2025: The Year Digital Commerce Got Louder

December 20, 2025

As we head towards the end of the year, we’ve been reflecting on what has been a truly standout chapter for our podcast – The FODcast – The Future of Digital Commerce.

We’re now firmly into our 7th season, and 2025 has been a record-breaking year for the podcast – more listeners, more downloads, and more brilliant conversations than ever before. What started as a niche commerce podcast has grown into a genuinely global platform for digital, B2B, retail and transformation leaders. So, in the spirit of the season, we’re delighted to present…

The 12 Days of FODmas

Our Top 12 FODcast episodes of 2025, counting you down to Christmas, one standout conversation at a time.

Here are this year’s must-listen episodes:

  1. Revolutionising B2B E-Commerce – David Höck
    David, co-founder of Vendure, discusses how innovative composable commerce solutions and practical strategies are transforming B2B digital commerce. LISTEN HERE

  2. Platforming the Future: B2B’s Digital Commerce Revolution – Jochen Binder
     In this episode Jochen, Head of Backend and Data Solutions at diva-e, explores the evolving digital commerce platform landscape and how pragmatic, AI-influenced approaches are reshaping both B2B and B2C LISTEN HERE

  3. The Art of Haggling Meets AI – Rosie Bailey
    CEO of Nibble, Rosie, breaks down how AI-augmented negotiation and customer experience strategies are changing modern e-commerce LISTEN HERE

  4. Crafting Community in a Digital Age – Steve Irwin
    Steven Irwin of Vivobarefoot shares how purpose-driven community building and brand values can drive loyalty and sustainable growth in digital commerce LISTEN HERE

  5. When AGI Lands, Your Business Model Might Vanish – Daniel Hinderink
    We chat with Daniel about how AI, data sovereignty, and external forces are reshaping digital transformation strategies across sector LISTEN HERE

  6. The Future of Composable Commerce – SCAYLE
    We were joined by Craig Smith and Rico Adler for this great discussion on composable commerce platforms, scalability, and the practical benefits for growing digital businesses LISTEN HERE

  7. Why eCommerce Success Isn’t About Platform Choice – Matt Parkinson
    In this throwback from back in May, Matt debunks platform myths and focuses on practical, future-ready approaches that matter more than simply picking tech LISTEN HERE

  8. Physical Retail’s Vital Pulse: Why In-Store Still Matters – James O’Hare
    A topic that’s still as relevant today as it was in the early Summer, James O’Hare highlights how in-store experiences, unified commerce, and smarter tech are keeping physical retail relevant and impactful LISTEN HERE

  9. Prompts, Products, and Profits: The AI Revolution Nobody Saw Coming – Sander Berlinski Sander cuts through AI hype to explain how data foundations and intelligent automation are delivering real value today LISTEN HERE

  10. Turning Intuition into Growth – Martijn WijsmullerMartijn shares his journey from corporate to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurial mindset and practical insights fuel e-commerce succes LISTEN HERE

  11. Pioneering New Paths in Digital B2B – David WilliamsDavid discusses how AI and emerging technologies are helping B2B organisations innovate and adapt in a shifting digital landscape LISTEN HERE

  12. The Future of E-Commerce: Gen Z, AI & Unified Retail – James Brooke
    James explores how Gen Z behaviours, AI-driven personalisation and unified retail thinking are shaping the future of commerce LISTEN HERE

Whether you’ve tuned in every week or missed a few along the way, this is the perfect opportunity to catch up on the conversations that defined digital commerce in 2025.

Did you know?

In 2025 alone, The FODcast has been streamed thousands of times this year across six continents and dozens of countries worldwide.

Alongside strong audiences across the UK, Europe and North America, we’ve also seen listeners tuning in from Angola, Nepal and Kazakhstan – proof that the conversation around digital commerce really is a global one!

Be Our Guest in 2026?

We’re already planning next year’s lineup and would love to hear from:

  •  Founders
  •  CTOs, CDOs & Product Leaders
  •  Commerce, B2B & AI innovators

If you’ve got a story to tell or insight to share, get in touch to join us on The FODcast. Thank you for listening, sharing, and supporting our podcast this last year. We’ll be back in 2026 with even more insight, challenge and conversation around the future of digital commerce.

In the meantime, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a successful New Year!

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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Industry News & Headlines | November 2025

December 20, 2025

Early signs online and the latest spend data suggest the Black Friday weekend in the UK delivered a solid performance, with total spend coming in just under £4 billion, up 4.5% on last year. As expected, online continued to dominate as the primary channel, reinforcing just how embedded digital purchasing now is across consumer behaviour.

