Episodes

  • How to Grow an eCommerce Business When the Math Doesn’t Math

    How to Grow an eCommerce Business When the Math Doesn’t Math
    Nov 6 2026
    Selling online has never been more expensive. Cheap channels are saturated, factory and freight costs have climbed, and ad platforms keep getting better at extracting margin from brands. For a lean DTC brand in 2026, the old math simply doesn’t math.Ecommerce economics are broken. Dave Stickland, Co-Founder and President of Popsmith, joins Phillip and Brian to share how he rebuilt Popsmith’s marketing from the garage up. Dave explains how agentic AI tools take his ad creative from concept to live in 24 hours, why AI slop is a skill issue, and why the next generation of agencies and creative strategists will be paid for vision, not execution.Chasing A Frontierless FutureKey takeaways:There’s no more frontier for DTC brands. A decade ago, subsidized Amazon fees, direct access to overseas factories, and cheap paid social made healthy margins easy. Now factories sell against brands on Amazon, factory wages have doubled, freight costs have soared since COVID, and Meta keeps getting better at extracting ad spend.Contribution margin pays for everything below the line, including agencies, freelancers, and new hires. When that margin disappears, so does the budget to grow.AI creative is still not fully autonomous, but only works with scaffolding: product renders, brand context, and a clear process.It’s time for brands to extract new value from the creative library they’ve already paid for.Agencies will be paid to advise and build SOPs, not to execute inside the software.“You either own the software or the software will own what you do.” — Dave Stickland“What AI will never be is relational.” — Dave Stickland“The data set itself is what you are paying for, not the tool.” — Dave SticklandIn-Show Mentions:Dave on X: The Math Doesn’t MathShop the popcorn popper at popsmith.comRunneth by MotionJamey Gannon’s The AI Creative Director courseFuture Commerce’s LOREGet tickets to VISIONS Summit, February 10, 2027 at MoMAAssociated Links:The Growth v. Profitability Cage Match (Infinite Shelf)DTC Theory and The Innovator’s Dilemma (Ep. 253)[DECODED] The Power of AI-Enabled AmbitionFrom Plastic to Patek: What AI and Watchmaking Have in CommonThe End of Outside: How to Future-Proof Your Career Against the AI ApocalypseOur Post-Funnel Future: Brand Ethos is the New Competitive MoatThe Final Boss of Popcorn Buckets (The Senses)Check out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    54 mins
  • Shopify Exec Reveals the Future of Post-Anonymous Retail

    Shopify Exec Reveals the Future of Post-Anonymous Retail
    Nov 11 2026
    Shopify merchants set a record $14.6 billion over BFCM last year. But as discovery moves into AI and the season stretches longer, the store’s job is changing from closing a sale to starting a relationship.Ellen Linardi, VP of Product at Shopify, is obsessed with fixing in-store workflows and dreams of a world where items left in a shopper’s online cart are ready when the customer arrives in-store. We unpack how in-person purchases are both the most personal and the most anonymous transactions in retail, how POS workflows free merchants to focus on curation, and why 2027 should be the year businesses uplevel experiential commerce.When the Online Cart Follows You In-StoreKey takeaways:The customer relationship often starts online, and deepens in-store. Shopify is focusing on closing that gap.Retail-first merchants still need to be findable through AI search. That’s where awareness and discovery happen now, before consumers leave home.While the holidays are for new business acquisition, brands should treat every sale as a relationship moment: identified customers spend significantly more.Workflow is everything, and optimization differs from store to store. Customize POS to how each location actually sells.“A customer list is only as good as what you do with it afterward.” — Ellen Linardi“Buyers are not forgiving with wasted time. And time in store is not wasted time, [unless] you’re waiting.” — Ellen Linardi“I like to think of [small businesses] as people with consumer resources but enterprise problems.” — Ellen Linardi“An in-person transaction is the most anonymous transaction we have, and yet it is the most personal.” — Brian LangeIn-Show Mentions:Learn more about Shopify’s latest retail and POS updates at Shopify EditionsExplore Shopify POS and Smart GridConnect with Ellen Linardi on LinkedInFuture Commerce’s BFCM 2025: We Give Thanks for Couch CommerceFuture Commerce’s OMNIMODAL researchFuture Commerce’s The Concierge Economy guideFuture Commerce’s celebrity brands Signal Report with MercivGet tickets to VISIONS Summit, February 10, 2027 at MoMAAssociated Links:Memorable Over Measurable: Retail’s Lost Wonders (Ep. 482)Separating Real Signals from the Noise (Ep. 480)Member Brief: Return on Experience and the New KPIs of Store Design (Insiders)Field Notes: How Physical Retail’s Most Compelling Stores Activate the Senses (Insiders)The Good Friction Opportunity (Insiders)The Doorbusters Are Back (And So Are the 5 am Lines) (The Senses)Check out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    38 mins
  • Your Front Yard Is Home Depot’s Homepage: Inside Skelly’s Legacy and Halloween Creep

