No matter which way you look at it, whatever element you represent in the value chain, the modern retail environment is going through a tremendous transformation. Again. So we asked ourselves - who can we talk to on the podcast that has their hand on the pulse of retail - the latest tea, as the kids would say. Who delivers the story behind the stories. One name kept coming up. Lauren Thomas, Retail Reporter, CNBC
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.
No matter which way you look at it, whatever element you represent in the value chain, the modern retail environment is going through a tremendous transformation. Again.
So we asked ourselves - who can we talk to on the podcast that has their hand on the pulse of retail - the latest tea, as the kids would say. Who delivers the story behind the stories. One name kept coming up. Lauren Thomas, Retail Reporter, CNBC
In this episode, we turn the mic around on Lauren, one of the most prolific and respected reporters on the retail beat, and tap into her experience, insights, and mainline cable she has tapped into retail news happening today, tomorrow and next month.
Lauren Thomas is a reporter for CNBC in New York covering retail and retail real estate. She joined in January 2017 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Business Journalism and Spanish. Thomas previously held internships at CNBC in San Francisco, Bloomberg and TheStreet. She was born in South Carolina and is the oldest of five kids.
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.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
retail, companies, eCommerce, Amazon, crossover, hear, talk, business, thought, CNBC, covering, growth, year, inflation, reporter, people, consumer, stores, IPOs, pandemic
SPEAKERS
Lauren Thomas, Michael LeBlanc, Scott Silverman
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by CommX.
Michael LeBlanc 00:13
No matter which way you look at it, whatever element you represent in the value chain, the modern retail environment is going through a tremendous transformation again.
Michael LeBlanc 00:22
So, we asked ourselves-who can we talk to on the podcast that has their hand on the pulse of retail-the latest tea, as the kids would say. Who delivers the story behind the stories? One name kept coming up, Lauren Thomas, Retail Reporter, CNBC.
Michael LeBlanc 00:37
In this episode, we turn the microphone on Lauren, one of the most prolific and respected reporters on the retail beat, and tap into her experience, insights and mainline cable, she has tapped into retail news happening today, tomorrow, and next month.
Lauren Thomas 00:54
COVID and a lot of what we've seen in just recent months has put all of that all of those plans on pause. So, what am I trying to do is, is really put a pinpoint on like, when is that IPO market going to open again? But then on the flip side, you've got companies that may be teetering on the edge.
Michael LeBlanc 01:12
Let's listen in now.
Scott Silverman 01:15
Welcome to Conversations with CommerceNext. Today, we're very excited to talk to someone who has been bringing you the retail news for a number of years Lauren Thomas. She is the retail reporter at CNBC since 2017, looking forward to a good conversation with her. And as usual, I'm here with my podca-, podcast co-host, Michael LeBlanc. How are you today, Michael?
Michael LeBlanc 01:42
I'm very well, Lauren, it's such a treat to be on the mic. with you again. We, we crossed paths in Vegas, we'll see each other again in New York. So, thank you so much for making time. It's a very busy couple of weeks. So, thanks so much again for making time for us.
Lauren Thomas 01:56
Of course, no, I'm so excited to do this. It's been a long time coming.
Scott Silverman 02:02
And we're excited to have you moderate the discussion at CommerceNext next month with Brilliant Earth CEO and co-founder Beth Gerstein, who you're going to be talking about modern brands, embracing sustainability and social responsibility. And maybe we'll get into that a little bit today. But this is exciting, because we get to turn the tables on a journalist, we get to ask the questions this time. And we get to hear what you're thinking about. And you've been very busy. It's been a, a lot of retail news lately. But why don't we start by you know, telling us a little bit about yourself, your professional journey and, and what you do at CNBC?
Lauren Thomas 02:41
Yeah, absolutely. No, I love this personally. It doesn't it doesn't get to happen that often right, where, where I'm in the hot seat. So, you know, no, no curveballs, I hope. But I like you said I've been at CNBC, (crossover talk), I hear yah. I've been at CNBC since early 2017. I you know, this was my first gig right out of college, right?
