Retail Disrupted – Details, episodes & analysis

Jane Mustoe, Senior Technology Director at Tesco, joins Natalie to discuss how Tesco is using tech to redefine both customer and colleague experiences. They explore:

• Tesco's recent innovations – GetGo and frictionless shopping, gen AI chatbots, digital twins, mobile apps for store associates, and more.
• All about the margins – the importance of achieving marginal gains in a low-margin industry.
• Always keeping an eye on future innovations and finding pockets of “reality” amongst the “hype”.
• Why over half of innovations fail, why that's important, and lessons from Tesco’s drone trial.
• Why getting the culture right is ‘make or break’ for organisations and the need to balance agility with operational efficiencies.
• DEI and advice for the next generation of female tech leaders.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Centric Software.

Centric Software provides an innovative and AI-enabled product concept-to-replenishment platform for retailers, brands and manufacturers of all sizes. As experts in fashion, luxury, footwear, outdoor, home and related goods like cosmetics, food & beverage and multi-category retail, Centric Software delivers best-of-breed solutions that optimize planning, pricing, design, product development, sourcing and production. 

📣 Register for Centric Connect 2025.

Connect with Jane on LinkedIn.

For more, visit Retail Disrupted.

Martin George, former Customer Director at Waitrose, and Jessica Cole, Senior Director Own Brand, Masterbrand, Customer Strategy & Propositions, at Asda join Natalie to discuss the evolving role of marketing in retail. They explore:

• Retail disruption – how has AI impacted retail marketing? How have legacy retailers responded to disruption? Which grocery innovations haven’t stuck?
• Customer centricity – how to embed this in the organization and learnings from other sectors.
• Understanding diverse customer needs and how some low-tech solutions (ie. spending time on the shop floor) can be among the most effective.
• What skills are required of retail marketeers today and how might this evolve in the future? 
• Is the CMO role still relevant in retail? Should they have a seat on the board?
• Tesco Clubcard’s 30th anniversary – what is the role of data in retail marketing today and how do you measure success?
• Do customers expect the same experience in an airport as a supermarket (ie. frictionless, self-service, personalization) or are needs more individualized? Martin shares his views from his time as Commercial Director at BA.

📺 You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

This episode was brought to you by the Richmond Retail & E-commerce Directors' Forum. Are you a retailer interested in attending? Email Natalie to secure your seat.

Bios:

Jessica Cole has spent the past 15 years working in the Retail industry and has held senior roles with Morrisons, Selfridges, Accenture Strategy, Monitor Deloitte and most recently Asda as Senior Director Own Brand, Masterbrand, Customer Strategy & Propositions. Jess specialises in setting and executing strategies, leading large scale transformations, building brands and driving profitable sales growth.

Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn.

Martin George is the former Customer Director at Waitrose. He started his career at Cadburys and held a number of senior roles including Commercial Director at British Airways, Group Development Director at Bupa and most recently as Customer Director at Waitrose where he was responsible for Marketing and Customer Experience. He has previously held a number of Non-Executive Director roles as well as setting-up businesses in the hospitality, travel media and healthcare sectors. 

Martin is now a Non-Executive Director at Goodwood, Visit Jersey and Trust Alliance Group. He is also a School Governor and working with the Marketing Academy to increase diversity in the marketing profession.

Connect with Martin on LinkedIn.

Murvah Iqbal, co-CEO and co-founder of HIVED, is on a mission to revolutionise the delivery industry. Founded in 2021, the all-electric delivery start-up has already distributed millions of parcels across London for major brands including ASOS, Uniqlo, Nespresso and Zara, and is backed by investors like Maersk Growth, Pale Blue Dot and Planet A Ventures.

In this episode, Murvah shares her entrepreneurial journey, which began when she took over marketing and branding for her uncles’ fast-food chain at just 15 years old. She discusses the importance of decarbonisation in retail and how HIVED’s “sustainability-as-standard” approach differentiates them from competitors.

