Podcast
Unpacking the Digital Shelf
Hosted by Digital Shelf Institute · EN
Let’s talk through the future of brand manufacturing in the digital age. Welcome to Unpacking the Digital Shelf. For more commerce content for all brands CPG & beyond, visit us at www.digitalshelfinstitute.org
42episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The 5 C’s of Product Data with Jason Hein, Global Director B2B eCommerce Association
1w ago00:36:18Tap to summarizeWelcome to the very first episode of Unpacking the Digital Shelf: B2B Edition. To kick off this new series, we are joined by industry veteran Jason Hein. Jason brings over a decade of merchandising experience from McMaster-Carr and a foundational role building out Amazon Business's industrial catalog—but more importantly, he brings a fantastic sense of humor and a gift for storytelling that makes complex data actually fun to talk about. Today, he’s unpacking his 5 C’s of Product Data framework, sharing how to translate heavy technical jargon for everyday buyers, and giving us the exact tactical blueprint to build a data model that scales. Let's unpack it.
Transcribe →A Humanist Spin on Machine-to-Machine Marketing, with Jason Carmel, Global Creative Data Lead at VML
2w ago00:30:07Tap to summarizeThe digital shelf has been joined by the agentic shelf — with AI agents no longer just tools in our marketing arsenal, they are emerging as a powerful, influential consumer segment actively shaping discovery, evaluation, and purchase decisions. In this audio version of a keynote from the Digital Shelf Summit, Jason Carmel, Global Creative Data Lead at VML, explains why enterprises need to re-think their marketing strategy to account for consumer machine agents, and how to do so while preserving authentic human connection.
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How Cooki Haircare Turned Community Demand into National Distribution, with Jaimee Vilela, Managing Director, Cooki Haircare
2w ago00:36:31Tap to summarizeMany brands spend years trying to earn their place on retail shelves. They pitch buyers, fight for space and hope their products will sell once they finally get there. But what if you flipped that model? What if you built so much demand online that retailers actually came looking for you? That’s exactly what today’s guest has done. Jaimee Vilela is the Managing Director of Cooki Haircare, a fast-growing Australian haircare brand she acquired just a few years ago. At the time, the business was doing just four sales a day. Since then, Jaimee and her team have transformed Cooki into a multi-million-dollar brand powered by a passionate community of customers and a strong digital-first strategy. That demand has translated into retail momentum, with Cooki now ranged across the Go Vita network across Australia. In this episode, Jaimee shares the unconventional path from small eCommerce acquisition to national retail presence, and what it takes to build a brand that customers and retailers both want.
Transcribe →Consumers Don’t Want to Be Your Friend, and Other Truth Bombs, with Sarah Levinger, Behavior Strategist
3w ago00:36:32Tap to summarizeSo it turns out when you survey brand marketers, and then their consumers, you all are not on the same page. But if you get on the same page, if you get past logic and really mine the emotional layer of your consumers, you will strike gold. Sarah Levinson is a behavioral strategist for D2C, B2B, for brands small and large, and she has honed survey strategies and deep data analysis to deeply understand what consumers want, and really don’t want, from your brand. That can turn your total addressable market into your immediate addressable market, and help you build the consumer relationship that meets them where they are at.
Transcribe →Make People the Center of AI Transformation, with Jason O’Toole, Head of Connected Commerce & Media at Gildan
4w ago00:27:17Tap to summarizeThe apparel industry is super competitive, complex, and constantly in flux. No more than in how dramatically AI is transforming the industry and the way people work. Jason O’Toole, Head of Connected Commerce & Media at Gildan, has a saying that has served him throughout his experiences at brands like Spanx, Zegna, and his current role: when the game changes, you had better change with the game, and as soon as possible. He focused this sense of urgency and opportunity on what it means to the humans at the center of Gildan’s mission - the shopper. His team supercharges their digital experiences by empowering them to use AI to drive impactful outcomes. Jason explained it all to us.
Transcribe →You are the Agent of Your Own Future, with David Goodtree, CEO and Founder at Foodgraph
Jun 1500:35:31Tap to summarizeThe leadership guru James C. Maxwell said “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” Feels apt to this moment, doesn’t it? People are anxious about the impact AI will have on their lives and careers. The pace and intensity of the change around us is likely to continue, so it is incumbent upon each individual to find their way through - to be their own change agent. David Goodtree, CEO and Founder at Foodgraph, joins the podcast to talk through some of the best approaches to assess the opportunity and imagine your growth path.
Transcribe →Building the Right Mindset and Motivations for Successful AI in Ecommerce, with Joanna Lambadjieva, Founder and CEO of Amazing Wave
Jun 800:39:23Tap to summarizeAs always with the three-legged stool of people, process, and technology, it’s the tech that gets all the buzz while it’s getting the other two legs right that really determine success or failure. Jo Lambadjieva, Founder and CEO of Amazing Wave and author of the AI in Ecommerce newsletter, invests all of her energy in helping ecommerce brands focus on enabling people to transform their processes using the right AI tooling for the job. She shares her advice 4 times a week with 70,000 newsletter readers and now, with all of you.
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Inside Digital & eCommerce 2026: What Retailers & Brands Need to Know, with Teresa Sperti, Arktic Fox & Gill Smythe, Salsify
Jun 200:37:48Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we unpack the key findings from the newly released Inside Digital & eCommerce 2026 report from Arktic Fox & Six Degrees Executive. The report is a deep dive into how Australian retailers and brand manufacturers are navigating the next era of digital commerce, drawing on insights from more than 100 senior leaders across retail, eCommerce, marketing, digital and retail media. The conversation explores how AI and agentic commerce are reshaping the digital shelf, why loyalty is becoming a bigger strategic priority, and how marketplaces, quick commerce and retail media are intensifying execution complexity for brands. We also examine the growing importance of product content and data foundations in an AI-driven discovery environment, the widening gap between ambition and capability, and where retailers and brands remain misaligned in the race to deliver better connected commerce experiences. From AI readiness and retail media investment to omnichannel execution and product data collaboration, this episode is essential listening for leaders shaping the future of retail and eCommerce in Australia. Download the full report here: https://www.arkticfox.io/inside-digital-ecommerce-2026
Transcribe →Driving Growth through Omnichannel Presence and Product Innovation, with Aaron Zagha, CMO at Newton Baby
Jun 100:24:04Tap to summarizeWhen last we met on the podcast in 2022, Aaron Zagha, CMO at Newton Baby, was selling some amazing baby mattresses through DTC. 4 years later, and a lot has changed - they’ve gone full omnichannel, expanded their product portfolio, and built a community of parents that are sticking with them, and their email list, for years. Managing all that change takes a ton of rigor, controlling the bottom line while fueling topline growth. Aaron walks us through this journey on today’s podcast.
Transcribe →Wielding the Levers of Growth at a Challenger Brand, with Matt Kreuger, SVP Digital Commerce and Marketplaces, Buffalo Games
May 2500:39:40Tap to summarizeBy the time he landed at his current Private Equity-led company, Matt Kreuger had 15 years under his belt building out ecommerce from scratch, growing global operations, and learning what it takes to drive growth across all different routes to the consumer. But as he says, “what was”doesn’t mean “what is”. Everything is always changing, and Matt, from his seat as SVP Digital Commerce and Marketplaces at Buffalo Games, is engineering growth with a lean and agile team and processes that are continually refined for today’s opportunities, and preparing for tomorrow’s. In addition to all the tech and the processes though, he finds more often than not that his secret weapon is empathy.
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