Lauren Thomas 03:06
So, I studied business and journalism at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, go Tar Heels. And, you know, kind of had a sense of, you know, I wanted to be a reporter and I guess you could say it's kind of rare and like knowing that I really wanted to do business news. But I kind of found that niche within journalism and you know, places like CNBC and, and thought that that's, that's where I wanted to end up. And so, you know, I found myself in this role at CNBC.
I wasn't initially thinking I would cover retail or even really pursuing retail, I get asked that a lot, right, like, how did you end up covering retail, but you know, I don't have the best answer other than it was, it was sort of a little bit of, of good timing and luck, and, and there was an opening at the time and, and covering that sector within CNBC. I thought it was really appealing and, and fun.
Now I use the word fun just because it's so consumer facing and, and I really love that about the, the industry and I'm writing about topics and companies that we can all relate to because we're all shoppers and we, we buy stuff every day and you know, consumer spending, you know, that makes up what like 75% of, of GDP here in the US. So, it's I just find that it's, it's something that everyone, everyone kind of has an opinion on. And we all we all have our favorite places to shop and places we don't like to shop.
Lauren Thomas 04:31
And so yeah, I, I you know, very quickly I was covering the retail industry, everything from, you know, kind of Amazon and that dynamic of Amazon competing with you know, mom and pop shops and smaller retailers and department stores and how the mall is evolving and then more recently kind of the rise of these online brands such as Warby Parker or Allbirds or Rent the Runway. And so, it's really been interesting.
I mean, I've only been doing this for, for about five years. So, certainly not, I wouldn't call myself like a veteran by, by any means I'm still learning stuff every day. But it even in those five years, it's, it's crazy to see just how much the industry has changed. And like, you know, I've covered bankruptcies, I've covered IPOs. And then there was a pandemic in the middle of all that. So, no shortage of things to write about.
Scott Silverman 05:21
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it must feel like more than five years, and we'd be covering a recession, (crossover talk), as well. You've been doing a great job. I'm sure you're very loyal to CNBC. But I mean, come on, you're on Conversations with CommerceNext, we want we want to hear the scoop. So, give us something that nobody else knows, like, as the as the kids say, give us the Chi on something on somebody?
Lauren Thomas 05:44
Yeah, I know, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to think of what, what scoop I could give you here. I mean, I feel like my, my mindset right now is so stuck on kind of the, the, you know, current look, stepping back, right, and thinking about the macro-economic factors that are at play. So, that's like inflation, right, we've got this war going on overseas that's causing a lot of issues. Still, the supply chain is a mess for a lot of companies. But as I think about, you know, what, what sort of tea can I give you here? I mean, I think I'm really trying to dig into what's going to be the next shoe to drop, particularly one that would ramp up bankruptcies again.
Lauren Thomas 06:29
But on the flip side of that also deals so like, there's, I think there's this one group of companies, you've got some brands, and, you know, there have been reports of, of companies like Bombas, you know, that's the mix sucks, or Hydrow, you know, is like a, a fitness machine that, that have reportedly been, you know, eyeing the public markets and wanting to IPO, I think COVID And a lot of what we've seen in, in just recent months has put all of that the all of those plans on pause. So, what am I trying to do is, is really put a pinpoint on like, when is that IPO market going to open again?
Lauren Thomas 07:03
But then on the flip side, you've got companies that may be teetering on the edge, you know, a Party City is a name, for example, that's, that's floated around a lot. And, you know, that's public information, I think they're on the list of, you know, S&P and, and Fitch, you know, kind of have listed these companies, you know, looking at their debt and which could be, which could be potential bankruptcy targets, I guess, in, in the near future.
Lauren Thomas 07:27
And it's been interesting, because during the pandemic, I mean, there has been a lot of cash, just, just floating around and kind of liquidity that have kept these companies afloat. And we have not seen hardly any bankruptcies, I think I actually saw some fresh data this morning, that there have been, like three retail bankruptcies year-to-date, and we're almost into June. And we haven't seen that low of a number at, at this point in the year, in over a decade.
Lauren Thomas 07:56
And like, it's so it's really kind of unprecedented times, I feel like on both ends of whether you're looking at like IPOs or, or, you know, companies that are not faring so well. So, you know, try trying to figure out, yeah, I know, that's not giving you much, but it's kind of given you a window into I guess, like, how my reporting is shaped and like the things that I'm thinking about right now.
