Kent Allen and Jim Okamura, co-founders of the successful Global eCommerce Leaders Forums and community, are back on the podcast sharing their expertise and providing us with a timely update on the state of cross-border and global eCommerce, including a view to China, Europe, LATAM and where retailers and brands should focus when looking for international growth.
Hello, and welcome to the Voice of Retail podcast! My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host. I believe in the power of storytelling to bring the retail industry to life. Each week, I'll bring insights, perspectives, and experiences from some of the retail industry's most innovative and influential voices. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Kent Allen and Jim Okamura, co-founders of the successful Global eCommerce Leaders Forums and community, are back on the podcast sharing their expertise and providing us with a timely update on the state of cross-border and global eCommerce, including a view to China, Europe, LATAM and where retailers and brands should focus when looking for international growth.
More information about the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum in LA here
About Kent
I help innovative digital companies tell their story and build relationships with prospective and established clients and partners. I've spent the last twenty years providing market analysis, research & thought leadership, market development and consulting services within the ecommerce technology and digital marketing community.
Current focus: Globalization via cross-border ecommerce, marketplaces and international retail expansion. Co-founded the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum to foster community among and provide education to digital professionals with international growth objectives.
My 20+ years of experience in the digital commerce and marketing industry and strong personal connections have provided me with opportunities to stay ahead of the curve and explore "what's next" for my clients and our audiences.
My research, content marketing & thought leadership skills coupled with my strong client interface skills allow me to define & execute next-generation marketing and commerce strategies & improve business performance.
Specialties/Skills: Market Research, Communications, Strategy, Planning, Best Practices, Trend, Data and Competitive Analysis, Public Speaking, Writing and Expression
About Jim
Jim Okamura is Partner with McMillan Doolittle - The Retail Experts. Jim has more than 25 years of consulting experience focused on the retail industry, including 20+ years in digital transformation strategies for retailers, brands and retail-related companies.
Specializations include cross-border & global ecommerce and organization design for digital transformations. Through our global alliance, Ebeltoft Group, we have deep retail expertise in more than 20 countries.
Clients include Wahl Clipper, Gap, adidas, Hunter Fan, Bassett Furniture, Giant Eagle, Federated Coop, Harley-Davidson, Baccarat, DSW, Tractor Supply Co., MasterCard, Verizon Wireless, Neiman Marcus, Navy Exchange, Lands’ End, Microsoft, The Body Shop International, L Brands, Timberland, Media Markt, Lowe’s Companies, Pep Boys, Crate and Barrel, Loyalty One, VISA, and Cadillac Fairview.
Jim is a Co-founder of the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum, a community and conference series focused on global and cross-border ecommerce. Digital Retail Globalization, such as riding China's ecommerce growth wave, is important for brands, retailers and distribution partners of all sizes.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.
Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.
Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world.
Based in New York, Conversations with CommerceNext is a podcast focusing on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers with episodes talking with C-level executives operating in the U.S. and internationally.
Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers.
Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Hello and welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host. I believe in the power of storytelling to bring the retail industry to life. Each week I'll bring insights, perspectives and experiences from some of the retail industry's most innovative and influential voices. This podcast is produced in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:14
Kent Allen and, and Jim Okamura, co-founders of the successful Global eCommerce Leaders Forums and community are back on the podcast sharing their experience in providing us with a timely update on the state of cross-border and global eCommerce, including a view to China, Europe, LATAM, and where retailers and brands should folks when looking for an international growth. Let's listen in now. All right, gentlemen, welcome. Welcome The Voice of Retail podcast. We're here at the big NRF show Kent. And Jim, welcome back to the podcast. You both have been on the podcast several times. How're you doing?
Jim Okamura 00:58
Doing well. Great to be back. You know, Great to be back in New York, you know, for the big NRF you know, show where we've kind of missed it over the past few years. I think that as we were saying last night, it's so good to see some friends that we haven't seen in a while. So, -
Michael LeBlanc 01:12
It's great to see you and see everyone. (Crossover talk) Kent, how are you doing?
