Retail OCD

DeAnn Campbell, Barney Stacher & Joshua Rockoff

A weekly dive with the operators, innovators and leaders shaping retail, decoded through the real world impact on retail's bottom line, frontline teams, and the consumers we serve.

  1. 3d ago

    The Future of Self Checkout: How AI is Rebuilding Retail's Last Touchpoint

    Self-checkout was meant to make shopping faster and easier. Instead, it became one of retail's most controversial technologies. Rising shrink, frustrated shoppers and new regulations have forced retailers to rethink everything they planned. But beneath the headlines, a transformation is underway. AI, computer vision, RFID, biometrics, and newer technologies are hinting at what checkout will look like over the next decade, and the future may have surprisingly little to do with the checkout machine itself. Our guest, John Goodwin, Product Manager with Fujitsu, one of the early patent holders for RFID self-checkout, joins us to share first hand the full arc of why self checkout has struggled, and where it's heading. Not where I expected!

    The Future of Self Checkout: How AI is Rebuilding Retail's Last Touchpoint

  2. Jul 12

    What Retail Can Learn From Sports

    Sports has become retail's greatest masterclass in building loyalty, urgency, and emotional connection. In this episode of Retail OCD, we explore what retailers can learn from the business of sports. From fan culture and storytelling to premium merchandising, athlete brands, creator leagues, and the rise of sports, this is one of retail's fastest-growing sectors. If retailers want customers who buy with passion instead of convenience, this conversation offers a blueprint worth studying. And Go Knicks !! (and Arsenal... and Leafs!)

    What Retail Can Learn From Sports

  3. Jun 28

    The Future of Luxury Retail

    Luxury is no longer defined by exclusivity alone. Today, consumers are redefining what luxury means as AI transforms product discovery, high-quality dupes challenge traditional status symbols, and experiences increasingly outweigh possessions. In this episode, we explore how the luxury retail industry is adapting, which brands are successfully creating lasting value beyond price and prestige, and what it will take for luxury to remain truly desirable in the years ahead. With Special Guests: Marie Driscoll, President of the Retail Marketing Society and 2026 Voice of NRF, and Anna Karin Loureiro, Founder of Ore & Matter, Ex CMO of Alexander Wang and past VP Global Strategy Calvin Klein

    The Future of Luxury Retail

  4. Jun 25

    Real or AI? The Disclosure Fight Retail Can't Avoid

    AI-generated product photos. Chatbots posing as humans. Reviews no person actually wrote. Retailers are leaning harder into AI in every quarter, but regulators and consumers are starting to ask the same blunt question: when does a company have to say "this is AI"? Or do we have unreasonably higher standards for AI? In this episode, we talk with two AI security and transparency experts about what disclosure actually means, and why the retailers who get ahead of this fight now will have a real edge over the ones caught flat-footed later. Special Guests: David Berkowitz of Intuit Mailchimp, and Henry Kaiser PhD, of Centricity.

    Real or AI? The Disclosure Fight Retail Can't Avoid

  5. Jun 4

    What Makes A Store Worth The Trip: Retail Design & Customer Experience

    What makes a store worth leave leaving home for? In this episode we talk with Tyler Winograd, Studio Director of Retail & Consumer Experiences at Gensler about how experience led design turns a store into a revenue driver. We get philosophical about what the hospitality industry already knows about consumer behavior that retail still misses. And we learn where brands should start when they decide to open that first physical store. Design choices make shoppers want to stay longer, spend more and come back often. Listen in to learn how!

    What Makes A Store Worth The Trip: Retail Design & Customer Experience

  6. May 28

    Retail Chargebacks: Their real impact and what to do about it

    Chargebacks have become one of retail's most expensive, yet least talked about drains on profit. Fighting them is a balancing act between stopping fraud and protecting the customer experience. We talk to two active industry experts about the real operational and financial cost of chargebacks, the problem of friendly fraud, and why retailers are losing money in more ways than they realize. And most importantly, our experts share their best strategies and tools to dramatically reduce losses, protect repeat business and ease the heavy burden of chargeback management, even at scale.

    Retail Chargebacks: Their real impact and what to do about it

  7. May 18

    The Anti Amazon: How The Mall Street is building a multi-brand platform that puts brands first

    Every brand that sells on Amazon knows the truth: the customer belongs to Amazon, not to you. The Mall Street was purpose built to change that forever. While Amazon quietly steals data to sell their own dupes, The Mall Street's platform has figured out how to deliver a revelation: the discovery power and prestige of a luxury multi-brand shopping destination, without asking brands to hand over their customer, their data, or the control of their own brand relationships. The Chief Growth and Chief Brand officers walk us through how The Mall Street went from Amazonian anger to a digital flagship mall, where every brand keeps its own front door, but share infrastructure, traffic, and operational economies of scale. Given retailers' forced march toward agentic commerce, we found this discussion especially fascinating. And timely. If you're a brand tired of renting space on platforms that treat you as inventory more than a partner (or an AI training tool) this episode is for you!

    The Anti Amazon: How The Mall Street is building a multi-brand platform that puts brands first

  8. May 14

    Are You Having Fun? Never too late: Pivoting your career without starting over.

    Career pivots aren't just for people who failed, sometimes they're for people who succeeded and still felt unfulfilled. In this episode, we talk with two executives who left high-level roles at Gap to start their own businesses. They break down how they made the decision, what the transition actually looked like, and why it's never too late to build something that feels like yours. And how you just might have skills you didn't realize were lurking within you that will bring you joy in a new career direction you hadn't anticipated.

    Are You Having Fun? Never too late: Pivoting your career without starting over.
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About

A weekly dive with the operators, innovators and leaders shaping retail, decoded through the real world impact on retail's bottom line, frontline teams, and the consumers we serve.

Information

  • Creator
    DeAnn Campbell, Barney Stacher & Joshua Rockoff
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © DeAnn Campbell, Barney Stacher & Joshua Rockoff
  • Show Website
    Retail OCD