I think it’s fair to say that market conversations more generally remain varied and encouraging. While retail continues to be heavily led by data, we’re seeing some of the bigger transformational programmes taking shape outside of traditional retail, particularly within non-profit organisations and utilities companies. Across retail, the most agile organisations are likely to be the ones that pull ahead. Being able to access, understand, and act on data quickly remains absolutely critical.

I heard an interesting comment last week that “businesses have the money, they just don’t want to write the cheque.” I’d challenge that slightly based on our own conversations, but it does underline that caution is still present when it comes to signing off on project budgets. Confidence is building, but diligence remains high.

That said, the pipeline for next year is really starting to take shape. We’re already seeing early demand across testing and engineering, with product owners and senior sales professionals also emerging as key areas of focus. With our expansion across the broader digital transformation space, both B2B and B2C, we’re well placed to support organisations as hiring plans begin to firm up, whether that’s scaling technical delivery teams, strengthening product functions, or bringing in senior commercial talent, with encouraging momentum already building into the new year.

On a personal note, a final thank you for the continued support this year. I hope you have a restful Christmas and a happy, healthy, and successful New Year.

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  • Jo Malone London launched an AI-powered “Scent Advisor” tool, a new online experience built with Google Cloud AI, designed to help customers discover their perfect fragrance through a conversational journey that ’emulates the feel of an in-store consultation’ READ MORE
  • Morrisons launched its “Talking Tills” initiative – a temporary slower-checkout option designed to combat loneliness, while reinforcing the growing focus on differentiated in-store customer experience alongside the rise of automation and ecommerce READ MORE
  • Lloyds Banking Group explores using AI and blockchain to speed up the UK home-buying process, with the aim of cutting paperwork, reducing delays and simplifying mortgages and conveyancing for buyers and lenders alike READ MORE
  • BT has launched a sovereign data platform for UK public-sector and business customers, enabling data, cloud, AI and voice services to be stored and processed within the UK for enhanced security, compliance, and resilience READ MORE
  • eBay has teamed up with InPost so UK buyers and sellers can now send and receive parcels via their 12,000-strong locker and parcel-shop network, offering 24/7 convenience and boosting flexibility for online shopping fulfilment READ MORE

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

 

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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From Buzzwords To Bottom Line: Unified Commerce, AI, And The Real Costs Of Replatforming with Kim Samuelsen and Max Rolon

December 10, 2025

We’ve got an extra special episode of The FODcast dropping this week – not only do we have both Tim Roedel AND James Hodges side by side in the interviewer’s seat once again, but we’re also joined by two guests from global commerce agency Domaine, Kim Samuelsen and Max Rolon. 

In this four-way chat, we discuss how Shopify’s native capabilities now handle serious complexity across EMEA without the overhead of composable stacks – and what that means for brands weighing platform choice, expansion, and cost control.

From Markets and meta objects to multilingual storefronts and local payment methods, we explore what’s changed, what still trips brands up, and where the smart money goes when every budget line is under pressure.

The conversation digs into:

  • The real barriers of European expansion – compliance, duties, and fulfilment quirks like lockers and pickup points
  • When to stick with Shopify Payments versus legacy gateways
  • Why clean, centralised data underpins everything from AI personalisation to CRM efficiency
  • How unified commerce is replacing brittle omnichannel integrations

You’ll also hear real-world examples; from a Magento-to-Shopify B2B migration that finally brought B2B online to an enterprise furniture launch that hit a 23-week timeline and lifted conversion by 19%.

If you’re weighing platform choice, entering Europe, or tightening spend ahead of Q1, this is your field guide to cutting TCO without cutting ambition.

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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When AI Takes the Busywork: How Teams May Evolve in the Age of Agents with Rob Goodwin

November 28, 2025

AI is not just changing tools, it is changing teams, skills and how customers find you online.

In this week’s episode of The FODcast, host James Hodges sits down with Rob Goodwin, Chief Data Officer at MSQ Partners, to talk about what is moving fast, what is hype, and what leaders should fix now.

We cover:

  • AI agents for triage, code generation and repetitive analytics, and what that means for junior and mid-level roles
  • The rise of AI Ops to monitor, tune and audit models in production
  • Why first-party data quality still beats shiny tools, and how to clean and enrich what you already have
  • Practical steps to align clickstream, CRM and purchase data so personalisation actually works
  • Trust in an AI world, including QA, transparent citations and brand-owned communities

If your 2025 plan touches AI, data or search, this one is absolutely ESSENTIAL listening.

