The CPG Guys Podcast: Connected Commerce with Flywheel’s Sarah Cunningham
Date: January 7, 2026
Host: Peter V.S. Bond (Sri Rajagopalan absent)
Guest: Sarah Cunningham, Chief Retail Experience Officer, Flywheel (Omnicom)
Episode Overview
In this special CES-timed episode, Peter Bond welcomes Sarah Cunningham to discuss Flywheel’s “Connected Commerce” offering—born from the integration of TPN’s retail experience expertise with Flywheel’s commerce intelligence. The episode dives deep into the new realities of shopper behavior, the importance of bridging digital and physical commerce, how brands should rethink personalization and experience, and how the new solution aligns marketing, sales, and analytics for outcome-based execution.
1. Introduction & Context
[00:09-03:10]
- Peter introduces the episode, highlighting the intersection of commerce and technology.
- Sri Rajagopalan is absent, en route to India.
- Announcement: The episode airs during CES, coinciding with Flywheel and TPN’s major integration news.
“The future of commerce is really about the experience.” — Sarah Cunningham [04:37]
2. The Why Behind Connected Commerce
[04:43-05:46]
- Sarah provides the inspiration for integrating TPN into Flywheel.
- The goal: Marry retail experience (TPN) with technology/data intelligence (Flywheel).
- Retail experience bridges “what’s possible” and “what actually performs.”
“Innovation only happens when it helps make people better, easier decisions, especially in store.” — Sarah Cunningham [04:55]
3. The Current State of Commerce
[05:46-06:39]
- Peter: Despite the growth of digital, ~90% of grocery transactions occur in-store.
- All commerce is digitally influenced, but physical retail is still the point of conversion.
- The line between digital and physical commerce is blurring.
“I firmly believe that 100% of all transactions are digitally influenced to one degree or another.” — Peter Bond [05:59]
4. Commerce Trends Shaping Brands & Consumers
[06:39-07:47]
- Sarah: The biggest trends are about speed—of data, decisions, and expectations.
- AI accelerates everything but also exposes more fragmentation.
- Shoppers move fluidly between search, store, social, and self—often in one day.
- Brands need solutions that help them navigate this moving target.
“Brands have more signals than ever, but fewer systems that can actually connect them.” — Sarah Cunningham [06:59]
5. Challenges in Creating Seamless Omnichannel Experiences
[07:47-09:17]
- Blind spots: Assuming omnichannel strategy equals omnichannel experience (it doesn’t).
- Visibility ≠ Understanding ≠ Choice.
- Real shopper insights—physical, behavioral, emotional—must come before decisions.
- Design experiences rooted in real behavior, not assumptions.
“Our work is really design that’s rooted in reality, not assumptions.” — Sarah Cunningham [08:35]
6. Rethinking Personalization in Physical Retail
[09:17-12:25]
- Peter: Retail media has accustomed brands to perfect closed-loop digital measurement, but in-store measurement and personalization are harder.
- Sarah: Personalization in-store is about relevance at scale, not 1:1 targeting.
- In-store context matters (mission, time, season, retailer, shopper mindset).
- The objective: Simplify decisions through contextual relevance and shelf design.
“In store isn’t just about one to one targeting, it’s about one to many design.” — Sarah Cunningham [11:07]
7. Discovery, Awareness, and the Role of “Retail Theater”
[12:25-14:30]
- Decline of linear TV means store is now the “last truly scaled discovery environment.”
- Shoppers want frictionless, helpful, context-aware retail experiences.
- Discovery comes from intentional design, not just size or noise.
“The best retail experiences are the ones that really feel helpful to that shopper, because that retail theater does matter now more than ever. But it has to be intentional.” — Sarah Cunningham [13:47]
8. Core Components of Flywheel’s Connected Commerce Solution
[15:26-17:45]
- Flywheel’s solution starts with the shopper, not the channel.
- Uses Flywheel’s exclusive data and commerce intelligence to deeply understand missions and behaviors.
- Experience is designed backward from shopper need; not just about exposure but about attention and understanding.
- Digital primes interest, in-store converts; the goal is system-wide coherence.
“If you don’t understand the mission, every tactic is just a guess.” — Sarah Cunningham [16:28]
9. Leveraging Data & Insights
[17:45-19:04]
- Data is only valuable if it changes what happens at shelf.
- Not about “more dashboards”—insights must show up physically in the store environment.
- Flywheel leverages its Commerce Cloud, Retail Insights, and now, via the IPG-Axiom acquisition, even richer digital and commerce intelligence.
