On Thursday October 12th, the Global Ecommerce Leaders Forum (GELF) community will be back in New York City live and in-person for another full day of learning, sharing and networking. In this episode, GELF co-founders Kent Allen and Jim Okamura give us an exclusive preview of the fantastic speakers and thought leadership that is part of the agenda for the GELF NYC 2023 forum.
On Thursday October 12th, the Global Ecommerce Leaders Forum (GELF) community will be back in New York City live and in-person for another full day of learning, sharing and networking. Join global ecommerce leaders from leading DTC and retail brands for keynotes, breakout sessions, peer/executive discussions/meetups and networking as we return to Convene Midtown Westin October!
In this episode, GELF co-founders Kent Allen and Jim Okamura give us an exclusive preview of the fantastic speakers and thought leadership that is part of the agenda for the GELF NYC 2023 forum. I'll be there in the StreamCommerce podcasting studio chatting with the key industry players that bring this community alive!
Are you a retail ecommerce leader interested in speaking at GELF NYC 2023 on Thursday, October 12th? If so, please contact the GELF producers by emailing speak@globalecommerce.co
As always, GELF NYC 2023 is a retailer/DTC brand-only, sponsor-only event. If you are a cross-border solution provider, an ecommerce platform or marketplace operator, software company, agency, data aggregator, logistics provider or other global ecommerce solution or service provider interested in sponsoring and attending GELF NYC ’23, we would love to have you join us as a sponsor. Please contact sponsor@globalecommerce.co
About Kent
I help innovative digital companies tell their story and build relationships with prospective and established clients and partners. I've spent the last twenty years providing market analysis, research & thought leadership, market development and consulting services within the ecommerce technology and digital marketing community.
Current focus: Globalization via cross-border ecommerce, marketplaces and international retail expansion. Co-founded the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum to foster community among and provide education to digital professionals with international growth objectives.
My 20+ years of experience in the digital commerce and marketing industry and strong personal connections have provided me with opportunities to stay ahead of the curve and explore "what's next" for my clients and our audiences.
My research, content marketing & thought leadership skills coupled with my strong client interface skills allow me to define & execute next-generation marketing and commerce strategies & improve business performance.
Specialties/Skills: Market Research, Communications, Strategy, Planning, Best Practices, Trend, Data and Competitive Analysis, Public Speaking, Writing and Expression
About Jim
Jim Okamura is Partner with McMillan Doolittle - The Retail Experts. Jim has more than 25 years of consulting experience focused on the retail industry, including 20+ years in digital transformation strategies for retailers, brands and retail-related companies.
Specializations include cross-border & global ecommerce and organization design for digital transformations. Through our global alliance, Ebeltoft Group, we have deep retail expertise in more than 20 countries.
Clients include Wahl Clipper, Gap, adidas, Hunter Fan, Bassett Furniture, Giant Eagle, Federated Coop, Harley-Davidson, Baccarat, DSW, Tractor Supply Co., MasterCard, Verizon Wireless, Neiman Marcus, Navy Exchange, Lands’ End, Microsoft, The Body Shop International, L Brands, Timberland, Media Markt, Lowe’s Companies, Pep Boys, Crate and Barrel, Loyalty One, VISA, and Cadillac Fairview.
Jim is a Co-founder of the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum, a community and conference series focused on global and cross-border ecommerce. Digital Retail Globalization, such as riding China's ecommerce growth wave, is important for brands, retailers and distribution partners of all sizes.
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 eCommerce Leaders podcast, and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
dtc, international, brands, great, building, years, opening keynote, marketplaces, strategies, channels, call, wholesale, partners, hearing, speaker, la, global, shopper, markets, topics
Kent (55%), Jim (28%), Michael (17%)
ML
Michael LeBlanc
0:05
All right, Jeff and Ken, welcome to the global league commerce leaders podcast. How are you both doing?
KA
Kent Allen
0:11
Doing? Well, Michael, great to hear your voice. And thanks again for joining us earlier this year in LA that was, I believe your first visit to LA and you probably saw more rain than LA has seen in the last two years combined. But it was great to have you there.
ML
Michael LeBlanc
0:27
rain and hail. I'm like, is this la This isn't what I've seen on the television. But there you go. And Jim, how are you?