🎧 Tune in now

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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Key Takeaways from The NXT:Commerce Summit 2025: ‘Commerce in Motion’

November 19, 2025

Earlier this month James and I travelled to Amsterdam for the acclaimed (or at least consistently talked about) NXT Summit, and it genuinely felt worth stepping away from the desk for a couple of days. There is something grounding about hearing from people who are actually building, scaling and wrestling with the realities of modern commerce, and it gave us the headspace to think more deeply about the future of digital commerce, and what that means for the brands and clients that we work with.

NXT has a reputation for being practical, candid and less self-congratulatory than a lot of other events, and this year it delivered exactly that: real conversations, real examples and a very real sense of how fast things are shifting under our feet.

We heard everything from AI-driven shopping to grassroots brand building, to cross-border scaling headaches and the newfound importance of content operations. What follows is a summary of the themes that resonated most strongly, along with how these trends play out in the wider market and what they might mean for teams like ours and the brands we support.

AI and the Changing Rhythm of Modern Shopping

A defining topic throughout the summit was the role of AI in reshaping shopping behaviour. There was broad agreement that the pace of change is much faster than many organisations are prepared for, and that AI in its many forms is now deeply influencing the path to purchase. Speakers shared examples of brands experimenting with an integrated “AI button” that customers can tap to get sizing help, delivery advice or personalised product recommendations in real time. These tools are not about replacing human input but about making the customer journey smoother and more intuitive.

Internal AI use came up repeatedly too. From tagging to segmentation to categorisation, retailers are now leaning on AI to remove manual drag and free teams to focus on strategic or creative work. There was some concern that AI risks making brands sound generic, but most speakers took the view that the real magic happens when AI amplifies human creativity rather than diluting it.

This is backed by emerging market research. McKinsey has forecast that agentic commerce, where AI agents research, compare and even execute purchases on behalf of consumers, could unlock between three and five trillion dollars by 2030.

Salesforce has also revealed that the first half of 2025 saw a 128 percent monthly increase in retailer interactions with AI-powered tools and assistants, which shows just how quickly adoption is steepening.

Benchmarking and Market View

Across commerce, AI is no longer a novelty. It has moved decisively from a “nice to have” to a “must have” for customer experience, marketing automation, smarter search and genuinely personalised journeys. This shift is becoming particularly visible in areas such as conversational search, where brands that optimise their content for LLM visibility and agent-friendly discovery are already gaining a clear first-mover advantage.

At the same time, many organisations still feel uncertain about how to apply AI in ways that are sensible, safe and true to their brand. Guarding tone, protecting authenticity and avoiding generic outputs remain real concerns. The companies making the most meaningful progress are those approaching AI with intention and healthy scepticism, using it to enhance the human experience rather than replace it.

Brand, Community and Experience Taking Priority Over Technology Alone

Another strong theme was the renewed importance of brand and community, which many speakers argued is becoming more meaningful than the underlying tech itself. We heard examples of brands such as OBEY, and Corteiz leading with culture, opinion and community rather than product or platform. The story of Corteiz swapping old jackets for new ones and then donating the originals to the homeless was mentioned multiple times because it demonstrated how powerful simple, values-driven ideas can be when shared by a connected community.

There was also a strong prediction that 2026 will be a reset year for many businesses. Rather than endlessly adding new systems and tools, brands will start simplifying their tech stacks, making more strategic use of the data they already have and reconnecting with the heart of their brand. Loyalty programmes, limited editions, community-specific drops, user testing and real customer conversations were highlighted as core ingredients of brand-first growth. TikTok Live and TikTok Shop were also described as significant touchpoints, especially for younger demographics.

This shift aligns with broader industry moves. Technology is becoming more standardised and easier to implement, so the strongest differentiator is now the expression of brand identity and the sense of community that surrounds it. Social commerce continues to grow, and live and creator-led channels are shifting from experimental to essential. 

Cross-Border Growth, Marketplaces and the Realities of Scaling

The final theme that really stood out focused on the operational complexity of scaling in a cross-border world. The session titled “From Drop to Doorstep” offered a frank look at the friction brands face when expanding into multiple countries. De minimis duty thresholds, import transparency and customer communication came up frequently, with several brands choosing to shift towards B2B2C models as a workaround for tax or logistics barriers.

One of the most discussed examples was a marketplace migration to Shopify involving a catalogue of over two hundred thousand products, combined with Algolia for search and scale. It sparked a healthy debate about whether Shopify can truly support enterprise complexity. The conclusion from the speakers who lived through it was that Shopify absolutely can do it, but only when the implementation team is experienced, aligned and realistic about standards and governance.

Shopify’s own October 2025 analysis supports this, outlining how B2B commerce, global expansion and data-centred experience design have become major growth drivers for enterprise-level brands.

