This list is comprised of retail experts, consultants, analysts, academics, journalists, and thought leaders who are making an impact in retail in 2023.
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Charles Haseman
Professor & Director, Center for Retail Innovation and Strategic Excellence (RISE) at Naveen Jindal School of Management, UT Dallas
Daniel McCarthy
Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University
Frank Sánchez
Training Director in Luxury and Retail at European Luxury Institute, Professor, Author
Gautham Vadakkepatt
Associate Professor Of Marketing & Director of the Center for Retail Transformation at George Mason University’s School of Business, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Helder Barbosa Ferreira
Professor, Member Researcher at Strategic Design and Innovation Lab at UNIDCOM-IADE, Retail & Gamification Consultant
Jason Pallant
Senior Lecturer of Marketing and Co-Director of the Customer Experience & Insight (CXI) Research Group at Swinburne University of Technology
Jonah Berger
Marketing Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Author, Keynote Speaker, Consultant
Mansur Khamitov
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behavior at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Board Member, Consultant
Maxime Cohen
Scale AI Chair Professor of Retail and Operations Management & Director of Research at the Bensadoun School of Retail Management at McGill University, Advisor, Consultant
Mina Fader
Managing Director of the Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Mitch Olsen
Director of Undergraduate Studies & Assistant Chair of the Marketing Department at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business
Paula Payton
Associate Teaching Professor – Business Analytics at Wake Forest University School of Business, Head of Data Science and Survey Advisory at Deloitte Research & Insights US
Peter Cohan
Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson College, President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates
Read Hayes
Research Scientist at the University of Florida, Director of the Loss Prevention Research Council
Saibal Ray
Academic Director of Bensadoun School of Retail Management & James McGill Chair in Supply Chain Management at McGill University
Sandrine Crener de Schutter
Director, Leadership Learning at LVMH, Instructor at Harvard University
Scott Galloway
Clinical Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern & Founder of Section4
Sylvain Charlebois
Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University
Thomas McMillan Jr.
Executive Professor of Marketing and Director of Center for Retailing Studies at Mays Business School of Texas A&M University
Tom Davenport
Visiting Professor at Saïd Business School of University of Oxford, Advisor, Research Fellow
Utpal Dholakia
George R. Brown Professor of Marketing at Rice University
Venkatesh Shankar
Ford Chair Professor of Marketing and E-Commerce, Director of Research at Mays Business School of Texas A&M University
Alison Embrey Medina
Operations and Content Strategy Lead, Generational Impacts at EY; Speaker, Gen Z Thought Leader
Ananda Chakravarty
Vice President of Research at IDC
Andrea Bell
Director at WGSN Insight
Brendan Witcher
Vice President & Principal Analyst of Digital Business Strategy at Forrester Research
Dana Telsey
Chief Executive Officer/Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group
Deborah Weinswig
CEO and Founder of Coresight Research
Don Unser
Chief Retail Strategist at NPD Group, Board Member
Emily Pfeiffer
Prinicipal Analyst of Commerce Technology at Forrester
Gene Alvarez
Distinguished Vice President Analyst at Gartner
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, Chief Retail Analyst & Head of Retail Research at DONEGER | TOBE, Keynote Speaker, Analyst, Board Advisor, On-Air Contributor
Jerry Sheldon
VP of Technology at IHL Services
Leslie Hand
GVP, IDC Retail Insights
Marie Driscoll
Managing Director Luxury & Fashion at Coresight Research, Speaker, Board Member, Advisor, Instructor
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
Paula Rosenblum
Advisory Board Member, Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Retail Systems Research, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Sebastian Rennack
International Desk and Retail Analyst for Central & Eastern Europe at Lebensmittel Zeitung, Grocery Retail Insight and Analyses at ALETOS Advisory
Simeon Siegel
