The Retail Tea Break – Details, episodes & analysis

In the opening episode of season 8, I’m joined by a guest who has spent over 20 years in the exhibition and events industry. Matt Bradley is the Event Director of The Retail Technology Show.  He is a well known face within the retail tech industry and has an enviable book of contacts and understands how to truly connect suppliers with buyers! His philosophy is simple, make experiences not exhibitions and he continues to find ways to revolutionize the conventional expo model.

 The Retail Tea Break podcast is a media partner for The Retail Technology Show, which takes place on 2nd-3rd April 2025 at ExCeL London. With over 15,000+ senior retail professionals, 400+ innovative tech suppliers, 125+ industry-leading speakers and  2 days of unparalleled networking it’s going to be epic!

We discuss:

• The new venue- ExCeL London
• The unbelievable speakers, including Archie Norman the Chairman of Marks and Spencer plc and Theo Paphitis the Owner & Chairman of Theo Paphitis Retail Group
• The supportive nature of the event that allows retailers and their partners to connect
• “Did we mention it’s free”

For more information and to register: Retail Technology Show - The wonder of Retail is here

So grab that cup of tea, sit back and listen to the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast.

Catch up on previous episodes on your favourite podcast platform and while you’re there please hit that follow button so that you get to listen to it first every week. Follow for weekly updates and watch us on YouTube by subscribing to The Retail Advisor. Sharing is caring—share episodes with your network and tag me, Melissa Moore, and The Retail Break podcast on social media.

If you’d like to get involved in the next season of the podcast, as a guest or a sponsor please email melissa@theretailadvisor.ie

To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the Retail Tea Break Podcast, I’m delighted to be re-joined by 4 retail experts for part two of our round table.

• From season 2, Ian Scott works at a strategic level with brands and retailers. He provides insights, assisting with store development and offering a consumer centric perspective. He introduced the concept of Symbiotic Retail, highlighting how all channels need to work together as one ecosystem for the benefit of the shopper.
• Long time friend of the podcast and author of Breaking Down Barriers, Chris Igwe provides services to luxury and premium brands, as well as shopping centre owners and high street landlords. His advice is both strategic and implementational, given his vast knowledge of, and experience within, global retail.
• Back for season 7, Linda Johansen-James,the Founder and CEO of International Retail Group. The “Billion Dollar Brand Maker”, specialises in brand launches, in-store design, sales training, franchising, and has a track record of generating $1.7 billion in revenue and attracting top brands. 
• And introducing Torben Valsted! An Imagineer and growth architect who believes that growing teams and growing consumer bonds is the foundation of growing business. Passionate about unleashing the synergies between commercial strategy, commercial leadership and intelligence integration in the pursuit of building consumer bonds. 

Listen back to the first episode of season 7 to hear our initial conversation. In the meantime, Grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in…

Topics:

• Proper retail training= increased sales
• Is product knowledge really neccessary?
• Driving footfall when standards are poor
• Retail pay and benefits
• Back to basics
• What’s coming up next?

For more information visit: 

Ian Scott: https://www.ianscott.net/

Chris Igwe: https://www.igweinternational.com/

Linda Johansen-James: https://irg-retail.com/

Torben Valsted: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/tvalsted

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

In the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast, I speak to a retail newbie! Rebecca Hoban is Co-Founder of Outwest Clothing and retail store. From Dingle in County Kerry, Rebecca and Co-Founder Shane Finn built an outdoor apparel brand made for the Irish outdoors.

Rebecca describes the retail store’s opening day during a bank holiday weekend and learning on the job. She talks passionately about growing the business, empowering the team and engaging customers. This episode celebrates the incredible journey that the brand has been on over the last two years and looks forward to what comes next! So grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen…

Topics:

• Starting out in retail
• Running a people focused business
• The importance of storytelling
• The challenges of running a rapidly growing business
• Becoming B-Corp certified
• Exciting plans for the future

For more information visit: www.outwestclothing.ie

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

In the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast, I speak to an incredibly experienced retailer. Conrad Digan is the CEO of Shaws Department Stores. Having worked in various DT2 store roles for Marks and Spencer in London and then Dublin, he went on to become the Head of Selling for M&S on the Island of Ireland. Then after almost 25 years, he left M&S to take on the Director of Retail Ops and Customer Service at Primark. 

In late 2021 he became the first non-family CEO at Shaws, a business that is reaching its 160-year milestone this year. Conrad describes how the omni channel business has a passionate service ethos and a ‘surprising’ range of international brands.  

This is such a special episode, as the CEO describes his excitement about the new store opening in Athlone. Packed with insights and stories, it’s one not to miss! So grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in…

Topics:

• The new store, Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone.
• The importance of the physical store
• Late adopters to online
• Personal customer service
• Driving the sustainability agenda
• Revisiting brand values
• The Golden Quarter!

For more information visit: https://shaws.ie/

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

In the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast, I’m joined by a guest who plays a huge part in a modern heritage Irish brand that sells globally. Sarah Murphy is the Managing Director of Jack Murphy Clothing. Establishing themselves as a leader in fashionable, functional, and sustainable clothing was and still is, a family passion. 

Now over 70 years in business and in its third generation, the legacy brand uses meticulous craftmanship. From the original focus on corsetry, to their pivot to outwear, the brand continues to strive for innovation while respecting their heritage. And so their core focus remains the same, timeless elegance crafted with an eye for detail. This episode shares how the brand bounced back from one of the most challenging periods in their existence. So grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen…

Topics:

• Marketing a legacy brand
• Supportive retailer relationships
• “we don’t just talk sustainability- we live it”
• Challenging times through Brexit and Covid
• The bounce-back
• Exciting times ahead

For more information visit: www.jackmurphy.ie

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the Retail Tea Break Podcast and the launch of season 7, I’m delighted to be joined by 4 retail experts.

