Watson Weekend podcast hosts Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky cover retail industry news, including Target's struggles and layoffs, potential large tariff refunds pending a Supreme Court ruling, and merchandising challenges for Netflix's hit series K-pop Demon Hunters. They discuss Amazon's launch of AWS RTB fabric, a cloud infrastructure for programmatic advertising.

Rick interviewed Michael McCluskey, VP of Marketplace at Lowe's, three months ago on the Watson Weekend ( • Lowe's VP Reveals How They Built a $[___] ... ) and attended the Lowe's Marketplace Seller Summit this past week. and was recovering from a visit to Bojangels in North Carolina..

The main feature is an interview with Emma Spagnuolo, CEO of Caddis Life, and Sophie Marchesue, Chief Customer Officer of Mirakl. Emma shares how she transformed Caddis Life, a stylish eyewear brand targeting an underserved older demographic, emphasizing brand authenticity and expanding through marketplaces with Mirakl's support. Emma also discusses her personal breast cancer journey and its influence on her compassionate leadership style. Sophie explains how AI improves marketplace catalog management and the emerging role of agentic commerce via large language models.

The Watson Weekend is sponsored by Mirakl. Growth isn't just about speed; it's about direction. Mirakl gives you the infrastructure to scale. smarter, not just faster, with marketplace, dropship, retail media, and a seller platform powered by AI and built for what's next.

Support Sloan Kettering here: https://secure2.convio.net/mskcc/site...

Welcome to The Watson Weekend - 00:31

Headline Hangover - 04:44

Introducing Emma Spagnuolo and Sophie Marchesue - 20:46

Caddis mission and eye wear 21:25

Assortment mix on marketplaces - 34:01

Building the brand -36:29

Servicing an underserved demographic - 37:30

Potential opportunities - 40:34

Emma's cancer journey - 42:58

Ai and e-commerce - 54:00

Show ends - 01:01:44

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