JO
Jim Okamura
0:34
Doing? Well, thanks. You know, looking forward to New York. And again, you know, thanks for, you know, support and GELF.
ML
Michael LeBlanc
0:40
Oh, fantastic. So, as, as we're talking about as the listeners are hearing last time, we saw each other actually wasn't in LA, it was a shop talk. So let's say let's catch up a little bit shop talk was back in, in March. What's going on? Since then, Jim, what's what's happening in your world? And what do you what do you think? And what are you working on these days?
JO
Jim Okamura
1:02
Yeah, a lot. Lots always going on. And it was great to see the crowds back at shop talk, and just kind of the buzz in the air so to speak, it was almost back to that overwhelming sense, you know, certainly when you entered into the one to one meeting room, but I think overall, it's just great to see again, where where people are, you know, back and I'd say in, in force, you know, at conferences, you know, in general, I think companies are clearly looking to find those little edges, you know, the these days, it's, it's obviously been a tough, you know, kind of macro environment out there. So, I think that makes it even more important that you know, those who are in decision making roles, or are looking for, you know, some new ideas, but also, how do we get better with our current ideas, let's say?
ML
Michael LeBlanc
1:59
And Kent, how are you? And what are you up to in this year of efficiency? As many, as many are calling it? Ai? What do you been working on? And how are you thinking about the overall vibe that's going on in the cross border world?
KA
Kent Allen
2:13
Yeah, I think, you know, the interesting thing is that, you know, we seem to be, you know, beyond the pandemic, thinking, the post pandemic consumers is definitely different. And I think you know, how that's being reflected in my day to day, which is, you know, heads down, getting ready for our New York event on October 12, is the reality that the shopper is looking for more than just, you know, D to C, or brick and mortar. I mean, I think we saw the overcorrection to D to SR and the pandemic, and, arguably, we've kind of come out of this overcorrection back to retail, where everybody wanted to go see people and shop and, and so, you know, kind of one of the key topics that we're working on right now is, you know, if you want to call it global omni channel, you know, tongue in cheek, we've been calling it the the dawn of the D to C plus era, where DTC brands are adding channels, including, you know, traditional retail. And, you know, interestingly enough, we're seeing differences in the different markets, obviously, GELF has always been focused on how do we help the international shopper whether they're shopping, you know, DTC cross border, or whether they're shopping the international marketplaces, and I'd say probably the biggest, you know, theme that we're looking at now is, is how the digital leaders that are a part of the GELF community are really helping to drive digital transformation throughout their wholesale retail international distribution channels. So lots going on on those topics.
ML
Michael LeBlanc
3:48
So we're about 60 days, we're recording this in early August out from GELF, New York, which moved out a little bit into early October before we get too far ahead. It looks like you've been doing some Yeoman like work, fantastic work getting a great speaker roster together for New York. What take us back a few bases to LA is it was still this year, so to speak, what were some of the big insights that we can catch people up on if they had this morning, may perhaps this is one of the first times they've listened to us in a little bit. Or maybe we just want to kind of grab some of those insights because you're probably using those to build on for,
KA
Kent Allen
4:24
ya know, you're spot on. And, you know, we really opened up in LA, we really wanted to kind of showcase three different brands that were doing international expansion in three different ways. So we had Stephanie from manscaped, largely they've had a very successful international expansion that's been you know, almost completely de to see. We also had Karen from Bath and Body Works, different story. They've largely built their international sales and brands through almost completely working with international wholesale distribution. partners, especially in the Middle East, where they've got their first traction. And then we had Alex Ruud from stance who was really kind of a hybrid. And they were very much focused on D to C in some international markets, but also working with service partners and distributors in other markets. So it was very interesting to see, you know, how their strategies were similar how they were difference where they were converging. And, and yeah, you're spot on that that's kind of, you know, what we'd like to do between the the GELF events is, you know, to kind of build the conversation. So it starts at one event and leads to the next. So, we just announced this week, our opening keynote, we've got Tassie Christopher's the VP of