Rishi Venkat

The product management world is at an interesting crossroads. Having spent years in customer focused retail analysis on the sales side I see first hand an interesting inflection point. When I first got into retail, my work revolved around solving customer problems and utilizing data for the world’s largest retailers to understand what matters at the store level and what actually moves the needle. That experience taught me a lot about value creation and impact. Now that I’m on the SaaS side of my journey I’m constantly bombarded with calls to listen to customers and solve problems but this is exactly what we should be doing not a new idea. It shouldn’t be news to anyone. I’m so surprised when people seem to be hearing this for the first time. Here’s the thing about product though: product management professionals have become a well-compensated, high-profile role, and with that comes an expectation to deliver real, measurable results. And let’s be clear, this isn’t about a talent gap. The talent in this industry is incredible. The people I see on stage at conferences—storytellers who deeply understand customers and data—are phenomenal at what they do. Frankly, they could be some of the best salespeople out there. But as I keep attending conferences, I notice the same foundational ideas being rehashed. It feels like we’re stuck on repeat. It’s not enough to just push out new features or close tickets. Unless those features drive actual value for the business, we’re missing the mark. The software side of product management, in particular, needs a shake-up—new methods, fresh ideas, a willingness to challenge the status quo. Product folks also should be sitting in on the sales call IMO. I don’t have all the answers, but I know something has to change for this industry to maintain the respect it commands. Here are a few random ideas from my side: • A Product/Feature Value Calculator to measure the real impact of each launch or feature. • Reimagined AI tools that dig deep into customer needs, capturing modern panel-style insights and not just fancy note taking tools • LTV tracking across the user journey to focus on what really drives long-term value not just a core metric So, what’s next in the world of product? Do you agree or disagree?

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✴️✴️#productculture biggest factor in sustainable & great product organization✴️✴️ Was recently mentoring a seasoned Product Leader regarding his next move. 📌📌Single most important evaluation, in my opinion, I suggested him to do on "Product Culture" A great product culture can do wonders in the face of challenges whereas a negative/toxic product culture can destroy even a great potential product or market opportunity or sometimes a whole organization ❓❓❓Question is how to evaluate a good & conducive product culture 👉Talk to multiple existing or ex-PMs or Product Leaders. Find out 🔹How product Strategy & Roadmap are decided 🔹How frequently roadmap or priority changes & reasons for changes 🔹Does Org sometimes make tough sacrifices for long term gains & upholding customer experience 🔹Micro-management vs Guidance/Mentorship style of senior leadership 🔹Daily, Weekly & monthly schedule of a PM and Leader. How much time goes in program managing, follow-ups, adhoc requirements, managing expectations & perception of Senior Leadership 🔹Collaborative & respectful working of Product & Engg teams 🔥Danger signs ❌Engg, Product & Business teams trying to out smart each other ❌ PM Leaders are scared of trying out of box thinking or taking decisions bocs of repercussions ❌ CXO's micro management style dictating strategy, roadmap, priorities 👍Geat product culture facilitates ownership, innovation with risk taking, merit based career growth & financial rewards, eventually long stable enjoyable tenure with an Org.

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Retail executives have witnessed #AI's transformative potential, yet have we grasped its full impact on #ProductDiscovery? Today, AI isn't just disrupting search–it's reinventing its future. Consider this: while product search itself increasingly happens on: - Generative AI answer engines (Perplexity AI, ChatGPT Search, Meta AI, Microsoft Co-Pilot, etc.) - Retail media networks (Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Macy's, etc.) - Social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, etc.) ...70% of search ad spend still remains focused on the largest search engine in the world: Google. To stay competitive, retailers must embrace shifting consumer behaviors as AI, technology, media, and Google itself reshape the product search and shopping landscape. I'm diving deeper into this critical issue in our upcoming demo session at Search Engine Land SMX Next, "Vibe shift: Elevating shopping ads with AI-powered natural language search." Here's a sneak peek at the hot topics I’ll cover in this free, virtual event on November 13th: 1) The state of product search and advertising 2) Preparing for an increasingly feedless GMC future 3) How Lily AI's attributes platform goes beyond Site Search to seamlessly unlock better Shopping Ad and SEO performance https://lnkd.in/ehB5VGMv