Kent Allen 01:15
I agree with Jim. It's great to be back in New York. We're up top at the overview, looking out at Manhattan, which is a nice new element, (crossover talk) to the Javits Center. Yeah,
Michael LeBlanc 01:26
Yeah, that's right. We're in the, we're in the new North Building on the fourth floor. The last time the three of us were together was at the show in September, here in New York. But we've got another show coming up. Another show coming up in LA. What's different other than, you know, the obvious it's in LA, it's different than New York or what, what's different about this one, and as we go to LA in the West Coast, you mentioned the West Coast community? Tell us, (crossover talk) talk about that for a moment.
Kent Allen 01:51
Yeah, so you know, a couple of things that we've been seeing recently in LA certainly, we continue to cover all things that are leading to global DTC growth. cross-border, eCommerce has been a topic of ours since the very beginning.
Michael LeBlanc 02:07
(Crossover talk) Yeah, and that's the central thread through all of this. I mean, that stays consistent, (crossover talk).
Kent Allen 02:11
Right. But I think what we're hearing from our community, I'll let Jim talk a little bit about the format, some format tweaks that we're doing but DTC blew up so much during the pandemic. And so many people had to focus on that as borders were closed and stores were closed that a lot of people are coming back to their traditional international distribution partners, whether there you know, owned channels or non-owned channels, franchisees, things like that. So, the theme of the event this year is scaling a customer experience or scaling customer engagement globally, if you will. And part of that scaling is really continuing to talk about what it takes to serve global consumers through the DTC channel.
Kent Allen 02:30
But it's more than just DTC, we're talking, really starting the day off with, you know, kind of our executive leaders’ keynote panel, which really sets the tone for the day. We'll be talking about how brands are working with their international wholesale distribution partners, how they're selling through international marketplaces. So, we continue to prioritize and focus on that whole global DTC message, how to enable cross border eCommerce, but scaling international growth, you have to look at the role of digital throughout all the different channels. So, that's probably the biggest thing that's new, or what's the evolution of the conversation.
Michael LeBlanc 03:39
Okay, now, I did jump ahead. For those listeners who may not have heard our prior podcast, talk a little bit about yourself, like what, what's your background? And what do you do other than, like, how did you develop your expertise as, as in this global eCommerce, cross-border stuff? And what's your background?
Kent Allen 03:45
Yeah, it's been interesting. We've really been, you know, God, Jim, we've been following this international space since 2007-2008 it really kind of came out of actually some stuff that we were doing with our other co-founder, Scott Silverman, when he was back running shop.org, there was an executive symposium, and that was really back when the stores and online were still trying to, you know, play well together. And one of the threads that came out of that symposium was, you know, what about global? What about the World Wide Web? Shouldn't we be planning to,
Michael LeBlanc 04:26
The worldwide part of that sentence, (crossover talk) right?
Kent Allen 04:27
The (inaudible). So, you know, we were like, Okay, well, yeah, we should look at this. And, you know, I think we published that first benchmark, study back, what was it 2007, looking primarily at Amazon and eBay. They were really big players internationally,
Michael LeBlanc 04:36
Sure, sure.
Kent Allen 04:38
At that time. And so, you know, as an industry analyst, I've been continuing to follow the space. You know, a lot of my time now is dedicated to the GELF community, whether it's going around the country having small dinners and some smaller format events, or you know, LA is typically in February, if, you know, we don't run into pandemics and things like that.
Michael LeBlanc 04:44
Yeah.
Kent Allen 04:45
And our LA event, I mean, our New York, New York event has always been late September this year. It's October 12. So, we'll be back in New York then. So yeah, (crossover talk) so we've already got, (crossover talk) yeah, we got to date for that.
Michael LeBlanc 05:01
October 12th.
Kent Allen 05:02
And so, you know, what I would like to say, GELF is that the conversation starts on stage and extends throughout the day. And yet, Jim, maybe talk a little bit about, you know, what we've been hearing from some of our community members about peer discussions and things like that.
Michael LeBlanc 05:31
And about and about yourself first. So, Jimmy would be a very familiar voice to listeners of The Voice of Retail, who are ya, what do you do?
Jim Okamura 05:38
We've gone, gone back so far,
Michel LeBlanc 05:40
Yeah.
Jim Okamura 05:41
Last night, even as we were talking to some people, you know, how many years have we known each other?
Michael LeBlanc 05:44
Yeah.
