In this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar welcome Scott Greenberg, an acclaimed keynote speaker, renowned for his insightful understanding of people dynamics, and an accomplished author. Scott's insights not only shed light on the intricacies of managerial roles within businesses but also offer actionable takeaways for those navigating the dynamic world of retail. The three discuss the influence of diverse personality types on retail environments, the nuances of generational disparities in the workplace, and much more.

On this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar welcome Linda Wakim, a very special guest and someone they know very well. Linda Wakim, VP of Pre-Sales and Client Success at Birdzi has vast knowledge in all things retail . The three discuss Linda’s pathway through the technology in the retail industry from Giant Eagle to Birdzi, her love of analytics, how she uses her experience to help retailers get the most out of their data, and much more!

In the latest installment of The Retail Perch, your hosts Gary and, filling in for Shekar, co host Stephanie, have the pleasure of welcoming a Chris Kocek. Chris, the author of "Any Insights Yet?" and the visionary Founder & CEO of Gallant Branding, takes us on an intriguing journey through his transition from the world of advertising to the realm of strategy. Join us as Chris delves into the art of defining insights, explores the impact of AI tools on this crucial facet, and covers a myriad of other thought-provoking topics.

This week on the Retail Perch, Gary Hawkins and Shekar Raman are joined by the remarkable Tom Burgess, a true polymath who divides his time between pioneering new ventures and sailing the open seas. Tom boasts a distinguished track record as the founder of four companies, and he currently holds the esteemed position of President at Snipp Interactive. Join us as Shekar, Gary, and Tom engage in a captivating conversation spanning topics such as payments data integration, the synergy between banking and retail data for shoppers, Tom's adventures sailing across the globe, and a myriad of other intriguing subjects.

On this very special episode, Gary and Shekar welcome Paul V. McEnroe, author of THE BARCODE: How a Team Created One of the World's Most Ubiquitous Technologies and a retail pioneer. The inventor of the barcode joins The Retail Perch for a riveting discussion. Paul explains his story in Ohio and his path to creating such an important part of our daily lives. They discuss his journey, the introduction of the barcode to the retail industry in the 1980s, and much more.

Do not miss this episode with Shekar, Gary, Andrew Duffy, and Jake Sky Levin, co-founders of SparkPlug. SparkPlug is a sales incentive software built for retailers and brands to engage frontline teams to hit sales goals while increasing employee engagement. Andrew and Jake explain their interesting career path from hedge funds to tea companies to the retail industry. Also covered in this episode are Sparkplug’s onboarding process, their most recent accomplishments, and much more.

This week, Gary and Shekar are joined by Raz Golan co-founder of Shopic, a company that has transformed the shopping experience to another level. Shopic seamlessly integrates online stores with physical retail stores, enabling businesses to manage inventory, sales, and customer interactions in one unified system. It offers a streamlined shopping experience for both online and in-store customers, fostering efficient and effective retail operations. Shopic has developed an artificial intelligence based device called Smart Cart that attaches to a shopping cart. With cutting edge technology can detect when shoppers remove and add items to their cart acting as a self checkout. Raz discusses his background and the brainstorm that led to the creation of Smart Carts. Gary, Shekar, and Raz talk about the inspiration behind Shopic, the process of onboarding a retailer, and much more.

On this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar welcome Max Koziolek who has come a long way from politics to making a marketing platform. Max Koziolek is the co-founder of Spectrm, a conversational marketing platform that powers chatbots for a wide range of companies. Max shares his run in a national election in Germany, his interest in journalism and how that transformed into his current focus of helping marketing teams build trust, and provide success to brands. The three discuss marketing, the rise of marketing on WhatsApp, and much more!

In this week’s episode, Shekar and Gary interview Justin Chen, co-founder of PickFu, a company that provides a self-service way to get in-depth consumer feedback be it for businesses, authors, game designers, and more. Their instant polling services allow you to get feedback on anything from logos to business ideas from your chosen target audience in minutes. Justin explains how this whole project began, how PickFu can be used in the retail industry, how the surveys work, and much more. 

