This list is comprised of retail experts, consultants, analysts, academics, journalists, and thought leaders who are making an impact in retail in 2022.
Sponsored By
Daniel McCarthy
Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University
Gautham Vadakkepatt
Associate Professor Of Marketing & Director of the Center for Retail Transformation at George Mason University’s School of Business, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Jennie Vry Liu
Executive Director of the Center for Customer Insights & Lecturer in the Practice of Management at Yale University’s School of Management
Jonah Berger
Marketing Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; Bestselling Author of Contagious, Invisible Influence, and The Catalyst; Keynote Speaker; Consultant
Mansur Khamitov
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behavior at the Kelley School of Business, at Indiana University; Thought Leader, Board Member
Maxime Cohen
Scale AI Chair Professor of Retail and Operations Management, Co-Director of the Retail Innovation Lab, Bensadoun Faculty Scholar at McGill University; Advisor to Corporations & Startups
Mina Fader
Managing Director of the Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Read Hayes
Research Scientist at the University of Florida, Director of the Loss Prevention Research Council
Sandrine Crener de Schutter
Program Director at Harvard Business School
Scott Galloway
Clinical Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern & Founder of Section4
Utpal Dholakia
George R. Brown Professor of Marketing at Rice University
Venkatesh Shankar
Professor and Coleman Chair in Marketing & Director of Research, Center for Retailing Studies at Mays Business School of Texas A&M University, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Andrea Bell
Director, Consumer Insight and Executive Editor, Americas at WGSN
Brendan Witcher
Vice President & Principal Analyst, Digital Business Strategy at Forrester Research
Dana Telsey
Chief Executive Officer/Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group
Deborah Weinswig
Founder and CEO of Coresight Research
Emily Pfeiffer
Senior Analyst, Commerce Technology at Forrester
Greg Buzek
President at IHL Services, President and Treasurer of Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI)
Hitha Herzog
Founder and Chief Research Officer of H Squared Research, Author, Analyst, Keynote Speaker, On-Air Contributor
Jerry Sheldon
VP of Technology at IHL Services
Leslie Hand
GVP at IDC Retail Insights
Marie Driscoll
Managing Director Luxury & Fashion at Coresight Research, Speaker, Board Member, Advisor
Maureen Hinton
Group Research Director at GlobalData Retail
Michelle Evans
Global Lead, Retail and Digital Consumer Insights at Euromonitor, Forbes Contributor, International Keynote Speaker
Neil Saunders
Managing Director and Retail Analyst at GlobalData Retail
Nick Bubb
Retail Consultant and Analyst
Nigel Fenwick
Futurist, Consultant, Public Speaker; Former VP & Principal Analyst, Digital Transformation & Business Strategy at Forrester Research
Paula Rosenblum
Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Retail Systems Research, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Simeon Siegel
Managing Director, Senior Retail and eCommerce Analyst at BMO Capital Markets
Stacey Widlitz
Founder of SW Retail, leading provider global retail data/market intelligence, Co-Founder of DealmakeHers, Board Member, Biz TV Contributor
Stewart Samuel
Program Director at IGD Canada
Sucharita Kodali
VP and Principal Analyst, Retail at Forrester Research
Tiffany Lung
Retail Analyst, Forbes Contributor, Brand Manager
Toby Pickard
Head of Insight – Retail Innovation & Futures at IGD
Tom Enright
Vice President, Supply Chain at Gartner
Diane J. Brisebois
President & CEO of Retail Council of Canada
Ellen Davis
EVP, Industry Engagement at Consumer Brands Association
Helen Dickinson
Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium
Kyle Monk
Director of Insight at British Retail Consortium
Matthew Shay
President and CEO at National Retail Federation
Katherine Cullen
Senior Director, Industry and Consumer Insights at the National Retail Federation
Lisa LaBruno
