Retail Unwrapped - from The Robin Report – Details, episodes & analysis

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Guests: 
Warren Shoulberg, TRR contributor, award-winning journalist, consultant for the retailing and home furnishings industries.
Brian Delp, President of Sales and Licensing, Himatsingka America.

The pandemic reshaped the home industry, with a shift towards home upgrades over new purchases. Join Shelley, Warren, and Brian as they discuss shifting consumer and market trends, supply chain disruptions and their impact on the current state of the home furnishings and retail sectors. Driven by high interest rates and a tightening housing market, revenge travel is out, home decor is in, and traceability is more important than ever. Consumers are now more focused on smaller, more affordable home décor updates. The conversation also addresses looming port strikes, which could significantly disrupt the already strained supply chain and disrupt Holiday 2024.

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!

Guest: Rebekah L. Matheny, NCIDQ, IIDA
Associate Professor | Interior Design | Department of Design and Founder & Director | REBEL Sustainable Futures Lab

Savvy retailers and brands already have a strategy to respond to the ongoing climate crisis. Join Shelley and Rebekah Matheny, an expert in sustainable design at The Ohio State University, as they discuss the implications of consumers’ impact on the planet. They cover sustainable solutions by making incremental changes despite the popularity of fast fashion and excessive consumerism. With circularity in mind, retailers should rethink store design and product life cycles, from raw materials sourcing to post-consumer reuse and recycling. While some brands, like Zara, are starting small by launching second-hand services, a more systemic change is needed. Gen Z and the Alphas can spot greenwashing a mile away and their priority for authentic sustainability may be just the catalyst for a viable circular economy in retail.

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!

Our Special Guests, MG2 Principals Melissa Gonzalez and Matthew Goelzer, AIA, LEED AP

Consumers now expect seamless, unified commerce experiences where they can access products and information anytime, anywhere. 

This fluidity is reshaping how brands build loyalty and manage supply chains, with a focus on responsiveness to meet these high expectations. 

Join Shelley and guests Melissa Gonzalez and Matthew Goelzer, Principals of MG2, as they discuss the pivotal role of supply chain management in modern retail. Their conversation highlights the importance of agility, the rise of unified commerce approaches, the potential of AI, and innovative strategies that are reshaping the industry.

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!

True that pre-loved can be re-loved in the circularity market. And true that resale addresses environmental concerns. And amazing that the resale market will nearly double in size by 2030.  Yes, but: Resale pioneers thredUP and the RealReal have never made a profit. Join Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist as they discuss how resale can do good and do well at the same time. 

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!

Call it crafted with pride in the U.S. or right sourcing production back to America, brands are looking for faster, more responsive, agile, and sustainable supply chains. Moving manufacturing back from foreign shores could control over-production and reduce the environmental impact of the current global supply chain, but the economics need to work. Join Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist as they weigh the risks and rewards of domestic manufactured products. With inflation up to 8.2%, the big question is: Will consumers pay more for Made in America?

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!

A surplus of inventory plus rising inflation make for a grim outlook as we head into the holidays. Metrics tools of the past are not relevant to forecast and benchmark in today’s disruptive marketplace. Join Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist, as they deconstruct the challenges facing retailers through the end of the year. AI and predictive analytics help deliver insights in real-time, just in time for the holidays. But the gamble of getting it right is enormous. Some retailers have figured it out, but others are left behind stuck in the past. Listen now.

For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other industry experts.

Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for the latest from Robin Lewis and The Robin Report.

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!

McKinsey recently released research that reveals 63% of U.S. retail store managers plan to leave in the next 3-6 months. Why? They don’t feel in control of their day. Information overload, micromanagement, demotivation – they are overwhelmed. Join guest Julian Mills, CEO of Quorso, with Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist as they dig into why retail is facing a crisis in delivering a seamless, high-quality customer experience when the link between omnichannel frontend and a unified employee backend is broken. Store ops technology can help, but at the moment it’s out of date and a hindrance. Listen now and find out why.

Connect with Julian Mills on LinkedIn

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!

Holiday sales are starting in October with Black Friday culminating the frenzy as the top shopping day. This year is different now that the post-pandemic haze has lifted. The Fed raised interest rates and that is sure to impact holiday shopping starting with early price cuts.  Add to that inflationary price tags on food and packaged goods along with higher home energy costs, and you have perfect storm fronts in all directions.  Join Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan as they predict what holiday 2022 may look like. It’s the first back-to-normal holiday post-pandemic; people are geared up to celebrate, but likely to spend less.

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!

Personalization is table stakes. Data and predictive analytics and are the tools for customization and staying ahead of the competition. And if customers have less disposable income, knowing what they want and delivering an inspirational, personalized journey that is completely relevant to them is key to avoiding expensive and unnecessary inventories. Join special guest Sarah McVittie, co-founder of Dressipi with Robin Lewis, and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist, as they discuss how to manage customers’ expectations with breakthrough digital solutions while increasing retailers’ revenues and reducing returns.

Find out how Dressipi can help you at Dressipi.com!

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!

What has 400,000-800,000 square feet of space and nine lives? The American mall. The future of worn-out, irrelevant enclosed malls is to transform into vibrant community hubs that offer services and products housed in villages, town centers and entertainment meccas. Join Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist, as they predict how the confluence of economic challenges and consumer behavior changes will influence how malls can reclaim their influence in the retail pantheon.

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.