Predicting Consumer Behavior to Make Retail Smarter

Retail has always been a gamble. What if it didn’t have to be a risk? Retailers are eager to understand consumer behavior and desires before committing to inventory. As expectations for environmentally conscious business practices, retailers are steering away from waste.

First Insight helps businesses reach sustainability goals and accurately forecast consumer behavior. How exactly? With product testing in the early design stages, First Insight helps retailers refine inventory.

On this episode of “What Just Happened?”, hosted by Christine Russo, Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight, discusses the revolutionary consultations provided by the company. Petro breaks down the complex layers between retail, wholesaler, and manufacturer, where the product development process is disjointed, and biases are implemented.

Russo and Petro discuss…

●Test in design, from sketches to CAD, and samples to obtain the information.

●The First Insight process, on both the B2B and B2C side.

●The gaps between design, manufacturing, and selling -all with separate views of what the customer wants.

“Ultimately, the consumer is going to decide whether we were right,” said Petro. The First Insight process obtains the customer’s opinion from design, providing them with what they want so that their dollars go further in the retail setting.

Greg Petro received his undergrad and master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburg. He started working with First Insight in 2007 and serves on the board for FIT.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

MarTech
How CMOs Must Respond as AI Redefines Marketing and MarTech Strategy
February 16, 2026

AI is shifting marketing from experimentation to operational integration. In this episode, Aby Varma speaks with Palmer Houchins, VP of Marketing at G2, about embedding AI into workflows, rethinking org design, and navigating rapid change across the MarTech landscape. From LLM copilots to agentic workflows, they unpack practical adoption lessons and the increasing importance of…

Read More
experiential learning
Flood the Zone: University of Virginia’s New Strategy to Scale Experiential Learning for Every Student
February 16, 2026

Experiential learning is having a bit of a reckoning moment in higher ed. For years, the default answer was “get an internship” or “do a co-op”—as if every student can pause life, relocate for a summer, and take on a high-stakes role that’s supposed to define their future. But students’ realities have changed: many…

Read More
free tools
The True Cost of Free Tools: When Free Platforms Own More of Your Network Than You Do
February 12, 2026

Nowadays, getting a project off the ground usually means moving fast. A quick map gets sketched. A file gets shared. A design gets reviewed in whatever tool is closest at hand. In the moment, it feels efficient — even smart. But in the telecommunications industry, as networks become more automated, location-aware, and powered by AI,…

Read More
telecom
Predictive Networks: How Baron Weather and GIS are Strengthening Telecom Operations
February 12, 2026

Severe weather is no longer an occasional disruption for telecom providers—it’s becoming part of the operating environment. During Hurricane Ida in 2021, the Federal Communications Commission reported that nearly 1,000 cell sites across Louisiana and Mississippi went offline. In 2024, Hurricane Milton left more than 12% of cell sites in impacted areas of Florida…

Read More