The Interline Podcast is now live, with our first episode – Intelligent Retail – available across all major listening platforms from today.

In this episode, our Editor-in-Chief, Ben Hanson, welcomes Dan Leahy, Co-Founder and CEO of product decision platform MakerSights. Together, they debate how the retail recovery is developing, discuss how rapid digitisation has reshaped the market, and make a case for a model of retail that’s built on data instead of intuition.

Listen now:

Use the embedded players to listen to this episode of The Interline Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or to follow the show on those popular platforms so you don’t miss future episodes.

The Interline Podcast is also available through a range of other podcast services, with more coming online shortly. Search for “The Interline Podcast” on your platform of choice. If the show isn’t available for you yet, email our support team and we’ll make sure we get it to you as soon as possible.

New episodes will be released monthly, with Episode 2: The Data-Driven Supply Chain scheduled for the start of March.

In the meantime, you can find key talking points from Episode 1 below.

Key talking points:

  • Is 2022 going to set the retail template for the years to come, or are we still in a temporary recovery phase? And what does the answer mean for brands and retailers looking to digitise today?
  • The last two years have obviously seen some sweeping society-wide changes, but now so much of what happens is dictated by people wielding power, rather than brands. How is that shift being felt in fashion retail?
  • Costs are up across materials and labour. Shipping and logistics bottlenecks remain a real force to contend with. And consumers aren’t universally willing to pay higher retail prices. Brands and retailers need to be uncommonly smart about what to bring to market, but where do they start to improve the bottom line, and how?
  • What retail and consumer data matters? And what data doesn’t? How do brands and retailers gather information, create insights, and make use of them across their organisations?
  • Fashion has accepted high levels of markdowns, disposals, and returns as a fact of life for decades. And the industry has also settled for severe constraints on supply chain visibility. Those things obviously need to change, but how? 
  • What does the channel mix of 2022 and beyond look like? And what does being a truly digital retailer mean today – beyond showcasing products and taking payments online?

Don’t forget to follow The Interline Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your platform of choice.