Beyond The Shelf
This show is an open exploration of the people and process behind E-Commerce. Through conversations with innovators in the space, we learn the stories of these leaders and their strategies for E-Commerce success. You can join our mailing list and access more content at itsrapid.ai.
David's past guests have included: Bryan Gildenberg from the CPG Guys, Todd Hassenfelt from Colgate-Palmolive, Anne Zybowski from Circana, Randy Mercer from 1WorldSync, Jared Taitel from PepsiCo, David Novak from Salsify, Harvey Ma from Albertsons Media Collective, Carter Jensen from General Mills, Pam Perino from Ghirardelli Chocolate, and many more.
Episodes
109 episodes
The Digital-First Approach — with Benedict Enterprises’ Scott Benedict
Dave’s guest this week is Scott Benedict, retail strategist, longtime merchant leader, and former Walmart and Sam’s Club executive with 35+ years across brick-and-mortar, eCommerce, and global retail. Today he runs Benedict Enterprises and serv...
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28:26
Transforming the Digital Shelf with AI - with Nestlé's Gloria DeCoste
Dave’s guest this week is Gloria DeCoste, Director of eCommerce & Digital Shelf Capabilities at Nestlé.In this episode, Gloria and Dave explore what it means for brands to be present in an AI-driven commerce environmen...
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27:52
How Regional Retailers Can Win in Retail Media — with DIGITS’ Dave Glaza
Dave’s guest this week is Dave Glaza, Founder & CEO of DIGITS Agency and a retail media pioneer who helped launch Target’s original Cartwheel loyalty app.In this episode, Dave and Dave discuss why most retail media budgets fall short...
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26:37
Functional Foods in an Omnichannel World — with Kettle & Fire’s Niccolò Gloazzo
Dave’s guest this week is Niccolò Gloazzo, Senior Director of Media & Omnichannel at Kettle & Fire, the brand that helped pioneer shelf-stable bone broth and functional soups.Niccolò shares how Kettle & Fire grew from a digit...
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27:41
Creative Finds the Audience — with Salt Media’s Jordan Witmer
Dave’s guest this week is Jordan Witmer, Managing Director of Retail Media & Consulting at Salt Media, where he helps brands unify creative, data, and performance across today’s fragmented retail media landscape.Jordan’s journey span...
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32:06
REWIND: Reimagining Creative for Today’s Shopper — with PepsiCo’s Jared Taitel
This episode originally aired on October 31, 2023. We'll be back with a brand-new episode of Beyond the Shelf on 1/7/26. Happy Holidays!Dave sits down with Jared Taitel, Director, eCommerce Marketing at PepsiCo, for a wide-ra...
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41:50
REWIND: Elevating Digital Commerce Content at Scale — with Mondelēz’s Eric Altschul
This episode originally aired on April 1, 2025. We'll be back with a brand-new episode of Beyond the Shelf on 1/6/26. Happy Holidays!Dave sits down with Eric Altschul, Director of Digital Commerce Content at Mondelēz International,...
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28:57
Modern Puzzles, Smarter Content — with Buffalo Games’ Matt Krueger
Dave’s guest this week is Matt Krueger, SVP of Digital Commerce & Marketplaces at Buffalo Games, home to some of the most beloved puzzles and games in North America.Matt shares how he’s helping bring a modern, data-driven approach to...
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28:23
Inside the Checkout Revolution — with Worldpay's Richard Gilbert
Dave’s guest this week is Richard Gilbert, Head of Retail Partnerships at Worldpay. With more than a decade shaping the future of payments - from SaaS platforms to PayPal and now Worldpay - Richard has a front-row seat to how the checkout exper...
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26:48
Smarter Amazon Advertising — with AdLabs' Carly McMillen
Dave’s guest this week is Carly McMillen, Director of Marketing at AdLabs. Carly shares how she’s flipping the traditional PPC playbook—focusing on contribution margin instead of ROAS—and what that means for smarter, more sustainable growth. Sh...
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27:33
REWIND: Always Ask Why - with Ahold Delhaize USA's Joanna Crishock
This week we're re-airing our 10/21/25 episode featuring Joanna Crishock, VP of Digital Merchandising & Operations at Ahold Delhaize USA. She shares how she’s helping iconic brands like Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, and The Giant ...
