Future Commerce

Cringe Sincerity and the Return of eBay

The Great Consumption Crisis

Praying To AI in A New Cultural Climate

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

The Next Wave of Marketers: Curious, Collaborative, Chaos-Embracing

The Marketer’s North Star is Myth

*TEASER* Twizzlers and Tariffs

Reinventing David's Bridal with Kelly Cook

Designing AI for Serendipity with dotdotdash

The New Era of Media with Tasteland

Ulta’s Blueprint for Digital Beauty

Gen Z Buys the Vibe, Gen X Pays the Bill

SkinnyTok, Russian Propaganda, and PepsiCo’s Poppi Proposal

*TEASER* The Measure Your Erection Cult?

Vibecoding Our Way Straight into a Recession

The Dystopic Future of Social Commerce

*TEASER* USPS and Apocalyptic Thinking

Biohacking Too Close to the Sun?

The Mind-to-Market Future is Infinitely Shoppable

Ecology and The Death of Culture™

*TEASER* Shopify's CriYeezus Response

The Surveillance Generation

7 Creative Trends Shaping DTC in 2025

*TEASER* David Lynch's Legacy: The Essence of Evil

We Are So Back: Yuppies, Starbucks, and Gen X

The Magic of Cultural Hitmaking With Ana Andjelic

After Dark: Dandruff, "Digital Blackface," and Rewatching Back to the Future 2

Agentic Ghettos: When Silicon Meets Sapiens

The Future of Timelessness

Predictions 2025: The Rise of Gen X & Americana

Year-End Roundup: Best of 2024

FC Radio Theater: A Day in the Life of Nana Alexa

FC Radio Theater: The Wrong Part

FC Radio Theater: Dissociating at Costco

The Dark Forest of Creative Capital

"What is Reality?" FC LIVE at The Moore, Commerce Conversations at Sea 2,0

Kate Fannin: “We Should Measure ROE — Return on Experience”

Coding Taste Into Tech

[STEP BY STEP] Stop Chasing Vanity Metrics

[STEP BY STEP] Going Global With Data-Backed Confidence

[STEP BY STEP] The Secret to Smarter Meta Ad Spend: Guess Less With A Winning Mega Data Platform

Outsmart the Black Friday Email Frenzy

Communicating Context Across Cultures

*TEASER* Oh, Sorry, TWO MICHELIN STARS

The Ghosts of Pike Place Market

The Haunting at Toys ‘R Us Sunnyvale

You Can Buy Haunted Dolls on eBay

The Battle for Originality

The Future of Buying Software?

AI Agents Are Here. “Brands” Might Be In Danger.

The Future Consumer is Omnimodal

Sur La Table’s Head of Brand Marketing on AI, Strong Leadership, and Secondhand Influence

What's In Our Future: The Fall Lineup

Don’t Say Metaverse

*TEASER* "Sounds Fishy"

The Sweat Lookbook

Game Face: Female Athletes Are Redefining Commerce

Rewind: The Secrets Behind the Magic Quadrant

Rewind: Shifting Trends and Prevailing Patterns

Rewind: Shopping with Ghosts

Technological Progress Through Multiplayer Behavior

Rewind: AI, Classism, and the Digital Divide - Revisiting Episode 51

Monoculture in the Modern Age: How a Fragmented Media Landscape Co-Creates Moments that Matter

How Liquid Death is Murdering Marketing

Visions Live: Let's Get Personal: Creating Connection in the Age of AI

Blurred Lines: The False Dichotomy of Physical vs. Digital Spaces

From Cart to Checkout: Enhancing the Outdoor Retail Experience

Unlocking the Potential of Creator Networks

Climbing New Heights: The Future of Outdoor Retail

*Teaser* CRAIGSLIST SWITCHBLADE

Frictionless isn't Fictionless

What is Futureproof For Gen Alpha?

The Future of B2B Innovation

[DECODED] Frictionless Falsehoods

Creating Credible Content and Community-Building Collabs

*Teaser* Microplastics in my WHAT?

[DECODED] Wisdom and Witticisms

Building Culturally Intelligent Brands

Building Culturally Intelligent Brands

[DECODED] Polymaths and Philosophers

Are we Post-“Point-Solution” in eCom?