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I recently took Shreyas Doshi’s Product Sense course which challenged my perspectives about Product Sense. A few insights that stuck with me: - Great customer segmentation beats a thousand strategy meetings. - Strategy = creative thinking. Frameworks help, but your thinking quality defines success. - No process can replace sharp, intentional thinking. This course is a must for anyone passionate about building impactful products. Thanks, Shreyas Doshi, for challenging us to raise the bar on our thinking! 🙌 #ProductManagement #ProductSense #ThinkBetter #CustomerFirst Link to the course: https://lnkd.in/gTP3UnwZ

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Larger brands are considering Shopify and dipping their toes in. I came across another brand this week that is experimenting with its platform. Sunglass Hut has the US website and several other subdirectories for other countries (France, Canada, India). Their implementations are a bit different depending on the country, but they just launched UAE last year. Instead of launching UAE on its existing tech stack, in 2023 Sunglass Hut created a subdomain, ae. sunglass hut, which is on Shopify. This shows that they may be considering migrating and are testing the technology in their newer markets. In the US, Sunglass Hut gets 2M visits a month and traffic for valueable terms like "women sunglass" and "X brand sunglasses". This is a pretty big business and luxury-focused. It's an excellent example of what many companies are considering as they look at their platform bills: finally migrating; it's one of the reasons I think Shopify's market position is getting safer/more assured.

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Selection bias is at the root of so many bad decisions in retail. Here are three claims I’ve actually heard over the years from either tech vendors pushing their solutions or brand execs blowing their own horn: 1. “Our loyalty program members spend X% more than non-members, so our loyalty program drives higher LTV.” No, it doesn’t. Most likely, what’s happening is that your heavy buyers are enrolling in your loyalty program to get discounts on products they were previously buying at full price. 2. “AOV on our mobile app is X% higher than on our website, so our mobile app drives higher AOV.” No, it doesn’t. Again, what’s probably happening is that the only people motivated enough to download your mobile app are customers who were highly loyal to your brand in the first place. (Also, if you’re running any app-specific promos, see the point above.) 3. “Our post-purchase surveys show that customers come from <insert random channel>, so we’ll double down on our investment there.” I… don’t even know where to begin with this one. When you put it like this, the problem is obvious. Unfortunately, reality is much more complicated than a LinkedIn post, and while these conclusions may never be explicitly stated, they will still live rent-free in the minds of decision-makers if you leave them unchecked. There’s only one reliable, repeatable solution that I know of: Write. Things. Down. Having a system for going from hypothesis to conclusion to initiative is the only way to systematically minimize bias in decision-making. I would love to say “eliminate” instead of “minimize,” but that would be a bit too ambitious, not to mention unnecessary: as in most things, you don’t need to be perfect—you just need to be better than the other guy. #ecommerce #retail #strategy #decisionmaking #data

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Look around you! Do you see price-sensitive consumers or more value conscious ones? There's a bit of both, but for the most part, the low switching cost for customers has sent some retailers scrambling. In the latest podcast episode of The Retail Tales (#TRT), inspired by a recent #CNN article - "Customers Didn’t Stop Spending. Companies Stopped Serving." - I explore how companies are losing customers not because of reduced spending but due to a failure to deliver real value. Some retailers are learning the hard way that it’s no longer just about getting customers in the door; it’s about providing value and an experience that makes them want to return.   How can AI help? How have #AI and #GenAI capabilities helped an almost forgotten retailer make a phenomenal comeback?   Tune in to know more!

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Balancing in-store customer needs while fulfilling online orders from stores can be a tricky tightrope for omnichannel retailers. 🛍️📦 When Shopify retailers fulfill online orders from stores, store associates juggle between the demands of in-store customers along with fulfilling online orders, it creates a conundrum – how do you ensure they are fairly compensated for their efforts? The solution to this dilemma? HotWax Commerce OMS provides comprehensive reports that offer insights into the number of orders each associate fulfills. With this data, Shopify retailers can ensure that the store associates are rightly compensated for their dedication and hard work. Here's how HotWax Commerce OMS helps you strike the right balance: Fair Compensation: By tracking the orders fulfilled by each associate, Shopify retailers can ensure that they are compensated fairly for their dual roles in serving in-store customers and fulfilling online orders. Transparency: These reports bring transparency to the compensation process, eliminating any guesswork or disputes about how associates are rewarded for their efforts. Optimized Staffing: Use data-driven insights to allocate staffing resources effectively, ensuring that the right number of associates available to handle both in-store and online customer demands. Employee Satisfaction: When associates feel fairly compensated for their work, it boosts morale and job satisfaction, leading to a more motivated and engaged workforce. Ready to strike the perfect balance between in-store and online order fulfillment while ensuring fair compensation for your store associates? Explore HotWax Commerce OMS and discover the benefits of data-driven insights! #ShoppingandtheRetailIndustry #eCommerce #Retail #Omnichannel #OrderManagementSystem

