Greg Zakowicz
My Reading & Podcast List

Here is my list of recent reads and podcasts I am currently enjoying. Maybe they’ll give you something new to look into and enjoy.

Read more to find what I’ve been digging into lately, including:

  • Building a Story Brand

  • The Power of Geography

  • The Greatest Beer Run Ever. A Crazy Adventure In a Crazy War

  • The Escape Artist. The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

  • Devil in the White City. Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Primed: How Amazon Finally Converted Me

Primed: How Amazon Finally Converted Me

If you know me, or have ever listened to The Commerce Marketer Podcast, you know I am not a Prime member.

Until now.

I know, right? I spend my life analyzing the ecommerce world, ordering my products online, and yet I rebuffed all of Amazon’s attempts to draw me in. But the scale finally tipped. It was slow and gradual. I saw the writing on the wall. I finally got to the point I could no longer rationalize not subscribing. This was years in the making. But in all of this, there is a lesson for retailers to learn from my journey.

So, what took me so long to sign-up, and what changed? Let’s explore.

When Is the Best Time to Send Your Brand Emails?

When Is the Best Time to Send Your Brand Emails?

When is the best time to send emails?

This question has been around as long as email marketing itself. If you do a quick search, you’ll find tons of different studies pointing to a variety of answers, leaving retailers just as confused as before. The common result: Brands are flooding consumer inboxes with emails at seemingly random times throughout the day.

The Importance of Relevant Recommendations

The Importance of Relevant Recommendations

Imagine this scenario. You’re staying at a hotel, and you visit the concierge for a great dinner recommendation. You give him all sorts of information, including your craving for surf and turf. You tell him about the vintage red wine you like and your wife’s favorite chardonnay. You say you want a relaxed, romantic atmosphere – nothing too loud. After sharing all of those details, the concierge recommends the local sports bar. Wouldn’t you have expected more? Would you think less of the concierge and even the hotel chain as a whole? This same kind of interaction happens between retailers and consumers every day.

Are Loyalty Programs Still Doing Their Job?

Are Loyalty Programs Still Doing Their Job?

It’s a pretty disloyal world out there, but can you really blame the consumer? Online shopping has never been easier, and stores have been stepping over each other to see who can offer the deepest discount. While discounting your way to a one-time purchase might work in the short term, at the end of the day, you need to aim for a higher prize: customer loyalty.

Many retailers attempt to accomplish this with an official loyalty program. There’s just one problem – they rarely work.

The Threat of Disappearing Brands in the Age of Voice Assistants

The Threat of Disappearing Brands in the Age of Voice Assistants

When you see a red and white can of soda or a Peter Pan silhouette on a jar, you see a brand. You know the product. But what happens when you don’t have those visual cues to draw you to certain items when you shop?

Brands used to rely on traditional advertising to embed their brand imagery in our minds and remain visible and relevant to their audience. But in today’s digital-first world, consumer attention is more fragmented. Television screen time is declining, while time spent on smartphones and other mediums is increasing. This has created challenges for brands trying to stay in front of consumers.

Millennials: From Punchline to Powerful Consumers

By now, you’ve heard the term “millennial” a million times over — and with good reason. They represent 25% of the US population and hold $1.3 trillion in spending power, which has turned them into quite a powerful consumer group.

Millennials have mostly been given the credit, for better or worse, for redefining consumer expectations. These expectations now go well beyond millennials, prompting retailers to change how they engage and market to consumers of all ages.

Holiday Predictions Recap: Did I Hit the Mark or Shoot My Eye Out?

Holiday Predictions Recap: Did I Hit the Mark or Shoot My Eye Out?

The holiday season exploded, much like a shot fired from a Red Rider carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. Back in October, I laid out my predictions for the 2017 holiday season. Now it’s time to take aim at my predictions and see whether I had Black Bart in the crosshairs or ended up shooting my eye out.

Confessions of a Holiday Shopper: Why I Didn’t Wait Until Black Friday

This holiday season was predicted to be the best yet for online retailers – and it was. Fifty-eight out of 61 days drove over $1 billion in online sales, including every single day in November. Gray November, the month-long period of deep discounts, is now commonplace. But do people buy more or simply buy earlier?

Top Retail Trends for 2018: Industry Experts Share Their Predictions

Many in the industry called 2017 a “retail apocalypse” and there were certainly strong elements of this. There were hundreds of store closings and several major bankruptcy filings as companies felt the ongoing pain of retail’s evolution. But the year ended on a high note with loads of anecdotal evidence of stronger-than-expected holiday sales; final figures will be in later this month.

Below, some industry experts provide their predictions on where retail, and B2C commerce in general, will be headed in 2018.