Jim Okamura 05:45
Yeah, again, it's been a pleasure for us to kind of you know, really build this, you know, global eCommerce, you know, community over the years, and even picking up a little bit on some of the threads, you know, Kent you know was, you know, referring to the distribution, you know, channels a global opportunity, I think, really is something that we're hearing from a lot of the, you know, the bigger brands that have, I think, changed their international strategies over the years, That's kind of what I find it interesting right now is where the bigger brands are kind of taking a look at, you know, how they've either partnered, you know, with licensees or franchisees in cer-, certain markets, what is that role of, you know, the digital channels? And how, what's the business model that underlies it? Should we be kind of serving, you know, international overseas, you know, consumers through inventory that might be you know, based in, in, in our home market, or for example, -
Michael LeBlanc 06:41
Is it easier to move it from here to there or there to there, so to speak, base it there. Now, the other thing you should probably chat about is what you do, in addition to GELF, you're with a fantastic retail consulting agency.
Jim Okamura 06:54
Yeah, I'm a partner at McMillan Doolittle, a long-time, you know, retail strategy consulting firm. And we've had lots of interesting opportunities, you know, recently that just kind of takes a digital first approach to a new store concept, you know, development work. Certainly, we've, we've been doing a lot on the customer experience, you know, side. So, that's where my world starts to kind of, you know, converge a lot, because you know, that's such a common theme, you know, in GELF as well. Especially when we are talking about kind of an international customer experience that has so many localization you know elements, and I think that's something we'll always kind of continue to do, but.
Michael LeBlanc 07:19
Fantastic, (crossover talk)
Jim Okamura 07:21
On the consulting side, certainly kind of, you know, feel where it works, you know, really well together, you know, and in terms of, you know, where we see things, you know, trends happening around the world, and how do they apply? I mean, that I think was one of the most popular sessions we had in our last New York event was just talking about the Deborah Weinswig from Coresight Research was leading a session talking about, you know, (crossover talk),
Michael LeBlanc 07:55
And we just thought Deborah here, actually, you know, (crossover talk) it's a big city, it's a big industry, but it's a small community.
Jim Okamura 08:00
Small (crossover talk) ways, right. But, yeah, just her talking of, you know, innovation coming out of, you know, Asia Pacific in general, and what's working and what's not. And then, you know, just leading into some of the live streaming, commerce, that has certainly gotten a lot of attention lately, although, I think that's, that's where, you know, the jury's still out on some innovation like that, you know, is it gonna stick or not? You know, we (crossover talk).
Michael LeBlanc 08:23
From a consumer, from a consumer perspective in which brands will win it (inaudible). Kent, I want to kind of ask you this, there has been a lot of changes happening in Asia. And I guess the biggest change, of course, is, is a move away from the Zero-COVID idea that, that, you know, it opens up a lot of very, very interesting things, travel, just a different perspective, any early perspective from, from what you're hearing about any reaction from the market in your community around a pretty big change of direction coming out of China? Yeah, it was interesting today. I think it's all in the news about a 3% growth out of China, which is, you know,
Michael LeBlanc 08:56
For them it was very disappointing, (crossover talk).
Kent Allen 09:02
A very low negative population growth for the first time.
Michael LeBlanc 09:04
Yeah.
Kent Allen 09:05
I won't say ever, obviously, but, - I think their planning succeeded, oh, too well, it's hard to get people to go back.
Kent Allen 09:11
Yeah, so the zero-COVID lockdown was not good in many ways. That being said, there's always interest at the GELF events in China, Japan, South Korea, Greater China. In fact, I think I heard on the floor here last night that Taiwan is in the conversation with some people which I hadn't heard that much about in recent years. We're looking at what you might call China 3.0 opportunity, which is in large part being illustrated or perhaps has been brought to light with the whole live streaming, live commerce, the live shopping that we saw during the pandemic. So, whether that was you know, the store associates that were live streaming from their stores,
Michael LeBlanc 09:34
Yeah.
Kent Allen 09:35
Because the stores were closed or just what we talked about in New York actually, as Jim mentioned with Deborah and the Bambuser folks, what they're seeing. And what I think you're going to hear more about is this idea that this, this direct-to-consumer, live shopping channels, a direct connection to the consumers in China. And that offers a way around some of the walled gardens of the past, if you will. So, maybe you're not paying a toll, or paying as much to the marketplace operators as you've had to in the past, certainly, you know, the marketplaces are going to continue to dominate. At the same time, we're seeing the rise of the specialty social sites as well, again, very influencer related influencer driven, if you will. So, you know, I do feel that there's an opportunity for brands to kind of directly connect, if you will, with consumers in China. So, that's probably one of the bigger topics that we're going to be exploring.
