The Retail Spotlight
One of the key things we frequently observe is the speed with which the retail space is evolving and how many people are finding it challenging to keep up. That’s exactly why we started this podcast - to provide experts a stage to share what they have been working on, bring new ideas to the forefront, create more awareness, and explore cutting-edge technologies.
In a world where customer experiences can make or break a brand, “The Retail Spotlight” is a new podcast series where executives from leading retailers and brands share their stories, innovations, and strategies that puts the customer at the center of every experience.
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The Retail Spotlight
Anand Rao, Ex-General Manager @ Sharaf DG | 🎙️ Retail as a Service: The Operating Model Behind Tomorrow’s Stores
🎙️ In this episode of The Retail Spotlight, we sit down with Anand Ganesh - Founder of Retail Fountainhead and veteran retail strategist with 27 years across consumer tech, e-commerce, and big-box retail. Anand takes us inside the thinking that turned flashy campaigns like “Buy a TV, Get a BMW Free” into a long-term playbook for trust, data, and strategy. More importantly, he unpacks why physical retail’s future may depend on thinking less like a traditional store and more like a marketplace.
From real-time dashboards shared with 300+ brands to the radical “Retail as a Service” model, Anand explores how collaboration, transparency, and tech can transform even the toughest categories. We also dive into why “digital transformation” is the retail buzzword he’d gladly ban forever - and what should replace it in the AI era.
If you want to know how marketplaces are rewriting the rules of physical retail and why the store of the future will feel more like a media channel than a stockroom - this episode is a must-listen.