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21 episodes

Future Commerce

by Phillip Jackson, Brian Lange · English

Future Commerce is the culture magazine for Commerce. Hosts Phillip Jackson and Brian Lange help brand and digital marketing leaders see around the next corner by exploring the intersection of Culture and Commerce. Trusted by the world's most recognizable brands to deliver the most insightful, entertaining, and informative weekly podcasts, Future Commerce is the leading new media brand for eCommerce merchants and retail operators. Each week, we explore the cultural implications of what it means to sell or buy products and how commerce and media impact the culture and the world around us, through unique insights and engaging interviews with a dash of futurism. Weekly essays, full transcripts, and quarterly market research reports are available at https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus

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Shopify Exec Reveals the Future of Post-Anonymous Retail

Shopify’s VP of Product (retail/POS) discusses “post-anonymous” retail—how stores should use Shopify technology to connect online discovery with in-store experience, handle shoppers using AI as a…

11 Nov 2026 · 38m · 13 chapters

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

Why modern eCommerce economics “don’t math” anymore—contribution margins have collapsed due to saturation, higher supply-chain/logistics costs, and ad platforms extracting more value—plus how Pop…

6 Nov 2026 · 54m · 23 chapters

How Milani Doubled Its Business, and Plans to Do It Again

Milani’s growth strategy and how it built “prestige quality formulas at mass prices,” culminating in the “What’s inside is everything” platform tied to the relaunch of its iconic baked blush.

4 Nov 2026 · 47m · 17 chapters

DoorDash’s Ads Chief on Planning for Moments Over Audiences

DoorDash’s retail media/commerce media strategy, centered on Brandcenter and measurement (AAM-certified IROAS), using shopper loyalty and need-state moments to help CPG and other brands advertise and…

28 Oct 2026 · 24m · 13 chapters

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

How Halloween spending and retail calendars are expanding globally and becoming “Americanized,” driven by escapism, fandom, earlier seasonal merchandising, and social-media-driven demand (including…

23 Oct 2026 · 41m · 21 chapters

*TEASER* You Can See Everything, If You Speak Fielder

A discussion of Nathan Fielder’s approach to storytelling and performance, arguing he’s a “forerunner” of future media that uses layered meta-narratives and nuance for a world with more uncertainty…

23 Oct 2026 · 3m · 1 chapter

Deloitte Predicts A $1.7 Trillion Holiday Season

Deloitte’s holiday retail forecast and consumer study, projecting holiday spending, channel shifts, and how “value-driven” shopping plus AI/agentic commerce will shape retailer strategy.

21 Oct 2026 · 23m · 9 chapters

Aubrey Horowitz of Home Depot: "We Plan Halloween 3 Years in Advance"

Home Depot’s Halloween merchandising strategy, led by Aubrey Horowitz, and how “Skelly” (introduced in 2020) helped turn yard décor into a DIY, community-driven cultural phenomenon.

14 Oct 2026 · 29m · 12 chapters

Former Commerce Secretary Gutierrez on Leadership, AI, and America’s Role In the World

Carlos Gutierrez discusses how the U.S. Department of Commerce now shapes tariffs, export controls for AI chips, and even USTR’s trade negotiations; he argues the U.S.

7 Oct 2026 · 42m · 19 chapters

Memorable Over Measurable: Retail’s Lost Wonders

The episode argues that retail’s “lost wonders” come from memorable, taste-driven experience design—often hard to measure like cultural relevance.

30 Sep 2026 · 37m · 11 chapters

Rewind: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

A “rewind” conversation centered on Marshall McLuhan’s ideas—especially “the medium is the message”—and how media/technology reshape people and societies.

23 Sep 2026 · 1h 48m · 32 chapters

Separating Real Signals from the Noise

How to separate real consumer signals from “noise” using agentic consumer intelligence/knowledge management in the age of AI, combining public signals with first/second-party data to speed “time to…

16 Sep 2026 · 44m · 15 chapters

Cartographies of Meaning

Branding as “cartography” and “wayfinding” rather than top-down world-building—using maps as metaphors for how brands should navigate existing culture, stay legible, and evolve through feedback.

11 Sep 2026 · 22m · 8 chapters

*TEASER* The Oreogate Lady Is NOT Real!

A teaser arguing that “Oreogate Lady” (an alleged viral influencer) is not real and is likely astroturfed.

10 Sep 2026 · 2m · 1 chapter

Retail Media In Your Ears: Inside Dollar General's 21,000-Store Audio Network

Dollar General’s Retail Media Network (DG Media Network) and its in-store audio network, explaining how audio expands retail media formats beyond signage and digital displays, improves…

2 Sep 2026 · 40m · 17 chapters

2026 Signals We’re Tracking: Commerce Evolves (Again), the Monoculture is Back, and Celebrity Prevails?

A solo “fall preview” on Future Commerce’s 2026 signals: e-commerce growth, the “return of the monoculture” via shared cultural moments, and how celebrity/creator brands win attention but face…

26 Aug 2026 · 28m · 13 chapters

Shopify Earnings Go Wild, and American Retail is OVER.

Back-to-school retail forecasts and shopper behavior, tied to retail earnings and AI/agentic commerce; plus experiential retail and sensory marketing trends (including store “playgrounds,”…

19 Aug 2026 · 51m · 25 chapters

Enter Through the Gift Shop: Inside MoMA's Retail Journey

MoMA’s retail strategy as “entry” to the museum, plus how MoMA designs, licenses, curates, and uses AI/voice to improve commerce experiences.

12 Aug 2026 · 29m · 12 chapters

Commerce Media's Day Two: The Agentic Shelf and the Measurement Reckoning

“Commerce Media Day Two” covers retail media’s shift from rapid network launches to maturity, focusing on measurement standards, operational integration, incrementality, agentic commerce/“agentic…

5 Aug 2026 · 44m · 19 chapters

*TEASER* The Dire State of Consumer Trust In 2026

Consumer trust in U.S. institutions is extremely low going into 2026, with particular emphasis on medical and retail trust.

30 Jul 2026 · 2m · 1 chapter

Bedfellows: How Boll & Branch Keeps Humans and AI in the Same Sheets

Boll & Branch’s comfort-focused commerce strategy: expanding from 99% e-commerce into stores and wholesale while using AI to reduce friction without replacing human customer experience.

29 Jul 2026 · 43m · 20 chapters