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"Being people-led means we start with the human need, and often, a combination of technologies like AI, GenAI, AR and Immersive Commerce, is key to the solution. Our customers guide us, and with these platforms, we’re ready for whatever they need." You have to read the whole press release to get to the quote above from Walmart CTO / CDO Suresh Kumar, but it's well worth the time (and I TLDR'd it below). The takeaway is that retailers and brands still in the MVP / pilot phase in scaling these new capabilities are already falling behind as Walmart and others push forward aggressively with new capabilities. TLDR: Last week, Walmart announced a set of "common global core capabilities that are built once and deployed across Walmart U.S., Sam’s Club and Walmart International ... [enabling them] to move with speed as we bring consistent experiences to all our customers and members.” Specific capabilities include: - Wallaby, a series of "retail-specific LLMs," trained with "decades of Walmart data" and able to be combined with other LLMs, that will be used to create "highly contextual" customer experiences. - A more personalized AI-powered Customer Support Assistant that recognizes the customer from the start and "goes beyond just understanding the customer’s intent to taking actions, like finding orders and managing returns." - A GenAI-powered Content Decision Platform to create bespoke digital shopping experiences that are "as personalized as stepping into a store designed exclusively for each customer." - The Retina AR platform "to bring the Walmart shopping experience into new virtual social environments, unlock new revenue streams and be at the forefront of Adaptive Retail," and building off its work last year with Roblox and the Walmart Realm immersive social / shopping platform. The company is also "actively building dozens of additional GenAI tools for customers, members, associates and partners that leverage its GenAI platforms" #AI #GenAI #retail #innovation #AR #VR #IBM #IBMRetail https://lnkd.in/eDNUP9tB

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🚨 Is Walmart about to loose US biggest Retailer Tag ? 🚨 For over a decade, Walmart has been the nation's revenue powerhouse, with last year's sales hitting a staggering $648 billion. But change is on the horizon. With Amazon's revenue surging by 12% to $575 billion, compared to Walmart's 6% growth, the retail giant's top spot looks vulnerable. Walmart is making bold moves to stay ahead: New Store Openings: Expanding for the first time in nearly a decade. Premium Product Lines: Launching new lines to attract high-income shoppers. Enhanced Convenience: Improving online pickup and delivery services to boost customer satisfaction. Despite Amazon's edge in non-retail profits like cloud computing and advertising, Walmart is ramping up its own ad sales, hitting $3.4 billion last year—a 28% increase. Walmart's CEO, Doug McMillon, is focused on keeping prices low and building customer trust, aiming to cater to a diverse range of shoppers. Will Walmart maintain its crown, or will Amazon take the lead? Exciting times in retail ahead! #RetailNews #Walmart #Amazon #BusinessGrowth #Innovation

