Join us as we dive into candid conversations with the people reshaping the future of commerce - the crazy ones, the rebels, the change makers, innovators, disruptors, and bold thinkers. If you’re passionate about innovation and leadership, Retail Transformers is for you! Stay Sharp. Be Bold. Transform Retail!
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There is a moment every year when we sit down and ask ourselves one question. What is the single biggest shift in retail leaders cannot afford to ignore right now? This is the beginning of Agentic Commerce, a world where the shopper may not be a person at all. This shift raises new questions for every retailer.
Season Two Begins: Inside Ulta’s Innovation Engine with Michelle Pacynski
Retail is entering a new era, one defined by rapid shifts in customer behavior, accelerating technology cycles, and rising expectations for seamless, personalized experiences.
And few leaders have navigated that evolution as successfully as Michelle Pacynski, former VP of Innovation and Consumer Technology at Ulta Beauty. To open season two of The Retail Razor: Retail Transformers, Michelle joins us for a deep, candid conversation about what it really takes to build innovation that lasts.
Her journey at Ulta is one of the most compelling transformation stories in modern retail. And it’s packed with lessons for every leader navigating change today.
From $125M to $2B: The Digital Growth Story
When Michelle joined Ulta in 2012, the digital business sat around $125 million. By the time she left, it had grown to more than $2 billion.
That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident.
Michelle walks us through the foundational decisions that made it possible:
Building the right infrastructure early
Prioritizing mobile-first experiences before the rest of the industry caught up
Redesigning the digital ecosystem with responsiveness and speed in mind
Expanding fulfillment beyond a single warehouse to unlock true omnichannel scale
These weren’t flashy moves.
They were strategic, disciplined, and grounded in customer behavior. And they set the stage for everything that came next.
The Mobile Moment: Betting Early and Betting Big
One of the most fascinating parts of Michelle’s story is how early Ulta leaned into mobile.
In 2013, many retailers were still debating whether apps even mattered. Storage constraints, low adoption, and fragmented devices made it feel like a risky bet.
Michelle and her team saw it differently.
They built:
A mobile-first web experience
Native apps for both iOS and Android
A roadmap that brought feature parity across platforms
App‑exclusive experiences that rewarded loyalty and drove engagement
Today, Ulta’s app contributes a massive share of digital revenue, a testament to the power of early, customer‑centric investment!
Beauty Tech Before Beauty Tech Was Cool
It may feel like virtual try‑on is everywhere now, but back in 2016 it was still emerging. Michelle helped bring GlamLab to life, and the team quickly learned something important:
The real value wasn’t the novelty, it was the behavior.
Customers who tried on more shades converted at significantly higher rates. And the more intuitive and frictionless the experience became, the more customers used it.
Michelle shares how the team:
Expanded virtual try‑on across categories
Built KPIs around shade engagement
Learned from early failures (including a short‑lived iPad‑only experience)
Used experimentation to refine what customers actually wanted
It’s a masterclass in how innovation evolves through iteration, not perfection.
Building an Innovation Team That Actually Innovates
One of the most powerful parts of this episode is Michelle’s perspective on how innovation should be structured inside a retail organization.
Her team didn’t sit in IT, it sat in the business.
That decision changed everything.
It allowed the team to:
Stay tightly aligned with business outcomes
Evaluate emerging tech through a customer‑first lens
Build a balanced portfolio of near‑term wins and longer‑term bets
Explore new technologies like computer vision, AR, and early AI
Eventually evolve into Ulta’s AI Center of Excellence
Michelle also shares the prioritization framework they used, one that balanced business value, competitive advantage, and “talk value” to elevate the brand.
AI, Experimentation, and the Future of Retail
We close the episode by looking ahead.
Michelle offers a grounded, practical view of where AI is headed in retail, not as a buzzword, but as a tool that can reshape:
Personalization
Search
Fulfillment
Customer experience
Operational efficiency
She also highlights why experimentation is no longer optional.
The retailers who win will be the ones who test, learn, and adapt faster than their competitors.
Listen to the Full Episode
This conversation is packed with insights for anyone leading transformation, building digital capabilities, or navigating the next wave of AI‑driven change.
What’s Your Take?
We’d love to hear from you:
What part of Michelle’s journey resonated most?
Where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation and transformation in 2026?
How is AI reshaping your work today?
Comment on this newsletter or join the conversation on LinkedIn! Your insights help shape the topics we explore next.
Let’s explore the future of retail together.
Until next time! Stay sharp. Stay human. Stay ahead!
Sincerely,
Ricardo Belmar & Casey Golden
Co-hosts of The Retail Razor Show
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