[STEP BY STEP] Data-Centric Decisions for Culturally-Relevant Brands

[STEP BY STEP] Exploring Channel Diversification for DTC Brands: How to Expand and Not Explode

[STEP BY STEP] Maintaining the Cool Factor: Scaling Your DTC Brand in Traditional Channels

[DECODED] Conjectures and Commerce

Pickleball and the Enthusiast Economy

*Teaser* IMMUNE TO ADS

Blink to Pay

[DECODED] Potential and Prodigy

All Hail the Corporate Anniversary

“Total Eclipse of the Cart"

The Endless-ish Aisle

The Future of Brand Activations feat. Paola Pugliese, Frette

*Teaser* NEVER GO FULL MOANA

The Nerds Will Save Us

TikTok Shutdown: "Platforms Represent Both Opportunities and Risk" (feat BK Beauty)

The Addiction Economy

*Teaser* EMERGENCY POD: Klaviyo Launches Professional Services

Why Haven’t Macro Trends Changed for the Last Few Years?

Building Retail Right

*Teaser* Luddite Luxury, Acorn-Based Economies, Starbucks Star Days as Economic Indicator

#339: Author Kyle Chayka and “The Tyranny of Visibility”

“The Tyranny of Visibility”

When Technology Changes, Context Changes

Applebee's and the Rise of Boring Memberships

After Dark: Yotpo Pricing Update, Trendcore, Reading List 2024

Our 2024 Annual Predictions

BURLYCORE in ‘24: Bring Back the Hackers

MUSES Live: Print Isn’t Dead — “TechBasel” and the Web3 Comeback (feat. Deana Burke and Blake Finucane, Boys Club)

MUSES Live: The Science of Movement: The Muse of Dance (feat. Tam Gryn and Arantxa Araujo)

MUSES Live: The Future of Consumer (feat. Michael Miraflor, Chief Brand Officer at Hannah Grey and Alexa Lombardo, Atomic8)

MUSES Live: The Commerce Opportunity for Robotics in the Art World (feat. Chloë Ryan, Acrylic Robotics)

MUSES Live: The State of Commerce (feat. Sachin Pawa, Resale.com and David Hoffman, Next Big Shop)

MUSES Live: The Art of Personalization and Marketing (feat. Ashley Baltz, Dotdigital)

BONUS: Walmart's "Add to Heart" RomCommerce Wrap-Up Show! (feat. Rhian Beutler and Jaci Jackson)

Memory Morphing: How Media Reshapes Recall and Taints Nostalgia

Taking High-Level to the Rooftops

Who Participates in the Multiplayer Future?

"Add to Heart": Parts 1-6 of Walmart's New RomCommerce Series

*Teaser* Cuts vs. Minted, Pricing Conspiracy Theories

The Rise of Workflow Automation: The ServiceNow Agency Opportunity in the Enterprise

*TEASER* Goat Yoga, Telfar Sells Out (Literally), Cults

Boys Club v. Future Commerce

*TEASER* C.A.R.O.L., Media Consumption Guilt, Tipping Robots

The Power of Generosity in Commerce

After Dark: LinkedIn Genealogies, The Toilet Bible, Costco Connection Magazine, and the “Golden Age of Discipline”

[DECODED] Additive to the Cart: CRO Decoded

The Collapse of Convoy

When Selling Out is Buying In

“Decoding” the Gartner Magic Quadrant

Constraints and Limitations

Maximizing Competitive Intelligence

Commerce is Counterculture? The Rise of the Critic Class

"I Do Not Consent to Your Livestream" - Rapid AI Adoption and Its Effects on Commerce

The Lover’s Drive

[DECODED] Great Products Begin with Customer Service: Redefining CX Across Industries

"An Editor-in-Chief" for Commerce"

Frequent Flier Free-Agency

The Daring Creator

[DECODED] You Get What You Measure

Pizza Commerce for a Pizza World

Follow the Muse

Consumer Muses & Strategic Innovation

The Relatable Everyman

[DECODED] The Key Roles of Product Development

HalloThanksMas is Upon Us

Dating, Dupes, and “Delulu:” Lovers and Outlaws

The Lighthearted Jester

[DECODED] The Secret to Successful Product Development: From Data-Driven Decision Making to Intuition

Culture is the Future of Commerce

"The Balenciaga Pope"

The Steadfast Hero

"Blimp Commerce"

Bandwagon Bandwidth: Should Every Company Be a Media Company?