Scott Silverman 08:20
Well, that that's as much as I can expect. So, but that's good. And I think it kind of leads to a couple areas. I, I you know, some, some areas you've been covering lately that I thought we could dig a little bit deeper into, obviously, you know, the economy, the macro factors, inflation. I just read the story you posted either yesterday or today, where you're talking about, you know, the consumer from the perspective of Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, but kind of shifting a little bit more towards eCommerce, which is more of the, the you know, the wheelhouse for this podcast, we saw a little bit of a, you know, a, a pretty weak quarter from, from Amazon. And I'm, you know, I'm interested to hear, do you think this is because people are going back to stores do you? Do you, I think for a, up until almost now, eCommerce sales have been fairly immune from the larger macro-economics. So, even during some bad times for retail, maybe retail would drop, and you know, maybe it'd be one or 2% growth, but you'd still have eCommerce growing at 15/20% Whatever it is now, -
Lauren Thomas 09:37
right, -
Scott Silverman 09:38
It seems like there's some maturity happening, and eCommerce is not immune to this. So, I'm, I'm interested in are you surprised in that? And what do you think? Is it just because it's mature or is there some other things going on that you're seeing?
Lauren Thomas 09:55
Yeah, no, it's a great question. And I'm glad you brought up Amazon because I do think it You know, when Amazon reported its, its latest quarterly results, I want to say that was late April, so late last month. And that was kind of the first warning sign so to speak. And, you know, I feel like it set the tone for what we could anticipate for, you know, these other companies like a Walmart or a Target that have reported just, just this past week, right. And, and with Amazon, what you are seeing is, in, in a lot of this was expected, though, and I'll get into that, but, you know, growth, its eCommerce growth, and, you know, particularly within its retail business, because it does have all of these other businesses, but that, you know, those, those retail sales, it's, it's slowing dramatically from the levels that it saw a year ago. And I think the company would like to argue, you know, that is just kind of a natural progression, when you come off of a period when, yeah, your shal-, sales are shooting up, you know, up a 100%, or, you know, double digit percentage from the prior year, you know, levels that, that are just not normal by any means. It's only natural that it would kind of level out and become more stable over time.
Lauren Thomas 11:06
I mean, I think that that's what we've seen with Target and Walmart, and a number of these other retailers as well, kind of dependent upon what they were selling to consumers this time last year. There are definitely other factors that play though, like you said, I mean, with Amazon, they have a very small brick and mortar retail presence. I mean, they own Whole Foods, right, but, but they don't have many Amazon stores, they do have a few that they've tested over the years. But there's also this element of just people, are going back out and shopping.
Lauren Thomas 11:37
So, when you look at like a Macy's, now we're kind of getting to a more normal mix of, you know, in-store sales versus online sales. And as a result, you know, those online sales, potentially, it might be a decrease, right, from the growth that the company saw a year earlier. But then you'll see massive growth, kind of with the brick-and-mortar business. So, it just, it makes a year like this one, just really tricky when you're looking at these numbers, I think you've got to have that context of what was going on the year prior. Otherwise, none of it makes sense, right? Just like you've got to, you've got to kind of think through that base of, of, you know, where Amazon, for example, is, is building off of, from 2021 or 2020 eve.
Lauren Thomas 12:20
You see a lot of these companies now they're giving results for 2022. But they're saying, you know, this is how it compares to 2019 going as far back as 2019. Just to give you a clearer picture of you know, pre-pandemic because when you see the steep drop off in eCommerce growth, for example, it can really startle people but then, you know, these companies want to point out but if you compare that to where we were before the Coronavirus you know, we're still growing, right? So, it's, uh, yeah, it can get confusing.
Lauren Thomas 12:53
But there's, there are a lot of factors that play to dig into. I mean, certainly, we, we can get into the inflation component. But, you know, especially this week, the comments around just how consumer behavior is, is evolving with inflation, and been really eye opening.
Michael LeBlanc 13:09
If you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure and hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform, so you don't miss another great episode. We'll be right back with our interview with Lauren Thomas from CNBC right after this message.