Michael LeBlanc 10:57
China 3.0 I like the sound of that. So, so let, what are we going to, you know, we had to, I guess this is a two-part question. One, what are the things top of mind because the things that are top of mind with the industry become what's on the stage at GELF LA.
Kent Allen 11:11
Right.
Michael LeBlanc 11:12
So, let's start talking about what's, what the, give us a sense of the programming for the, for the event, which also, as I said, gives us a sense of, you know, you guys are tuned in so what's, what are people thinking and wondering about and are trying to figure out?
Kent Allen 11:24
Well, we talked a little bit about what we're opening up with, which is, you know, kind of an interesting executive leaders’ campaign. It's really what we're calling scaling global distribution via DTC owned and non-owned channels. That's a mouthful.
Michael LeBlanc 11:39
Yeah, unpack that for some, someone, perhaps not, you know, not native or not in the mix exactly. What do you mean by that?
Kent Allen 11:48
Some of it is just, it's actually a conversation that we started at GELF 20, 2018 probably. We had, we had, done some research with the NRF. In part, because we had heard talking to some brands who were, you know, honestly, they were bragging a little bit on their international growth. And when you ask some questions, it turns out a lot of it was coming through Amazon. So, the question became,
Michael LeBlanc 11:58
Oh, okay.
Kent Allen 12:00
With Amazon, your new, you know, master international distributors that's where a lot of your, you know, eCommerce and digital growth is going to come from and they were like, yeah, it looks that way. You know, there's always a calm conversation friend or foe? And, you know, I don't think there's an easy answer to that.
Michael LeBlanc 12:13
Yes, is the answer, right?
Kent Allen 12:16
Friend and foe. But I think what we, we heard back then was this idea, like, I'm not sure my traditional wholesale partners, again, whether they're, you know, unknown, large distributors, who are taking containers off of ships and breaking them down into pallets, and pushing them out to smaller retailers, or were trains, and think chains and things like that. Or we're not really sure if the wholesale retailers, the branded retailers that you know, buy the B2B shipments and send them out to their stores and franchises and things like that. So, the issue that we talked about was, you know, what, where's digital? Where's the digital transformation happening with this at this kind of distribution, international wholesale level? And I think largely, what we found was that it was mixed. Some distri-, distribution partners kind of liked the way things have always been, and they kind of wanted to stay in their lane. And, you know, we enjoyed that stay in the lane conversation quite a bit. Others, especially some in Asia had quickly shifted to what looked like, you know, they were traditional distributors one day, and then, you know, fast forward a month or two and, and they're looking like a digital agency, they're, they're selling on marketplaces, they understand content strategy,
Michael LeBlanc 12:55
Yeah, yeah.
Kent Allen 12:57
They understand the power of social. So, that's kind of a little bit of the background of the conversation. And you know, then we had, like I mentioned earlier, the big boom in DTC. And now people are realizing it's like, okay, as the traffic kind of comes back to normal growth trajectories, there's plenty of people that are back in the stores, and yet they're looking for more of that digital experience. So, that's a big you know kind of unpacking what we're talking about. We've got, you know, three different panelists that are coming at it from you know, one sells through franch-, the franchise model internationally, others, another one is more of a DTC brand who has done owned channels, and then another one has got a really nice mixture of owned channels, DTC marketplaces, and working with service providers. A lot of the conversation will be around Europe. I mean, that's probably another thing, Jim, that we're, that's a little bit different this year, you know, for years, it was hard not to talk about China all day at GELF events or we could have easily have done it
Michael LeBlanc 14:35
Partic-, particularly the West Coast event, (crossover talk).
Kent Allen 14:37
Especially the West Coast.
Michael LeBlanc 14:39
Geographically a little closer, right?
Kent Allen 14:39
Right and so, you know, Europe's kind of where people are looking stuff. Another thing we hear a lot about is 3P0.
Michael LeBlanc 14:45
(Crossover talk) Let's hang on your,
Kent Allen 14:47
Yep.
