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Conversations with CommerceNext

Conversations with CommerceNext

Auteur(s): Scott Silverman Michael LeBlanc Veronika Sonsev
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À propos de cet audio

 Welcome to an all-new season of the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast! We were thrilled to partner with Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc from the industry leading Remarkable Retail #podcast to record interviews with several of our speakers at this year's Growth Show in NYC for both their podcast and here on Conversations with CommerceNext. Be sure to check out our website at commerce.next.com for the latest events, in-market dinners, webinars, and to stay up-to-date on all the exciting news from the Commerce Next community. If you like this episode, be sure to give us a follow and a five-star review in your favorite podcast app. Also, check out the Remarkable Retail podcast for Steve's and my latest thoughts on where retail is headed and for more dynamic and remarkable guests. © 2021-2022 Conversations with CommerceNext Podcast Partnership & Season 4 2025 Remarkable Retail Podcast Partnership. All Rights Reserved.2021-2025 Conversations with CommerceNext Podcast Partnership Season 4 2025 Remarkable Retail Podcast Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Développement commercial et entrepreneuriat Entrepreneurship Gestion et leadership Marketing Marketing et ventes Réussite personnelle Économie
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  • Retail Legend Ken Pilot Breaks Down Tariff Math, Retail Tech & Brand Survival

    Retail Legend Ken Pilot Breaks Down Tariff Math, Retail Tech & Brand Survival
    Sep 3 2025
    In the debut episode of Season Four of the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, our guest is Ken Pilot—retail executive, tech investor, and host of The Retail Pilot: Leaders & Legends podcast.Ken's legendary career spans decades and includes pivotal roles such as President of Gap Global, Factory Stores at Ralph Lauren, and leadership positions at J.Crew, American Eagle, and ABC Carpet & Home. He takes us behind the scenes of launching Gap Outlet, transforming a single underperforming store into over 100 high-margin locations in just 36 months, ultimately making it the most profitable division at Gap. The conversation then shifts to current macro challenges, particularly tariffs and global sourcing. Ken unpacks the "tariff math" few are talking about, warning that even modest increases could wipe out 10 points of margin, especially for smaller brands without pricing power or manufacturing flexibility. He anticipates a hit to Southeast Asia, outlines strategic moves by companies like Gap to diversify sourcing, and speculates on the economic implications for North American retail.Next, Ken delves into the retail tech landscape, providing a forward-looking perspective on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the emergence of natural language search, and how retailers must adapt both on-site and externally to remain visible and competitive. He highlights the companies he's advising and investing in, including "Curated For You" (an AI-driven occasion-based merchandising platform) and "Raspberry AI" (tools that help designers iterate visuals from sketches to campaign-ready assets). He also discusses the creative tension AI can introduce and how forward-thinking teams are adapting.Finally, we examine the potential of Retail Media Networks (RMNs) as an underutilized profit stream, particularly in a high-cost, low-margin environment. Ken balances caution with optimism, emphasizing the need for retailers to experiment, remain agile, and stay laser-focused on the customer and core product offering. About UsJennifer MarloHead of Content, CommerceNextJennifer Marlo drives industry-leading programming at CommerceNext, drawing on experience from Ascendant Network and iMedia Connection, where she spearheaded content strategies to inspire retail, brand and agency marketing leaders. Guided by the belief that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” Jennifer uses in-person and digital platforms to educate and foster industry collaboration. Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
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    37 min
  • Accelerating A Beloved Heritage Brand With A Startup Mentality

    Accelerating A Beloved Heritage Brand With A Startup Mentality
    Nov 30 2022

    Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by CommX.

    In this episode, meet Sabrina Cherubini, Senior Vice President of Brand & Digital at Hanky Panky. With a storied history of work on both the agency and brand sides of marketing with Leo Burnett, Havas, Sears and Ann Inc and now, with a unique role with both the brand and performance elements of this heritage retailer, Sabrina takes us through how she is injecting a startup mentality into Hanky Panky to reignite growth and having fun doing it.

     

    About Sabrina 

    Building Powerful Brands and Turning Data and Consumers’ Insights into Innovative Integrated Marketing Strategies

    Experienced inspirational and collaborative leader motivating and mentoring teams, demonstrating the power of strong customer-centric strategic thinking in fast-paced environment to marketing effectiveness. Adept at growing global brands’ revenue through leading advertising agencies, fast-growing startups and US Fortune 500 corporations.

    • Customer-centric strategy
    • Segmentation / Personalization / CRM
    • Branding Strategy / Advertising 
    • Integrated / Digital Marketing
    • Content Strategy / Storytelling 
    • Marketing analytics / Customer research 
    • Loyalty / Credit Card strategies
    • Leadership / Management

     

    ABOUT US: 
    Scott Silverman

    An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.

    Veronika Sonsev

    Veronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit. 

    Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus        Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 
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    38 min
  • Gopuff's SVP of Business on Fast Delivery and Fast Career Pivots

    Gopuff's SVP of Business on Fast Delivery and Fast Career Pivots
    Nov 16 2022
    Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by CommX.In this episode, we're diving into the fast-paced world of instant commerce with our guide Daniel Folkman, SVP of Gopuff.  With a career built on startups and startup culture, Daniel takes us through the brand's origin story and the roadmap to innovation ahead.  Next, he shares with us what it takes to be successful in a high-profile and fast-scaling startup and what he looks for in the people he brings into the team to drive continued success and new product development Links: https://gopuff.com/, https://gopuff.com/go/adsAbout DanielDaniel Folkman is currently the Senior Vice President of Business at Gopuff, the go-to instant commerce platform that fulfills consumer's evolving everyday needs. In his current role, Daniel Folkman oversees the company's Global Business functions. Since joining Gopuff as one of the company's first employees, Folkman has been a key member of the executive team, helping the company scale to 500+ micro-fulfillment centers across more than 1,000 cities across the US and Europe. During his more than six years with the company, he has spearheaded the company's fundraising and M&.A efforts, helping to raise more than $4B in funding and leading major transactions such as BevMo!, Liquor Barn, RideOS, Fancy, and Dija. Folkman originated the concept for Gopuff Ads - identifying the power of merging a culturally relevant brand and hyperlocal logistics with the needs of CPG companies. Today, Gopuff Ads commands sizable budgets from brands like PepsiCo,Coca-Cola, Unilever and many other major CPGs. Folkman is also the driving force behind Gopuff's major consumer partnerships with companies such as Chase, Mastercard, Hyatt, Uber, Grubhub, PayPal, Venmo, and celebrities such as Chris Paul, Selena Gomez, and more. ABOUT US: Scott SilvermanAn ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.Veronika SonsevVeronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit. Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus        Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 
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    33 min
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