Senior EVP Retail Operations & Innovation at Retail Industry Leaders Association
Alex Genov
Head of Customer Research at Zappos, Speaker, Advisor
Alison Embrey Medina
Strategic Program Manager, Consumer Industries at EY; Speaker, Gen Z Thought Leader
Andrea Leigh
eCommerce Consultant and Educator
Andrew Busby
Founder and CEO of Retail Reflections, Author, Speaker
Andrew Laudato
COO The Vitamin Shoppe, Author, Board Member
Andrew Smith
Co-Founder at ThinkUncommon, Author, Speaker, Strategist, RETHINK Retail Advisor
April Sabral
Founder & CEO of retailu, Author, Retail Leadership Expert and Coach
Ashley Dudarenok
China Marketing Expert, Founder of Alarice & ChoZan, LinkedIn Top Voice, 3x Bestselling Author, Keynote Speaker
Bill Ready
President of Commerce, Payments & Next Billion Users at Google
Bob Phibbs
CEO of The Retail Doctor, LinkedIn Top Voice
Brandon Rael
Strategy & Operations Leader at Capgemini Invent, Strategy & Operations Expert
Bryan Gildenberg
SVP, Commerce at Omnicom Commerce Group
Carl Boutet
Founder, Chief Strategist & Executive Advisor at Studio Rx; Marketing Educator, Global Strategist
Carol Spieckerman
Retail Speaker & Thought Leader, B2B Advisor, Corporate Comms Coach, Multi-Category Media Contributor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Cate Trotter
Head of Trends at Insider Trends
Catherine Erdly
Founder of The Resilient Retail Club, Forbes Contributor
Cathy Hotka
Principal of Cathy Hotka & Associates, Retail Insider and Thought Leader
Chris Ressa
Chief Operating Officer at DLC Management Corporation, Host of the Retail Retold Podcast
Christine Russo
Digital and Physical Retail Consultant, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Christopher Durham
President of Retail Brands Institute
Daniel Burrus
Technology Futurist, Disruptive Innovation Expert, Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author, Strategic Advisor, Serial Entrepreneur
Dave Dolejsi
Associate Vice President, Content Strategy at St. Joseph Communications, RETHINK Retail Advisor
David Adelman
Business Strategist and Thought Leader, CEO of The Adelman Group
David Ian Gray
Senior Advisor to Executives, Speaker, Lecturer; Founder & Strategist of DIG360 Consulting
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead – Retail, Travel & Distribution at Verizon
DeAnn Campbell
Chief Strategy Officer at Hoobil8, Retail Strategist, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Diana Haussling
Vice President – General Manager, Digital Commerce at Colgate-Palmolive; Visionary eCommerce & Marketing Leader, AdAge 40 Under 40
Diane Wehrle
Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard Research
Doug Stephens
Founder & President of Retail Prophet, Bestselling Author, Retail Futurist, Fortune 100 Business Advisor
Erwan Rambourg
Author of Future Luxe; Managing Director, Global Head of Consumer & Retail Equity Research at HSBC
Ethan Chernofsky
VP of Marketing at Placer.ai
Gary Newbury
Interim CSCO, Rapid Performance Improvement, Retail Supply Chains & The Last Mile at RetailAID
George Minakakis
Founder – CEO of Inception Retail Group, Author, Speaker, Podcast Co-Host, Business Advisor
Guy Courtin
Vice President of Industry and Advanced Technology at Tecsys, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Haixia Yu
C-Suite Executive, Advisory Board Member, Chief Member
Ian Scott
Owner of Ian Scott Retail Consulting, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Ian Shepherd
Retail and Consumer NED, Chair and Advisor; Author
Jason Goldberg
Chief Commerce Strategy Officer of Publicis, Podcaster at The Jason & Scot Show, Chief Strategist at Retailgeek
Jason McNary
Chief Executive Officer – Americas of UNOde50, Board Member and Advisor, NED, Investor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Jeff Roster
Co-Host of This Week in Innovation, Advisory Council Member at GMU Center for Retail Transformation
Jeff Sward
CEO & Founding Partner of Merchandising Metrics
Jeremey Sea
Senior Manager, Commercial Marketing Asia Pacific at Sensormatic
Jim Roddy
Author, Keynote Speaker, Podcast Host, Moderator, Business Coach, Consultant, President & CEO of Retail Solutions Providers Association
Jon Reily
President & Chief Strategist of Dentsu Commerce, Thought Leader, Speaker, Writer
