OFFBounds Retail

Paula Macaggi
  • 3.3 (4)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

OFFBounds is where the world’s retail and commerce leaders go beyond headlines to talk about the decisions, strategies, and ideas shaping the future of the industry. Every week, Paula Macaggi sits down in person with executives from leading brands, retailers, and technology companies for candid conversations about leadership, innovation, growth, and the realities behind building modern commerce businesses. More than a traditional interview show, OFFBounds explores the human side of leadership: the risks taken, the lessons learned, the moments of reinvention, and the perspectives that rarely make it into press releases or conference stages. Recorded in person with premium audio and video production, OFFBounds brings global commerce executives together in conversations designed to inform, challenge, and inspire the next generation of industry leaders.

  1. 1d ago

    119. Brandon Rael's Insights on Agentic Commerce

    When ChatGPT launched, most retailers focused on chatbots and customer service. Today, the conversation is much bigger. AI agents are beginning to influence how consumers discover products, compare options, and make purchasing decisions. In this episode of OFFBounds, Paula Macaggi sits down with retail strategist Brandon Rael to explore how agentic commerce is reshaping the customer journey and what retailers need to do to prepare for a future where shopping may start with an AI agent rather than a search engine or brand website. Together, they discuss why so many companies struggle to move AI initiatives beyond pilot programs, the importance of data and modern technology architectures, and how retailers can balance innovation with operational realities. They also examine the opportunities and risks of AI-powered shopping, the future of personalization, and why physical stores remain a critical part of the commerce ecosystem. If you're trying to understand where retail is heading next, this conversation offers a practical look at one of the most important shifts happening in commerce today.

    38 min

  2. May 27

    118. Retail Trends 2026

    Retail is entering a new era where technology is becoming invisible and human connection is becoming more valuable than ever. In this solo episode of OFFBounds, Paula Macaggi breaks down five major trends shaping retail in 2026 based on conversations with some of the world’s leading retail executives. From AI-powered commerce and visual search to the rise of membership models and the transformation of physical stores into emotional destinations, this episode explores how consumer behavior is evolving and what operators need to understand next. Drawing on insights from brands and leaders across the US, Europe, China, and Australia, Paula explains why AI is becoming infrastructure instead of just another feature and why the retailers winning in this next phase will be the ones investing deeply in people, community, and experience. If you want deeper analysis, executive signals, and actionable retail intelligence, subscribe to OFFBounds Intelligence and stay ahead of the trends shaping the future of commerce.

    20 min

  3. May 13

    117. We Turned OFFBounds Into an AI-Powered Newsroom

    Check our new website: OFFBounds.tv What does a media company built for the AI era actually look like? In this special solo episode of OFFBounds, Paula Macaggi shares how OFFBounds evolved from a retail podcast into an AI-powered media company built with humans and agents working together. After 117 episodes and conversations with executives from more than 30 countries, OFFBounds launched OFFBounds Intelligence, a retail intelligence platform designed to help operators surface the signals, trends, and strategic insights that actually matter. Paula breaks down the thinking behind the platform, the rise of agentic AI, and why the future of business will belong to professionals who learn how to work alongside AI agents instead of competing against them. The episode also explores real-world examples of AI already transforming retail operations and commerce in 2026. From autonomous stores and AI-run workflows to practical use cases inside companies like The Vitamin Shoppe and Tecovas, Paula explains how operators are using AI to improve customer experience, inventory management, speed of execution, and decision-making. She also takes listeners inside the OFFBounds Intelligence editorial pipeline, revealing how a network of AI agents helps monitor retail news, identify market patterns, and generate operator-focused stories every single day. Mentioned in this episode:  ShiSh's report about his AI storeThe Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman Business Insider on AI Retail StoreAI Café in Stockholm

    17 min

  4. May 5

    116. American Golf's CEO, Nigel Oddy: “Be clear on the vision. Keep it simple.”

    In this episode of OFFBounds, Paula Macaggi sits down with Nigel Oddy, CEO of American Golf, to unpack what it really takes to turn around a retail business. With more than four decades in the industry and multiple CEO roles behind him, Nigel shares how he approached a company that had lost direction post-COVID, facing overstock, cash pressure, and declining performance. Instead of overcomplicating the strategy, he focused on people, clarity, and a simple vision that the entire organization could align behind. The conversation goes beyond the numbers and into the realities of execution. Nigel explains how to diagnose a business from the inside out, why most transformations fail in the early stages, and how customer experience becomes a true differentiator when done right. From retraining store teams to reduce customer intimidation to building a one-stop shop model supported by services and technology, this episode offers practical insights for retail leaders navigating growth, change, or turnaround situations.

