Forrester Research - Retail Strategy in the Age of Marketplaces and AI
Release Date: 03/18/2026
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sits down with , PhD, Founder & CEO of , for a conversation that's as much about love and purpose as it is about pet nutrition. Mahsa didn't set out to disrupt the pet food industry — she set out to take better care of her dog, Paco. What follows is a story of science, conviction, and a growing movement of pet parents who believe their dogs deserve a whole lot more than a bowl of kibble. * A founder story that starts with a dog named Paco. After her PhD in nanoscience and time as an early scientist at Impossible Foods, Mahsa couldn't find a single pet food she felt good about. ...
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sits down with , CEO of , for a conversation that spans two decades of startup building, a category-defining exit, and a brand-new mission to help high school students conquer the SAT and ACT. Ron is the kind of founder who doesn't just build companies he transforms categories. From scaling from a six-person team to a household name, to launching with his daughter as his first inspiration, this is a story about pattern recognition, relentless optimism, and knowing when it's time to go again. * AllTrails: the pivot that changed everything. Ron took over a struggling six-person app in...
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Scaling a company is hard. Changing behavior is harder—and that’s exactly what this business is doing. In this episode of , host , CEO of , sits down with , Founder and CEO of , for a fascinating conversation about building not just a company—but a completely new consumer behavior. Joe had already built a billion-dollar company with . But instead of staying, he chose to start over—this time in pet healthcare. What he’s building with isn’t just scale—it’s a shift in how pet parents access care, think about affordability, and engage with veterinarians. Key moments from the...
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Returning guest , Founder and CEO of , joins Ramon Vela to announce the launch of (mysathi.io) — a new affiliate marketing platform designed to eliminate the fraud, attribution failures, and operational chaos that quietly kill brand affiliate programs. * The recruitment treadmill is real. Last-click attribution ignores every affiliate who nurtured and introduced customers — leaving top performers uncompensated and brands stuck constantly recruiting replacements. * Multi-touch + cookie-less tracking. reveals the full customer journey across every affiliate touchpoint and tracks...
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info_outlineIn this episode of The Story of a Brand, host Rose Hamilton, CEO of Compass Rose Ventures, sits down with Sucharita Kodali, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, for a thoughtful and strategic conversation about the forces reshaping modern retail.
The discussion draws on Rose’s experience as an operator inside brands like The Vitamin Shoppe and Nutrafol, where Forrester’s research often informed critical boardroom decisions. Throughout the episode, Rose and Sucharita unpack how retail strategy has evolved—from marketplaces and DTC to retail media and AI—and why leaders today must think beyond growth tactics to understand leverage, channel strategy, and long-term enterprise value.
Key moments from the episode include:
* Why brands should approach marketplaces strategically and consider the sequencing of channels when building long-term value
* The importance of “e-control”—protecting pricing, distribution integrity, and brand presentation across marketplaces
* How retail media networks are becoming structural components of retailer economics
* What leaders should understand about AI and generative AI in retail today—and where the hype exceeds reality
* Why the most effective research blends data with narrative to create conviction and drive decision-making
This episode offers an inside look at how data-driven insight shapes the biggest strategic decisions in retail and commerce.
Join us in listening to the episode to hear Rose Hamilton and Sucharita Kodali explore the patterns, shifts, and lessons that continue to influence how brands build durable growth in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
For more on Sucharita Kodali and Forrester Research visit: https://www.forrester.com/bold/
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