• From season 2, Ian Scott works at a strategic level with brands and retailers. He provides insights, assisting with store development and offering a consumer centric perspective. He introduced the concept of Symbiotic Retail, highlighting how all channels need to work together as one ecosystem for the benefit of the shopper.
• Long time friend of the podcast and author of Breaking Down Barriers, Chris Igwe provides services to luxury and premium brands, as well as shopping centre owners and high street landlords. His advice is both strategic and implementational, given his vast knowledge of, and experience within, global retail.
• Back for season 7, Linda Johansen-James,the Founder and CEO of International Retail Group. The “Billion Dollar Brand Maker”, specialises in brand launches, in-store design, sales training, franchising, and has a track record of generating $1.7 billion in revenue and attracting top brands. 
• And introducing Torben Valsted! An Imagineer and growth architect who believes that growing teams and growing consumer bonds is the foundation of growing business. Passionate about unleashing the synergies between commercial strategy, commercial leadership and intelligence integration in the pursuit of building consumer bonds. 

Topics:

• Retail relationships with landlords and centre managers
• Delivering exceptional shopping experiences
• Retail trends and retail theatre
• Has retail become too complicated?
• Retail and technology

For more information visit: 

Ian Scott: https://www.ianscott.net/

Chris Igwe: https://www.igweinternational.com/

Linda Johansen-James: https://irg-retail.com/

Torben Valsted: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/tvalsted

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

In the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast I’m joined by a guest who has spent over 30 years in the retail industry. Bob Neille has worked all over the world with leading sports and footwear brands including Addias, New Balance and Under Armour. From redefining operational processes to increase profits, to building high performance and highly engaged teams, Bob really understands the customer experience.

The strategic global retail leader has made a name for himself driving growth and innovation, whilst transforming the retail landscape. This is a fantastic episode that will future proof your retail business, so grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in!

Topics: 

• Is there a better word for “retail”
• Processes and People
• Customer Centricity
• The importance of sharing your brand story
• The future of retail

Connect with Bob on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/boneville

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

This week’s episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast is sponsored by Salesforce, the world’s #1 CRM. I’m joined by a seasoned technology marketing executive with proven commercial success at executive and board level within tech, marketplaces and ecommerce, rapidly scaling international businesses working in both B2C and B2B environments. Gavin Murphy is the Chief Marketing Officer at Scurri. He is highly skilled in go-to-market strategies, building marketing teams, brand and product positioning, field marketing, product marketing and demand generation at an international level (EMEA & APAC). 

Gavin describes how many retailers and brands are missing huge opportunities to enhance the customer experience and to drive loyalty. This is a fantastic episode that will future proof your retail business, so grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in!

Topics: 

• What Scurri does and how it all works for retailers and brands
• Supporting retailers to grow
• Black Friday and the Golden Quarter at Scurri
• Hyper-personalisation and driving loyalty
• the post purchase experience… 
• Data driving competitor advantage
• Future plans and expansion

For more information on Scurri: https://www.scurri.com/

The Retail Tea Break podcast episodes sponsored by Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/form/conf/the-retail-tea-break-sponsored-by-salesforce

For more information visit: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/campaign/salesforce-ireland/

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

In the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast, I’m joined by two guests who really understand shoppers. Vanessa Henry is Research Director (Shopper) ​​​​and Zoe Smith is a Research Executive, at Walnut Unlimited. They both have vast experience with the retail industry, using a variety of methodologies across projects to uncover true actionable insight that can help to unlock growth in the retail space. Their role- to Understand shopper behaviour, getting under the skin of how consumers behave and feel.

This is a fascinating conversation full of great insights and case studies. So grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in…

Topics:

• What Walnut Unlimited does
• How Shoppers Shop
• Scientific tools including behavioural science
• Real examples
• Key takeaways key takeaways that retailers and brands should be aware of?

For more information visit: https://walnutunlimited.com/

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/

This week’s episode of The Retail Tea Break podcast is sponsored by Salesforce, the world’s #1 CRM. I’m joined by an internationally recognised expert in the retail industry, Rob Garf. The Vice President and General Manager of Retail at Salesforce has over 25 years of global retail experience as a practitioner. He was an industry analyst with AMR Research, a strategy consultant at IBM and a software leader. As this episode shows, Rob is no stranger to the retail industry and the challenges retailers face.

He currently leads industry research, drives solution strategy, and advises senior executives globally on digital transformation. He is also a frequent industry speaker, a member of NRF’s Digital Council, and Chair of the Retail Customer Advisory Board. In this episode, he takes me through Salesforces’ shopping index for Q1 of 2024 and of course we discuss retail’s hottest topic, AI.

This is a fantastic episode, so grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in!

Topics: 

• Salesforce’s Shopping Index data for Q1 of 2024
• Shopper Loyalty
• Mobile shopping
• Adapting to AI
• Delivering exceptional AI driven customer experiences
• Salesforce’s holiday predictions!

The Retail Tea Break podcast episodes sponsored by Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/form/conf/the-retail-tea-break-sponsored-by-salesforce

Shopper Index report: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/shopping-index-retail-data/

Retail AI Council X Salesforce AI report: https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/retail-insights-generative-ai/

For more information visit: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/campaign/salesforce-ireland/

Transcription and show notes available at: https://theretailadvisor.ie/