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47:34
From Local Stores to National Impact – with Ace Hardware & RedVest Media's Molly Hjelm
This week Dave is joined by Molly Hjelm, Corporate Vice President & Head of Retail Media at Ace Hardware's RedVest Media, . Molly shares what it takes to build a retail media network from scratch, while honoring the voice of thousands of in...
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28:50
How to Win College Consumers – with Snag’s Carter Zwick
This week on Beyond the Shelf, we’re joined by Carter Zwick, Partnerships and Insights Lead at Snag, a retail activation platform helping brands get in front of the Gen Z shopper with smarter sampling and real-world insights.Col...
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23:23
Redefining Skincare on the Digital Shelf – with Advantice Health's Ash McMullen
This week's guest is Ash McMullen, Head of E-Commerce at Advantice Health. At Advantice, Ash leads eCommerce and Amazon strategy for the brands Kerasal, AmLactin, Triple Paste, Dermoplast, New-Skin and Domeboro. Dave...
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36:44
REWIND: The Science of Shopping - with Behavioral Researcher & Author Paco Underhill
This week we're re-airing our episode from this past August with Paco Underhill, renowned behavioral researcher, retail anthropologist, and best-selling author of Why We Buy.Paco has spent decades studying how and why we shop—an...
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35:38
Always Ask Why - with Ahold Delhaize USA's Joanna Crishock
This week Dave is joined by Joanna Crishock, VP of Digital Merchandising & Operations at Ahold Delhaize USA. She shares how she’s helping iconic brands like Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, and The Giant Company stay agile, customer-...
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47:34
Reimagining the Supply Chain – with McLane Company's Murat Genc
What does it take to digitally transform a $50 billion supply chain business?This week's guest, Murat Genc, President and Chief Information & Digital Officer at McLane Company, shares how he’s helping a 130-year-old company embrace t...
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Episode 93
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35:30
Making the Creative Work Harder — with Retail Media Veteran Brian Anthony
This week's guest is Brian Anthony. Brian was in retail media before it was even called retail media. From his early days at Triad, helping launch the first LeBron James campaigns on walmart.com, to his current work shaping strategy...
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Episode 93
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25:49
The Pivot or Die Mindset - with Pacvue's Melissa Burdick
This week we welcome Melissa Burdick, Co-Founder and President of Pacvue, the leading Commerce Operating System that unifies retail media, commerce management, and measurement. A former Amazon executive with nearly a decade of experience, Burdi...
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Episode 92
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42:44
Reaching Every Shopper, Everywhere – with Jeff Cohen
This week we’re joined by returning guest Jeff Cohen. Jeff is a go-to voice in the world of retail media. You’ll hear Jeff’s take on signal-based media, AI-powered ad creation, and the biggest creative blockers that brands still fac...
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Episode 91
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34:24
Sustainability That Sells: Turning Purpose into Action - with Marie-Agnés Daumas
This week we're joined by Marie-Agnès Daumas. With a background spanning TerraCycle and Colgate-Palmolive, Marie-Agnès brings a career's worth of insight into retail leadership, sustainability strategy, and how to connect with the modern consum...
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Episode 89
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25:57
How to Launch (and Win) with Influencers and Algorithms - with ProductWind's Tim Wilson
Dave’s guest today is Tim Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer at ProductWind, a platform helping brands use influencer marketing to drive real results—especially in retail environments like Amazon and Walmart.Tim’s career has spanned eComm, te...
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Episode 88
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34:40
The Science of Shopping - with Behavioral Researcher & Author Paco Underhill
This week’s guest is Paco Underhill, renowned behavioral researcher, retail anthropologist, and best-selling author of Why We Buy.Paco has spent decades studying how and why we shop—and what our behavior reveals about the changi...
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Episode 87
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35:38
How to Drive Smarter Retail Execution – with Spectrum Brands’ Mir Zaman
What do rocket science and commercial operations have in common? More than you think!In this episode, Mir Zaman, Vice President of Commercial Operations at Spectrum Brands, shares what he brought with him from the aeropsace industry to A...
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Episode 86
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32:45
Smarter Media Measurement and Incrementality – with Clerdata’s Meghan Corroon
This week we’re joined by Meghan Corroon, Co-Founder and CEO of Clerdata. In a world full of spend reports, inflated ROAS claims, and buzzwords like "directional" or "efficiency," Clerdata helps brands see clearly which investments are moving t...
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Episode 85
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28:01