Karl Haller
Partner, Consumer Center of Competency (CoC) Leader at IBM
Kasey Lobaugh
Principal – Chief Retail Innovation Officer at Deloitte
Matt Marcotte
Global Head of Retail and Consumer Goods Industry Advisors at Salesforce
Melissa Gonzalez
CEO & Founder of The Lioneque Group, Principal at MG2 Design, LinkedIn Top Voice, Podcast Host, #RetailWithMelissa Regular Guest at ABC News Radio
Line Tousignant
Vice President, Strategy & Experience at Valtech
Liza Amlani
Principal and Founder of The Merchant Life, Retail Strategist and Industry Lead, Speaker, Contributor
Marshall Kay
Founder and Principal of RFID Sherpas, Advisor, Strategist
Martin Newman
The Consumer Champion; Founder of The Customer First Group and Customer Service Action, NED, Chairman, Board Advisor
Kevin Graff
President of Graff Retail
Lara Marrero
Principal, Strategy Director & Global Retail Practice Leader at Gensler
Melissa Minkow
Director, Retail Strategy at CI&T
Melissa Wong
CEO & Co-Founder at Zipline, Official Member of Forbes Technology Council
Micah Solomon
Customer Service Consultant, Author, Keynote Speaker, Forbes Senior Contributor
Michael LeBlanc
Founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc; Strategic Advisor, Keynote Speaker, Podcaster, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Michael Zakkour
Founder of 5 New Digital, Author, Keynote Speaker, Media Personality
Michelle Grant
Senior Manager, Strategy and Insights, Retail and Consumer Goods at Salesforce
Miya Knights
Retail Technology Magazine Publisher, Author, Consultant
Natalie Berg
Retail Analyst & Founder at NBK Retail, Author, Forbes Senior Contributor
Neely Tamminga
CEO at DISTILL, Board Advisor, Speaker, Professor
Nicole Leinbach Reyhle
Founder of Retail Minded, Co-Founder of Independent Retailer Conference, Author, Speaker
Nikki Baird
Vice President of Retail Innovation at Aptos Retail
Oliver Banks
Retail Transformation Consultant & Coach at OB&Co, Podcast host of the Retail Transformation Show
Peter Cohan
Management Consultant, Professor, Angel Investor, Columnist, Book Author
Rebekah Kondrat
Founder and CEO of Kondrat Retail, Omnichannel Retail Consultant
Ricardo Belmar
Director Partner Marketing & Sr Advisor for Retail & CPG at Microsoft; Retail Tech Advisory and Podcaster at Retail Razor, Advisory Council Member at GMU Center of Retail Transformation, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Richard Honiball
EVP / Global Chief Merchandising & Marketing Officer of Navy Exchange Service Command
Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender
Consumer Anthropologists, Keynote Speakers, Authors and Consultants
Richard Hammond
CEO & Founder of Uncrowd, Author of Friction/Reward and Smart Retail
Richard Kestenbaum
Partner at Triangle Capital LLC, Forbes Contributor
Rick Watson
CEO & Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting
Ron Thurston
Bestselling Author of RETAIL PRIDE, Show Host of RETAIL IN AMERICA
Sanford Stein
Founder & Moderator of RETAIL SPEAK, Forbes Contributor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Sarah Hofstetter
President and Board Member of Profitero, Campbell Soup Board Member, Co-Host of BRAVE COMMERCE Podcast
Scott Emmons
Brand Ambassador at Powerfront, Retail and Technology Innovator, Host of the Ecommerce Growth Show USA
Shannon Flanagan
VP of Global Industry Strategy: Retail, E-Commerce & CPG at Talkdesk, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Shannon Ryan
Executive Vice President – North America at Valtech
Shelley Bransten
Corporate Vice President, Global Retail & Consumer Goods Industries at Microsoft, Retail Industry Leaders Association Board Member
Shep Hyken
Customer Service & Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker, NYT Bestselling Author
ShiSh Shridhar
Global Retail Lead, Microsoft for Startups
Shlomo Chopp
Managing Partner at Case Equity Partners, Commercial Real Estate Innovator
Steve Dennis
Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author of “Remarkable Retail”, Strategic Advisor, Forbes Senior Contributor, Podcast Host
Steve Dresser
Managing Director at Grocery Insight, Retail Advisor and Consultant
Taylor Schreiner
Senior Director, Adobe Digital Insights
Tom Litchford
