Retail Transformers brings you candid conversations with the people reshaping the future of commerce - the crazy ones, the rebels, the innovators, the disruptors, and the bold thinkers. Stay Sharp. Be Bold. Transform Retail!
Missed the last issue?
Quick question: When was the last time you called Amazon about an order? I can’t remember either. When Chris Deck asked that question in our podcast studio tent at RetailClub AI Festival, Casey and I answered at the same time: you don’t need to. And that was the whole point he was making.
My Question Ran as Long as a Strategy Meeting.
At Shoptalk Fall, I asked Brendan Witcher a question. A long one.
I started with how everyone overgeneralizes about retail. Then I wandered into department stores, where apparel and housewares might as well be different businesses. Then grocery, where the wine section and the shelf-stable milk aisle don’t engage a shopper the same way. Then I took a swing at tech vendors who tell every retailer to “do this for your customers” without asking which customers.
Brendan let me finish. Then he pointed out that I’d asked my question in about the amount of time most people spend talking strategy in a strategy meeting about the topic I just asked about. Fifteen minutes, “or whatever it was.”
Fair, and guilty. And he turned it into the point of the whole conversation:
Most teams walk into those 15 minutes expecting to walk out with the answer. But is it a strategy?
Who I was talking to.
Brendan is Global VP of Product & Content at Shoptalk. Before that he was one of Forrester’s best-known retail analysts, and we’ve known each other longer than either of us wants to count. We recorded live in the Rethink Retail Creator Studio in Nashville on day one of the conference. Casey couldn’t make the trip, and she still hasn’t forgiven me for going without her.
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“Strategically lazy.”
Here’s how Brendan answered my marathon question:
“You got too many people that are in positions of decision-making that are strategically lazy.”
He wasn’t calling anyone dumb. His read is that some leaders stop thinking because they feel they’ve earned it. Thirty years in, they already know.
His example is a stat like “98% of people care about sustainability” getting turned straight into a strategic plan. There’s one check in your own data that usually tells a very different story. I’m going to let Brendan explain that one himself, starting at 16:07. It’s worth the click. Trust me.
The retail media math.
I’ll admit this part hurt a little. Brendan’s numbers: Amazon owns 76% of retail media. Walmart owns 6%. That’s 82% between two companies. Every other grocer, specialty chain, and department store with a media network pitch deck is fighting over 18%.
“Everyone’s talking about retail media, so we should do retail media” is exactly the sentence he means.
Retail media works for some things and simply doesn’t for others. Do the math on your slice before somebody books the vendor demo.
Ideas vs. strategy.
Everyone’s got ideas. Brendan has one right now. So do you. His line: “The difference between an idea and a strategy is a strategy’s actually been worked out and vetted.” My favorite bit is how he described the vetting: “foresight that’s trying to be hindsight.”
I said on the podcast that an idea doesn’t come with an execution plan and a strategy should.
Brendan’s version is shorter.
Every parent eventually looks at their kid and says it: think it through.
He wants more leaders saying those three words to themselves and their teams, then leaving the silence there. Joey from Friends got a mention. You’ll get it when you listen (or better yet, watch) the full episode.
Where I landed.
Brendan called it: most retailers outside the top two should run the 18% math before they stand up a retail media network. Some will still say yes. Good. At least they thought it through.
I also think “we don’t know yet” needs to become an acceptable way to end a meeting.
Brendan says strategic laziness hits an all-time high when something is new, because the pressure to have an answer is highest.
Sound like any AI agent meeting you’ve been in lately?
And I’m keeping his other line: “Knowledge is the absence of questions.” I told him I was stealing it. I meant it.
Watch, listen, subscribe.
🎙️ Season 2, Episode 10 of Retail Transformers: “Strategically Lazy: Why Retail Strategy Fails”
If you only have five minutes, jump to 24:06. Brendan lays out the agentic commerce question he thinks will define the industry, and it sits with the tech companies building the agents your customers will use.
The full episode of Retail Transformers is available now everywhere you find podcasts and on our YouTube channel.
Your turn.
If this one hit, forward it to someone you know who’s cutting the strategy part of the strategy meeting too short. And if you’re not subscribed yet, that’s the button below.
This is the first of four episodes we recorded live and in-person at Shoptalk Fall in Nashville in the RETHINK Retail Creator Studio. Be sure to subscribe so the next one lands in your inbox.
Comment on this newsletter or join the conversation on LinkedIn! Your insights may help shape the topics we explore next.
Until next time! Stay sharp. Be Bold. And Transform Retail!
Sincerely,
Ricardo Belmar
The Retail Razor: Retail Transformers
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The Retail Razor Podcast Network
Retail Transformers is part of the Retail Razor Podcast Network, alongside The Retail Razor Show, Blade to Greatness, and Data Blades. Find us at RetailRazor on LinkedIn, Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram. For a full transcript of this episode, visit our retailrazor.com website!