    29 min

  5. Apr 21

    115. TCL's VP of Brand and Digital Marketing, Cole Moir: "You can't change what you don't measure."

    How do you take a brand most people see as the budget option and turn it into a serious competitor against Samsung, LG, and Sony? You start by knowing your consumer better than they do. Cole Moir is the VP of Brand and Digital Marketing at TCL North America, and in this episode he pulls back the curtain on how he's used partnerships with the NFL, Call of Duty, and the Olympics to put TCL at the center of culture, not just on the shelf. He talks about what most challenger brands get wrong, why he puts measurement before creative, and the one piece of career advice he wishes someone had given him years ago.

    24 min

  6. Apr 14

    114. Carl Boutet's New Book: The Flip: “The danger isn’t AI. It’s when we stop questioning what it tells us.”

    Paula Macaggi sits down with Carl Boutet in Montreal to unpack his new book, The Flip. What starts as a conversation about AI quickly turns into something deeper. A discussion about how value is shifting across retail and business, and why it’s becoming harder to define where that value is actually created. From automation and optimization to contextualization and immersion, Carl breaks down the four forces reshaping commerce and what they mean for leaders trying to navigate this moment of uncertainty. But this episode isn’t about having the answers. It’s about asking better questions. They explore the idea of “executive cognitive drift,” the risks of over-relying on algorithms, and why “artificially perfect” experiences are starting to feel less human. As AI becomes more embedded in how we work, create, and decide, the real opportunity may lie in knowing when to lean in and when to step back. A thoughtful conversation for anyone trying to make sense of where retail, technology, and human connection are heading next.

    37 min

  7. Apr 7

    113. Rohlik Group's Head of Strategy, Petr Lizner: "Online grocery can be profitable and is profitable. It's just a question of scale."

    Rohlik Group delivers 70,000 grocery orders a day across five European markets in as little as 60 minutes, profitably. And most people outside Europe have never heard of them. In this episode, I sit down with Petr Lizner, Head of Strategy at Rohlik Group, to break down how they built one of Europe's most impressive online grocery operations. From baking bread to order and sourcing from the best local butchers, to building their entire tech stack in-house over 11 years, Petr shares how Rohlik turned a Czech startup into a pan-European grocery powerhouse. We dig into the Brinkmeister acquisition in Germany, where they nearly doubled a stagnant business in one year. We talk about why automation isn't always the answer, how they price-match offline competitors while delivering in 60 minutes, and what's next as they license their technology to traditional retailers through Veloq. If you care about the future of grocery, this one is packed.

    29 min

  8. Mar 31

    112. Loblaw's VP and GM of Loyalty, Noah Goldberg: “The best loyalty programs don’t reward spend. They reward behavior.”

    Everyone has a loyalty program, but very few brands actually create loyalty. In this episode of OFFBounds, Paula Macaggi sits down with Noah Goldberg from Loblaw Companies Limited to unpack what it really takes to build one of the most widely used programs in the world. As the leader behind PC Optimum, with nearly 16 million members, Noah shares how loyalty operates at scale and why it goes far beyond points and discounts. The conversation explores the shift from rewarding transactions to rewarding engagement, and how digital behavior has become the foundation of modern loyalty programs. It also dives into the complexity behind creating a simple customer experience, the role of first-party data and retail media, and how AI will change the way customers interact with loyalty in the future.

    27 min
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Ratings & Reviews

3.3
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

OFFBounds is where the world’s retail and commerce leaders go beyond headlines to talk about the decisions, strategies, and ideas shaping the future of the industry. Every week, Paula Macaggi sits down in person with executives from leading brands, retailers, and technology companies for candid conversations about leadership, innovation, growth, and the realities behind building modern commerce businesses. More than a traditional interview show, OFFBounds explores the human side of leadership: the risks taken, the lessons learned, the moments of reinvention, and the perspectives that rarely make it into press releases or conference stages. Recorded in person with premium audio and video production, OFFBounds brings global commerce executives together in conversations designed to inform, challenge, and inspire the next generation of industry leaders.

Information

  • Creator
    Paula Macaggi
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    125
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Paula Macaggi
  • Show Website
    OFFBounds Retail

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