This episode we begin the journey to remarkable by digging into Essential #1 in Steve's "8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail" framework. And we've gone global with a great panel of joining us from New York City, Montreal and London.Our panel of experts, includes UNTUCKit CIO/CDO Lockie Andrews, digital strategist extraordinaire Carl Boutet and retail transformation consultant Oliver Banks.We unpack the profound shift towards digitally-driven customer journeys during the past decade and the great acceleration brought about by the COVID crisis. We also discuss how to strike the right balance between the analog, more human world and being digital-first--reminding everyone that no consumer buys technology.Lockie Andrews is the Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer at UNTUCKit and the CEO of Catalyst Consulting, a digital transformation consulting firm. You can learn more about Lockie here and check out Lockie’s latest thought piece on why the combination of digital and physical commerce is optimal for retailers and brands.  Follow Lockie on LinkedIn and  Twitter.  Oliver Banks,  in addition to being a podcaster himself with The Retail Transformation show is experienced at leading, managing and coordinating large, complex change programmes and projects. These initiatives may be targeting improvement to operational processes, people and HR, technology and tools – or a combination of them all.As the founder of StudioRx, Carl Boutet advises retailers, business leaders,  b2c solution providers, companies and researchers on how to tailor their solutions according to consumers’ evolving needs and build effective commercial strategies at the intersections of technology, design and data. He is also acting managing director for the Quebec centre for commercial innovation and presently working on a book titled The Great Acceleration*********************************You can learn more about Steve on his website   here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at   Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a   Forbes senior contributor and on    Twitter and    LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel   here. You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn