Jason “RetailGeek” Goldberg is the Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis Communications, and host of iTunes top rated eCommerce Podcast, the Jason & Scot Show. Under his twitter handle @retailgeek, he is one of the most followed eCommerce subject matter experts on the web.

Why did you choose to pursue eCommerce in your career? It’s probably more accurate to say it choose me. Like a lot of people my career makes a lot of logical sense in retrospect, but at the time it was a lot of happy accidental events. I was in the Marketing department of Blockbuster Entertainment in the early nineties and when the “World Wide Web” started to be a thing, I was one of the only people with a computer at home, so I became the “Digital Guy” as we launched our first website and then eCommerce site. Later Best Buy and Target sought me out due to my Blockbuster experience and everything snowballed from there. As they say, it’s better to be lucky than good.

What is your biggest strength, and how have you used it for your success in eCommerce? Intellectual curiosity, and empathy. I’ve always loved to learn new things, and really love looking new problems and that’s served me well throughout my career. Being able to put myself in other people’s shoes (especially customers) is my secret weapon. Being able to let go of old perceptions and approach a problem with a beginner’s mindset has been really effective for me, and these days as a consultant being able to put myself in the shoes of my clients is invaluable.

What is the weirdest skill or talent to come in handy in your eCommerce experience? As a kid I grew up on a skateboard, quite literally living next to Tony Hawk in Del Mar California. I can’t tell you how many times I surprised a client by being competent on a skateboard, and now it’s cool again. Shout out to all my friends and Zumiez and Vans.

How have you most successfully influenced change within your organization (or with your clients)? I learned early on that people are a lot more important than tools or trends, so I’ve always tried to focus on influencing the people rather than the tech/tool choices. It turns out you can’t make anyone do anything (at least I can’t), but you can nudge people to want to change. 

What was your most “valuable” career failure, and why? Did I mention that I tried to disrupt the music industry by launching “digital music” at Blockbuster in 1992? Back then it seemed so obvious to me that people didn’t want to own albums but rather wanted songs, and that all the infrastructure around making plastic circles and trucking them to stores was a waste. Back then, I assumed just having a better vision was enough. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to learn that you have to make an industry want to change. That experience helped me have a lot more empathy for incumbents when I’m promoting digital transformation.

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior or habit has most improved your life? Heh, having a child (at a very advanced age) has helped me dramatically improve my time management. I used to be able to brute force myself though things by working more hours (usually late a night), but now I really value time with my Son, and so I’ve had to learn to work a lot smarter to preserve time and energy for him.

What are you learning right now? Starting a podcast a few years ago really triggered my interest in audio production. I’m still learning how to be more efficient in Audition and how to sweeten spoken word audio. Now that I’m on 5 video conferences every day, I’ve been raising my video game. My office has turned into a green-screen video production studio, and I’m learning after-effects to make some cooler graphics for my meetings. I also just got my Peloton delivered some I’m just starting to fall down the Power Training wormhole.

What are the 1-3 songs that would make up your career soundtrack today? I’m musically inept so this question totally exposes me. We tried to invest the digital music industry at Blockbuster in the early 90’s (too early) but we built a cool demo, and Stings “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” was my go to demo track. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones is my supply chain mantra. I play “Ali In the Jungle” by The Hours when I need to get fired up.

What are the 1-3 books you’ve gifted the most or that have greatly influenced your life, and why? This question sucks, because I love books, and have some clear favorites that I’m happy to share. But if I’m being honest many of them are not as relevant as they were 20-30 years ago when they made their initial impression on me.

• I still talk about The One to One Future by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely a lot.
• I’ve probably gifted Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug and Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski the most.
• I don’t make kids I work with read it any more, but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Why We Buy by Paco Underhill.

I actually try to keep an updated list of recommendations on my website.

If you could have a gigantic billboard for the world to see with anything on it, what would it say, and why? “Wear Sunscreen”. Most of the advice I give is very subjective and it may or may not work, and I’m often wrong. But the benefits of wearing sunscreen are well proven by science. I grew up on the beach and used to get several bad sunburns a year. Now I’ve had to take care of a several skin cancers, and every time I’m like 20 years younger than everyone else in the doctor’s office. So, use sunscreen.

What are the worst recommendations or advice you have heard related to eCommerce?Follow best practices. In my experience there is no such thing, every client has a unique relationship with a unique set of customers, and what works for one client absolutely doesn’t work as well for the next one. And if it worked last year, there is no guaranty it will this year. Test and learn, use data to drive decisions. Seriously people.

What advice would you give to a future leader of change about to enter business, or specifically the eCommerce field? If you’re trying to enter the eCommerce field in 2020, it’s too late. The problem you’re probably hoping to solve is shopper marketing, it just so happens that right now digital and eCommerce are dominant tactics in shopper marketing, but if you define yourself as an eCommerce guy or gal, then you’re going to miss out as eCommerce becomes more commoditized, and other tactics emerge. I don’t even think you want to think of yourself as a brand or retailer, as the lines are rapidly blurring between those two problem sets. Focus on the problem not the tactic.

What specific, industry-related change do you believe will happen that few others seem to see? Would you believe a global pandemic will push the fast forward button on digital commerce? Seriously, I’m surprised we still talk about the “digital” version of things or count same store sales vs. eCommerce sales, and am really surprised we still have Chief Digital Officers. It seems so obvious to me that digital should just be a fundamental part of every experience, in the same way that electricity is a fundamental part of every factory, but you don’t see many factories that have a “Chief Electricity Officer” anymore.

What is the last thing you bought online, and why? A trampoline, I’m desperately trying to find ways to help my 4.5 year old burn off energy! I also have a famous addiction to coffee, to I pretty much get daily orders of Starbucks iced coffee, I spread the order around among multiple grocers so none of them will now the true extent of my consumption.

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First Movers is a change leader interview series featuring select industry pioneers who are boldly driving the evolution of digital commerce, the consumer and everything in between.