On this week's The Retail Perch, Gary, and Shekar welcome a fascinating, virtual guest, that knows a lot about...well everything. The three of them discuss marketing personalization in retail, the podcast, and the future of AI in the retail industry. 

In this episode, Shekar and Gary chat with Chandan Mahajan, one of the founders of DotKonnekt, a company that focuses on helping consumer brands scale their D2C channels organically. Chandan comes from a family of retailers and learned the ropes of retail in his earlier years from his father. The three discuss emotional engagement, a brand's relationships with its customers, and much more.

Don't miss this episode where Shekar and Gary welcome Galen Walters. Galen is the CEO of Stor.ai, a Relationshop Company, a platform that empowers retailers by combining ecommerce, data analytics, and omni-channel engagement capabilities to increase transactions, enhance loyalty and grow sales. Galen shares his history in the grocery industry from a boy working in grocery to a pioneer in shopper engagement and changing the retail technology industry. The three discuss the big shifts in the retail industry from a digital marketing perspective, the challenges those shifts may entail for retailers, and much more.

In this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar delve even deeper into the world of data and marketing with Valentin Radu, CEO of Omniconvert. Omniconvert focuses on Direct to Consumer businesses, and enriching their customer experiences. Valentin explains his journey in e-commerce, and how to retain customers. The three discuss the future for the company, the goals Omniconvert has and its involvement with the grocery retail industry.

In this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar welcome Sean Snyder. Sean Snyder, a fellow retailer himself, is CEO of Engagement Agents. His company helps retailers optimize leases, drive traffic and sales, and prevent lost traffic and sales to competitors! Retailers can achieve up to 30% more traffic and sales by engaging the "hidden" marketing dollars within their leases with the help of Engagement Agents. Sean discusses his marketing background, his time working at Stitch It, his inspiration for Engagement Agents, and much more.

In this episode of The Retail Perch, Gary returns to join Shekar in welcoming Carol Leaman. Carol is the CEO of Axonify Inc., a company that delivers fun training and communications to frontline employees. In this episode learn why companies like Kroger and Walmart have used Axonify to communicate with their frontline employees. The three discuss the effects the pandemic had on Axonify, digitization of employee training, retail workforce predictions and much more!

In today’s episode of The Retail Perch, Shekar hosts his first episode solo and his first guest of 2023, Randy Mercer of 1WorldSync. Randy is the VP of Global Product Management at 1WorldSync, a leading tool for data synchronization. This episode is all about standardizing data, AI, and product content. Randy discusses the history of 1WorldSync, packaging hierarchies, the challenges they have faced as a company, and much more.

This week on The Retail Perch, Shekar and Gary welcome their first guest from India, Sharat Potharaju. Sharat is the Co-Founder & CEO of Beaconstac. Beaconstac generates QR codes, makes templated landing pages, and facilitates engagement with QR codes. Sharat explains his steps in problem-solving for Beaconstac and connecting the physical and digital world, the importance and future of QR codes in the retail industry, and so much more.

In this special episode of The Retail Perch, Shekar and Gary discuss their top 10 predictions for 2023 surrounding supermarket retail. They both share five of their own predictions which include the growth of retail media networks , artificial intelligence, smart carts and much more!

This is the perfect episode to kick off the season of giving! Gary and Shekar welcome Andrew Forman, Founder & CEO of Givz, a platform that provides customers with an alternative option to traditional discounts that give back to others. Andrew discusses the origin story of Givz, and what inspired him to combine his passion for charity with e-commerce. He explains how donation incentives rather than discounts are helping retailers see a lift in sales and consumer engagement. 

In this episode of The Retail Perch, Shekar and Gary are excited to have brothers, Andrew and Thomas Parkinson, founders of Peapod, on The Retail Perch. Andrew and Thomas have more recently founded Sifter Solutions, which personalizes the shopping experience by matching complex diets with the right foods. They explain how their backgrounds led them to the retail industry, the future of e-commerce, future plans for Sifter Solutions, and how Peapod inspired Birdzi.