The Sage's Wisdom

Barbenheimer: Nostalgia, Retail, Recall, and Relevance

Looking for Love and Meaning in All the Wrong Places

The Way of the Outlaw

Our Sh*tty Robot Future

AI Should Empower Your Workforce, Not Replace Them

The Magician's Power

[INFINITE SHELF] Succession IRL

Winner Sells All

The Brand Beyond the Box

The [True] Cost of Convenience

The Caregiver's Mission

[STEP BY STEP] What Frameworks Should I use to Qualify Good Software for my Business?

[STEP BY STEP] What is the Importance of Consolidating my Technology?

[STEP BY STEP] What Does “Fully-Integrated” Mean in the DXP Era?

[STEP BY STEP] Mastering Omnichannel Integration for Seamless Shopping

[STEP BY STEP] What Does “Seamless” Mean in my eCommerce Operations?

Mockup Madness: The Gamification of the Checkout Experience

A Hero's Journey

Navigating Legal Landmines

Breaking the Hedonic Treadmill

Ignorance Plus Desperation

“23 Metrics That Matter”

The Future of eCom is Dead Celebrities

Leveling the Playing Field for U.S. Small Businesses

TikTok Organic Can Lead Product Innovation

How Thingtesting Became Yelp for DTC and CPG Brands

"The Digital Natives are Analog-Curious"

Ideation Platforms Enable Creativity

Healthy Cynicism, Best Practices, and the Everyman

In-store Innovation Helps the Road Runner Sports “Con-SHOE-mer” Go the Distance: LIVE from eTail Palm Springs

These Trends are Trending: Forecasting in the age of the trendscasting industrial complex

The Team of NO!

Disruptors and the Defenders of the Status Quo

2023 is the Year of Good Enough

"Shopify's Bait and Switch"

[STEP BY STEP] What is the Importance of Storytelling?

[STEP BY STEP] What is the Role of Solid Fundamentals in Scaling My Business?

[STEP BY STEP] How Do I Keep My Business Lean?

[STEP BY STEP] How Do I Vet for My Next Owner?

[STEP BY STEP] How Do I Architect my Business for a Dream Exit?

The Human Use of Human Beings

Crossing the Rubicon

2023 Predictions: Looking Back, Looking Forward

The Twelve Days of Future-mas

“If You’re Building for This Moment, You’re Already Late” Feat. Calvin Lammers, Managing Partner at Rare Eye

Our Favorite Product Placements in Film, Feat. Andrea Popova, CEO and Co-Founder of Consumer Packaged Goods Directory

Fingers and Scissors: AI Product Photography Feat. Sofiia Shvets, Founder & CEO of Let’s Enhance io and Claid AI

The Uncanny Ability to Balance Idealism and Enterprise Value, feat. Adii Pienaar, Cogsy

STEP BY STEP: Make B2B Sexy Again, with Bar Geron, Balance

STEP BY STEP: The Consumerization of B2B with Kirsten Green, Forerunner Ventures

STEP BY STEP: B2B Payments: The Final Frontier, with Paul do Forno, Deloitte

FOMO Is Not A Strategy [feat. Dr. Amy Gershkoff Bolles, Global Head of Digital and Emerging Technology Strategy at Levi Strauss and Company]

Deepfake the World

eCommerce is Violence

[STEP BY STEP] Platforms Don't Solve Problems, People do

[STEP BY STEP] Managing Complexity

[STEP BY STEP] The "B-Word"

[Step by Step] It Takes a Community

[Step by Step] The Open Source Business

Dirtbag Mode

The Emotional and Spiritual Burden of Expense Management

The Shift From Growth to Profitability

"A Larger Boat in Choppy Waters" (Pattern Acquires Onsen Towels, with Nick Ling, CEO)

The Quiet Builders

Is Private Equity Sexy Now? feat. Magdalena Kala

Funereal Commerce

[VISIONS] Episode 5: The Role of Commerce in Society

[Step by Step] What Exactly Is the Value in Headless Commerce? (Feat. Tyson Graham, Vue Storefront)

[Step by Step] How Do I Move From a Project Mindset to a Program Mindset? (Feat. Jon Reily, bounteous)

