ecommert Podcast

In Part 2 of the ecommert® Podcast, we continue the conversation with Andrew Lederman to explore the future of digital commerce, AI-driven shopping experiences, and the rise of Agentic Commerce.
Drawing from his experience across startups, Alibaba, BEES at AB InBev, and now Mondelez, Andrew shares how global CPG brands are adapting to rapidly evolving consumer behaviors, transforming organizational structures, and preparing for a world powered by AI shopping assistants and LLM commerce.
From China's advanced social commerce ecosystem to India's quick commerce revolution, this episode dives into the global trends shaping the next era of retail and what brands must do to stay competitive in a frictionless commerce environment.
In this episode, you'll learn:
🔹 Agentic Commerce & AI Shopping: Why AI assistants may become the most powerful sales channel in digital commerce.
🔹 The Future of Consumer Experience: How frictionless purchasing, contextual recommendations, and AI-driven discovery are reshaping shopping behavior.
🔹 The Evolution of the Digital Shelf: Why brands must optimize content far beyond PDPs — including Reddit, YouTube, FAQs, blogs, and every digital touchpoint.
🔹 Global Commerce Innovation: Key lessons from the US, China, and India on retail media, quick commerce, and social commerce ecosystems.
🔹 Cross-Functional Team Structures: Why modern commerce organizations need tighter collaboration between content, media, sales, technology, and marketing teams.
🔹 Leaner Tech Stacks: How enterprise brands are simplifying technology ecosystems while expanding AI and commerce capabilities.
🔹 Startup Agility at Scale: How large global companies can stay adaptable in one of the fastest-changing industries in the world.
About the Guest:
Andrew Lederman is the Global VP of E-Commerce at Mondelez, where he leads the company's digital commerce business globally. With experience spanning B2C startups, Alibaba, and AB InBev's BEES platform, Andrew brings a highly adaptable and future-focused perspective on how brands can scale meaningful business impact in the AI-commerce era.
🌐 More insights: https://www.ecommert.ai
Mert Damlapinar | ecommert
About ecommert:
We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics, ensuring smarter and more efficient operations across B2C, eB2B, and DTC channels.

In this episode of the ecommert® Podcast, we sit down with Andrew Lederman to explore how global CPG brands are adopting startup agility and preparing for the next frontier of digital shopping: Agentic Commerce. 
Drawing from his vast experience in both agile tech startups and massive enterprises, Andrew shares how Mondelez is redefining digital commerce through cross-functional integration, holistic content strategies, and localized operating models. From balancing brand equity with commercial impact to predicting the inevitable rise of AI-driven shopping assistants, this conversation dives into what it truly takes to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving global commerce landscape. 
 In this episode, you'll learn:
🔹 Startup Agility in Enterprise: How to bring a scrappy, consumer-obsessed mindset to a massive CPG organization.
🔹 B2B Digital Transformation: The shift in traditional trade and how Mom & Pop shops are adopting B2B e-commerce platforms like BEES.
🔹 Bridging Sales & Marketing: Breaking down internal silos to balance brand equity with retail media investments through unified measurement across CX teams.
🔹 Global Market Maturity: Navigating the vastly different e-commerce landscapes and tech ecosystems of the US, China, and India.
🔹 The Rise of Agentic Commerce: Why AI shopping assistants sitting in consumers' phones are the future of digital commerce.
🔹 Holistic Content Strategy: Why brands must optimize their story across the entire web—from Reddit to YouTube—not just the digital shelf and PDPs.
About the Guest:
Andrew Lederman is the Global VP of E-Commerce at Mondelez, where he leads the digital commerce business globally. With a rich background spanning from a B2C marketplace startup (OpenSky) to global tech giants (Alibaba) and massive B2B platforms (BEES at AB InBev), Andrew brings a unique, highly adaptable perspective on how brands can connect with consumers and scale real business impact. 
 
More insights: https://www.ecommert.ai
 
Mert Damlapinar | ecommert
 
About ecommert: We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics, ensuring smarter and more efficient operations across B2C, eB2B, and DTC channels.