Michael LeBlanc 13:23
After two years of unprecedented growth, some think eCommerce has hit its peak. So, what comes next, as businesses look to enter the next year of eCommerce growth, CommX serves as a guide to get them there. Led by best-in-class technology providers across the commerce ecosystem, including Bloomreach, Miracle, CINCH, ShipBob and Avalere. CommX offers exclusive research benchmarking data and more empowering businesses to deliver a commerce experience that drives measurable revenue growth, learn more at commerce experience.com That's commerceexperience.com.
Lauren Thomas 13:57
Your Walmart I think has really seen people pull back and you know, make different purchases again, Walmart is a company that caters to that lower income, consumer, you know, that doesn't have as much money and that's going to be more infected, affected by you know, all these price hikes at the gas pumps and in the grocery stores. Whereas, you know, Target might not be seeing as much of that. But then they're also seeing people buy a lot less stuff for their home and a lot less electronics compared with, with a year ago.
Lauren Thomas 14:27
So, it's just I feel like with all these companies, kind of the, the commentary that we've been gathering, it's just finally given us a sense of, of how the consumer has been responding to just these crazy times because it's, you know, ever since the holidays, it's been really murky, I think because retail sales numbers, you know, they keep going up, but you have to dig into that and see how much of that is just driven by inflation. How much of that is just the fact that prices are going up, right, that's, that's leading to the uptick in retail sales.
Scott Silverman 14:58
Yeah, I And I keep trying to think through of, there are signs that the demand is still there. But there's obviously higher costs due to inflation and supply chain and things like that, and trying to reconcile this reaction from the market, which was quite extreme, but I, you know, who, who can really predict, you know, how the market is going to react?
Scott Silverman 15:25
So, the other area I wanted to talk a little bit about are DTCs? Or I don't know is that is that even? I don't know, if you call them DNVB's to Digitally Native Vertical Brands, I mean, you're teasing a little bit with the Warby Parker's of the world. That's who I'm referencing, with this, and, and it's been a pretty tough year for a lot of them. And I'm interested to hear, you know, you know, again, you know, there might be, maybe the demand isn't as strong as it was during the pandemic, but there's some still there. There is definitely some other factors going on.
Lauren Thomas 15:25
I know.
Lauren Thomas 16:06
Yeah,
Scott Silverman 16:07
you know. What do you, you know, do you think they they're overvalued? And this is a correction that was inevitable? Do you think they're, you know, this is a blip, they're going to go back to some higher growth and profits, and feel free to get in a little bit of the, you know, just a, you know, what we're monitoring really closely are the higher customer acquisition costs, and a lot of that (crossover talk), is seen on Facebook and advertising and media costs, and a lot of it is, you know less accuracy in targeting, because the privacy changes from, from Apple and whatever Google might do or not do, but yeah, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on, on those on that category.
Lauren Thomas 16:51
Yeah, no, I'm glad, I'm glad you brought that one up. Because I feel like that's kind of a sector of retail that I, I try to watch pretty closely. And, and you're right, I, I think a lot of people have referred to it as kind of this reckoning for direct-to-consumer retail, a reckoning for these, these DTC companies, a number of which went public last year, when I think they saw this, this window of opportunity to do so.
You know, I think that the label, I find, I find myself now thinking a lot about, you know, the, the label data seat just in and of itself, and how it it's no longer really accurate. And I wonder if we'll ever get to a point where, you know, as reporters and just, you know, like you all and analysts, and just folks in the industry are no longer using it. Because you see companies like an Allbirds, for example, that started out sure, strictly selling its shoes, and now apparel directly to consumers. But you've heard the company on its past two, quarterly, you know, earnings conference calls, tell investors that they're now going to make this push into wholesale. And it's not totally clear yet what that's going to look like. But you know, a company like Allbirds, is now looking to work with third party retailers to sell its goods. And when you then when you label that direct-to-consumer, it just doesn't really make sense. I mean, sure, maybe the majority of its business is still going to be selling direct-to-consumer.