Managing Director, Senior Retail and eCommerce Analyst at BMO Capital Markets, Board Member
Stacey Widlitz
Founder of SW Retail, Leading Provider Global Retail Data/Market Intelligence, Co-Founder of DealmakeHers, Board Member, Biz TV Contributor
Sucharita Kodali
VP and Principal Analyst, Retail at Forrester Research
Thomas Harms
Managing Partner and Global Retail Leader at EY
Tiffany Lung
Senior Marketing Manager at Techsembly, Contributor at Forbes and Inside Retail
Tom Enright
Vice President, Supply Chain at Gartner
Tony Ward
Principal Retail Leader at EY
Andy Moose
Head of Retail, Consumer and Lifestyle Industries at World Economic Forum
Diane J. Brisebois
President & CEO of Retail Council of Canada
Helen Dickinson
Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium
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
Matthew Shay
President and CEO of the National Retail Federation
Stewart Samuel
Program Director at IGD Canada
Terry Sullivan
President at Loss Prevention Foundation
Toby Pickard
Head of Insight – Retail Innovation & Futures at IGD
Paul Greenberg
Non Executive Chair of National Online Retailers Association (NORA), Vice Chair of Federation of International Retail Associations (FIRA), Board Member, Investor, Advisor
Alan Smithson
Co-Founder of MetaVRse, Advisor, Investor
Alberto Serrentino
Founder of Varese Retail, Speaker, Author, Board Member
Alex Baker
Founder & CEO at Retail Tech X, Senior Advisor, Speaker
Alex Genov
Head of Marketing Insights and Customer Research at Zappos, Author, International Keynote Speaker, Advisor
Alexander Graf
Spryker, Co-Founder of eTribes Connect GmbH, Publisher, Analyst & Speaker at Kassenzone
Andrea Leigh
Founder & CEO of Allume Group, Co-Host of Fresh Four at The CPG Guys, Board Member
Andrew Busby
Global Industry Leader Retail at Software AG, Founder and CEO of Retail Reflections, Author, Speaker
Andrew Laudato
COO of The Vitamin Shoppe, Author, Board Member
Andrew Neelon
Founder & CEO at 1REC
Andrew Smith
Co-Founder at ThinkUncommon, Co-founder & CEO of Sproutly, 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
Barry Thomas
Senior Global Thought Leader at Kantar Consulting
Bill Ready
CEO of Pinterest
Bob Phibbs
CEO of The Retail Doctor, LinkedIn Top Voice
Brandon Rael
Business Transformation Leader – Enterprise Transformation Group at Capgemini Invent
Brian Sathianathan
Co-Founder, Chief Digital Officer, and CTO at Iterate.ai, Investor, Advisor, Board Director
Brittain Ladd
Fractional COO at BCL Consulting, Writer and Contributer at Forbes
Bryan Gildenberg
Founder and CEO of Confluencer Commerce, Managing Director at Retail Cities
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
Casey Golden
CEO at Luxlock, Co-Host of the Retail Razor Show
Cathy Hotka
Principal of Cathy Hotka & Associates, Retail Insider and Thought Leader
Cathy McCabe
Co-Founder and CEO of Proximity, Founder & CEO of Retail Reimagined
Chris Chung
President of Americas and EMEA at 7thonline
Chris Igwe
Founder and President of CHRIS IGWE INTERNATIONAL, Managing Partner at MOREORLESS
Chris Ressa
Chief Operating Officer at DLC Management Corporation, Host of the Retail Retold Podcast
Chris Silver
Chief Technology & Digital Officer at BambuMeta
Christine Russo
Principal of Retail Creative and Consulting Agency, Baord Member, Host, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Christopher Durham
President of Velocity Institute
Courtney Radke
Field CISO – Retail & Hospitality at Fortinet
Daniel Burrus
Technology Futurist, Disruptive Innovation Expert, Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author, Strategic Advisor, Serial Entrepreneur
Daniel Hodges
CEO & Founder of Retail Store Tours, Chief Executive Officer of
Consumers in Motion Group, LLC
David Leibowitz
GM, Retail & Consumer Goods Industry at Microsoft
David Marcotte
Senior Vice President of Americas at Kantar Retail
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead – Retail, Travel & Distribution at Verizon
DeAnn Campbell
Retail Strategy & Insights at AAG Consulting, Chief Strategy Officer at Hoobil8, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Diane Wehrle
Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard Research
Dimas Gimeno Álvarez
Executive President and Founder at WOW concept, Founder & CEO of Kapita
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
Fiona Sartoretto Verna
Owner of Sartoretto Verna
Gary Newbury
Strategic Advisor for Retail Supply Chains & The Last Mile at RetailAID
George Minakakis
Founder and Chief Executive Officer at
Inception Retail Group, Inc.