Murvah also shares her views on the evolving expectations of consumers, particularly Gen Z, when it comes to delivery, how to address some of the legacy challenges of the final mile, and what regulatory changes she’d like to see to support the growth of green delivery. Murvah and Natalie also discuss the need for collaboration within the industry and the role of technology in improving delivery efficiency. 

Connect with Murvah on LinkedIn.

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. 

Boris Planer, Founder and Managing Director of Future Consulting, joins Natalie to discuss the news that Amazon is terminating its online grocery service in Germany. 

They discuss:

• What went wrong for Amazon Fresh in Germany, what does this tell us about Amazon's global grocery strategy, and where next? (It’s all about the partnerships.)
• Inherent challenges of grocery retailing in Germany. Did you know that 98% of German consumers live within 10 minutes of a discounter?!
• The Amazon Effect - how competitors have raised their e-commerce game.
• Implications for Amazon Fresh internationally. The news follows a similar move in the UK earlier this year when Amazon scrapped Fresh outside of London and Manchester.
• Why you need to know more about Rohlik, the Czech grocery delivery start-up that has just announced a partnership with Amazon and is aiming to launch in 10 European cities over the next 6 years. 

The news was first reported by The Information.

Bio:

Boris Planer is a retail thought leader, speaker and consultant based in Frankfurt, Germany. He is the founder and managing director of Future Consulting, a consultancy supporting international retailers, suppliers and tech businesses in their efforts to spot trends early on and take new market opportunities effectively. Boris has 25 years of experience in retail insight and consultancy, including at retail insight group Planet Retail/Edge by Ascential and WGSN, the world’s leading consumer trend forecasters. He is also a speaker at Zukunftsinstitut, the Institute for the Future based in Frankfurt and Vienna. 

Connect with Boris on LinkedIn.

Paul Edney, Technology Director Channels at Primark, and Jeanette Copeland, Technology Director at Ann Summers, join Natalie to discuss lessons from their digital transformation projects. They explore:

• The rationale behind Primark’s click & collect roll-out and how it’s enabling the retailer to engage with new customers.
• How Ann Summers completed a 12-month transformation project in just four months.
• 2025 strategic priorities for both businesses.
• Working backwards from the customer, testing and learning, embracing failure – how digital transformation requires cultural change.
• The importance of speed to market while balancing cost and flexibility. Is WAgile (waterfall + agile) the new way of working?
• From virtual sizing tech to in-store payment innovation, which technologies are the retailers excited about for the future?

Today’s episode is sponsored by PMC and was recorded live at the PMC customer event at Silverstone Museum. 

From supporting end-of-life legacy systems through to providing the latest digital retail solutions, PMC helps you take control of your technology and drive your own agenda. PMC has proudly supported the commerce sector for over 20 years, and our specialist domain knowledge, experienced teams, and proactive approach makes us the partner of choice for delivering customer-centric transformations. For more, visit PMC. 

Bios:

Paul Edney, Technology Director Channels, Primark
 
Paul is a senior IT leader with 20+ years of experience, specialising in retail, ecommerce, and transformation. He excels at crafting strategies that enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. As Technology Channels Director at Primark, he leads global tech initiatives, overseeing system integrations, re-platforming, and business transformation to drive growth and innovation.
 
Jeannette Copeland, Director of Technology, Ann Summers
 
Jeannette leads the technology division at the iconic Ann Summers brand, spearheading digital innovation since 2022. With over 20 years of experience in IT, she has held key roles at Joules and Systemax Europe Ltd, specialising in ERP, data integration and business intelligence.

Natalie discusses the launch of Amazon Haul, the retailer’s new Temu-like storefront where most items are under $10 and delivery takes up to two weeks. She also unpacks the reasons behind Vinted’s success – what consumer needs is it tapping into and what are the implications for the wider retail sector? And, finally, Natalie shares her thoughts on the explosion of advent calendars. What is driving the trend and what can retailers learn from it?

[4:20] Is Amazon terminating its online grocery service in Germany?

