Region:
Vend is back with our highly anticipated Top 50 Retail Influencers list. The 2017 edition puts established influencers alongside new faces — and like last year’s roundup, it features the industry’s most authoritative analysts, reporters, researchers, and consultants. Check them out below!
Here are the retail influencers you should follow in 2017:
1.
Matthew Shay
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing all retail formats for America’s largest private sector employer.
2.
Bob Phibbs
Bob Phibbs, aka the Retail Doctor. Professional speaker on retail sales, training, and marketing. Author, blogger, business makeover specialist, Harrier hound lover.
3.
Nicole Reyhle
Founder Retail Minded. Co-Founder @RetailerConf. @IBM futurist. @Fiverr Contributor. Author of #retail101 from @MHEducation. @ShopSmall SpokesGal. #alopecia mom
4.
Deborah Weinswig
Retail Tech Guru; Top Wall Street Retail, Retail Tech, and Drugstore/PBM Analyst. Expertise: Emerging Retail Technolgies, Fashion, and Real Estate Trends.
5.
Doug Stephens
Speaker, author of The #Retail Revival, and global advisor on the #FutureOfRetail. Syndicated columnist for CBC Radio. Co-host of The Future In Store.
6.
Mary Portas
Founder of Portas Agency and Mary’s Living & Giving charity shops, broadcaster, retail expert, author of Shop Girl, and highstreet campaigner.
7.
Jason Goldberg
SVP of Commerce at SapientRazorfish; host of Jason & Scot E-commerce Podcast; digital commerce ninja; editor retailgeek.com (opinions = mine)
8.
Sucharita Mulpuru
Chief Retail Strategist at Shoptalk. Former retail analyst at Forrester Research.
9.
Neil Saunders
Managing Director of GlobalData Retail and founder of Conlumino where we analyse all sorts of things to do with retail and consumers. Font fanatic and campaigner against Comic Sans.
10.
Maureen Hinton
Group Research Director at GlobalData Retail. Retail analyst: UK, global, all views expressed are my own.
11.
Melissa Gonzalez
Pop-Up Architect™, Retail Strategist, and Author of The Pop-Up Paradigm. Founder of @LionesqueGroup, @IBM Futurist, @ABCNewsRadio contributor #RetailwithMelissa
12.
Stacey Widlitz
Pres SW Retail Advisors, angel investor, CNBC Analyst, Found key break free Sell Side, polo player, int store hunter, perma jet- lag, top 20 retail influencer.
13.
Paula Rosenblum
Technology-driven customer-centric retail is my passion.
14.
Natalie Berg
Retail analyst / commentator / author. Tweeting about future retail trends and changing shopping habits.
15.
Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender
He’s Kizer. She’s Bender. We’re consumer anthropologists, speakers, authors, consultants and all about retail. We’re married... just not to each other!
16.
Clare Bailey
Retail Expert. Director & Co-Founder @MobaroRetailUK. Media Contributor, Speaker, Author of @RetailChampion
17.
Miya Knights
Twittering Head of Global Technology Practice at Planet Retail & Publisher of Retail Technology magazine.
18.
Kasey Lobaugh
Deloitte’s Omni-Channel Retail Practice Leader and Chief Retail Innovation Officer , Board Member Shop.org
19.
Chris Petersen
#Retail & Measurement Consultant. Founder IMS Retail University. Owner IMS Results Count.
20.
Tony C. D'Onofrio
Top 15 Retail Influencer / Top 25 Retail Website / Global Visionary Connector of Ideas & People for Profitable Business Growth / Views and content are my own.
21.
Kevin Graff
Just the guy who’s helped thousands of retailers sell more stuff through their staff. 25 years on stage and now online everywhere.
22.
Shelley E. Kohan
A retail pundit with an insatiable passion for the industry. Chief Problem Solver, Speaker, Collaborator, Professor. Beware-her enthusiasm is contagious!
23.
Debbie Hauss
Editor-in-Chief, Retail TouchPoints
24.
Nick Bubb
The legendary Retail Guru and author of The Daily Retailer. Also cricket lover, racing tipster, bookworm, gardener, weather expert and avid newspaper reader!
25.
Bryan Gildenberg
Head of Research at Kantar Retail - a global retail research and consulting firm.
26.
Andrew Busby
Retail analyst | Founder @RetailReflect & The Retail Advisory Board | #25 UK retail influencer | Advisory Board @4SwiftShift | Futurist @IBM | Views my own.