    Your Front Yard Is Home Depot’s Homepage: Inside Skelly’s Legacy and Halloween Creep
    Oct 14 2026
    Aubrey Horowitz, Merchant of Decorative Holiday at The Home Depot, is on the show to talk about the viral skeleton that set the Halloween decor bar 12 feet high. Aubrey shares a behind-the-curtain look at how Home Depot designs its seasonal assortment for America’s front lawns, shaped by a vocal community of haunters who shop earlier and earlier each year. Plus, we walk through Skelly’s ground-up development with suppliers, the future of app-controlled animatronics, the moving target of nostalgia (the ’90s are vintage now, but won’t be for long), and why the best feedback loop in retail is a customer base that never stops posting.Icons Like Skelly Market ThemselvesKey takeaways:Halloween enthusiasts finish planning by August, pulling seasonal demand into summer.Haunting is a mindset more shoppers are embracing. Home Depot is meeting growing demand by building collections year over year based on public feedback.Nostalgia never goes out of style, but which era defines the trend keeps shifting. Skelly brought haunted-house-scale giants to retail and turned yard decor into a creative medium.“You can all shop at the same retailer, and then come out with a completely unique and completely different haunted yard scene.” — Aubrey Horowitz“How do I deliver a product that you may not know that you want yet, while also delivering the thing that you’re asking for?” — Aubrey Horowitz“In many ways the front yard is like the homepage of people’s lives.” — Brian Lange“We just had no idea that [Skelly] would take off and that people would wanna dress him up for all the holidays and leave him up year round.” — Aubrey HorowitzIn-Show Mentions:Skelly, The Home Depot’s 12-foot skeletonAssociated Links:Insiders 210: Spooky Commerce: What Halloween Shopping Trends Tell Us About Modern CultureConsumers are Overindulging on Halloween. Disney is Meeting the Moment.The Senses: Aug-tober is HereInsiders 239: The “Quiet Season” Fallacy: Why Waiting for Black Friday is Destroying Your Retail BusinessField Notes: Holiday Edition: Spirit ChristmasInsiders 040: Nostalgia as a Security BlanketEpisode 426: The 13th Month of RevenueEpisode 312: Barbenheimer: Nostalgia, Retail, Recall, and RelevanceJoin us at VISIONS Summit, November 3 at MoMACheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    29 mins
  • 40% Won’t Settle for A Substitute: What DoorDash’s Data Tells Us About Loyalty

    40% Won’t Settle for A Substitute: What DoorDash’s Data Tells Us About Loyalty
    Oct 28 2026
    DoorDash shoppers come to the app with a need, not a shopping list, and that makes them unusually loyal and unusually open to discovery. Katie Daleo, General Manager of CPG Ads at DoorDash, joins Phillip and Alicia to talk about how brands can plan for moments instead of audiences, why DoorDash pursued Alliance for Audited Media incrementality certification, and what changes when commerce media is measured on orders and intent instead of impressions.Plus, we dig into the newly launched Brand Center, which turns what Dashers see on the shelf into real-time availability and substitution data, why brand and performance marketing are converging again, and why Katie sees DoorDash as "local commerce at scale."The Moment Is the New DemographicKey takeaways:DoorDash's incremental ROAS methodology earned AAM incrementality certification, and Katie says partners are seeing 30%+ incremental sales lift on average.Discovery is up for grabs. In some categories, unbranded DoorDash searches (think: "beer") drive 10% of orders, so brands have to win the shopper who hasn't picked a brand yet.Videos under six seconds perform best, and placement matters: what works on the homepage can get in the way on a product page when someone just wants to check out.The funnel collapses inside the app. Awareness, consideration, and conversion can happen in a single session, so offsite creative and in-app click-through need to work as one journey.Brand Center turns the shelf into a data source. Brands can now see on-shelf availability, which SKUs actually make it onto DoorDash, how their product content shows up, and where shoppers go when an item is substituted.Out-of-stocks are a loyalty test. Roughly 40% of shoppers ask for a refund rather than accept a substitute, which tracks with the third of shoppers who arrive with a specific item in mind."If you can find a solution that works for the consumer, it will work for the brand, in which case it will work for DoorDash." — Katie Daleo"Data is the currency we have with CPG partners." — Katie Daleo"You can now do the full funnel in like three minutes." — Katie Daleo"Any media should be showing impact, but the actual metric or the methodology may need to be different." — Katie Daleo"I think of DoorDash as a platform that allows you to do local commerce at scale." — Katie DaleoAssociated Links:Episode 474: Commerce Media's Day Two: The Agentic Shelf and the Measurement ReckoningThe Senses: The Advertising Week Mid-Week Dispatch“Vertical Dramas” and the New Era of Commerce MediaAd Infinitum: Retail Media is The Final BossEpisode 452: LIVE at Shoptalk Spring: Retail Media Confessions, Hype Cycles, and the Creator ReckoningThe Future of the Funnel (Live from K:LDN 2026)Insiders 224: Non-Determinism and the Death of Performance MarketingInsiders 238: Where Were You When the Monoculture Returned?The Senses: Quick Commerce's God ComplexEven TikTok is an Ad Network NowCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    24 mins
  • How Milani Doubled Its Business, and Plans to Do It Again