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Unveiling the Mystery: Why Offline Retailers Need In-Store Customer Journey Analytics In today's competitive retail landscape, understanding your customers is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. While online retailers have a wealth of data at their fingertips, offline stores have traditionally been left in the dark. This is where in-store customer journey analytics platforms come in, offering a powerful tool to illuminate the path customers take within your physical space. Capturing the Complete Picture Imagine a platform that goes beyond basic sales figures. An in-store customer journey analytics platform captures a holistic view of customer behavior, staff interactions, and overall store operations. This includes: * Customer Movement: Track how customers navigate the store, what areas attract them, and where they might get lost or frustrated. * Product Engagement: Analyze which products customers linger on, what they pick up and put down, and how product placement influences their choices. * Staff Interactions: Monitor staff-customer interactions, identify areas for improvement in service and training, and measure staff efficiency. * Checkout Experience: Analyze checkout times, identify bottlenecks, and understand customer behavior at the point of purchase. A Dashboard for Data-Driven Decisions The collected data is then transformed into a user-friendly dashboard, offering insights for various teams: * Merchandising: Optimize product placement based on customer flow and engagement, identify areas for high-demand products, and adjust inventory levels accordingly. * Marketing: Gain a deeper understanding of customer preferences, personalize marketing campaigns based on in-store behavior, and tailor promotions to maximize impact. * Operations: Identify operational inefficiencies, optimize staffing schedules based on peak traffic periods, and improve checkout processes to reduce wait times. The Power of Informed Action By leveraging these insights, retailers can take targeted actions to: * Enhance Customer Experience: Streamline store layout, improve product displays, and personalize interactions to create a frictionless and enjoyable shopping experience. * Boost Operational Efficiency: Reduce wait times, optimize staff allocation, and identify areas for cost savings through data-driven decisions. * Increase Profitability: Drive sales through strategic merchandising, targeted promotions, and a focus on customer conversion at every touchpoint. The Bottom Line In-store customer journey analytics platforms are not just about collecting data; they're about gaining actionable insights into the heart of your business. By understanding your customers and your store's inner workings, you can transform the shopping experience, optimize operations, and ultimately, unlock the path to greater profitability.

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Hudson's Bay Company, Amazon and Salesforce are buying out Neiman Marcus Group in a $2.65 billion deal. The new company will be called Saks Global with $10 billion in annual sales. As minority shareholders, Amazon will offer Saks Global with technology and logistical expertise, while Salesforce will work with them on new AI initiatives. Interesting to see forming of an AI & Commerce Tech company, that’s in the business of selling luxury retail. Amazon takes another shot at physical retail, luxury and become the everything-for-everyone store. Get ready to pick your Tide pods and LV bag via Prime soon 😊 Salesforce gets a large data playground to test and build its AI use cases. Brands will be at crossroads. Should they accelerate their organic growth and own direct audience, or leave their fate (and data) in the hands of big tech? #brands #organicgrowth #dotkonnekt

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Attended an insightful session at NASSCOM Future Forge 2024 on Conscious Design Choices by Conscious Patterns Team. Check out this blog highlighting 12 distinct deceptive patterns in UX based on ASCI and Department of Consumer Affairs guidelines. Hope this blog helps a lot of Product, Design & Engineering Team to take conscious calls to differentiate between "Ethical vs Deceptive Design Patterns in UX" [Link to the blog] (https://lnkd.in/gZJGTVqu) #UXDesign #ProductEngineering #NASSCOMFutureForge2024

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Reel 2: Let's Talk Retail Podcast with Barada Sahu A fundamental driver of growth for brands and retailers lies in the profound understanding of consumers. This realization underscores the pivotal role of consumer insights in shaping strategies that foster engagement and loyalty. By meticulously analyzing consumer behaviours, preferences, and content interactions, brands can curate personalized experiences that resonate with their target audience. This consumer-centric approach serves as the cornerstone for establishing a compelling consumer journey on digital marketplaces. By catering to consumers' preferences and delivering tailored content, brands can cultivate ongoing engagement and loyalty. The ability to anticipate consumer needs and preferences enables brands to not only showcase relevant products but also provide enticing offers and promotions. At the heart of this strategy is a commitment to understanding and meeting the evolving demands of consumers. By leveraging consumer insights to inform every aspect of the brand experience, from content creation to product offerings, brands can establish meaningful connections with their audience and drive sustained growth in the competitive online landscape. Listen to the complete conversation with Barada Sahu on: Youtube: https://lnkd.in/gB_fBf9p Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gNbGmD9r mason #consumerinsights #growthstrategy #marketplaceexpertise #unifiedcommerce #retail #letstalkretail #innovation #hyperpersonal #personalization #customerjourney #genai #nextgen

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Agentforce comes to Salesforce Commerce Cloud! We'll be unveiling a lot of innovation for the retail industry at Dreamforce this week, but I'm most excited for the "Agents of Commerce:" Agentforce Personal Shopper:  This agent acts as a digital concierge, allowing the shopper to use generative AI to provide personalized assistance on ecommerce sites, chat, or messaging apps like WhatsApp. Agentforce Buyer: This agent is also a digital concierge, but for a business buyers. This makes it easier for the business buyer to find products and place or reorder purchases with pre-negotiated pricing through chat or messaging channels. Agentforce Merchant:  This agent works autonomously with ecommerce merchandisers to help build and manage their sites through easy, conversational setup and goal setting. The agent can handle tasks like generating personalized promotions or writing product descriptions, streamlining everyday actions within the flow of work to improve efficiency and outcomes.

