PSFK's PurpleList

Amazon continues to dominate the market when it comes to e-commerce, which can make it difficult for smaller retailers to compete. Shopin is a blockchain-based e-commerce platform that hopes to change this, providing retailers with the data they need to better understand and target their customers. In this show, PSFK founder Piers Fawkes speaks to Eran Eyal, founder and CEO of Shopin, about how his business hopes to turn digital retail into a decentralized Amazon, implementing a universal shopper profile and cryptocurrency. For more about how brands like Shopin are empowering customers to use their own data and helping more retailers to compete, see PSFK’s report The Shopper Marketing Debrief.

Listen as PSFK President of Research & Strategy Scott Lachut and Strategist Penn Whaling explain how brands are evolving from centering their marketing around very specific or holiday-focused moments to concentrating their efforts on forming deeper connections with consumers, instead catering to their lifestyles and identities. The Occasion-Based Marketing Debrief shows how today’s retailers are sustaining on-going connections through engaging with the needs and passions of particular consumers rather than one-off occasions. The debrief comprises core insights from PSFK’s research, highlighting major pillars through which brands can speak to the identities of their customers, using their particular needs and interests as opportunities for engagement as opposed to relying on traditional holidays or moments. Lead image: young people enjoying a home party stock photo from g-stockstudio/Shutterstock

Nike has been pioneering the new face of IRL retail, and the athletic retailer’s recently opened Nike by Melrose store is no exception: Described as a “neighborhood digital service hub,” the store is built on data and driven by digital, embodying the Nike Live concept in  subtle and effective ways. In this show, PSFK founder Piers Fawkes speaks to Nike Direct President Heidi O’Neill to understand how this concept store was built by and for the people of L.A.’s Melrose neighborhood. For more about how retailers like Nike are reinventing the in-store experience in an age of new consumer behavior and desires, see PSFK’s newsletters and reports.

Due to the increasing availability of information regarding product content and ingredients, shoppers are demanding nothing short of the best in quality and content for their purchases, especially when it comes to products for their children. Organic baby skincare brand MADE OF is an example of a company that focuses on providing its consumers with access to data concerning product details like origin, organic and natural certifications and more, to back up its claims to quality. In this show, PSFK’s President of Research and Strategy Scott Lachut speaks to MADE OF’s founder Igor Bekker, about how the DTC brand maintains a commitment to total transparency, driving customer satisfaction and building trust. For more about how brands like MADE OF are creating natural skincare offerings that appeal to health and environmentally-conscious consumers, as well as generating customer loyalty and confidence by ensuring the quality of their products, see PSFK’s report A Natural Approach To Baby Skincare.

Listen as PSFK President of Research & Strategy Scott Lachut and Strategist Penn Whaling explain how companies can build better engagement with their customers at every point along the purchase path—from the sofa all the way to the shelf. Today’s shopping starts in the home, manifests online and may end up in the store, so PSFK’s Shopper Marketing Debrief looks at how companies tap into consumers and drive them down this path. The debrief comprises core insights from PSFK’s research into how shoppers expect to interact with brands today, and explains how businesses can use CRM systems to create visual search tools as well as details how to speak to customers via digital channels, overall encompassing 5 main trends for better interacting with and retaining their customers. Lead image: Online shopping stock photo from A. and I. Kruk/Shutterstock

While digital interfaces often take the blame for increasing isolation and reducing face-to-face contact among people, when put to the right use, they also have the power to enhance relationships and bring people closer together. In this show, Philip Rosedale, founder of virtual reality platform High Fidelity, explains how his company is pursuing the capacity to form genuine connections and engineer life-like experiences on a blockchain-based platform. Developing virtual interfaces is just one way that brands and businesses are providing consumers with new and optimized out-of-home entertainment. For more on this topic, see PSFK’s report The Out-Of-Home Entertainment Experience. Lead image: Philip Rosedale via Twitter

Apparel retailers continue to look for innovative ways to enhance the consumer experience of their brand, particularly in real life, serving as a complementary service to online purchasing options. In this show, Kevin Harwood, vice president of technology at athleisure brand Outdoor Voices, explains how his company is leveraging AR to integrate physical activity with the shopping experience, encouraging users to venture out to a particular hiking trail or bike path, where they can then view and purchase exclusive apparel in 3D on their mobile device. Integrating AR apps into their services to provide experiential shopping is just one way that retailers are building customer engagement. For more information on how brands are enhancing the consumer experience, see PSFK’s report pages.