    How Milani Doubled Its Business, and Plans to Do It Again
    Nov 4 2026
    Milani Cosmetics has spent 25 years pairing prestige-quality formulas with mass-market price points. In the last five years, the indie brand doubled its business and climbed from No. 10 to No. 7 in mass color cosmetics—and it plans to double again over the next three.Jeremy Lowenstein, Chief Marketing Officer at Milani Cosmetics, joins Phillip and Brian to talk about the brand’s latest marketing movement, What’s Inside Is Everything, which emphasizes community, authenticity, and quality. He explains how pop-ups and creator partnerships bring the brand to life beyond its 25,000+ stores, and how to maintain brand relevance and consumer connection in a market driven largely by celebrity and influencer endorsements.Prestige Formulas, Mass PricesKey takeaways:What’s Inside Is Everything is a 360-degree brand platform rather than a one-off campaign, anchoring all of Milani’s messaging since January 2026 in the quality of ingredients.Milani brings customers into the Baked Blush creation process; the cult-classic product is hand-piped onto terracotta tiles in Italy.Milani defines its core customer by life stage, not generation. The Milani consumer is a young but established adult with disposable income, who is ready to settle down with quality products they can use long-term. Milani positions itself to receive consumers when they are ready to commit to a brand, rather than leaning into generational stereotypes and chasing fleeting trends that other brands scramble for. “Someone who is Gen Z now will also eventually also become a 38-year-old.” –– Jeremy Lowenstein“It’s easy to start a brand in beauty. It’s hard to stay in it.” — Jeremy Lowenstein“We’re not here to help you change who you are. We’re here to help you reveal what you think is your best self.” — Jeremy Lowenstein“The funnel’s not dead. The funnel just looks different. It basically looks like spaghetti now, and it takes you all over the place.” — Jeremy Lowenstein“Everyone thinks [TikTok Shop] is net new. It’s basically QVC on steroids.” –– Jeremy Lowenstein“Every piece of marketing has to perform. It’s just what kind of performance are you tasking it to do?” — Jeremy LowensteinIn-Show Mentions:Watch Milani’s What’s Inside Is Everything Baked Blush filmExplore Milani’s Baked Collection at milanicosmetics.comMilani x Shelby Ann Bell pop-up at Momo Cafe in AtlantaFuture Commerce’s The Multiplayer BrandFuture Commerce’s Celebrity Brands Signal ReportConnect with Jeremy Lowenstein on LinkedInGet tickets to VISIONS Summit, February 10, 2027 at MoMAAssociated Links:What Makes Stores Worth Visiting? (Ep. 416)The Process is the ProductSqueezegate and The Dupe Economy (The Senses)Gen Z Lives in a Partnership-Based Society. Your Brand Should, Too.Beyond the Buzz: Ultimate Guide to 29 Celebrity-Backed BrandsMaintaining the Cool Factor: Scaling Your DTC Brand in Traditional ChannelsCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    47 mins
  • *TEASER* You Can See Everything, If You Speak Fielder

    *TEASER* You Can See Everything, If You Speak Fielder
    Oct 23 2026

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    3 mins
  • We Traded Family Dinners for Haunted Houses: Halloween Spending Data Shows Shoppers Want to Escape

