Retail Razor | Ricardo Belmar | Substack

AI Is Not the Point

What ex-CIO at lululemon, Julie Averill, taught us about retail AI transformation, broken data, and honest leadership that the headlines keep ignoring.

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AI-Powered Store Teams: From Task Overload to Customer Focus

Oct 23, 2025 • Ricardo Belmar

Consumers Moved. Retail Didn’t.

Feb 20 • Ricardo Belmar

From Chaos to Confidence: Why Clarity Is the #1 Retail Leadership Skill

Nov 18, 2025 • Ricardo Belmar

Uniting Retail for Global Impact Helping Children in Need: The RetailROI Journey

Oct 6, 2025 • Ricardo Belmar

80 Apps, One Device, Zero Patience

My field notes from Zebra Technologies' ZONE 2026 Customer Conference, and why tokenless, on-device AI is the most practical thing happening to retail’s…

Jun 15 • Ricardo Belmar

Everyone Swore AI Would Gut Retail Jobs. The Data Didn’t Get the Memo.

Greg Buzek of IHL Services on the augmented associate, the 70-versus-36 hiring split, and why the retailers slashing store headcount are quietly losing…

Jun 6 • Ricardo Belmar

Half Your Customers Already Shop With AI. Most Retailers Have No Plan.

8 retail trends for 2026 we pulled out of The Lead Summit, including the one Casey and I can't stop arguing about.

May 30 • Ricardo Belmar

The Most Interesting Brand Story of 2026 Is Hiding in Your Liquor Cabinet

Campari America's Head of Marketing on Gen Z, mindful drinking, and the occasion-led playbook every brand should steal

May 28 • Ricardo Belmar

Go Work in a Store. It Will Change Your Life.

Ron Thurston on why the most future-proof skill you can build still starts on the sales floor.

May 23 • Ricardo Belmar

Limited Supply Is Code for We Have No Idea

Greg Buzek of IHL on shelf intelligence, the 9.1% computer vision problem, and the network call most retail CIOs got backwards

May 15 • Ricardo Belmar

Slide Two Is Where Your Retail Tech Pitch Goes to Die

Kit Campoy spent 25 years running stores. She is tired of explaining the HQ-to-store disconnect to people who could fix it.

May 7 • Ricardo Belmar

Be a Diode: The Weirdest Leadership Lesson That Actually Works

How Andy Laudato builds high performing teams using a 10-cent electronic component as his leadership philosophy

Apr 29 • Ricardo Belmar

Retail Razor

Retail Razor

Cutting through the clutter in retail strategy, retail tech, & retail leadership!

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The Agentic Commerce Security Crisis Nobody in Retail Is Talking About

What I learned from a cybersecurity veteran about agentic commerce, rogue bots, and the retail security playbook nobody's written yet

Apr 26 • Ricardo Belmar

Welcome to Keyword Jail. Population: Every Retailer

A slightly alarming, mostly practical guide to agentic commerce with e-commerce legend Scot Wingo

Apr 18 • Ricardo Belmar

Your Team Doesn’t Have a Performance Problem. It Has a Pride Problem.

Ron Thurston on why pride-based leadership is the real competitive advantage in modern retail.

Apr 11 • Ricardo Belmar

Simplify to Lead: Breaking the Leadership Traps Holding Retail Leaders Back

Why retail leadership gets messy, why leaders overwork themselves, and how Steve Worthy says we can finally escape the chaos.

Apr 3 • Ricardo Belmar

CTV, Off-Site, and the Retail Media Glow-Up

Andrew Lipsman joins us to explain why your 2026 retail media strategy needs more than just on-site ads and ROAS spreadsheets

Mar 28 • Ricardo Belmar

Marketing’s Next Plot Twist: Agentic AI

How autonomous workflows, new roles, and AI governance are rewriting the marketing playbook. Part 2 of a 3-Part series with Adobe and Incisiv's State of…

Mar 21 • Ricardo Belmar

Style, Quality, Affordability… Pick Three?

Rene Federico on how Primark refuses to compromise and why the in-store experience is the real plot twist. A preview of the latest episode of the Retail…

Mar 18 • Ricardo Belmar

The Agentic Commerce Shift: What Retailers Must Do in the Next 6 Months

How agentic commerce and agentic AI are changing discovery, checkout, loyalty, and trust. A discussion with Mike Edmonds, VP Agentic Commerce at PayPal.

Mar 11 • Ricardo Belmar

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