But I think what's happening is a lot of these companies, you know, they start online, then they open stores, because, you know, they kind of penetrate that online market, they realize, hey, we now, we we'd like a few stores to reach customers, you know, in the real world. And like you said, customer acquisition costs might be going up online, and Facebook ads are, are more expensive, or whatever it might be. And it's like, so that's kind of a step. And, and then you start thinking, okay, well, it's almost just like a Nike or, you know, kind of these other retail brands that we think about, and then you see, them make that step into wholesale, you know, and suddenly they're showing up in department stores, or maybe at a Kohl's, you know, or Dick's Sporting Goods. And again, that's just, I feel like it's coming full circle in a way. And it's just like, retail is retail. And, and all of these brands, at the end of the day are kind of figuring out the right mix of all of these channels, that's going to make the most sense for them.
Lauren Thomas 19:14
But more importantly, and certainly more importantly to Wall Street, is what is the right mix that's going to bring that profitable growth because, you know, like you've called out, you know, Allbirds and a number of these businesses are still losing money, right. And so, I think that, that, that is a big reason as to why they've been punished. I was just trying to pull up I know Allbirds is at this point trading under $5 a share. And at one point it was higher than 25, I'm trying to find its peak, but you know, yeah, 26 roughly, you know in change and now below five bucks. You know, it's not a great picture. And I think everyone's looking for proof, you know that, that the company will ultimately be able to, to turn a profit but they have yet to find it. So, when I see Allbirds coming out and saying, hey, you know, we're now going to team up with some, some third parties, I see them as really trying to now maybe use that channel to, to grow profits in some way.
Michael LeBlanc 20:14
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Lauren Thomas 20:58
It's and I also I think it all has implications to go back to what I was saying about IPOs and potential IPO candidates, it's all going to have implications for those brands that are waiting in the you know, on the on the bench, on the sidelines, you know, maybe hoping to IPO one day, or maybe they're, they're an M&A, you know, Target or there's some potential there up for a deal with another company.
But like, I feel like that's going to change the conversations that they're having. And, and likely now they have a lot more to prove. And they probably need to prove that they're profitable, or Wall Street will no longer have that same appetite anymore, because you look at, I mean, there have been there's still, Wayfair, Wayfair is another example of you know, one out there that is just really struggling right now, because they've got so much of their business online.
And you've got a company like Casper, you know, I watched Casper go public years ago, and then ultimately was taken private. So yeah, you've seen, you've seen a lot of stories that haven't been so much success stories. So, it's, uh, you know, I guess, that in that industry, and I'm sure a lot of those founders are really hopeful that there will be, you know, a success story to be found kind of amongst this group that will hopefully give competence to, to others.
Michael LeBlanc 22:13
Lauren let's change tracks a little bit. You know, part of being a modern reporter, I mean, you're, you're demonstrating it now is to be able to distill a whole bunch of information, (crossover talk), and be able to articulate it, not just in the way you are now, but on television and writing. I also think and you tell me, I think one of the key successes of being a great reporter, which I believe you are is two things, curiosity, but also the ability to listen. And, you know, you interview a lot of people, a lot of eCommerce, a lot of retail leaders, and I'm curious as you as you listen to them, they're at very senior levels, and all kinds of different levels. Are there any attributes that jumped out at you, like when you're, you know, picking out consistent themes, like these things, I hear from these individuals tell me, they are going to be successful, even notwithstanding whatever turbulence they're in for the business. Is there anything that you know, that's a big part of this podcast is careers and focus on career development? Any, any advice? Or anything that you've heard? You could share with the listeners?
Lauren Thomas 23:10
Yeah, definitely. And, and I'm sure I'm coming at this from, you know, a, an interesting perspective, again, considering I'm a reporter and always trying to kind of get to the bottom of things, and, you know, find the truth in it all right, the real story.
Lauren Thomas 23:25
I mean, for, for starters, I think more than anything, you appreciate someone that is willing to talk, when times are great, when times are good, but also when times are bad, right, and doesn't just totally put up a wall and go, you know, totally silent, when, you know, they're having a bad day, or maybe the company has a rough few months, or there's this big, you know, suddenly the supply chain is a mess, and they don't want to talk about it.
