A New Look at the Last Mile: Retail Refined

With new norms emerging such as a new equilibrium in supply and demand and emerging family priorities, we are seeing an increased adoption of technologies that reposition how consumers receive products and services. Last mile is focusing on hyper convenience with speed, ease and utility as the guiding light. Experiential tech won’t go away, but we will see brands and retailers lean more heavily into order management, distribution fulfillment and mobile payments.

On this episode of Retail Refined, host Melissa Gonzalez sits down with Mariya Zorotovich, Director of Strategy and Incubation in the Internet of Things Group at Intel and part of the Emerging Technology organization of the Retail, Banking, Hospitality, and Education verticals. In this discussion, Mariya and Melissa discuss not only the trends we are seeing but a 4-step playbook to approaching how to rethink consumer needs and expectations.

Some of the main topics from the conversation include…

1. The new consumer and new habits forming
2. Increased adoption of tech across generations
3. The new challenge/opportunity this poses for brands and retailers (contactless payments, curbside, etc.)
4. Who is currently well positioned for this (i.e. Target)
5. High level tips/steps for retailers and brands as they approach rethinking customer needs and expectations post-COVID-19

Guest Bio

Mariya Zorotovich is Director of Strategy and Incubation in the Internet of Things Group at Intel and part of the Emerging Technology organization of the Retail, Banking, Hospitality, and Education verticals.

She is responsible for the incubation of emerging technologies, including the Intel Experience Incubation Hub for experiential collaboration. Prior to joining Intel in 2018, she held leadership roles in both commercial cloud and cloud and AI engineering at Microsoft focused on digital transformation in Retail and Consumer Goods. She worked with retailers and brands to help them develop new strategies that improved profitable growth, scale, and customer satisfaction, leveraging AI and cloud technologies.

Prior to Microsoft, Mariya spent two decades in retail leading strategies and initiatives across sales, operations, marketing, technology, and product management. Her last retailer was Nordstrom, where she has first-hand experience delivering digital capabilities such as checkout, order management, last-mile fulfillment, and services such as buy online pick in store across both physical and digital channels.

She currently serves as Co-Chair and board member of GMDC’s Retail Tomorrow Advisory Council (RTAC), board member of Global Retail Marketing Association (GRMA) Partner Advisory Board, and Asian Upward Advisory Board.

Catch up on previous episodes of Retail Refined!