international from Paula's Choice. Joining us, we've got Barbara and Barbara from Citizen watch group and Valerie from American Eagle Outfitters. They're both back from last year's event. And we've got Casey Surrett, who's the VP of direct to consumer at GoPro joining us as well. And so we're kind of opening up with, we've kind of got a double, double executive, executive keynote leaders panel. So, you know, I was actually talking to Tassie last week and, you know, her her whole organization's, you know, kind of picking up on this theme of, you know, today's shoppers a little more savvy, they're, they're, they're looking for, you know, maybe more than just the conveniences of DTC, they're looking for the selection of international marketplaces. And they're really looking for the kind of, you know, cultural understanding know, how of, you know, in country distribution partners. So, you know, they, she, we talked a lot about how she's reshaping their business from, you know, their traditional wheelhouse of DTC first, if you will, to really kind of focusing on all the different channels, I think Valerie is going to pick up a little bit on that with, you know, some maybe cautionary tales about international marketplaces, and especially how the international marketplaces have changed, you know, or have been changed by the belt tightening and things like that. So, you know, we've got some international marketplace, conversations going on barbers talking a lot about how they're working with their international distribution partners, they they sell through mom and pops, they sell through large international retail brands, and, you know, they're they're trying to move towards this universal technology strategy where there's a lot of collaborative growth and a lot of technology, you know, back and forth, if you will, and, and Casey, you know, was was one of the first people to kind of raise their hand and you know, as to get involved with our events this year. And we've had some great conversations with her around, you know, some of the global pricing frictions that are happening as brands realize they need to go through DTC and marketplaces. And, you know, obviously, they're their international partners. social platforms are a big part of the opening conversation as well. And then Jim is actually going to going to kind of pick it up, pick up the second half of the hour. Yeah.
JO
Jim Okamura
8:01
The second half of that opening keynote is going to involve, you know, three great speakers, Mike singer from Victoria's Secret, Karen Delaney from a Bath and Bodyworks and Theresa Robeson, the Senior VP and GM of international from Iredale, cosmetics are going to be on that panel. And that, again, builds upon the LA opening keynote that Kant was mentioning earlier, really starting to broaden our mandate at GELF, you know, to not just be focused on the DTC channels, but also on international wholesale. Right. So again, just just the whole idea that how do we support, you know, some of our wholesale partners where they're their more traditional distributors, or whether they're perhaps franchise franchisee partners, and we've heard this, you know, for many years, you know, that it is challenging because from headquarters, it's not like you can command you know, the, the international partners to do it in a certain way, you can certainly be suggesting, you know, ways that they can be upping their digital game and I think that's generally a lot of the themes that that we're we're hearing, you know, very strongly is, everyone of course, is interested in, providing that best customer experience, you know, for that shopper in their, their, their local market through our digital channels, but a lot of these companies they may not have in the history of, you know, the franchise or in this case, you know, a Victoria's Secret or Bath and Bodyworks and, and so, again, how do you balance that out with supporting some of the these local teams and giving them you know, not just the best practices but working closely, you know, with them to to help them execute upon some of these strategies. So, it's a really, I think, fascinating, you know, path for us to really explore And upon in our community. And certainly, that's something we've been hearing loud and clear from, from our community that in this era, and Ken mentioned earlier that call it that overcorrection, you know, during, you know, the pandemic, to to ecommerce soon channels. Now we're starting to again, you know, see what I think of that as a better balanced portfolio of go to market channels internationally. And I think you know that, that's exciting for us to explore with some of these executive leaders.
ML
Michael LeBlanc
10:31
Fantastic. So Kent, a bit of mix of new folks to the community and some familiar faces. Anyone else you wanted to call out? I mean, is a great roster, of course, we'll put a link in the show notes, but any other things you want to call out? I mean, we're a couple of months away, so it's not, you know, there's still opportunity, a few few more secret surprises coming up. Right.