Michael LeBlanc 14:48
For a little bit. Jim, you know, we had the opportunity to interview Ira Kalish, from Deloitte and chief economist yesterday on Remarkable Retail and we were talking about what's your perspective around Europe? I mean, it's the first land-based conflict we've seen in Europe. And it is a violent conflict that's not going anywhere I can't imagine that's not going to continue to be disruptive. So, how does that all fit?
Jim Okamura 15:09
Yeah, that's a good, it's a really good question. And I really don't know if we know the answer yet. I think it's still very early on.
Michael LeBlanc 15:16
I mean, there will be rebuilding (crossover talk) and you know, at some point.
Jim Okamura 15:19
It will certainly affect, -
Michael LeBlanc 15:21
Strength to Ukraine.
Jim Okamura 15:23
You know, how, how people are shopping, but I think if you look at even the UK retail sales numbers, you can see how soft things have been, and, and obviously, our own, (crossover talk).
Michael LeBlanc 15:30
It feels like an owned goal, by the way, if you know that term.
Jim Okamura 15:32
Yeah, right. Right. Right. Yeah, that, that is somewhat of their own doing, you know, but, but it is, I think, related to, to the broader, you know, continent as well, you know, and certainly we hear that from, again, here in New York for the NRF. You know, we've got a really strong European contingent of our colleagues and friends in town. Just kind of hearing, you know, from them, you know, certainly those macro headwinds, as we've kind of been, you know, calling out, are blowing stronger, I'd say in Europe, right. And so again, I think, but overall,
Michael LeBlanc 16:04
But they got a bit lucky. You know, one of the things Ira was saying was that they got a bit lucky, because their weather was fairly mild, they were expecting a fairly economic, a very difficult time, because of the,
Jim Okamura 16:10
It's true.
Michael LeBlanc 16:12
Constraints in energy, but the, you know, it turned out to be a fairly mild winter so far, and we're already what is almost the end of January, so.
Jim Okamura 16:21
That, that, that will help, you know, and I do think it's, it is going to act as an accelerant, you know, for the digital retail side of things.
Michael LeBlanc 16:28
How so, explain that?
Jim Okamura 16:30
I do, you know, feel like that, that, that's going to become just, you know, another convenience channel for, for consumers to be kind of tapping into. I do feel it's time where cross-border eCommerce is thriving across continental with a kind of intra-European kind of transactions. So, I think, you know, that was, those were topics, again, we covered at our last New York show, again.
Michael LeBlanc 16:53
I mean, it's not like we're, we're, we're not at all a political podcast, but as you, as you see, the impact it's kind of more u-, there's more unity within the European Union than there was pre-invasion almost, right?
Jim Okamura 17:05
(Crossover talk) It is true, and I think, you know, how that might, you know, spill into practical issues that we were talking about. How do you stage inventory closer to where that end consumer is, and that taps into the same, you know, distribution that, (crossover talk).
Michael LeBlanc 17:18
And we heard some of that in September on the podcast.
Jim Okamura 17:21
That's right. So, you know, I think some of those were good signs, it seemed like, again, it's really where we, we hope we get to, to a stage, you know, where brands and retailers who are, have global aspirations, let's say, again, do take a look at, you know, all their different channels, the, whether they're digital channels, or whether they're really traditional offline channels, and how's that, you know, kind of balanced portfolio of those channels kind of going forward. So, those are, you know, the areas that, you know, we have lots to kind of play with, you know, in terms of GELF programming, because I think it's no longer just about D2C eCommerce, right.
Jim Okamura 17:42
There's so many other kinds of middlemen, you know, and, and we cannot, you know, forget, you know, and for many brands and retailers, they've got, you know, decades long relationships, you know, with kind of offline distributors and wholesalers. So, these are all, you know, just part and parcel of it, you know, I think, you know, what we're like, well, we've definitely heard from a lot of brands who are saying, you know, they're, they're doubling down or recommitting to, to core markets. And I think, you know, this, you know, we could consider almost an optimization phase, I think, for Europe, in general, for at least the more mature brands that are selling globally,
Michael LeBlanc 18:37
Europe is super interesting for, you know, it's always been, but you know, Kent I'm gonna put you on the spot a little bit. I mean, you've got many, many retail brands who have exited Russia, which was a pretty big market. We know from past cold war experience, you know, the product still gets into Russia. But leaving that aside, there's a lot of people who have a little less volume in that part of the world that are going to look at. Is that where the growth is gonna come in, you know, into Europe? Are people thinking, you know, I used to sell into Russia, and now I'm not and maybe some stuff is trickling in, but how do I, how do I make up for that growth?
