Videos
Your Store Converts Better Than Amazon. Stop Wasting It!
*Mark Ryski on why stores convert up to 70% of store traffic while online only converts 3% and Amazon only 10%* Physical stores convert up to 70% of store traffic. Online converts under 3%. *Mark Ryski,* CEO of *HeadCount Corporation,* explains retail's most misunderstood metric: *in-store conversio...
One Missing Employee Costs Restaurants $5,000 Every Quarter
*National Restaurant Association Chief Economist Dr. Chad Moutray on the 2026 labor market, 122% turnover, and the price of running a shift short* One missing employee can cost a restaurant $5,000 in three months. NRA Chief Economist *Dr. Chad Moutray* breaks down the real cost of understaffing and ...
From $20K Pilot to $20M Rollout: The Real Math of Scaling
Why do most retail innovation pilots die before they ever scale? Vitamin Shoppe COO *Andy Laudato* joins *Blade to Greatness* to break down how retail leaders actually scale innovation from pilot to enterprise, without falling into innovation theater. In this episode, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey ...
Why Retail CEOs Misunderstand Their Biggest Problem
*Ex-Google, Maersk, Moët Hennessy & Diageo exec, Louisa Loran, on the leadership capacity gap that explains why retail transformation keeps failing* Most retail transformation efforts fail for one reason, and it has nothing to do with technology. In this episode of Retail Transformers, Ricardo Belma...
Only 18% of Retailers Have This Figured Out
*Inside the Connected Supply Chain: Buy Online Pickup in Store, Local Delivery, and the 555% Gap.* Only 18% of retailers have actually solved Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS), and the profit winners are 555% more likely to have it optimized. *Greg Buzek* of *IHL Services* breaks down the connected...
AI Isn’t the Problem: Fixing Broken Retail Processes
*Julie Averill,* Chief Impact Officer, on Retail AI Transformation & Human-Centered Leadership. Why do 95% of AI projects fail? According to former Lululemon CIO Julie Averill, it is almost never the technology. In this episode of Retail Transformers, we dig into why AI projects fail in retail and w...
Frontline Workers Are Overwhelmed: Can On-Device AI Help?
*Two exclusive interviews on pragmatic AI and on-device AI for frontline workers.* Retail’s frontline is drowning in apps, and Zebra thinks on-device AI is the fix. *Ricardo Belmar* just got back from *Zebra ZONE 2026* in Nashville with two exclusive interviews, and in this bonus episode of The Reta...
The 97% Hiring Gap Nobody’s Talking About (The Augmented Associate in Retail)
*Greg Buzek of IHL Group on Why AI-Ready Retailers Are Hiring More Store Associates* Everyone said AI would gut retail jobs. The data says the opposite. The retailers deploying the most AI in their stores are hiring store associates at nearly double the rate of everyone else, 70% versus 36%, accordi...
Half Your Customers Already Shop With AI (Retail Trends 2026)
*8 themes from The Lead Summit every retail leader needs before holiday* Half of your customers are already shopping with AI, and most retailers still have no plan for it. In this bonus episode, we break down 8 themes on AI in retail and the retail trends 2026 will run on, straight from The Lead Sum...
The Truth About Gen Z and Alcohol in 2026 (It's Not What You Think)
*Campari America's Head of Marketing, Allison Varone, reveals the real trend behind mindful drinking — and how iconic brands are responding* Gen Z is rewriting drinking culture, and the spirits industry is racing to keep up. But the real trend is not what the headlines say. In this episode, Ricardo ...