Wondering how retail businesses are strategizing to enhance the role of physical stores for a more festive shopping journey this holiday season? What sales impact will Gen Z and millennials have this season? To find out, we asked two of our favorite commerce experts to share their insights and help us unwrap this holiday season’s mysteries! Roshan Jhunja, head of retail at Square, and Andrew Lipsman, principal analyst for retail & ecommerce at Insider Intelligence join hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden for an enlightening analysis of the 2023 holiday shopping season!We explore the unpredictable behaviors of consumers since the pandemic and examine consumer and seller sentiment going into Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We also consider the evolving dynamics of mobile and social commerce, AI, the continued importance of omnichannel, and Buy Now Pay Later, touching on established e-commerce giants and up and coming platforms. The conversation also reviews how businesses strategies have shifted regarding staffing and technology augmentations, and the implications of such changes on customer experience.There’s much to unwrap in this episode and it’s all covered in less than 50 minutes!Reports mentioned in the podcast:Square and Afterpay Festive Forecast 2023: https://squareup.com/us/en/press/festive-forecast-2023Insider Intelligence Holiday Shopping 2023 Forecast: https://content-na1.emarketer.com/holiday-shopping-2023NEWS! We are pleased to announce that the Retail Razor Show is a Vendors In Partnership Awards nominee for The Retail Voice Award at the upcoming NRF Big Show 2024! We're asking all our listeners and YouTube viewers to help us win by showing your love for our show in the voting polls:Here's how you can help by voting:1. Visit https://bit.ly/3QlKr4X2. Register to vote.3. Vote for The Retail Razor Show in The Retail Voice Award category.WOW! As we zoom past our 2-year anniversary on the show, we’re honored and humbled to have hit the top of the charts on the Goodpods podcast platform!We can’t thank our Goodpods listeners enough! We love your support! Please continue giving us those 5-star ratings and send us your comments!Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:Ricardo Belmar, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer for 2023, 2022 & 2021, RIS News Top Movers and Shakers in Retail for 2021, advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft.Casey Golden, CEO of Luxlock, and RETHINK Retail Top Retail Influencer for 2023. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech!Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Made It On Stream (Xmas), from the album Lo-Fi Christmas, written by Hestron Mimms, published by Imuno. Incldues sound effects provided by Free Sounds Library.The Retail Razor ShowFollow us on Goodpods: https://bit.ly/TRRSgoodpodsFollow us on Instagram: https://bit.ly/TRRSinstaFollow us on Threads: https://bit.ly/TRRSthreadsFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/TwRRazorConnect with us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/LI-RRazorSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTubeSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/RetailRazorShowRetail Razor Show Episode Page: https://bit.ly/RRShowPodHost → Ricardo Belmar,Follow on Twitter - https://bit.ly/twRBelmarConnect on LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/LIRBelmarCo-host → Casey Golden,Follow on Twitter - https://bit.ly/twCaseyConnect on LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/LICasey