Guy Courtin
Vice President of Industry and Advanced Technology at Tecsys, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Gwen Morrison
Partner at Candezent Advisory, Senior Advisor and Commerce Community Co-Chair at Open Voice Network
Haixia Yu
Chief Executive Officer of We Can!, Board Director at Summer Search, Advisory Board Member at Dirty Labs
Hana Ben Shabat
Founder of Gen Z Planet, Author, Keynote Speaker
Ian Scott
Owner of Ian Scott Retail Consulting, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Isaac Krakovsky
Partner – Americas Retail Leader at EY
James Tenser
President of VSN Media LLC at VSN Strategies
Jason Goldberg
Chief Commerce Strategy Officer of Publicis, Podcaster at The Jason & Scot Show, Chief Strategist at Retailgeek
Jason McNary
Board Director and Advisor, NED, Investor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Jeff Roster
Strategic Advisor at Competera, Strategic Advisor – Retail at Third Eye Advisory, Co-Host of This Week in Innovation, Advisory Council Member at GMU Center for Retail Transformation
Jeff Sward
CEO & Founding Partner of Merchandising Metrics
Jeffrey Roberts
Partner, Head of Futures at Dive Without Fear
Jeremey Sea
Senior Manager, Commercial Marketing Asia Pacific at Sensormatic
Jill Puleri Standish
Senior Managing Director – Global Lead, Retail at Accenture
Jim Roddy
Author, Keynote Speaker, Podcast Host, Moderator, Business Coach, Consultant, President & CEO of Retail Solutions Providers Association
Joanne Heyob
Senior Vice President of Operations Strategy & Design at WD Partners
Jon Reily
Senior Vice President – Commerce Center of Excellence at Bounteous, Forbes Council Member, Global Strategist, TV Pundit
Josh Gardner
CEO and Co-Founder at Kung Fu Data
Karl Haller
Partner, Consumer Center of Competency (CoC) Leader at IBM
Kasey Lobaugh
Chief Futurist, Consumer Industry, Principal at Deloitte
Kate Sheldon
Chief Executive Officer at The Fashioneering Lab
Ken Pilot
Founder of Ken Pilot Ventures, Board Member, Investor, Retail Advisor
Kevin Graff
President of Graff Retail
Kiri Masters
Head of Retail Marketplace Strategy at Acadia, Co-Host of Ecommerce Braintrust Podcast
Lara Marrero
Principal, Strategy Director & Global Retail Practice Leader at Gensler
Liza Amlani
Principal and Co-Founder of Retail Strategy Group, Speaker, Contributor
Marshall Kay
Global Director, Retail Transformation Services at Avery Dennison, Speaker, Writer
Martin Newman
The Consumer Champion; Founder of The Customer First Group, Author, Chairman, Board Advisor
Massimo Volpe
Co-Founder at Retail Hub, Founder of Global Retail Alliance
Meghan Houle
Sr. Executive Retail Recruiter, Luxury and Specialty Retail, Corporate and Wholesale at The Bowerman Group
Melissa Gonzalez
LinkedIn Top Voices, Principal, MG2 and Founder of The Lionesque Group
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, Trainer, eLearning, Author, 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
Director, 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
Nicholas Gray
Head of Retail Partnerships and Strategy at Her Black Book, Retail Specialist & Futurist
Nick Harbaugh
The Retail Nomad
Nicole Leinbach Reyhle
Founder of Retail Minded, Co-Founder of Independent Retailer Conference, Author, Speaker
Nikki Baird
Vice President of Strategy at Aptos Retail
Oliver Banks
Retail Transformation Director and Consultant at OB&Co, Host of the Retail Transformation Show
Paul Bessant
Founder at Retail Knowledge
Peter Bond
Co-Host of The CPG Guys Podcast, Senior Vice President of Commercial Solutions & Business Development at Fetch
Rebekah Kondrat
Founder and Managing Partner of Rekon Retail, SVP of Retail at retailOS
Ricardo Belmar
Director Partner Marketing & Sr Advisor for Retail & Consumer Goods at Microsoft; Podcaster at Retail Razor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender
Consumer Anthropologists, Keynote Speakers, Authors and Consultants
Richard Hammond
CEO and Founder of Uncrowd, Author of Friction/Reward and Smart Retail
Richard Honiball
EVP, Global Chief Merchandising & Marketing Officer of Navy Exchange Service Command
Richard Kestenbaum
Partner at Triangle Capital LLC, Forbes Contributor
Richard Lim
Chief Executive at Retail Economics
Rick Watson
CEO & Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting
Rob Garf
VP and GM of Retail at Salesforce
Ron Thurston