[Step by Step] What Is the Role of Data in Improving eCommerce Experiences? (Feat. Brian Walker, Chief Strategy Officer at Bloomreach)

[Step by Step] How Do I Choose the Right Technology Partners? (Feat. Michael Bernard, VP of Tax Content & Operations and Chief Tax Officer at Vertex)

[Step by Step] How Can I Make the Business Case for My Brand to Invest in Experience? (Feat. Ryan Bartley, Founder & CSO, fabric)

“A Level of Omnichannel That’s Never Talked About” feat. Karin Dillie

Web3 Provides a Mechanism for Loyalty

“The Algorithm Made Him Do It” (Vibes Over Data )

There’s Nothing New Under the Sun: IRL experiences are enabled digitally by web3 (feat. Seyi Taylor)

“Content Isn’t Community” (Feat. Kendall Dickieson)

[VISIONS] Episode 4: Our Sh*itty Robot Future

“The Uncorkening”

"Zuckerberg's Figma Mockups" (PLUS: A Grow NY Recap)

[Visions] Episode 3: Romanticism

[VISIONS] Episode 2: The Discourse

Building a Web3 Company After the NFT Crash (Feat. Brandon Martinez, SNKRHUD)

[Visions] Episode 1: A Prologue

Recapping Shopify Editions (Feat. Gil Greenberg, Checkout Promotions)

Decoded: How to Buy Software Well: The Digital Commerce Software Conundrum

“What Creators Owe To Their Audience” (Feat. Neil Shankar, Content Creator)

Economists Fight Club (The Great Reshuffle)

Decoded: The Vertical Limit: Commodity vs Complexity

“Retail Media is a Direct Channel to the Shopper” (Feat. Kiri Masters, Acadia)

Successful Leadership Requires Passion AND Discipline (feat. Jeremy Cai, Italic)

Decoded - Social Commerce: Authentic Context for a Socially Native Generation

Facing the Counterfactuals (How to Navigate the eCom Downturn)

The Mild Mild West (A Recap of RICE 2022)

“Ecom Now Means Electronic Commodity” (The Homogenization of Experiences)

Decoded - Our New Composable World: Rethinking the Way We Buy and Build Software

DTC Theory and The Innovator's Dilemma (eCom headwinds may disrupt the disruptors)

“An eCommerce Business Requires Two Halves of a Brain” (Feat. Kris Gösser, Shipium)

Decoded: “Developer to Consumer”: Metaverse, Web3 and the New DTC

The Evolution of Retail Trade Shows: RICE 2022 (Alicia Esposito, VP of Content, Retail TouchPoints)

“A Fractionalization of the Consumer Experience” (Feat. Ben Jabbawy, eCommerce Marketing School )

Plurality of Identity (Feat. Bryan Mahoney, Chord)

Policy is Spurring Innovation (Feat. Gaida Zirkelbach, Co-Founder and CEO of SustainaBase)

“Metaverse is Just the Internet Now” (Live from ShopTalk 2022)

[Step by Step] What are the Common Mistakes to Avoid in Cross-Border Commerce? (Feat. Peter van der Westhuizen)

[Step by Step] How Does Cross-Border Commerce Impact Supply Chain? (Feat. John Huelskamp, Flexport)

[Step by Step] What Changes Will My Business Face in Selling Overseas? (Feat. Craig Reed, GM of Crossborder at Avalara)

[Step by Step] How do I Begin Selling Internationally? (Feat. Kent Allen, Co-Founder of GELF)

[Step by Step] How Does Cross-Border eCommerce Work? (Feat Jason Nyhus, SVP of Global Sales at Digital River)

Talking S*** with Tushy (Feat. Miki Agrawal, Founder)

"The X-Factor": Live from eTail West Palm Springs (Feat. Tommy Lamb and Mary Grace Tifft, WITHIN)

Redefining Arbitrage (What if hard work is the real untapped opportunity?)

