Eric Best

Bright Future for Bricks & Mortar Stores. Great piece covering Advise by John Walshe @ Retail Media Group, and highlighting: ·      Vast Majority of Grocery Sales still happen in Brick & Mortar Stores (80% plus) ·      CPG/ FMCG manufacturers are drowning in data and leaving enormous volumes and value on the shop floor, on the shelf, in the storeroom, with the competition, wasted… take your pick! ·      When manufacturers don’t engage with data they already have access to, they can’t automate processes, increase margins, increase efficiencies, reduce costs & retail talent. ·      Almost forgot… Manufacturers have to embrace AI, where it makes sense, like everyone else… 😊 See full article here: https://lnkd.in/erNY7bnH #cpganalytics #drowningindata #ecrireland #catmanglobal

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Saks Fifth Avenue follow-up: the Amazon filing is the real plot. Amazon is telling the court its $475M preferred equity in Saks Global is now “presumptively worthless,” and objecting to the Chapter 11 financing structure. Operator lens: this is what happens when a “strategic partnership” quietly becomes a capital stack position. A few signals worth watching: Emergency $400M funding got approved (part of a broader $1.75B package) — over Amazon’s objection.  Amazon argues that the deal terms and collateral package hurt unsecured creditors (and reset priorities). In distressed retail, the brand story gets headlines. The documents decide leverage. Curious: when a strategic partner turns into a creditor, what’s the first thing that breaks — incentives, governance, or trust?

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“From Volume to Value — AI is Reshaping Consumer Goods Playbooks.” A classic snack/wellness brand (SlimFast) just got a new lease via acquisition — signaling health/wellness is more than a trend. Retail + AI are converging fast. Walmart’s partnership with OpenAI means brands need to think ‘agentic commerce’ now. Innovation priority: PepsiCo is betting on protein‑infused coffee, low‑sugar sports drinks and new snack formats to jump ahead in a flat‑volume world. At Salesforce, their CG Cloud platform (CPF + REx + TPM) powered by AI is helping brands shift from tactical promo‑spend to strategic growth. Big shout‑out to Devin Kunysz, Achyut Jajoo & Ghufran Iftikhar for the leadership. My takeaway for CG execs: Build your data‑foundation now, operationalize AI across promo, channel & field execution, and move from “how many units” to “how much value”. #ConsumerGoods #CPG #RetailExecution #TradePromotion #AI #SalesforceCG #ChannelPlanning https://lnkd.in/gEirWWDC

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CFOs don't care about "operational efficiency." Not in the way you think. They care about three numbers that modern order operations directly impacts. After analyzing hundreds of enterprise implementations, here are the metrics that grab CFO attention: 𝟭. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 Modern order operations reduces inventory by 15-25% through real-time visibility (Gartner, 2021). Seeing exactly what inventory you have across all locations = holding less safety stock. 𝟮. 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿 & 𝗜𝗧 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 At Pipe17, we’ve found order operations platforms reduce IT costs by 30-80% thanks to no-code connectivity. No more custom integrations means no more developer bottlenecks that, with traditional OMS, required an around-the-clock IT team. 𝟯. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 We’ve worked with companies adding new sales channels (e.g. TikTok Shop) who went on to see $10M+ in fresh first-year revenue – but only once their operations supported rapid channel expansion without manual workarounds. Want to get started thinking like a winning CFO? You need order operations modernization. Start by tracking inventory reduction, labor savings, and new channel revenue over 12 months. Present quarterly progress to your team against these three metrics. The biggest savings are in inventory and people, while the biggest profits are gained through new channel sales. Only modern order operations directly links the two. — Sources: 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 2021, “𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴,” https://lnkd.in/g8u36gW7 𝘕𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴, 2025, “𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴,” https://lnkd.in/gnqA_7Sw

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https://lnkd.in/gz79_gpF Agentic Commerce is Redefining Retail—Here’s How to Respond definitely honored to see firmly mentioned by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a solution that can accelerate agentic commerce with its "0 work needed by merchants" beyond white listing. firmly solution strength is to be compliant with all standards ACP, APP, KYA, ultra secure (PCI, SOC2 etc...fully reviewed by infosec of very large financial actors) + leverage of the payment networks like Mastercard AgentPay.

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Stitch Fix Q1 results: 💰 Net revenue: +7.3% 🛍️ Active clients: -5.2% 💵 Revenue per client: +5.3% 📉 Net loss: $6.4 million The pleasing news from Stitch Fix is that revenue is back in growth and is up by a solid amount. Losses are also very moderate, which is a sea change from where the company was a while back. Active clients continue to moderate but churn is less than it was. It is also offset by higher revenue from existing users - which is a testament to the work Stitch Fix has done to make its service more relevant and compelling. In an age of overabundance and complexity there is a role for Stitch Fix. The service fills a need for those who want someone to translate all the choice into a more personalized offer. This, combined with stronger operating disciplines, makes the company one to watch. #retail #retailnews #earnings #fashion #services #apparel #econony

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We're excited to share Timber Grove Ventures investment in Jampack AI. Wholesale operations for CPG brands are workflow-dense, error-prone, and chronically underserved by software. A single PO can touch ten disconnected systems before it's resolved while the status quo is spreadsheets, email chains, and tools that don't talk to each other. Matteo Rossant lived this challenge helping scale N!CK'S from $0 to $40M in revenue. That operator DNA shows up in the product: Jampack's agentic workflows automate the entire operational layer, meeting brands where they are without ripping out existing systems. In just a few months, they're processing $500M in annualized wholesale volume. We’re proud to partner with Matteo, Rezi Tsulukidze, and the entire Jampack team alongside Maveron. If you are a high growth CPG brand scaling in retail please reach out! Full article in the comments below.

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Big milestone for Fulfil this week. Amazon and Whole Foods Market unveiled a new micro-fulfillment concept store in Pennsylvania that blends premium groceries with everyday goods — all powered by Fulfil’s advanced robotics platform. Inside the store, Fulfil’s autonomous ShopBots retrieve items across all temperature zones, enabling customers to order via QR codes and pick up groceries in minutes. This is a huge step forward in showing how physical AI and intelligent automation can reshape retail operations — bringing real scalability, precision, and efficiency to the last 100 feet of fulfillment. Excited to see Fulfil continue to define the future of how people shop. https://bit.ly/49cRXdt Congratulations Mir Aamir and Fulfil team!

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