Based on what I saw at MWC (fka Mobile World Congress), the themes, especially as they relate to commerce, can be summed up most succinctly as SPEED.

To recap, trends hit:

• Instagrammable

• New CPG sales channel

• Small format

• Self-checkout

• Shift in ad dollars from digital to stores

And those missed:

• Experience

• Service

• Product education

• Brand immersion

• The “chat” in chat commerce

Looking at stores I’ve visited recently (here and here) and what’s next on my list (future visits coming via Instagram Stories) and paying close attention to my daily inclinations, I have two main thoughts.

Walmart and Nike both have taken dramatic action recently, but only one company's tale is being told as that of disruption.

I attended TAP 2017 last week and I'm excited about how Button is addressing the gap between affiliate marketing effectiveness on desktop vs. on mobile.

As the food shopping space anticipates innovation coming from Amazon/Whole Foods, here's my grocery tech wish list.

A few weeks ago, I announced the pre-launch of my new retail business, Box The Party. As the landing page says, I want to help people eliminate Pinterest party fails and create Instagrammable everyday celebrations at home. Despite the chatbot hype, I believe there's an opportunity in human-to-human interaction. So it's no coincidence that Box The Party's minimally viable product - which launched last week - is all via SMS.

As the number of ways we can see and reach customers grows, seemingly at an exponential rate, retail organizations also become more complex. More sharing is needed. Meeting calendars are filling up faster than ever. When an initiative touches marketing, online/mobile, store visits, and tech, who owns it? Everyone? No one?

I packed about 17 experiences into my one day (Saturday, 3/11/17) in Austin, not including all the mind-expanding conversations I had along the way. The global, truly interdisciplinary nature of the crowd this event continues to draw is beyond impressive.

Retailers can’t do “omnichannel” well without data that profile customers and their paths to purchase across channels. With in-store Wi-Fi log-ins and data collection powered by Euclid Connect, retailers gain illuminating visibility into how the store visit fits into a customer’s purchase journey