Announcing: Casting Visions (Looking Beyond Commerce)

Conspicuous Consumption

The Big Show Must Go On (The Top 5 Takeaways from NRF 2022)

Magdalena Kala: "I'm a Consumer Needs and Wants Investor" (From DTC to Web3)

Relationship Commerce (Feat. Eddie Hsieh, Ordergroove and Daniel Kim, Hawaii Volcanic Beverages)

Our Favorite Shopping Scenes (What classic movies teach us about modern commerce)

2022 Predictions: Back to the Future

Mid-Season Highlight Special

"Pour Some Out for Old Yeller" (The Best of 2021)

“Algorithmic Secularism”: Reviewing the Big Ideas from 2021 on Future Commerce

“A Flat Line Isn’t a Flatline” — a BFCM Recap

The Year of Experiential Gifting (It’s All About Experiences )

"The Internet Has So Much More Potential" - For the Risk Takers

No Best Practices (Feat. Alex Greifeld, No Best Practices)

A Transaction Isn't an Exchange of Goods (Feat. Romain Lapeyre, Gorgias)

Introducing Infinite Shelf: Can We Stop Being So Binary?!?

“The Beer Distribution Game” - A Twitter Spaces Conversation (w/ Lakhveer Jajj)

The Creative and Relational Come Together (Feat. Rosa Hu, Yotpo)

In-Store is the Next Frontier for Digital (Feat. Roland Gossage, CEO of GroupBy Inc.)

Jingle All the Way- Welcome to Q4

“Millennial Golden Corral”, Expo East, and FOMO in DTC CPG (feat. Kendall Dickieson, DTC and CPG Nerd)

The Great American Mall Comeback - The Return of Mall Brands

"It's Just Not Who We Are"

Are Industry Events Ever Coming Back? Retail X and the Sacrificial Lambs of 2021

Report Alert: NINE BY NINE 2021

ASMR and the SaaSification of Experience (feat. Gary Benerofe)

Project Gigaton: The SMB and DTC Impacts of Climate Accountability (feat. Gaida Zirkelbach and Holly Lichtenfeld of SustainaBase)

Don't Call it a Pivot (feat. Emmett Shine, Co-Founder of Pattern)

Bye Bye, Third Party Data Tracking (feat. Ben Parr, President and Co-Founder of Octane AI)

“Spoiled For Choice”: Acquisitions and Roll-Ups for Amazon FBA and DTC (feat. Keith Richamn, Co-Founder and CEO of Boosted Commerce)

Modern Brands Need Waste Innovation (feat. Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela)

Taking On International Fulfilment with ShipBob (feat. Casey Armstrong, CMO of ShipBob)

Walmart Health and the Consumerization Healthcare (feat. Marcus Osborne, Vice President of Walmart Health)

What does a CDP do? Provide Real Time Relevance at Scale (feat. Josh Francia, CGO of Blueshift and Houman Akhavan, CMO of Carparts.com)

Insights Per Minute- Shopify is subsidizing R&D with its App Developers

Millennials Think They Invented Everything

Fast Isn't Solving Payments, It's Solving Identity (feat. Domm Holland, Co-Founder and CEO of Fast)

[Step by Step] How Can I Leverage 3PL and xMS to Increase Revenue?

[Step by Step] How Can I Utilize Shipping to Curate a Great Customer Experience?

[Step by Step] How Can Marketplaces Leverage Shipping?

[Step by Step] How Can I Wield Shipping to Acquire New Customers and Build Loyalty?

[Step by Step] - Why Should I Prioritize Shipping in My Business?

“Bigger Than the Plant-Based Revolution” feat. Kevin Rutherford, CEO of Nuun Energy

Laser-Focused on Profitability (feat. Pashmina Lalchandani, Co-Founder of Bar & Cocoa)

For The Love of Content Creation - feat. Aja Singer, Brand and Strategy Consultant and Creator of For The Love

Rally and The Age of Fractional Ownership (feat. Rob Petrozzo, CPO of Rally)

The Future of eCommerce Agencies is Discourse- Our past informs our future decisions.