    We Traded Family Dinners for Haunted Houses: Halloween Spending Data Shows Shoppers Want to Escape
    Oct 23 2026
    Halloween is now America’s second-largest consumer holiday, surpassing Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day in total spend, especially in categories like home decor. From the high street, the UK is catching up fast due to the rise of community-driven events, third spaces, and niche internet communities.Melissa Minkow, Global Director of Retail Strategy & Insights at CI&T, joins Phillip and Alicia from London to share what Halloween looks like on the other side of the Atlantic. Melissa explains why UK Halloween is getting “Americanized,” how algorithms shape our real-world rituals, and why fandom keeps stretching the season.Spooky Season Goes GlobalKey takeaways:UK Halloween spend is expected to hit £705M, driven mostly by Gen Z and millennials. Meanwhile, US Halloween spend is projected to reach $13.5B, with households spending an average of $285. UK Halloween isn’t a carbon copy of America’s. In the UK, community lives in third spaces like pubs and transit, not front porches.The retail calendar is stretching earlier, largely driven by fandoms inflating moments into months of licensing, drops, and ticketed events.“People want the moment when it is the moment.” — Melissa Minkow“There’s no temperance in the algorithm.” — Phillip Jackson“I have often wondered… if I ever was actually a sneakerhead or if performance marketing and algorithms made me one.” — Phillip JacksonIn-Show Mentions:Catch up on Ep. 484: Aubrey Horowitz of Home Depot, “We Plan Halloween 3 Years in Advance”Deloitte’s 2026 Halloween surveyTreatonomics: Morning Consult x Hershey’s research on the new Halloween calendarChanté Joseph, “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?” (Vogue)Kate Berlant on Good HangShoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance CapitalismGet tickets to VISIONS Summit, February 10, 2027 at MoMAAssociated Links:Spooky Commerce: What Halloween Shopping Trends Tell Us About Modern CultureConsumers are Overindulging on Halloween. Disney is Meeting the Moment.Aug-tober is Here (The Senses)Memory Morphing: How Media Reshapes Recall and Taints Nostalgia (Ep. 334)Where Were You When the Monoculture Returned?Check out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    41 mins
  • Deloitte Predicts A $1.7 Trillion Holiday Season

    Deloitte Predicts A $1.7 Trillion Holiday Season
    Oct 21 2026
    Stretched wallets are still spending. Deloitte projects up to 4.8% growth in holiday spending this year, driven mostly by price of goods rather than volume of sales. Shoppers say they feel stretched, yet they keep spending. Brian McCarthy, a principal in Deloitte’s strategy and analytics practice, joins Phillip and Alicia to forecast this year’s holiday spending. Brian explains why behavior outweighs sentiment, how AI shopping agents are changing the way people find products, and why physical stores still bring in most of the new holiday dollars.The Store StaysKey takeaways:Deloitte projects 4% to 4.8% holiday growth, driven mostly by price rather than volume.Behavior beats sentiment: anxious shoppers still spend, just more strategically.Value-seeking is a lasting change: shoppers now weigh durability, quality and private label.To show up in AI shopping agents’ picks, brands need detailed, well-structured product data.Digital sales are growing, but in-store sales still bring in most new holiday dollars. “Behavior holds stronger than sentiment when it comes to holiday.” — Brian McCarthy“We’re seeing that sentiment shift not towards spending less, but towards spending more strategically, more thoughtfully, more intelligently.” — Brian McCarthy“We hear ‘value’ and we immediately think cost savings. But… that’s not always the case.” — Alicia Esposito“From tradition, nostalgia – holiday spending is still dominantly in store.” — Brian McCarthyIn-Show Mentions:Just released: Deloitte’s 2026 Holiday Retail SurveyCheck out Deloitte’s first Halloween studyReview Deloitte’s 2026 Back-to-School SurveyAssociated Links:The 2025 Holiday Reality Check (Ep. 429, with Deloitte)The BFCM Sprint: Last-Minute Tips and Tactics from DeloitteSeparating Real Signals from the Noise (Ep. 480)BFCM 2025: We Give Thanks for Couch CommerceAgentic Commerce and the eCommerce Site’s New Existential CrisisThe Concierge Economy: Understanding AI's True Role in the Shopping ExperienceThe Alpha Effect: How Gen Alpha is Redefining Back-to-School SpendingMember Brief: Return on Experience and the New KPIs of Store DesignCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    23 mins