Ep. 4 - How To Organize Around The Consumer

Stop treating e‑commerce like an add‑on. We unpack how to rebuild your organization around the way people actually shop—across search, social, marketplace, curbside, and aisle—so strategy, incentives, and execution line up behind one number and one customer. With Lauren Livak Gilbert, Executive Director of the Digital Shelf Institute, we dive into fresh research across sales, marketing, supply chain, IT, HR, and finance to reveal why the “where does e‑commerce sit?” debate holds companies back and what to do instead.

We get practical about breaking silos with shared P&Ls, common goals, and pod‑based workflows that put the right people in the room at the right time. Lauren shares examples of agile and dynamic shared ownership models that let large teams move like startups, plus an AI‑enabled structure where human owners are amplified by agents for content creation, data synthesis, briefing, and consumer feedback. We also tackle the messy human side: incentives, change fatigue, and the reality that what gets measured gets managed. Education becomes the force multiplier—rotating digital talent into low‑acumen functions, coaching store leaders on online drivers, and building true generalists who can pull the right lever across the full journey.

AI hype meets real value as we walk through use cases that free teams from keyboard work to do higher‑order thinking—demand planning scenarios, data hygiene, and rapid content iteration—while raising a crucial question: if AI eats entry‑level tasks, how do we develop tomorrow’s directors and GMs? Expect clear takeaways on talent strategies, operating rhythms, and annual (even quarterly) org reviews that optimize without whiplash. If you’re ready to align your structure with today’s shopper and accelerate growth, this conversation is your blueprint.

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