were already doing. “Maybe by this time next year, we will see OpenClaw-specific agencies on the show floor.” – Phillip  "If you're inherently curious and someone who likes to problem solve...AI is gonna help you, totally, without a doubt." – Alicia In-Show Mentions: Get STRATA FedEx: Same-Day Local Subscribe to catch our full recap on Insiders Associated Links: See more post-show coverage in The Senses Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Armand Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer at Whatnot and live commerce growth leader, talks about how Whatnot grew from Funko Pop roots into a massive live-selling marketplace. He explores community-driven livestreams, how live shopping rebuilds in-person storytelling and trust, why beauty and Gen Z accelerated adoption, and how live commerce is revitalizing local sellers and new categories.

Zia Daniell Wigder, Global President of Shoptalk and Groceryshop, joins Brian and Alicia to mark Shoptalk's 10th anniversary and unpack the themes defining the spring show in Las Vegas. (Hint: AI isn't the headline, it's the backdrop.) A week before one of retail’s biggest, most beloved shows, Zia maps the tensions, the conversations, and the hot topics shaping the next era of retail events.  The More We Automate, the More We Meet Key Takeaways: AI is the backdrop to retail in 2026, but it’s not the whole story As AI scales, in-person human connection becomes more valuable, not less Shoptalk curates its agenda top-down, then finds the speakers to match; it’s about bringing buzz brands, heritage retailers, and influential platforms together In the US, social commerce is still in its early days, which means it’s still incredibly underestimated; brand leaders will share their lessons and best practices on stage during tactical workshops for the first time Creator-brand relationships work better when brands let go of the brief Key Quotes: [00:05:00] "In-person human connections are even more important today than they have been in the past,  because we have all of this operational efficiency, all of this streamlining and optimization happening in the background in some cases, taking away some of the interactions we might've had before." — Zia Daniell Wigder [00:11:52] "You've got the huge champions that say yes, [AI] is going to change everything about the world of product discovery as we know it. And then you've got the other side saying, this is way over-hyped." — Zia Daniell Wigder [00:23:01] "Brands aren't necessarily asking about [social commerce] per se, but it almost feels like they should be." — Zia Daniell Wigder [00:24:04] "Brands are still having briefs shoved at [creators] and telling them what they should be doing, as opposed to working with them in a more collaborative way." — Zia Daniell Wigder In-Show Mentions: Shoptalk Spring 2026 – March, Las Vegas POSSIBLE – April, Miami Groceryshop – September, Las Vegas Manifest – February 2027, Las Vegas Associated Links: Visit Future Commerce’s Shoptalk hub to see what’s happening during the show Apply to attend our After Dark celebration of STRATA Vol. 001, our newest zine Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As ChatGPT pulls back on native in-app checkout, malls becomemainstream again. Is agentic commerce ready for primetime, or are consumers seeking more analog experiences? PLUS: Dick's Sporting Goods' loyalty loop that turns steps into spending power, and a dystopian new platform that rents out humans for AI agents that can't operate in the physical world. Everything old is new again. Granny’s Favorite Store Goes to TikTok Shop Key takeaways: ChatGPT is stepping back from native in-app checkout, but the commerce protocol it built with Stripe lives on 77% of shoppers prefer clicking through to a website over buying directly via AI The mall remains a societal favorite third space, even as stores become shoppable content studios (just ask John Lewis) Dick's Sporting Goods' movement-linked rewards program is quietly building one of retail's stickiest loyalty ecosystems, making it a viable competitor to AI apps "Rent-a-Human" platforms signal a strange new frontier: AI agents outsourcing tasks to people in “meatspace” In-Show Mentions: How 2,000 consumers used AI to shop Gen Z Is Going to the Mall Again — WSJ Rent-a-Human Join us at Shoptalk Spring 2026! Associated Links: Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Phillip and Brian get deep on a week when everything felt a little unhinged: Shopify's AI sidekick started building custom apps, Iran allegedly took out AWS data centers mid-Claude-outage, and the McDonald's CEO went mega-viral just days after Phillip prophesied it. Underneath the chaos, a throughline emerges: the things we've used to measure value (view counts, credit card rewards, third-party apps, and AI contracts) are quietly expiring. Culture is first. Then comes commerce. This SKU Is Delicious Key takeaways: Shopify Sidekick can now build one-off apps on demand, raising real questions about the future of third-party SaaS. AI geopolitics is here: data centers are now strategic infrastructure, and the "human in the loop" question has military stakes. Meta's move to invoicing ends years of free credit card rewards for brands running paid social,  — and that party's been winding down anyway. MrBeast's long-form view counts are down 50% YoY, even with heavy paid promotion; the algorithm has shifted to interest-based, not subscriber-based. Media buyers optimizing for CPMs are chasing non-real traffic. — Rrecovering a sense of propriety is the only way back. In-Show Mentions: How MrBeast Dominated 2025 Using Advertising Phillip’s Big Arch burger virality prediction Get on the list for the Future Commerce x Shoptalk After Party Associated Links: Check out Future Commerce on YouTube Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Live from a conference poolside, they recap AI moving from theory to real, agentic platforms doing operational work, and tools that replace repetitive human tasks. They highlight the need for full data context, the rise of CRM and go-to-market tooling, and how consolidation of data and workflows becomes a competitive advantage.