Lauren Thomas 23:55
Because over the years, you kind of learn who those who those leaders are right, ones that, you know, they'll always come to you when they have good news to tell, or they have a story that they want told. But you know, when on the flip side, you know, people like myself are seeking information or, you know, we want to try to hear, like, their side of the story. You know, if, if we, you know, for example, even just right now, right when, when everyone is dealing with inflation, it's like who who's who will step up to the plate and kind of discuss, like, what, what they're going through. So yeah, I would say, you know, even there's a great example this week. I mean, it's not I didn't talk to him personally, but like, it really stood out to me that even the CEO of Target Brian Cornell, came on CNBC, on air, -
Lauren Thomas 24:45
I saw that, (crossover talk), so he was on with a few of our anchors. Yeah. And that was like, I believe the worst day for Target stock in 35 years. And you know, the shares were down like 22% When Brian Cornell went, went on TV. I feel like I've seen a lot of CEOs before kind of balk at the opportunity to go on TV or to even talk to me for, you know, an interview over the phone, you know, when they're having a really rough day or when the, the earnings are not as good. But I think a lot of people, even just within our network, like we were talking about just kind of appreciating his transparency and being willing to go on air. And, you know, just it's kind of expects some of the responsibility for, for things that, that had happened.
Michael LeBlanc 25:28
(Crossover talk), you did in the interview. I thought I, I, I echo that, because in the interview, he said, you know, I think we got, I'm, I'm kind of paraphrasing, but I think they get caught a little bit off guard by how fast the shift to service in different types of goods. You know, we oh, my goodness, we got too many TVs now. And I think, -
Lauren Thomas 25:43
right, -
Michael LeBlanc 25:44
that they, they, you know, he said, listen, I think I think that caught us a little bit off guard, everybody knew that was coming, right? I mean, -
Lauren Thomas 25:49
yeah, exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 25:50
I mean, inevitable when our lives, get back to normal, and we'll start buying the things we used to buy. But I think the, the very quick shift, I think, you know, I think he speaks for many, but as you say, perhaps not many willing to speak.
Lauren Thomas 26:02
Yeah. I and I think a lot of times, you, you see, I feel like I see this companies are always like waiting for one, one person, one CEO or one, press release, whatever it might be to, like, go out and just say something, you know, to kind of like, open the open the floodgates, so to speak to like, allow them it's like, okay, now it's safe now. So, I don't know if that was like what Brian Cornell effectively did, I mean, because certainly, even just today, I mean, a number of, of reporter-, er-, or I'm sorry, earnings reports came out, you know, were where CEOs now, or just being very blunt, kind of about the, you know, the issues that they're seeing. So, I, (crossover talk), -
Scott Silverman 26:45
like, it's a bit of, like demonstrating their confidence in their company being well managed, because they're doing everything they can, and they're willing to talk about what's going well, and what's not going well, knowing that, you know, they're controlling everything they possibly can in the best possible way.
Lauren Thomas 27:04
Right, I feel like that's, you know, I can't speak to it, again I've never been a leader or a CEO in that position. But I would I, I feel like that would be a good a good thing to emulate. And, and also it just to piggyback on that real quick, one other thought is just giving, like real world examples, I think is always really helpful when I'm talking to, you know, CEOs or leaders at various retailers, like hearing them walk me through, like literally what's, what's going on within the business, not just like, metaphorically speaking, those, those real-world examples, I find are just really, really helpful.
Michael LeBlanc 27:41
Yeah, I mean, what I hear from you is that kind of resilience, you know, in the in that as that you hear, you know, that kind of listen, this is this is a bad day, but we'll have better days and or, and that probably reflects their style of leadership as well. Because if they're talking to you, you know, there's an element of risk to talking to you, you know, that, (crossover talk), we have no risk talking to you. We're enjoying (inaudible) were enjoying this immensely.
Michael LeBlanc 28:04
So, at, at the beginning, you talked about as Scott talked about putting you so to speak or getting you on the hot seat now. Here's the format. We're going to go to hot takes.
Lauren Thomas 28:15
I love it, -
Michael LeBlanc 28:16
So, I'm going to throw out a few words related to retail, obviously, and you give me your hot take about what you think from them. So, it's kind of a rapid session, so okay, are you ready?
Lauren Thomas 28:25
Perfect, Yep.