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The Science of Shopping - Why People buy :) - has always intrigued me. As a keen student of retail , have tried time and again to bring this science to the forefront of retail professional journeys. Join me in my journey with webengage - to demystify - science of shopping and consumer retention. #podcast

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Retailer execs who speak at tradeshows suffer from what my college fraternity brothers used to call BOTTLE THEORY (yes - a drinking reference) – in the form of exaggerated and overhyped metrics…let me explain At every ecommerce show, each speaker gets up on stage and talks about how every initiative they’ve worked on added 20%+ here and there. When added up, you would think their business is up over 200% And that’s every retailer on stage Yet we know retail is soft overall right now We either stink at math or we have a propensity to exaggerate on stage. The BOTTLE THEORY in college was similar. After a big night at a party, the next day my fraternity brothers would brag about how much they drank. It was a ritual Chubbs had 5 shots Smurf took down 6 Woody (that’s me) had 4 Squid led the pack with 7 and and and And when we totaled how many shots we’d all imbibed, it was well over 100 yet we only had one magnun of Senators Club Vodka which contains only about 30 shots!! This week is the The Lead Summit in NYC and I’ll be there And I will be thinking about the Bottle Theory for each and every speaker session. It would be refreshing for an exec for once to get up on stage and share lessons of what didn't work and why. Vulnerability and authenticity would go much farther. Anyone wanna do a shot with me at the Lead Summit? xxoo

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#amazonads revenue jumped 20% to $12.77 billion during Q2. The unit has emerged as one of the biggest profit generators, and although most ad sales continue to come from #sponsoredproducts on its online store, the company has added newer offerings and grown its market share in the #digitaladvertising segment, where it competes with #Meta and #Alphabet

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I believe that the Product mindset goes beyond building products. Here are a few Product Management ideas from my own experience that apply to effective leadership. 1. Identifying the north-star metric: It's the single most important measurement of success. North-star metrics, when right, have the power to bring everything together: aligning your vision, strategy, and quarterly roadmap; guiding efficient decision-making; creating focus; and bringing clarity of purpose. They serve as a leading indicator of business success. North-star metrics are often simple to understand but aren’t simplistic. Their depth is revealed in their 2nd and 3rd order implications. 2. Focusing on inputs vs. outputs: In a system, inputs are what you control and outputs are what you get as a result. You need an output orientation to know where you need to go but that’s just the starting point. You must work out the inputs and have goals around them. Then, spend most of your time and energy in the input world. If your inputs are right, the output will take care of itself. If not, you change the inputs. 3. Making decisions: Know that every decision doesn't require the same amount of deliberation. There are decisions that need to be carefully analyzed, over an extended period of time, because the cost of undoing them is high. But for others, when decisions can be easily changed (with very little cost), it’s always better to oversimplify than under-simplify. It's important to remember that a good amount of worry is caused by not realizing the difference between what needs to be approximately correct vs. precisely correct. 4. Managing uncertainty: In physics, velocity is a vector combining two entities: speed and direction. As a leader, it’s tempting to look too far ahead and make plans to move with speed– but that doesn’t always work, especially if you’re operating in an environment of high uncertainty. Don’t prioritize speed over finding the right direction to achieve your vision. It might not always be what you thought initially. Really good product work begins with a hypothesis, but also real open-mindedness to what you might find on the other side as you pursue the hypothesis. When uncertainty is high, measure progress in terms of finding new information – both positive and negative. Finding what doesn’t work is valuable information as well. Think in terms of experiments and the cost (time, resources) of doing them. Then, work to reduce the cost. Iterate and learn. When you're confident that you have found the right direction, put the pedal to the metal. 5. Getting things done: Strategy doesn’t differentiate great from good, execution does. Effective product management combines a bias for action with reflection and observation without preconception. It relies on first-principles thinking and analysis to guide prioritization. To do it right, you need a deep awareness of what’s important and a sharp feedback loop with reality.

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