Bestselling Author of RETAIL PRIDE, Show Host of RETAIL IN AMERICA
Rupert Parker Brady
Senior Concept Strategy at Sandenburg Concept Creation, Jury Member, Chairman, Columnist
Ryan Taylor
Head of Retail Product Marketing at T-Mobile
Sanford Stein
Founder & Moderator of RETAIL SPEAK, Forbes Contributor, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Scott Benedict
Chief Executive Officer at Benedict Enterprises, Vice President of Partnerships at WhyteSpyder
Scott Emmons
Director and Head of the SRS Innovation Center at SRS Distribution Inc., Host of the Ecommerce Growth Show USA
Shannon Flanagan
VP of Global Industry Strategy: Retail, E-Commerce & CPG at Talkdesk, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Sharon Yourell Lawlor
Managing Director at THINK PLAN DO CONSULTING (TPD Consulting), Keynote Speaker, Author
Shep Hyken
Customer Service & Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker, NYT Bestselling Author
ShiSh Shridhar
Global Retail Lead, Microsoft for Startups
Shlomo Chopp
Founder and CEO of retailOS, Managing Partner at Case Property Services
Steve Dennis
President and Founder of SageBerry Consulting, Forbes Senior Contributor, Keynote Speaker, Podcaster, Author
Steve Dresser
CEO at Grocery Insight, Advisor
Steve Lister
Sustainability Director of Global Brands and Retailers at HH Global, Head Of Sustainability – POPAI UK & Ireland
Tim Nash
Curator at Shop Drop Daily, Creative Director at Wild VC
Tony D'Onofrio
CEO and Managing Director of Global Retail Business Unit at Prosegur, CEO of TD Insights LLC, Speaker, Board Member, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Trevor Sumner
Head of AI and Innovation at Raydiant, CEO at Summoner, Advisor
Veronika Sonsev
Co-Founder at CommerceNext, Advisor at Chameleon Collective, RETHINK Retail Advisor
Vicki Cantrell
Chief Executive Officer at Vendors in Partnership LLC, Co-Founder of Vendors in Partnership (VIP) Awards
Wizz Selvey
Founder & CEO of Wizz & Co.
Alicia Esposito
VP of Content at G3 Communications (Retail TouchPoints, design:retail, Retail Innovation Conference)
Arnold Ma
CEO and Founder of Qumin, Founder of Dao Insights
Barbara Thau
Senior Features Editor, CO— by U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Branden Moskwa
Publisher at Tradeopolis Communications, eCommerce Coach, Podcast Host
Chris Field
Managing Editor at Retail Connections
Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga
Co-CEOs of Omni Talk, Podcast Hosts
Claire McCormack
Editor of Beauty Independent
Courtney Reagan
Senior On-Air Retail Reporter at CNBC
Craig Patterson
Founder, Co-EIC and Publisher at Retail Insider
Dan Berthiaume
Senior Editor, Technology, Chain Store Age at EnsembleIQ
George Nott
Technology Editor at The Grocer
Ian Jindal
Founder and Editor-in-Chief at InternetRetailing, CEO
at RetailX
Ian Middleton
Ethical Entrepreneur, Retail Analyst, Speaker, Writer, Councillor & Leader of Oxon County Council Green Party Group
Jack Stratten
Head of Trends at Insider Trends, Writer
Jennifer DiPasquale
President & Co-Founder of Women in Retail Leadership Circle, Women Leading Travel & Hospitality and Total Retail at NAPCO Media
John Ryan
Managing Director at Newstores; Retail Specialist, Journalist, Advisor
Jordyn Holman
Business Reporter at New York Times, Contributor at Marketplace by APM
Julia Raymond Hare
Editor-in-Chief of RETHINK Retail
Krystina Gustafson
SVP Content and Advisory Board Chairperson at Shoptalk and Groceryshop
Mark Faithfull
Editor for Retail Property Analyst, Editor-in-Chief of MAPIC, Editor for World Retail Congress, Forbes Contributor
Melissa Campanelli
Co-Founder at Women in Retail Leadership Circle; Brand & Content Director at Total Retail at NAPCO Media
Phillip Jackson
Co-Founder of Future Commerce
Phillip Russo
Owner, Publisher, and Editor of Global Retail Brands Magazine
Robin Lewis
CEO of The Robin Report
Sharon Edelson
Senior Writer at Blanc Magazine, Forbes Contributor, Vogue Business Contributor
Shelley E. Kohan
Chief Strategy Officer at The Robin Report, Business Strategist, Speaker, Associate Professor at Fashion Institute of Technology
Steve Collinge
Managing Director at Insight Retail Group, Speaker, Retail Commentator
Suzanne Kapner
Retail Industry Reporter at The Wall Street Journal
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 2023?
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 below: