Recorded live on the Shoptalk Spring show floor, Phillip and Alicia sit down with Leah Logan, VP of Retail Media Transformation for Inmar Intelligence, and Andrew Lipsman, Founder & Chief Analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce, fresh off a spirited on-stage debate about agentic commerce. We debunk AI Traffic Apocalypse predictions and make the case for creators as a critical yet overlooked retail media channel. 

The AIpocalypse, Explained

Key takeaways:

• AI referral traffic currently accounts for just 0.1–2% of retailer traffic; it has also led to eCommerce site traffic growth, not decline. 
• Consumer intent data, not bottom-funnel ads, is where LLM advertising will find its footing.
• Creators are a media channel that predates the hype, and the measurement has been there for years.
• Retail media's growth depends on graduating from ROAS to incrementality — the sooner, the better.
• [00:11:08] "The next big trend already exists. People just haven't really wrapped their heads around it yet." — Andrew Lipsman
• [00:26:09] "We have to stop looking at CPMs and start looking at investments." — Leah Logan

In-Show Mentions:

• Retail Confessions Podcast
• Buy STRATA

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• See our in-depth analysis of Shoptalk’s theme: “Retail in the Age of AI” 
• Read our post-event digest in The Senses

• Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

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