“Our focus isn’t delivering more dashboards, it’s delivering that insight that can show up physically on the shelf, in the aisle and in the moment of choice.” — Sarah Cunningham [18:02]
10. Integration with Retailers, Marketplaces, and Media Partners
[19:54-21:39]
- Integration is foundational; must deliver for the shopper, not just the back end.
- Deep institutional partnerships with retailers ensure context-appropriate activation.
- The experience must be seamless across ecosystems, not optimized in silos.
“Integration starts with respecting the environment where the decisions are made.” — Sarah Cunningham [20:39]
11. Aligning Sales, Marketing, and Analytics Around Shared Outcomes
[22:30-24:13]
- Success comes from aligning disparate teams around a single moment—the shopper’s decision point.
- Flywheel acts as the connective tissue, helping teams see the shopper reality as a common language.
- Shared experience frameworks break down silos.
“Sales, marketing and data teams all need to be accountable to the same shopper outcome and not just their own channel metrics.” — Sarah Cunningham [29:03]
12. KPIs, Metrics & Measuring Success
[24:46-26:55]
- Focus on return on experience, return on relationship with retailers, and intention in measurement.
- Key metrics: conversion, velocity, clarity (reducing choice friction), assortment and shelf hierarchy.
- Clarity is an under-used leading indicator.
“If the discovery, the clarity and the confidence are working, the conversion will follow. This is the clearest signal that the system is performing.” — Sarah Cunningham [25:33]
13. Client Reception & Organizational Change
[27:16-30:34]
- Interest spans both large CPGs and growth/transforming brands—all seeking to overcome fragmentation.
- No “one-size-fits-all” organizational model; solutions must be custom, built around the shopper’s decision.
- The common thread: aligning around outcomes rather than structure or activity.
“Clients right now aren’t asking for more activity, they’re asking for more impact.” — Sarah Cunningham [28:41]
14. The Future Vision: Aspirations for Connected Commerce
[31:02-33:35]
- Sarah’s aspiration: Connected commerce becomes not an add-on but the default way brands operate.
- Media, content, strategy, retail execution, and measurement are designed together.
- Digital learning continuously—and predictably—informs the physical store.
- Simplification, confidence, and outcome alignment are hallmarks of success.
“I want to see digital intelligence consistently and predictably shape physical retail experiences, not just in experimental ways, but in repeatable, scalable ways... If clients say Flywheel made our organization clearer, our execution stronger, and our shopper experience better, I think we’ll know we got it right.” — Sarah Cunningham [32:07, 33:26]
15. Leadership Insights & Personal Takeaways
[33:35-37:38]
- In times of change, clarity matters more than certainty.
- Empathy and purpose are integral—to both shoppers and clients.
- “Stay curious, stay grounded, stay focused in the retail experience, and the rest will follow.”
“You don’t lead change by having all the answers. You lead it by creating confidence.” — Sarah Cunningham [36:21]
16. Memorable Quotes & Moments
- “Innovation only happens when it helps make people better, easier decisions, especially in store.” — Sarah Cunningham [04:55]
- “Brands have more signals than ever, but fewer systems that can actually connect them.” — Sarah Cunningham [06:59]
- “In store isn’t just about one to one targeting, it’s about one to many design.” — Sarah Cunningham [11:07]
- “The best retail experiences are the ones that really feel helpful to that shopper, because that retail theater does matter now more than ever. But it has to be intentional.” — Sarah Cunningham [13:47]
- “If you don’t understand the mission, every tactic is just a guess.” — Sarah Cunningham [16:28]
- “Sales, marketing and data teams all need to be accountable to the same shopper outcome and not just their own channel metrics.” — Sarah Cunningham [29:03]
- “You don’t lead change by having all the answers. You lead it by creating confidence.” — Sarah Cunningham [36:21]
17. Closing
- Peter sums up: Connected commerce bridges the digital and physical, leveraging data to create better in-store experiences.
- Sarah: Connected commerce is “very real, very practical and very necessary.”
- Listeners are pointed to digital liner notes for resources on Sarah, Flywheel, and the Connected Commerce solution.
For Further Exploration:
- [Sarah Cunningham’s LinkedIn] (see episode notes)
- [Flywheel’s Connected Commerce page] (see episode notes)
Perfect for: CPG and retail execs rethinking omnichannel strategy, marketers striving for seamless shopper journeys, and any practitioner navigating the digitally influenced world of commerce.