Michael LeBlanc 28:26
All right, shopping malls, -
Lauren Thomas 28:28
department stores, -
Michael LeBlanc 28:30
okay, marketplaces, -
Lauren Thomas 28:32
marketplaces, umm Amazon, -
Michael LeBlanc 28:35
All right, department stores.
Lauren Thomas 28:38
Macy's.
Michael LeBlanc 28:39
All right. What about its future department stores? Bright? Dull?
Lauren Thomas 28:43
(inaudible), mediocre? Well, like we'll see, -
Michael LeBlanc 28:49
(Crossover talk). We'll call that TBD.
Michael LeBlanc 28:51
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 28:52
Okay, Amazon is the biggest eCommerce player. Still 10 years from now?
Lauren Thomas 28:59
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc 29:00
Okay. Retail and the metaverse.
Lauren Thomas 29:04
Um, -
Michael LeBlanc 29:05
you're stumped like everybody else, okay, that's two words, two we can hyphenate them, -
Lauren Thomas 29:06
I know, I'm trying to think of I have the thought in my head. But I need like one word to kind of sum it up, a shiny-object, that's two words, shiny-object, yeah, -
Michael LeBlanc 29:18
And sustainability, in which actually you'll be on stage talking about at CommerceNext, sustainability, -
Lauren Thomas 29:22
Youth, I think youth. Yeah, -
Michael LeBlanc 29:25
Automation, -
Lauren Thomas 29:26
Robots, -
Michael LeBlanc 29:28
Media, in retail, not media and retail, media, in retail, -
Lauren Thomas 29:34
Media in retail. Media, like advertising. Sorry, I shouldn't be asking you (inaudible), advertising, I guess it's like, (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 29:43
It's, it's that i-, it's that idea that all retailers are seeing themselves now as a media platform, right?
Lauren Thomas 29:49
(Crossover talk), yeah. Again, I was going to kind of say like side hustle, but like, again, two words. Two words, -
Michael LeBlanc 29:52
I like that. I like that. Well, listen that's, that's a hot take. Thanks for being a good sport about that. Yeah, so, Scott, over to you bring us home.
Scott Silverman 30:05
Well, thank you so much in and when we see you, next month at CommerceNext, you'll be back in your regular role of interviewing CEOs, you can go back to that, that normal that you usually have. But thank you so much, this was a lot of fun. I, I hope you enjoyed it too, because usually you just get to, you know, report on what other people are saying and we are really interested in what you have to say, and got to hear a lot of that. And it's amazing, like how much you've covered and how much you've kind of taken in over the last five years, it's been quite a journey. So, I can I, I, I look forward to watching your, you know, coverage in the future. And, and if that means going beyond retail, or whatever that is, I think it will be a lot of fun to watch. But thank you so much for spending some time with us today, during a very busy season in, in period and retail. We really appreciate it.
Lauren Thomas 31:06
Oh, absolutely. No, thank you so much. And that's, that's really nice of you to say, well, I, I want to do this again. Well, we'll have to, we'll have to loop back, you know, maybe even around the, the holidays. That's always an interesting time. And I feel like everything considered you know, what, what we just talked about this holiday season is, is going to be probably one like we've never seen before. So, mo-, more to come on that front.
Scott Silverman 31:28
All right, yeah, I mean, I thought that was the case, the last two, (crossover talk) and to get in and everything else that's going on. And yeah, now we're just piling on more issues. So yes, that's a good idea. And Michael, thank you. Always good to talk to you. Thanks for, thanks for, for being part of this and I enjoyed your hot takes. We got to hear some interesting things from Lauren there.
Michael LeBlanc 31:54
Yeah, it was fantastic. Great episode. And thanks again, Lauren. And thanks again, Scott.
Lauren Thomas 31:58
Thank you.
Michael LeBlanc 31:59
Thanks for tuning into this episode of Conversations with CommerceNext, please follow us on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform, where we will be sharing career advice and marketing strategies from eCommerce and digital marketing leaders at retailers and direct to consumer brands each and every episode.
Michael LeBlanc 32:15
CommercNext is a community event series and conference from marketers at retail and direct to consumer brands. Through our online forums, interviews, webinars, summits and other in-person events. We harness the collective wisdom of our community to help marketers grow their businesses and advance their careers.
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Have a fantastic week everyone.