Head, Worldwide Business Development – Retail at Amazon Web Services
Tony D’Onofrio
CEO of TD Insights, Board Advisor, Consultant, Speaker, Managing Director Global Retail Business Unit at Prosegur, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Trevor Sumner
CEO of Perch, Entrepreneur, Executive, Advisor
Veronika Sonsev
Co-Founder at CommerceNext, Partner at Chameleon Collective, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Vladimer Botsvadze
Speaker, Fortune 500 Consultant, Advisory Board Member, Startup Advisor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Alicia Esposito
VP of Content at G3 Communications (Retail TouchPoints, design:retail, Retail Innovation Conference, retailX)
Anne Mezzenga
Co-CEO of Omni Talk, Podcast Host
Arnold Ma
CEO and Founder of Qumin, Founder of Dao Insights
Barbara Thau
Senior Features Editor, CO— by U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Cale Guthrie Weissman
Director of Editorial Products at Digiday, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Retail
Chris Field
Managing Editor at Retail Connections
Chris Walton
CEO of Omni Talk & Third Haus, Senior Forbes Contributor, Blogger
Courtney Reagan
Senior Retail Reporter at CNBC
Craig Patterson
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider
Dan Berthiaume
Senior Editor, Technology at Chain Store Age
George Anderson
Editor-in-Chief at RetailWire
Ian Jindal
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of InternetRetailing
Ian Middleton
Entrepreneur and Writer
John Ryan
Director at Newstores, European Ed at VMSD, Contributor at Retail Week
Jordyn Holman
Retail Reporter at Bloomberg News
Julia Raymond Hare
Editor-in-Chief at RETHINK Retail
Jennifer DiPasquale
President & Co-Founder of Women in Retail Leadership Circle, Women Leading Travel & Hospitality and Total Retail at NAPCO Media
Kristen LaFrance
Head of Resilient Retail at Shopify
Krystina Gustafson
SVP Content at Shoptalk and Groceryshop
Laura Heller
Industry insider, Forbes Contributor, Editor, Content Specialist
Lauren Thomas
Retail Reporter at CNBC
John Ryan
Director at Newstores; Retail Specialist, Journalist, Advisor
Phillip Russo
Founder/Publisher/Editor Global Retail Brands
Phillip Jackson
VP Commerce at Rightpoint, Co-Founder of Future Commerce
Robin Lewis
CEO of The Robin Report
Sharon Edelson
Forbes Contributor, Vogue Business Contributor, Senior Writer at Blanc Magazine
Steve Collinge
Managing Director at Insight Retail Group, Speaker, Retail Commentator
Suzanne Kapner
Retail Industry Reporter at The Wall Street Journal
Shelley E. Kohan
Chief Strategy Officer at The Robin Report, Professor, Forbes Contributor in Retail
Susan Reda
Editor, STORES Media/National Retail Federation
About Our List
How do we define retail influencers and categories?
We recognize influencers for their activity within the online retail community. Influencers frequently comment on retail trends or news stories, share industry insights and join thought leadership discussions. These influencers take on many roles. We selected executives from academia, media, consultancies and analyst firms.
Often times, influencers wear multiple hats spanning professions. We identified 5 categories most common in this cohort:
Academia: university educators leading retail-related courses or programs
Analysts: industry research firms tracking the latest trends
Associations: retail trade associations
Experts: retail authors, consultants, advisors, futurists, speakers
Media: editors, journalists, podcast hosts, bloggers, content creators
How did we identify the Top Retail Influencers of 2022?
Our team used a variety of sources to select our TRI, including: third-party listings, primary research within our own network of influencers, recent award winners and tools such as Buzzsumo.
We considered factors such as social presence, articles, speaking engagements, awards and authority to verify each awardee included in our non-ordered listing of the TRI.
How can you be considered for future lists?
Yes. If you’re actively sharing insights, publishing your writing, speaking at industry events, and engaging with the media, we would love to consider your nomination.
If you’d like to be considered or nominate someone, let us know in the form here.