The discussion then shifted to content operations, with many brands now experimenting with more structured content systems to ensure consistency across channels. The message was encouraging but cautious. These systems can deliver enormous value, but some tools still feel early and risk flattening brand tone unless teams handle them carefully.

All of this reinforces a broader market pattern where businesses move away from costly, monolithic platforms in favour of lighter, modular stacks that scale with them. The complexity of multi-market operations, marketplaces and hybrid business models is increasing, and the more unified and rationalised the stack, the easier it becomes to scale effectively.

 

Closing Thoughts

What struck us most about the NXT Summit was how grounded the conversations were. The genuine future of digital commerce is not going to be defined by technology alone, nor by brand creativity on its own. It will be shaped in the space where the two meet. It will be built by teams that use technology to enable better ideas, not replace them, and by brands that understand why people connect with them in the first place.

For teams like ours, and for the businesses we support, the opportunity now is to decide where to lean into this shift. Combining thoughtful technology choices with strong brand identity and efficient operational systems will put any organisation in a far better position to navigate the next wave of change with clarity and confidence.

Simply Commerce is a specialist in technology recruitment and consulting across commerce, digital and data. If you’re scaling your tech team and need deeper insight or access to talent, we can help.

Written by:

Tim Roedel

CEO

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Industry News & Headlines | October 2025

November 13, 2025

Conversations across the digital commerce world are as lively as ever, with plenty happening across both B2C and B2B. The themes may sound familiar – data, transformation, and platform growth – but the energy behind them feels stronger than it has in months.

Data has dominated much of the conversation this quarter. Governance, security, and the challenge of managing first- and third-party sources are still top of the list, as businesses look for smarter ways to use information, not just collect it.

Internally, Q4 got off to a slower start than expected, but we’re far from discouraged. The opportunities are there – they’re just taking a little longer to convert. Contract demand remains buoyant across every region we cover, and our teams have had a busy few weeks of face-to-face meetings across the UK and Benelux, with plenty of productive conversations.

The Dutch market continues to show real momentum heading into 2026, while Germany still feels behind the curve on transformation; though the appetite for change is growing. We’re also seeing an uptick in demand for near-shore resources as businesses balance capability, cost, and proximity in smarter ways.

All told, there’s a lot to be positive about. The market feels active, conversations are meaningful, and confidence is slowly but surely translating into action. Here’s to a strong finish to the year!

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  • Waitrose unveils its first “Home of Food Lovers” concept store in Newbury – 27,000 sq ft, powered by a record £50m tech investment, featuring specialist food counters and AI/digital in-store tools READ MORE
  • Tesco has boosted its rapid-grocery delivery service Whoosh via a new partnership with Just Eat Go, enhancing fulfilment speed and capability ahead of key trading periods READ MORE
  • Marks & Spencer has launched on TikTok Shop, making its most-loved beauty and home-fragrance products instantly shoppable in-app; a strategic move to meet younger customers where they discover and buy READ MORE
  • Frasers Group’s new Sports Direct flagship in Liverpool opened last month, combining retail, wellness and media-driven innovation. The 65,000 sq ft, three-storey site integrates its proprietary ELEVATE platform and an in-store gym (Everlast Gyms+) to transform the physical store into a dynamic brand experience READ MORE
  • Morrisons is rolling out electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across its entire supermarket estate of 497 sites, in partnership with Vusion Group, making it the first major UK grocer to adopt this technology at scale READ MORE

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

 

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

Connect on LinkedIn

Nerds Who Talk: The Tech Behind Big Brand Migrations with Bob Rockland

November 12, 2025

What makes a 20-year veteran development team bet everything on Shopify?

According to Bob Rockland, Co-Founder of Code (now part of Domaine), the answer lies in both economics and technology. In the latest episode of The FODcast, Bob takes us inside Code’s journey to becoming the world’s largest dedicated Shopify partner – and why no client they’ve migrated in the last seven years has ever gone back.

We cover:

  • The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) myths CFOs often miss – and why Salesforce can be 35% more expensive than Shopify
  • How Code migrated a well-known retail brand from Salesforce to Shopify in just six months
  • Why payment service provider (PSP) fees are often the single biggest hidden cost for enterprise merchants
  • The three actions every brand should take to reduce platform costs: cut redundant apps, renegotiate regularly, and avoid long-term contracts
  • Where AI fits (and doesn’t) in enterprise commerce – and what to expect from Shopify’s rapid B2B roadmap

Bob also shares how Code’s TCO calculator helps brands uncover their true costs with surprising accuracy, giving enterprise teams the clarity they need to make smarter platform decisions.