In this episode of the ecommert® Podcast (Part 2), we continue the conversation with Rishika Choumal to explore how innovation, data, and AI are reshaping the future of retail media.
As the industry moves beyond experimentation, Rishika shares how leading companies like Henkel are testing new approaches across first-party data, audience strategy, and AI-driven optimization — all while navigating talent gaps, evolving tools, and increasing complexity. From predictive bidding to data clean rooms and upskilling teams, this episode dives into what it really takes to stay competitive in a fast-changing commerce landscape.
In this episode, you'll learn:
🔹 Retail Media Innovation: How brands are leveraging retailer first-party data to build smarter audiences. 
🔹 AI in Action: Using AI for bidding, budget allocation, and performance optimization — beyond just content.
🔹 Smarter Spending: Why efficiency matters more than increasing media budgets.
🔹 Data & Talent Gap: The reality of data clean rooms, SQL skills, and building the right teams.
🔹 Upskilling at Scale: How global organizations are training teams across regions and functions.
🔹 Future of AI in Commerce: What brands really want from AI (and what's still missing).
🔹 Career Advice: Why data skills are becoming essential for the next generation in digital commerce.
🔹 Collaboration as Advantage: Why "collaborative is the new competitive."
About the Guest:
Rishika Choumal is the Global Retail Media Lead at Henkel, where she drives global strategy across retail media, performance marketing, and digital commerce. With a strong background in consumer psychology and full-funnel media planning, she brings a unique perspective on how brands can connect data, media, and real business impact.
🌐 More insights: https://www.ecommert.ai
Mert Damlapinar | ecommert
About ecommert:
We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics, ensuring smarter and more efficient operations across B2C, eB2B, and DTC channels.
🎧 Thanks for tuning in to the ecommert podcast.

In this episode of the ecommert® Podcast, we sit down with Rishika Choumal to explore how retail media is evolving into a measurable, full-funnel growth driver for modern CPG brands.
As digital and in-store worlds continue to merge, Rishika shares how leading companies like Henkel are redefining success through smarter measurement, sharper investment strategies, and deeper integration across channels. From breaking down silos to connecting media spend with real business outcomes, this conversation dives into what it truly takes to win in today's commerce landscape.
In this episode, you'll learn:
🔹 Measurement in a Blended World: How brands connect online performance with in-store sales impact. 🔹 Smarter Media Investments: Why CPG companies are becoming more selective and data-driven. 🔹 Retail Media Beyond Silos: Integrating retail media into overall brand and marketing strategy. 🔹 Short-Term vs Long-Term Impact: Balancing performance marketing with brand building. 🔹 First-Party Data & Personalization: Unlocking growth through better targeting and consumer insights. 🔹 The Future of Retail Media: Why measurement, accountability, and integration will define the next phase.
About the Guest:
Rishika Choumal is the Global Retail Media Lead at Henkel, where she drives global strategy across retail media, performance marketing, and digital commerce. With a strong background in consumer psychology and full-funnel media planning, she brings a unique perspective on how brands can connect data, media, and real business impact.
🌐 More insights: https://www.ecommert.ai
Mert Damlapinar | ecommert
About ecommert:
We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics, ensuring smarter and more efficient operations across B2C, eB2B, and DTC channels.
🎧 Thanks for tuning in to the ecommert podcast.

In this episode of the Ecommert Podcast, we sit down with Alberto Kechler, Global Head of E-commerce for Arla Foods, at their Utrecht offices in the Netherlands. We explore the massive shift from e-commerce hypergrowth to a mature, omnichannel landscape—where breaking down organizational silos is the key to creating a channel-less consumer experience. Alberto shares his journey from 15 years in digital commerce across giants like Nestle and Mondelez to leading the omnichannel transformation at Arla Foods. We discuss why the future of e-commerce isn't just about standalone digital teams—it's about embedding e-commerce expertise directly into local business units. In this episode, you'll learn:
🔹 The Omnichannel Shift: Why the industry is moving away from siloed e-commerce teams toward a fully integrated, channel-less approach.
🔹 "Click and Cook" Case Study: How Arla successfully turned 35 million recipe searches into 1 million shoppable carts in Denmark using API integration.
🔹 Retail Media ROI: Why every retail media investment must have a positive impact on sales, and how to navigate fragmented retailer data.
🔹 Mastering the Digital Shelf: Why perfecting the basics of content, imagery, and availability remains vital before adopting advanced AI and conversational search.
🔹 The JBP Advantage: How clear budget allocation, data, and cross-functional collaboration empower brands during Joint Business Plan (JBP) negotiations with retailers.
About the Guest:
Alberto Kechler is the Global Head of E-commerce for Arla Foods. With over 15 years of experience in the digital commerce space, including leadership roles at Nestle and Mondelez, Alberto is now focused on driving omnichannel transformation, retail media excellence, and seamless consumer experiences for one of the world's largest dairy cooperatives.
🌐 More insights: https://www.ecommert.ai
Mert Damlapinar | ecommert
About ecommert:
We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. Our expertise spans e-channel strategy, retail media optimization, and digital shelf analytics, ensuring smarter and more efficient operations across B2C, eB2B, and DTC channels.
Thanks for tuning in to ecommert podcast.