Parasocial Relationships Will Change Retail Forever

Welcome to Future Commerce Rewind, our summer series where we compare today's news against episodes from the archives. Today, we revisit our historic 300th episode from 2023, where we explored the future of commerce shopping experiences through parasocial relationships. We also cover how the chat interface, a UI prediction we made just a year ago, is influencing commerce today. Listen now!

Key takeaways:

• [00:02:07] Phillip: "In London, print reading is still a cultural staple and independent eyeglass retailers are thriving. It's a fascinating blend of old-world charm and modern retail innovation."
• [00:05:19] Phillip: "Imagine shopping with JFK Jr. as your style advisor – that's the future we're heading towards with parasocial relationships and AI."
• [00:24:51] Brian: "Livestream shopping in the West is a tough sell because our attention spans can't handle the mundane. But if you can make it entertaining, you've got a shot."
• [00:47:04] Phillip: "We're on the cusp of a new shopping experience where your favorite celebrity or even a virtual influencer can guide your purchases, creating a deeper, ongoing relationship."
• London maintains a strong print culture while simultaneously seeing a boom in independent eyeglass retailers, highlighting a unique intersection of old and new retail practices.
• AI-powered interactions with celebrity personas, like JFK Jr., are emerging as a new trend in shopping, blending entertainment with personalized recommendations.
• AI and parasocial relationships are creating more personalized shopping experiences, fostering deeper consumer connections with brands and influencers.

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

We’re back exploring the intersection of technology, payments, and consumer behavior with guests Michaela Weber from BigCommerce and Sanjeev Gill from Stripe Live from VISIONS Summit: NYC. The conversation covers how modern ecommerce platforms and payment solutions are transforming the retail landscape. Join us to discuss the shift from traditional retail hours to 24/7 online shopping, the importance of seamless checkout experiences, and the role of personalization in driving consumer engagement. Listen now!

Key takeaways:

• [03:26] Mikaela Weber: "Shopping is everywhere. Shopping is 24/7."
• [07:10] Michaela Weber: "There's a monoculture in the sense that if we are from similar demographic groups, we probably see similar pushed ads."
• Consumers now shop anytime, anywhere, increasing the pressure on brands to be present across multiple channels.
• While algorithms create personalized experiences, there is still a collective aspect driven by shared demographics and interests.
• Technologies like AB testing in checkout experiences enable brands to optimize payment methods and enhance the user experience.

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

These show notes were written at a time before LLMs were available to the public, if that's any indication of

In this episode from 2017, we covered:

• Lord and Taylor started selling on walmart.com with their own special homepage.
• Also, remember how Walmart acquired Bonobos and Modcloth? The world has changed, people.

• Walmart's upmarket aspirations clashed with the working-class market. Perhaps this is still true?
• Brian's unfailing optimism about the future of technology and the working class, with technology enabling efficiency and providing better products and better services.
• Robby Berman posits that AI will serve and make life better for humans, but only the top 1% of humans.
• A Princeton study on bias in bots explores how AI has the problematic ability to target people for committing potential crimes based off the bias and prejudice of the bot creators.

• Chris Gardner from Forrester predicts that automation will eliminate 9% of jobs in 2018.
• "These jobs are not low-end jobs, they're white-collar jobs being replaced."
• Brian is again optimistic: a whole new host of jobs will be created for creating and servicing AI.
• Reuters reported that a son used data to recreate his dad as a chatbot.