KA
Kent Allen
10:50
I had been waiting for the opportunity to see but wait, Michael, there's more. And there is more. And we've got a couple, we've got a new session, you know, kind of picks up a little bit on the opening probably be the kind of closing the morning with this one. Another topic that we've heard a lot about is this idea of, you know, how are you building brands internationally now, and one of the things that has come up in the speaker prep calls is this idea, like, okay, so, you know, interest rates are higher the the the air of, you know, free money is gone. And that means it's not as easy to just, you know, take cheap capital and run it through performance marketing engines and paid social and, you know, kind of turn the crank and do your do your international customer acquisition that way. So this whole kind of, you know, the new math, if you will, as we've seen rising interest rates, suddenly, there's this idea that, well, maybe it makes more sense to have a brand building program that involves these international wholesale partners. In other words, you know, sometimes getting products on people's digital shelves, or even their physical shelves and international markets can do a lot of good now, you're maybe you're sacrificing a little bit of that D to see margin. But you're making a backup by building the brand, you know, through the help of partners and things like that. So yeah, we've got another session, that's called building brands, internationally, we're blending, you know, consumer engagement across the different channels. And, you know, we've got a couple of new speakers on that one, as well. And really, what we're looking at that point is, we've got a new or I should say, a digital native brand coming from UK who's kind of flipping the script by, by going wholesale in a couple of international new part, new markets first, once they kind of build these wholesale partners, then they're going D to C. So you know, that's kind of flipping this script from, you know, four or five years ago, and a lot of people we're going to see in the markets first do the testing, get the data and things like that, oddly enough, and this is pappy, err. This their strategy in the UK where they're born is to, you know, take their DTC legacy and start looking at the numbers and, you know, looking at a wholesale project, or a wholesale program there as well. So, really interesting in, you know, kind of how the building of brands is also part of this. And, and this is something that, you know, Jim will be picking up in other ones, this idea of, you know, as you extend your reach beyond just the DTC channel, will you lose control over the brand? And, you know, Jim, I know, it's something that we've talked about for years at GELF, as far as the brand control elements.
JO
Jim Okamura
13:39
Yeah, and it, you know, other topics, Michael, that I think, you know, that are gonna be really interesting to explore. Certainly, sustainability is a topic that, you know, we're we continue to hear and, you know, some of the great things some brands are doing, our friends at Canada poster, you know, which show, you know, whom we, you know, well, are going to be presenting some research, that that really ties into the strong, I'd say behavior change, you know, with Canadian consumers on sustainability. The other topic that I think you can't turn anywhere within retail issues, of course, generative AI and that we're going to be seeing, you know, how that is manifesting itself, you know, within things like customer care or customer service strategies, you know, with some of our other companies that we'll be talking about that so, very excited to kind of, you know, delve into some of these topics. And again, as Ken said, we've got perhaps our best speaker lineup, you know, ever so, we're really starting to get into some of these details, you know, with the these executive leaders that have are joining us on stage and certainly looking forward to hearing what is the latest What are they doing, you know, to really, you know, bring generative AI to life with in their organizations,
ML
Michael LeBlanc
15:01
cross border generative AI, I think that's got a buzzy pretty buzzy panel name I was looking for I was looking for a panel on that I'd go to that. When can't, let's wrap up a third last words to you give us all the 411. Where when, if you're a retailer, how do you attend? If you're a brand? How do you attend? And if you're one of the most wonderful many service providers, give us the 411
KA
Kent Allen
15:25
Yeah, you know, and we can't do without our sponsors. So big shout out to them. We're in New York back at convene Midtown where we've been for the last five, six years. So looking forward to getting back there and pulling the community together on Thursday, October the 12 happy to get people registered. So you can just go to global E-Commerce leaders forum.com And just click on the button for GELF, New York 2023. And you'll be able to register there. And you know, as always, we try to make it easy for the retailers and brands to join. So just register for complimentary VIP pass there and really looking forward to, you know, full day. And then the afternoon, I should say is, you know, we're gonna be looking at, you know, how we're scaling global supply chains and how people are rethinking global distribution. So you know, we'll pick a little bit more up on the supply chain and all that good stuff in the afternoon. So lots to come. Stay tuned, we'll be announcing speakers and, you know, over the next two months, we'll be profiling to different sessions. And again, Michael, I believe will have you there on site to sit down with Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum and build on what we start as far as dialogue on stage.
ML
Michael LeBlanc
16:47
That's right. I will be there in the stream commerce podcasting pop up studio, and looking forward as always to bracing conversations with with the folks and taking that message and making sure we make sure and go global with it. Well, listen, Gentlemen, thanks so much for popping in and a great update. And maybe we'll do another one of these closer to because a lot happens 60 days 60 days before an event A lot can happen. And a lot will happen between then and now. But for now enjoy the rest of your summer and for everyone listening, run don't walk to the convene Center in Manhattan for the next edition of GELF in mid October, but lots of links in the show notes. So gentlemen, Jim, can't have a great rest of your day. And thanks for joining me on the pod.
17:39
Thanks, Michael.