Scent may be the most subtly influential of the five senses. While visual and audio elements have taken priority when designing a store or product, now brands are increasingly looking to the power of the olfactory sense to enhance the customer experience. In this show, PSFK founder Piers Fawkes speaks to Olivia Jezler, a sensory designer and fragrance expert, as well as Guillaume Rolland of the scent and wellness tech company Sensorwake, to uncover the immense potential for incorporating fragrance into retail and brand experiences. Marshaling the power of scent is just one way that brands are further engaging and immersing shoppers. For additional information on how retailers are enhancing the customer experience, see PSFK’s report pages. Lead image: beauty in nature stock photo from Natalia Deriabina/Shutterstock

Listen as PSFK President of Research & Strategy Scott Lachut and Strategist Avery McCaffrey guide brands and companies through key actions, perspectives and takeaways presented in a webinar for our CX Playbook report, which includes a customer-brand journey in which consumers are authentically empowered by purpose-driven initiatives. The report presents readers with an actionable, trends-inspired framework that will attract customers through value-driven brand perspectives and cultivate long-term loyalty by nurturing their progressive lifestyle. For more information, view the CX Playbook.

Firstage is a company that creates augmented reality experiences in the music entertainment space, using the latest technology to give artists better access to their audience while helping them generate additional revenue. In this show, PSFK founder Piers Fawkes speaks to Keith Lawler, Firstage’s founder and creative director, about launching the world’s first live augmented reality stage and what it means for advertisement as well as the consumer experience in the world of music. For more about the AR experiences, see PSFK’s Exploring Augmented Reality’s Impact On Brand Engagement report.

How can you see the future by looking for ideas today? This is Piers Fawkes of PSFK, and in this show I speak to Ariel Waldman, advisor to NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts, a program that funds the futuristic, sci-fi, out-there concepts that could be transformative to future space missions as well as to endeavors here on Earth. Listen to Ariel explain her process of spending time thinking about new ideas emerging today and making connections between varied disciplines to dream up tomorrow.

In this show, we explore the practice of direct-to-consumer retail, an increasingly popular distribution model that cuts out the middlemen involved in traditional retail and wholesale by using digital tools and platforms. In this episode, Piers Fawkes of PSFK speaks to Dave Lippman, vice president of design and executive creative director at eBay, how the e-commerce retailer is innovating to more directly target consumers and build brand rapport with them. For more information about trends taking place in DTC retail and the related customer experience, visit PSFK’s report pages.

John Wantz is the CEO of SHOP,  a company that is using blockchain to shift the power of retail back into the hands of brands and consumers, and away from Amazon. In this show, Piers of PSFK speaks to John and his colleague Jamie O’Shea about their plans to launch their Shop Coin later this year. You can read more about the impact of blockchain on the customer experience in our reports: psfk.com/reports

Businesses are increasingly turning to AI services like chatbots to easily input information and manage their data, optimizing their efficiency and streamlining workloads. In this episode, Piers Fawkes, founder of the business intelligence company PSFK, talks to Rob May, co-founder of Talla, a Boston-based startup, about how his company automates the content management of companies and workplaces using its smart knowledge base. For more about how businesses are optimizing and streamlining their services by improving the user experience, read PSFK’s newsletters and download our reports. Lead image: chatting online messaging stock photo by rawpixel.com on Shutterstock

Today’s brands distinguish themselves by building rapport with their consumers, which is why companies are increasingly looking to technology to provide new ways to foster closer connections and personalized service. In this episode, Piers Fawkes, founder of PSFK, speaks to Jarid Lukin,  vice president of e-commerce at Kind Snacks, about the importance of having a direct relationship with the consumer and how doing so serves to differentiate the brand. For more information about innovation in DTC retail and the related customer experience, visit PSFK’s report pages.