If you’re exploring a platform migration or want to understand the real economics of Shopify vs. legacy platforms, this episode of The FODcast is a must-listen.

Written by:

Tim Roedel

CEO

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Industry News & Headlines | September 2025

October 29, 2025

Conversations across the digital commerce space remain strong, particularly with those delivering services into both B2C and B2B. The topics may sound familiar, but they continue to dominate – data, AI, and Shopify are still front and centre.

Data accuracy and accessibility are proving critical as businesses focus on turning information into insight. AI remains impossible to ignore, driving real-world efficiency gains and reshaping how we’ll search, shop, and check out, with tools like OpenAI’s checkout and Agents leading the way.

Meanwhile, Shopify’s enterprise momentum continues, with seven-figure builds and ambitious partner growth targets creating new opportunities across the ecosystem.

Personalisation also remains a key theme, as brands look to deepen relationships, improve customer lifetime value, and increase average order size.

Internally, Team SC is seeing the impact of this market confidence firsthand. We’re managing the highest number of live vacancies per head in two years (long may this continue!) and contract demand continues to grow at pace, particularly across project-driven roles.

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  • Shein launches brand incubator “Xcelerator” – a brand incubation programme to support emerging labels, increasing its footprint in the UK retail ecosystem READ MORE
  • Selfridges has expanded and upgraded its Birmingham Beauty Hall into a 30,000 sq ft destination (the largest outside London), adding 37 new counters, 160 brands, and new experiential spaces as part of its wider investment in beauty READ MORE
  • Morrisons is trialling AI-enabled trolleys that scan items as you shop, track totals in real time, and let customers skip checkout queues. The pilot begins in early 2026, marking Instacart’s first UK rollout READ MORE
  • At RetailX’s Autumn Festival, Debenhams’ CEO shared that the brand is aiming to become the “Spotify of retail,” using a new Pinterest integration to reimagine online discovery; shaking off its “digital dinosaur” past READ MORE
  • Asda is piloting AI-powered shelf-scanning cameras from retail automation specialist Focal Systems across five UK stores. The technology monitors shelves in real time to flag gaps, misplaced products, and potential waste, forming part of Asda’s wider investment in smart store innovation READ MORE

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

 

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

Connect on LinkedIn

Prompts, Products, and Profits: The AI Revolution Nobody Saw Coming with Sander Berlinski

October 29, 2025

What’s really driving the AI revolution in digital commerce? According to Sander Berlinski, Director of Innovation at valantic, the answer isn’t chasing futuristic hype, but focusing on what’s working right now.

In this FODcast episode, Sander breaks down how AI is already transforming retail, from automating compliance checks to reshaping creative roles; and why data foundations, not shiny tools, should be every retailer’s first priority.

We explore how his team built an EU Accessibility Act checker that plugs straight into e-commerce systems, turning compliance risks into improvement tickets, and why this kind of focused solution shows AI at its best.

We also cover:

  • The roles being most disrupted by AI, from customer service to front-end design
  • How platforms like Shopify are democratising creative content through natural language prompts
  • Why unglamorous data architecture is the biggest barrier to meaningful AI adoption
  • The compliance risks of employees experimenting with generative AI tools like ChatGPT
  • Practical advice for mid-market retailers balancing quick wins with long-term preparation
  • A glimpse into the near future of hyper-personalised product pages and physical-digital integration

If you’re in retail, digital commerce, or innovation, this is a grounded conversation about separating substance from hype and preparing your business for an AI-enhanced future.

Written by:

Tim Roedel

CEO

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Marketplaces, TikTok, and Dad Dancing: Why Not Every Brand Should Follow the Crowd with Rhea Fox

October 15, 2025

What’s really shaping the future of digital commerce?

According to Rhea Fox, Marketing Director of Gift Experiences at Moonpig Group, the biggest shift isn’t just technology – it’s how distribution and marketplaces are rewriting the rules of retail.

In this FODcast  episode, Rhea draws on senior roles at eBay, Ted Baker, and Monsoon Accessorize to explore how brands are adapting to an increasingly fragmented ecosystem.

From the rise of retailers like Next and John Lewis as marketplace hubs, to the blurred lines between owned and paid channels, she explains why customer-centricity is making a comeback after years of acquisition obsession.

We dive into why not every brand belongs on TikTok, how marketing effectiveness tools are being underused despite huge potential, and where AI is already delivering tangible value – from SEO and creative optimisation to game-changing innovations in reducing apparel returns.

If you’re in marketing, ecommerce, or digital strategy, this is a practical, insightful conversation on navigating complexity while staying focused on what matters most: understanding your customer.

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

Connect on LinkedIn