Kent Allen 19:13
Yeah, I think what you, it was interesting, was, it was a side comment in New York that you know, kind of, you know, we paused and were like, you know,
Michael LeBlanc 19:17
Yeah.
Kent Allen 19:18
Where's the Russian money purchasing product? You're seeing it in the Middle East you're seeing it you know, in a lot of the, you know, the wealthier segments of Russia are you know, they're not in Russia. They're purchasing stuff when they're, you know, on, on travel, if you will.
Michael LeBlanc 19:39
Good for the average consumer I mean,
Kent Allen 19:40
For the average consumer there. Yeah, it's, it's, there's not as much cross-border going on but you know, there's always been strong trade routes from China. So, you know, what you might see is part of the China eCommerce recovery could be products going into Russia to the you know, the common man and woman, if you will, it's something we haven't really looked at. But you know, the bottom line is, you know, we're probably going to see some pretty decent growth in the second half of the year, which is again, one reason that, you know, it's great to be able to get the community together in LA and you know, get people up on stage and talk about some of the, the growth and successes that people are seeing and how they're dealing with some of the headwinds that you know that Jim has talked about, and you've talked about as well,
Michael LeBlanc 20:26
What's, just in the last couple of minutes what's, what else can they expect on the stage? What have you, (crossover talk).
Kent Allen 20:30
We've got a, we've got a great fireside, we're opening up in the morning with Michael Relich, who's the co-CEO of PacSun. Again, those guys have done a great job, largely through a lot of their social influencers, celebrities and things like that. So, he'll be sharing some insights on how their global has been driven, you know, through these kinds of influencer type channels, and we're starting the afternoon off with what we call a truly classic eCommerce growth story. So Ben, who is one of the senior leaders at True Classic is going to be joining us to kind of kick off just sharing the story. I mean, they've,
Michael LeBlanc 20:55
That's, that's denim, right? Is it?
Kent Allen 20:59
It's T-shirts, and they've grown, you know, beyond T-shirts, and it's just really a great brand and a great story, you know, that have really, largely bootstrapped their growth and have done a tremendous job. So, I won't give away the,
Michael LeBlanc 21:22
Sorry, listeners, this isn't about the show, you're gonna have to tune in to the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast to hear the voice of some of that. And by the way, importantly, go, because it is, remind us of that date. We're not done yet. But we're, remind us, of that date again. (Crossover talk), it's coming up quick, right?
Kent Allen 21:38
Right, it's February 22. So, it's Wednesday, it's all day, and you know, we'll start off with breakfast. And this year, we're gonna start with the peer discussion groups that Jim was talking about.
Michael LeBlanc 21:46
Then we go into that main session, and then we will talk about the tru-, the truly classic session, and.
Kent Allen 21:51
That'll open up in the afternoon. Yeah. So, we'll have a full day of content and conversation. So, we're really looking forward to folks coming. Retailers and brands can go to global eCommerce leaders forum.com and click on the, you know, February event, and we make it as easy for brands and retailers to come. So, (crossover talk).
Michael LeBlanc 22:08
How do you make it easy? So, what does it cost to attend your event?
Kent Allen 22:11
Oh, that would be the easy zero dollar.
Michael LeBlanc 22:15
Zero dollars.
Kent Allen 22:17
Yeah. So, you know, we, I can't thank our sponsors enough. They're the ones that really allow us to kind of lower all these barriers to entry, if you will (crossover talk) for their retailers (crossover talk).
Michael LeBlanc 22:23
By the way, I guess, I guess, and we should also say, if anyone's listening on the, on the vendor side, you can't just buy a ticket to come to these events, you need to participate, right?
Kent Allen 22:32
Yes. So, we are kind of a retailer only sponsor, only model. So, we look after our sponsors.
Michael LeBlanc 22:36
And that's the good news, right. And so the other side of that, the very important other side of that coin is, if you're, if you are a sponsor, there's not a bunch of other people who have bought in for a few $100.
Kent Allen 22:45
Right.