[6:08] Amazon Haul launch

[9:00] Vinted and the rise of pre-loved 

[15:10] Advent calendars - history and why retailers of all varieties are jumping on the advent calendar bandwagon

Links:

Episode 45: Amazon Must Disrupt Itself, July 2024. Natalie and Miya explore whether Amazon and Temu can co-exist and thoughts on the (then) rumoured plans to launch an ultra-low price storefront.

BBC: Are luxury beauty advent calendars a rip-off?

Marketplace: Luxury Advent calendars now in season

The Black Friday deals started as early as Halloween here in the UK (yes, really – see Boots, John Lewis, Currys) and mainland Europe isn’t far behind. On today's episode, Natalie speaks to Sander Roose, CEO and Founder of Omnia Retail, the Amsterdam-based company behind Europe’s first dynamic pricing software.

Sander and Natalie explore Black Friday 2024 trends in great depth as well as the Ticketmaster/Oasis disaster and why it’s important to distinguish between dynamic and surge pricing, and finally what retailers need to do to optimize their pricing strategies.

More on Sander:

Sander Roose is a seasoned retail expert and entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in retail and e-commerce. He holds a MSc degree in Industrial Engineering & Management Science from the Eindhoven University of Technology, where he graduated cum laude. After starting his career at Procter & Gamble, Sander became an entrepreneur: Harvest (acquired by OLX, part of Naspers), Commerce Squared (e-com strategy consultant) and now Omnia Retail.

Visit Omnia Retail

Connect with Sander on LinkedIn.

Dave Mikita is the President of International and Retail Channels at GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands). He joins Natalie on the podcast to discuss how GoTo Foods has grown to become the world’s #2 food & beverage licensor and what the company has in store for the future. They explore:

• Beyond buying power, what are the benefits for franchise partners? Dave discusses how GoTo Foods provides support on consumer insights, site selection, supply chain, new product development, menu innovation and more.
• How the GoTo Foods franchise model differentiates overseas.
• Bricks and mortar reinvention – how GoTo Foods is repurposing its QSR and fast-casual places. 
• The symbiotic relationship between bricks & mortar locations and licensed retail products on grocery shelves.
• How to drive global growth while remaining locally relevant (from offering rolls with less sugar in Cinnabon Japan to cream cheese-filled pretzel sticks at Auntie Anne’s in Hong Kong!)

GoTo Foods is the owner of seven iconic brands: Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Schlotzsky’s. For more, visit: www.gotofoods.com  

Bio

Dave Mikita is the President of International and Retail Channels at GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands). In his role, Dave leads both the Company’s Retail Channels business as well as its International Franchise business unit. The company’s Retail Channels business, currently ranked as the #2 Food & Beverage Licensor in the world, drives over $1.5 billion in retail revenue globally, and the International Franchise business includes over 2,000 franchised locations operating in 60+ countries. 
 
Prior to this role, Dave served as the President of Retail Channels, bringing over 20 years of operations, marketing and business development experience in both Retail and Foodservice Industries. Dave has been at GoTo Foods (previously Focus Brands) since 2012, assuming increasing levels of responsibility within the Retails Channels team, and in 2017, he assumed complete responsibility for all functions of the business unit while leading the group to double-digit growth.  
 
Before GoTo Foods, Dave held leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, and several early-stage, high growth businesses. Dave received his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and his Master’s in Business Administration from The University of Virginia. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and three children. 

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn

Did you like this episode? Leave us a message on Retail Disrupted.

Live from Barcelona, Green Retail World’s Editor Ben Sillitoe joins Natalie on the podcast to share what they learned at Manhattan Exchange this week. They explore how generative AI chatbots are going to revolutionize customer service, why the days of frontline staff being told to “sell, not think” are over and what sustainability looks like for retailers in 2025.

If you missed the episode with Manhattan Associates’ Pieter Van den Broecke, you can catch up here.

Links:

Manhattan Associates
Green Retail World