Eric Athas is Deputy Editor for Newsroom Development & Support at The New York Times and the author of *Saying No to New,* reported over four years with neuroscientists, behavioral economists, ad industry veterans, tech insiders, and an astronaut. He interviewed Ricardo in 2024 for the book's retail research and quotes him on page 41.
Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden press Eric on his central concept: the new thing gap, the time and distance between encountering something new and being able to get it. That gap is where shoppers used to think. Frictionless shopping closed it, and agentic commerce is about to remove what's left. Eric's read on AI shopping assistants lands hard: ask a model whether the thing you already wanted is the right thing, and it will probably say yes.
Eric makes the case for useful friction, explains the Iron Man method for deciding which new things earn a yes, and walks through the curb cut test for separating innovation that helps a wide spectrum of people from innovation theater. Casey asks the tough industry question: what does a brand look like that's built on rediscovery instead of replacement?
Plus: the Australian jewel beetles that nearly wiped themselves out mating with beer bottles, Amber Case of the Calm Tech Institute on smart home devices as roommates who won't stop talking, the Diderot effect and what one new desk does to the rest of a room, and Ricardo's story about the UK retailer that cut buyer's-remorse returns in half by asking better questions at the shelf.
Required listening if you work on frictionless shopping experiences, agentic commerce roadmaps, merchandising, or post-purchase. Whatever your read on agentic commerce, the frictionless shopping question in this episode is the one your customers are already living with
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Preview it in our 3-part *Data Blades* mini-series this September with Prof Brett Duarte.
*Retail Razor Show S6:E12*
*Released on September 15, 2026*
*Guest info*
Deputy Editor, Newsroom Development & Support. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com
“Saying No to New: Why New Things Are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness―and How to Take Back Your Life.” https://sayingnotonew.com
Eric Athas is an editor at the New York Times, where he helps journalists learn new tools and skills they can use to tell stories. Before joining the Times in 2016, he worked at NPR and the Washington Post. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and the Nieman Journalism Lab.
*Chapters*
00:00 Teaser
00:43 Show Intro
05:30 Welcome to the Retail Razor Show, Eric Athas!
06:25 The Painter's Lie: Why We Believe New Is Always Better
09:14 When Does Upgrading Stop Feeling Like a Win?
13:50 The Beetle Trap: Why Our Brains Are Wired for Novelty
16:50 How Retailers Engineer You Into Buying More
22:10 The Vanishing Gap Between Wanting and Buying
33:38 The Magic Pill Effect: Why AI Tells You What You Want to Hear
41:04 The Iron Man Method: Finding Your Anchor in a World of New
45:05 Rediscovering the Familiar: Why Old Things Still Work
58:03 The Diderot Effect: How One New Purchase Ruins Everything Else
01:04:11 The Curb Cut Test: How to Know What's Worth Saying Yes To
01:12:21 Show Close
#Retail #RetailTechnology #AgenticCommerce #ConsumerBehavior #FrictionlessShopping #RetailStrategy #CustomerExperience #EricAthas #SayingNoToNew #RetailRazorShow #Ricardo Belmar #CaseyGolden #RetailRazor