27.
Debra Templar
Professional speaker, author, retail business coach & consultant. I work alongside retailers in bringing their businesses back to life!!
28.
Bryan Roberts
Insights Director at TCC Global. Personal Tweets about retail, burgers & football.
29.
Andrea Wasserman
Retail, tech & marketing consultant. Led store & e-commerce businesses @Nordstrom @solesociety @hudsonsbay @lordandtaylor @NineWest. Now: start-ups + writing.
30.
Keith Anderson
Forward-thinking insights on retail, ecommerce, online grocery, CPG, and FMCG. SVP, Strategy @Profitero. Previously VP, Advisory @Retailnetgroup.
31.
Laura Heller
Journalist, blogger, retail geek and provider of industry intelligence
32.
Nikki Baird
Retail technology maven
33.
Barbara Thau
Business reporter specializing in retail and consumer trends.
34.
Erin Harris
Editor In Chief at Innovative Retail Technologies.
35.
Sarah Nassauer
Retail reporter at the Wall Street Journal. sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
36.
Francesca Nicasio
Retail expert and author. Content marketing manager for @vendhq
37.
Steve Dennis
Retail strategy & innovation consultant. Keynote Speaker. Blogger. C-level exec @NeimanMarcus in a past life. Board Chair @SVPDallas. Mentor @UWGroundFloor
38.
Carol Spieckerman
Retail speaker, thought leader & strategist to global suppliers, brand marketers, solution providers & agencies. Future-proofing retail positioning since 2000.
39.
Greg Buzek
Retail/Hospitality Technology Analyst, Orphan/Human Trafficking advocate
40.
George Anderson
Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher, RetailWire
41.
Phil Wahba
Senior writer @FortuneMagazine covering retail and consumer goods. Reuters alum. Obsessed with 26.2, Def Leppard, Muppets, Looney Tunes, Canadiens.
42.
Ben Sillitoe
Editor of @EssRetail. Business, technology, @rbtexpo, LFC, travels, running, Kent. Predominantly retail news, but this is a personal Twitter account.
43.
Leslie Hand
IDC Retail Insights Research Vice President
44.
Chris Brook-Carter
Managing director of Retail Week. Always on the side of retail. Posts are all my own views, so also expect ramblings on music, media and sport.
45.
Krystina Gustafson
Content Editor @CNBC. Tweeting about the latest retail news.
46.
Cate Trotter
Head of Trends at Insider Trends. I help large retailers innovate and create world-leading, profitable retail concepts.
47.
48.
Alicia Fiorletta
Content Strategist for G3 Communications; Retail TouchPoints; Content4Demand; Demand Gen Report; music junkie and fashion/beauty lover.
49.
Fiona Briggs
Retail business journalist with 20 years’ experience, available for freelance editorial projects. Editor of the popular retail news portal Retail Times.
50.
Matt Pillar
Leader at MPC, a custom B2B marketing content firm. Sr. Exec. Editor at Innovative Retail Technologies magazine.
How did we create the 2017 Retail Influencers list?
To come up with this year’s list, we scoured the web, sought out nominations from the retail community, and used social influencer tools such as BuzzSumo and Klear to identify retail experts.
But we didn’t stop there: we also took a closer look at each nominee to determine just how influential he or she really is. We read their articles, listened to their commentaries, and looked into their contributions to the retail industry, and then we used all these factors to determine their placements on our list.
What we mean by “retail influencers.”
The people on this list are the experts who retailers turn to for advice, news, and best practices. They’re constantly sharing insightful content and commentary about the retail industry and actively helping merchants improve their stores.
How you can be part of the list?
Retail-centricity is important — so if you want to be part of our list, you need to live and breathe retail. Insightful content is another determining factor, so we’ll be looking for published articles, interviews, reports, and speeches. It’s also a plus to have strong media and social presences.
If you’d like to be included in next year’s list or if you’re looking to nominate another expert, please leave a comment below to let us know.
Gain influencer-backed insights into the future of retail.
Can’t get enough of influencer content? Check out Vend’s guide to the future of shopping. Featuring insights and predictions from 14 retail experts, this resource gives you a look at what’s in store for the retail industry and sheds light on what you should do to prepare. Download it for free today!
Download nowDid we miss anyone?
Think someone is missing from this year’s list? Leave their names in the comments and we’ll consider them for next year’s roundup.
