This week, Clay Parnell, Parker Avery’s President and Managing Partner, and Tricia Gustin, Senior Director of Marketing, welcome retail industry leader Randi Nolan into the firm. Randi has an extensive list of executive titles across global retail and apparel brands—and her accomplishments are widely recognized throughout the industry.  The trio discusses Randi's extensive career in retail, as well as their perspectives on key focus areas for retailers as they navigate 2022 and beyond.  To learn more about Parker Avery's team, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/pag-team/. Featured on the Best 60 Retail Podcasts Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay.

This episode of Talk Retail to Me features Les McNeill, the Chief Technology Officer and founder of Impulselogic, Inc., along with Parker Avery store operations experts, Senior Director Rob Oglesby, and Tricia Gustin, Senior Director of Marketing. The trio of experts talks about the causes of in-store inventory management issues as well how changes to the overall store inventory paradigm and business processes, along with strategic use of new technologies, can help drive better results not just in stores, but throughout the supply chain and even upstream into merchandising and assortment planning decisions.  To support this paradigm change, Impulselogic provides advanced predictive analytics powered by artificial intelligence to create the optimal product flow through the store.  The system, along with business process alignment and execution consistency, helps to ensure product availability for both in-store and online customers, reduce waste, improve labor efficiency, and increase profits.   To learn more about Parker Avery's array of retail consulting services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/services/. To learn more about Impulselogic, Inc., please visit: https://www.impulselogic.com/ Featured on the Best 60 Retail Podcasts Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

This week, Tricia Gustin is joined by Parker Avery's President and Managing Partner, Clay Parnell, along with Dave Seeley, who recently joined The Parker Avery Group as a Senior Manager. Dave brings a tremendous amount of retail industry experience, across operations, merchandising, and IT.  In this episode, we discuss Dave's extensive retail industry background, his continued interest in integrating AI and advanced analytics with the business of retail, and why his principle of keeping retail execution simple is paramount for success in any initiative.  The trio of experts also provides an insider's view of The Parker Avery Group's culture, how it strengthened during the pandemic, and why the firm is busier now more than ever.  To learn more about Parker Avery's array of retail consulting services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/services/.   Featured on the Best 60 Retail Podcasts Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

This week, we took a departure from our usual industry focus and talked about an initiative that’s near and dear to The Parker Avery Group's culture—our partnership with RetailROI and the JEDI Challenge.  We began this relationship early in 2021 with a sponsorship of RetailROI’s SuperFriday event, which led to another sponsorship of their March Gladness event. Those two events began a series of conversations among Parker Avery’s team about what more could we could do to help, beyond sponsorships, ultimately leading us to create an entrepreneur program for young Jamaicans. In this episode, we discuss the JEDI Challenge with Greg Buzek, President and Secretary of RetailROI, along with key principals from the Fergus Simpson Foundation, Janeth Brown, Carol and Lawrence Madden. We dive into what our young entrepreneurs have been up to since the JEDI Challenge ended late last year, as well as our plans going forward.  For more information about RetailROI: https://www.retailroi.org/ To participate in March Gladness: https://www.retailroi.org/march For more information about the Fergus Simpson Foundation: https://fergussimpsonfoundation.org/ To learn more about the JEDI Challenge: https://parkeravery.com/industry-experience/the-parker-avery-group-develops-entrepreneur-program-in-jamaica/ To get involved in JEDI 2.0 (slated for summer 2022): contact [email protected] Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

This week, Tricia Gustin sat down with The Parker Avery Group's Chief Analytics Officer, Sam Iosevich, along with Senior Manager Dmitry Magas, who joined the firm almost exactly a year ago. The trio talked about Dmitry's analytics background and history with Sam, as well as some highlights of past client projects focused on forecasting and demand analytics.  They also discussed some recent Parker Avery pricing and analytics projects including a recently completed price optimization project for a global grocery retailer.  Learn about Dmitry's development of what Parker Avery's analytics team calls their "time machine," as well as why analytics is just one part of the overall forecasting and demand planning solution. To learn more about Parker Avery's advanced analytics services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/advanced-analytics/    Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

Just in time for the holiday shopping frenzy, retail experts Kathi Toll, Heidi Csencsits, Carrie Habel, and Tricia Gustin discuss the recent launch of Homegoods' e-commerce platform, and the implications of this strategy on store operations, roles and responsibilities, merchandising, customer perception, inventory management, and more.  Enjoy this entertaining and casual conversation that not only veers off into other retail segments, but also highlights the deep industry expertise and the consumer perspectives of these professionals. To learn more about Parker Avery's retail and consumer goods consulting services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/services/    Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

This week, Chief Analytics Officer, Sam Iosevich, and Director of Analytics, Dinesh Helwade, discuss their decades-long working relationship as well as Dinesh's plans for the firm's analytics team in India.  Learn how their deep analytics expertise, combined with a strong organizational culture, create compelling analytics solutions for Parker Avery clients.  To learn more about Parker Avery's analytics services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/advanced-analytics/   Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

In this episode, Parker Avery’s change management leader Kathi Toll, along with experts Carrie Habel and Heidi Csencsits talk about the firm’s best-of-breed approach to change management and why it raises the bar above more traditional methods.   In this lively discussion, the team touches on: Why a more tailored approach to change is needed in every client environment and project Situations where we’ve seen clients “wing it” or use outdated tools/philosophies—and expect success (but are usually disappointed) At what point in a project change management activities should start Key tenets for success in helping clients navigate change To learn more about Parker Avery's change management services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/change-management-leadership/   Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

After recently completing an in-depth change management initiative with popular retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, Parker Avery's change management leader, Kathi Toll, sat down with Dru Dominici, Director of Wholesale, and Tony Bradley, VP of Corporate Development, to discuss the need for more agile and adaptable organizations.  During this lively chat, the three experts also discuss John Kotter's “Thrive versus Survive” response, as as outlined in a recent HBR article, as well as the criticality of understanding that the most effective change activities specifically address these innate human responses. With the world's increasing volatility and complexity, and rapid change increasingly accepted as the “new normal,” these tenets are key to developing successful change competencies.  To learn more about Parker Avery's change management services and expertise, we invite you to visit: https://parkeravery.com/change-management-leadership/ Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay 

This week we're talking about Demand Intelligence, Parker Avery’s software-as-a-service demand planning platform.  Demand Intelligence is not only powered by the latest in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, but it’s also driven by deep retail and CPG industry expertise.  One of the unique things about Demand Intelligence is that its development was informed with input from several global retail and CPG executives. The guiding light was to solve real retail and consumer goods business challenges and incorporate industry best practices bolstered with advanced analytics. Outside of the deep science and math, Demand Intelligence is a workflow-guided solution with a very intuitive and user-friendly interface.  What’s more, it can be implemented in a matter of weeks, not months. In this episode, we give you a first-hand encounter of why Demand Intelligence is different from so many advanced analytics platforms on the market. Joining the discussion is our Chief Analytics Officer, Sam Iosevich, along with Partner Amanda Astrologo, and Principal Marty Anderson.  To learn more about Demand Intelligence, we invite you to read our latest press release: Parker Avery Solves Demand Planning Challenges with Groundbreaking AI Enabled Solution Introduction music:  On My Way by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4163-on-my-way | License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | Cover image by Jorge Guillen from Pixabay