The FMCG Guys

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8oc8kc_rdoA 
 
Bart Ongenaet is the Commercial, Supply and Wholesale Director for Mexico at sports retailer Decathlon. When Daniel joined him to record live in Mexico City , he had to enter and go through their store before accessing the office. This is very telling about the organisation, always close to the consumer and to Bart's own experience in the company, which started managing a small section of a shop in Belgium and has taken him to Japan and now Mexico in senior leadership roles.
 
Tune in to hear about:
Bart's background as a psychologist and playing sports and then transitioning into business

Decathlon's "management school" based on empowerment from day 1

The evolution from big stores to a now also having a digital multi-brand marketplace

How to deliver quality at an affordable price
Brand architecture in their multiple sports

His experience in Japan and lessons learnt along the way, both in business and leadership

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fmcgguys/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fmcgguys/  
Audio Mixing by Modest Ferrer
Voice Acting by Jason Martorell Parsekian
Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The FMCG Guys (Dwyer Partners SL) or its partners. The FMCG Guys make no representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of any information discussed, and accept no responsibility for any decisions or outcomes based on this content. Listeners are encouraged to seek their own professional advice before acting on any of the topics covered.

Watch on YouTube Live from Shoptalk Luxe: https://youtu.be/vNIJJmgD3Fg 
Amit Keswani is the Chief Omnichannel and AI Officer at the Chalhoub Group, a leading luxury retail group in the Middle East, where he leads customer, technology, loyalty, and AI transformation across a portfolio of hundreds of brands. In this episode recorded live in Abu Dhabi, we discuss the reality of omnichannel in luxury retail, how AI is being implemented in practice, and why the future of commerce will be driven by discoverability on LLMs and conversational shopping experiences.
Topics covered:
The Chalhoub Group business model across luxury retail, owned brands, and franchise distribution
What omnichannel really means in practice and how to build seamless customer journeys
How AI is being applied today: predictive analytics, agentic AI, and conversational commerce
Why discoverability on LLMs and conversational shopping will reshape ecommerce
Career advice, risk-taking, and the balance between data-driven decisions and gut feel

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fM2vQFxOF9M 
Recorded live from CES, Daniel sits down with Monique Perlmutter from Marriott's Riott Media Network to discuss the rise of travel media as a new frontier within commerce media. Monique shares her career journey through digital media, Amazon Ads, and retail media before moving into travel media, where Marriott is building one of the first hotel media networks. The conversation explores how traveler psychology influences spending behavior, how brands can reach consumers throughout the travel journey, and why travel media presents a major opportunity for CPG and brand advertisers.
Topics Covered:
Monique's career journey from digital media to Amazon Ads, Roundel, and Marriott Media
Why travel media is a new and fast-growing segment of commerce media
The travel journey and how consumer mindset changes from booking to the trip itself
Marriott Media channels: on-site digital, in-room media, Wi-Fi portals, and off-site advertising
Case study example of a Gatorade campaign targeting youth sports travelers
The importance of measurement, incrementality, and proving media effectiveness

Quo Vadis, Retail Media? With this question in mind (Where are you going, Retail Media?), we invited two of the best respected voices of this industry: Kiri Masters, Retail Media Analyst, and Adam Smith, Head of Retail Media at British Supermarket Iceland. In this conversation, we explore the structural differences between the US and UK markets, why retail media has moved from hype to a lasting industry priority, and how new forces like agentic shopping and AI-powered discovery could reshape the entire model. We also comment Iceland's ambitious in-store retail media rollout, the importance of measurement and internal alignment, and the growing tension between performance, creativity, ethics, and retailer brand identity.
 
Tune in to hear about:
Why retail media in the US and Europe has evolved differently, from market structure and GDPR to e-commerce penetration and offsite capabilities

Agentic shopping and how AI-driven discovery could disrupt onsite retail media and reduce valuable shopper signals

Why retail media must sit close to the trading function and how internal stakeholder management is often the hardest part

Iceland's retail media opportunity: a loyal customer base, 9 million weekly transactions, and a major in-store digital screen and analytics rollout

Measurement, creativity, private label vs branded investment, and the ethical questions retailers will increasingly face as retail media expands into new categories and formats

More 
Kiri's Newsletter: www.retailmediabreakfastclub.com
 
Kiri's piece on US vs UK
https://www.retailmediabreakfastclub.com/p/why-us-retail-media-hits-different
 
and ethical dilemmas in retail media 

https://www.retailmediabreakfastclub.com/p/5-ethical-dilemmas-in-retail-media

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fmcgguys/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fmcgguys/  
Audio Mixing by Modest Ferrer
Voice Acting by Jason Martorell Parsekian
Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The FMCG Guys (Dwyer Partners SL) or its partners. The FMCG Guys make no representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of any information discussed, and accept no responsibility for any decisions or outcomes based on this content. Listeners are encouraged to seek their own professional advice before acting on any of the topics covered.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZWWZAjWjuRI 
Consumers are increasingly using AI tools like ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) to discover and evaluate products. This shift is beginning to transform the traditional path-to-purchase, with recommendations now being generated by algorithms rather than search results alone. This makes the digital shelf more important than ever. Product information no longer influences only search results on retailer websites; it increasingly feeds the datasets and content ecosystems that power AI recommendations.

To do this, your hosts Christine and Daniel are accompanied by Beyza Kapu, Global Ecom Tech & Data Analytics Director at L'Oréal and Salim Bachatene, SVP Global Sales, eCommerce at NielsenIQ.

We discuss:
• Why AI discovery is becoming a new front door for commerce
• How this shift is reshaping the path-to-purchase
• Where AI gets its product information from—and why digital shelf execution matters
• What brands should do today to ensure their products are visible, accurate, and recommendation-ready