On day two of the Shoptalk Fall conference in Chicago, the focus was firmly on the importance of establishing a strong brand narrative, driving innovation through the power of AI and setting up your team for success.
We heard from leading retailers, including Athleta’s chief digital officer Michelle Goad, Target’s VP of digital product management Ranjeet Bhosale, Ace Hardware’s chief marketing officer Kim Lefko, Cos North America’s senior vice president of e-commerce and digital marketing Lauren Price, Fabletics’ president Meera Bhatia and Coach’s North American president Leigh Manheim Levine.
Here are some of the key insights we gleaned from the panels on the second day of Shoptalk Fall.
Leveling up on search in the AI era
Michelle Goad, Athleta’s chief digital officer, Ranjeet Bhosale, Target’s VP of digital product management and Erica Randerson, Edible Brand’s chief digital officer and general manager, discussed the benefits of AI for leveling up the customer search experience.
Bhosale and Randerson both said AI can be a helpful tool in reducing friction in the customer search process.
For example, Bhosale noted that traditionally, consumers have searched for items using a few words, such as “white T-shirt”. However, as AI becomes more common in the shopping landscape, consumers are beginning to search for products with longer and more specific questions, such as, “What would be the best gift to give to a small child for the holidays?”
Bhosale recommended that retailers stay up-to-date on how consumers are searching for products, whether on retail sites or with the assistance of AI-powered shopping tools, to ensure that the search experience is as seamless as possible.
“The best metric is when search becomes invisible and guests immediately find what they’re looking for,” said Bhosale.
Similarly, Randerson commented that it’s important “to make sure this search process isn’t a scavenger hunt, it’s a shortcut.”
While AI can accelerate the search process, it’s useless if the searches don’t present the most optimal options for the consumer.
Athleta’s Goad, pointed out an additional benefit of integrating AI into the search process.
“With AI, we can evolve the curation and simply obsess on the storytelling and the things that distinguish us as a brand,” she said.
Once a brand understands exactly what products consumers are looking for, it can optimise content creation.
Winning brand expression across platforms
Ace Hardware’s chief marketing officer Kim Lefko, Lauren Price, Cos North America’s senior vice president of e-commerce and digital marketing Lauren Price and Every Man Jack’s vice president of performance marketing and e-commerce Nicklaus Hasselberg shared how they approach brand expression across multiple content platforms.
For Ace Hardware, Lefko explained that the brand’s overarching priority is being the primary retailer for all things paint, power tools, home preservation and barbecue.
While Home Depot and Lowe’s may be the leaders in the hardware category, Ace is a strong competitor, with over 5100 locations across the US; more than the other two companies combined.
As a 100-plus-year-old company, Lefko explained that her mission is to maintain the values that the company has stood for since day one, while embracing TikTok and a new store format, Elevate Ace, to keep the brand fresh.
At the end of the day, Lefko said that consistency is Ace Hardware’s superpower when it comes to marketing messaging.
Meanwhile, Price and Hasselberg had a bit of a different take on how retailers need to win brand expression across multiple platforms.
Hasselberg noted that just a few years ago, Every Man Jack didn’t have a clear visual of the consumer they were marketing to. Over the past few years, the brand has clarified its focus on clean ingredients and inclusive masculinity.
As Hasselberg stated, “Consistency is great for many retailers, but it shouldn’t mean a brand shouldn’t experiment and leave room for transformation.”
Meanwhile, Price noted that while Cos’s messaging has been fairly clear since day one, the brand is now trying to optimise content for each platform.
“When we are specific about what works for each channel, then we can get content that we can really use fully,” said Price.
Both Price and Hasselberg agreed on the need for integrated marketing strategies, evaluating metrics across channels and the value of brand advertising in building brand awareness and consideration. Additionally, they both stressed the importance of choosing the right agency partners and allowing creators to innovate, rather than telling them how to create content.
What the C-suite can learn from the frontlines
In one of the final panels of the day, Fabletics’ president Meera Bhatia and Coach’s North American president Leigh Manheim discussed the importance of learning from the frontlines to ensure success at the very top of the corporate ladder.
From making regular and relaxed in-store visits to speak with staff members about consumer engagement and potential areas of improvement to weekly all-hands-on meetings and monthly anonymous Q&A sessions, Bhatia and Manheim said there are multiple strategies for seeking feedback from their on-the-ground employees.
Interestingly, Bhatia noted that it is a requirement for senior leaders to work at least one full-day shift as a sales associate to truly understand what it’s like to sell product in-store. This is done to help executives see what in-store employees experience and to take their insights seriously to move forward.
As Bhatia stated, “It starts with the culture you set at the top… People will give you feedback when they feel feedback is acted on.”
Similarly, Manheim commented that while C-suite executives “can think of amazing things in your head, if it doesn’t resonate [with the consumer] it won’t work”, so it is essential to listen to employees who have their ears on the ground.