Michael LeBlanc 22:46
You know, it's a nice ratio, I've always found it a nice ratio of sponsors and retailers and the sponsors are really focused, right, they're there because they're there to talk cross-border, right.
Kent Allen 22:55
Well, they are there, I mean, you know, the expertise is deep in the solutions provided. I mean, a lot of these sponsors that have supported us over the years have, you know, they've been doing this as long as anybody and you know, they've got retailers and brands that have joined their organizations. So, it's a really good community. And you know, we can't do it without our sponsors. And of course, we can't do it without our retail and brand members as well. So, you know, it really takes, I guess, to grow eCommerce sales.
Michael LeBlanc 23:24
Book, book your flights. Now, Jim, last words to you. Is there any Canadian content, any Can-con that we're thinking of, I mean, on the West Coast, lots of, lots of traffic going back and forth, there was some Can-con on the stage from what was it friends from Canada Post for, we're in New York? But any, any ideas about what you're talking about from that perspective in LA?
Jim Okamura 23:44
Yeah, again, as always, one of the most popular sessions will always be on, on the Canadian market, if you take a look at most of the GELF community, which is largely comprised of US based brands and retailers, easily Canada's the biggest international market, you know, when it comes to their total eCommerce, you know, international eCommerce. So, it's always of interest, I think, you know, to our community, what's the latest with, with, with Canadian eCommerce? And, and, as we've talked about before, certainly just the rise of eCommerce in Canada has certainly been very notable. So certainly, it's a topic that that we're, we're always trying to delve into where the Canadian consumer, the shopper, and in terms of the, you know, their, their appetite for cross-border. Right now, obviously, there's a foreign exchange, you know, kind of gap that makes it a little more challenging. We've seen that, historically, over the years, you know, certainly it has an impact on that, that demand, you know, level.
Michael LeBlanc 24:43
You know, the, on the other side, and I'd love to get your thoughts on this. One of the things that's making a lot of the news, as we think about the implications of this is we've had two, almost three years of record immigration. So, we've added in the past two years, almost a million new Canadians, and you know, some of those Canadians, many, most are coming in, and are looking for new brands, looking for new businesses, looking to understand themselves and market, I mean, there's some percentage of those who are refugees from the Ukraine who are just looking to get their lives back on their feet, but there's many others who are starting again or and bringing already economic, you know, they're bra-,they're bringing, infusing Canada with new ideas. A long way of saying that there's like a million, you know, we're not a big country, right? Maybe 30 million people, there's now another million people who know nothing and have importantly, no brand affiliations, it feels like we should be talking about that somewhere, some way, somehow, a lot more.
Jim Okamura 25:37
I think that's always a really good point to hammer home you know, with the companies that may not be familiar with the Canadian population as a whole. How it is changing how the different composition, you know, really, really has been evolving. But I'd also want to bring up even a different angle where, where I think for Canadian brands that are internationally ambitious, let's say, are also I think, you know, should be kind of on the looking at what where's their international selling opportunity? That's work we've done, you know, with industry, Canada, you can't deny, you know, kind of help in, how can Canadian brands, you know, really be targeting international consumers,
Michael LeBlanc 26:05
Yeah.
Jim Okamura 26:06
And just really understanding what's our opportunity, there, almost knowing, you know, kind of that, you know, they're capped by the size of, you know, the Canadian market as a whole.
Michael LeBlanc 26:24
Yeah, Oh, Canada. So, it'd be a bit of an Oh, Canada conference, and you know, Kent, I know you always look forward to that. Well, listen, gentlemen, Jim, Kent, thanks so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail podcast. It's great to see you both. Where again, we're here in New York. We're here at the NRF show. Safe travels back home, Chicago, San Francisco, me to Toronto, I guess. And we'll be seeing you very, very shortly.
Kent Allen 26:48
On February 22, West Hollywood. Thanks, Michael. Really appreciate it.
Jim Okamura 26:53
All right. Thanks, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc 26:55
Thanks for tuning into this episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and follow on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically each week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, Remarkable Retail podcasts with Steve Dennis, The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, Growth Consultant, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media, and keynote speaker. If you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Safe travels everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
brands, eCommerce, talk, DTC, growth, podcast, people, international, channels, retail, consumers, big, global, China, sponsors, Jim, Canadian, Kent, retailers