"Headless with a Brain" feat. Bryan Mahoney, CEO and Co-Founder and Henry Davis, CEO and Chairman of Chord

"Well Made": You Need to Have a Reason Why Something Should Exist feat. Stephen Ango

[Step by Step] Why Don’t Customers Trust a Five Star Review? (feat. Eric Smith, VP of Business Development and Partnerships at Shopper Approved and Ryan Garrow, Director of Partnerships Logical Position/Owner at Joyful Dirt)

[Step by Step] How Can I Turn Customer Segments into Personal Connections? (feat. Ben Parr, President and Co-Founder of Octane AI and Jason Wong, Doe Lashes & Wonghaus Ventures

[Step by Step] How Can I Get Product to Every Customer in Two Days or Less? (feat. George Wojciechowski, VP of Partnerships at Shipbob and Babs King, Founder and CEO at Fleo)

[Step by Step] Can Product Returns Build My Brand? (feat. David Sobie, CEO and Co- Founder of Happy Returns and Zach Goldstein, CEO and Founder of Public Rec)

[Step by Step] How Can Brands Compete with Amazon? (feat. Adam Gardner)

Brands and the Snyder Cut

"Building in Public" – How Building a Podcast Led to Personal Growth

Ecom for New Moms: The future of parenting at the intersection of technology and digital commerce (feat. Ingrid Milman-Cordy)

Shopper Discovery and the Convergence of the Meta & the Physical

Instacart for CMOs: The Four-Sided Marketplace, feat. Kiri Masters, Author of Instacart for CMOs

Non-Fungible Podcast: NBA Top Shot, Fractional Ownership, and Meta Mortgages

“Adorkable” Brands, Blands, and CARLY (feat. Ben Schott, Bloomberg)

“The Most Sustainable Product is One That Already Exists” feat. Adam Siegel, Founder of Recurate

The [Broken] Circle of LIfe

10 Trends. 70 Pages. 1 Future. Vision is here.

ShopShops Liyia Wu: “We’re Enabling a Generating of Prolific Creators”

Net Neutrality and the Deplatforming of Trump (feat. Danny Sepulveda - SVP Policy, MediaMath)

"Your Tool, Your Sword, Your Treasure": Corporate Leadership in the post-Trump era

"2-Day is Too Slow": How Darkstore's FastAF is Delivering on the New Customer Expectation, feat. Lee Hnetika, Founder and CEO

Divergence: 2020 in Retrospect, feat. Sucharita Kodali, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester

Are We Human, or Are We Just a Bunch of Sensory Inputs? What's the difference exactly? feat. Daniel Dixon, Co-Founder of Mixy

[Step by Step] What Tools Can a Small Brand Use to Automate Customer Engagement? feat. Kaylin Marcotte, Founder and CEO of JIGGY

[Step by Step] What Tools Can Help Me to Tell My Brand Story?

[Step by Step] How Can I Use Marketing Automation to Get More Done with Less?

[Step by Step] How Can My DTC Brand Compete with Established Brands?

Smelling the Roses with Sunny Chadha, Co-Founder and CEO of Venus ET Fleur

"How Can DTC Brands Compete?" Step by Step Season 4 Trailer

Cooperation, Inspiration and Discovery, feat. Sherline, Founder and CEO of co-op Commerce

Robot Work vs. Human Work, feat Ferris Jumah, Founder and CEO of Surge.ai

[Step by Step] How to Build Sustainable CX and Avoid Burnout?

[Step by Step] How Does CX Address Modern Customer Expectations?

[Step by Step] How Does CX Drive Lifetime Value? (feat. Melanie Travis, CEO at Andie Swim)

[Step by Step] How to Move From a Contact Center to a Revenue Center?

[Step by Step] How Do We Evolve from Customer Support to Customer Experience?

Content is King, Channel is Queen, feat. Michelle Grant, Salesforce

The Magic of Logistics? Data and Optimization, feat. Jason Murray, Co-Founder and CEO of Shipium

There's a Nerd For That - Farfetch, Instacart, and Connecting Shoppable Experiences

The New DIY: Retail Opportunity in the Passion Economy

“I Wouldn’t Allow Our Business to Become Dependent on One Channel" feat. Damian Soong, Co-Founder and CEO of Form Nutrition

A Tale of Two Recoveries: Popshelf, The K-Shaped Recovery, and Spending Power

Parade: Reimagining a Value Brand, feat. Jack Defuria, Co-Founder and Chief Digital Officer

Capital and the Creator Economy: Two Conversations with Sari Azout

The Anti-Blands: Existential Brands and the New Dadaism

CPG: "Around You, On You, In You"

"Low-Cost Indulgence" feat. Mayssa Chehata, Founder and CEO at BEHAVE Candy