The Future of Retail: Why Analog Experiences are Making a Comeback
4/22/202635 min
In this episode of the GaryVee Audio Experience, I sit down with the leaders of Ulta Beauty to discuss the massive shift happening in retail and leadership. I encourage you to stop weaponizing fear and start focusing on "Kind Candor" to build long-term trust with your teams. I also discuss the "Barbell Effect" of retail—where high-tech AI meets high-touch analog—and why physical stores must evolve into experiential content studios to survive.
You’ll learn about:
- The Concept of Kind Candor
- Why I'm Bullish on Analog Experiences
- How to Eliminate Fear in the Workplace
- The Future of Live Shopping and Content Studios
- Why You Need to Give Yourself More Grace
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGary Vaynerchuk· Host0:00
We're starting to get a little fatigued, and so you're seeing sports, concerts, going to stores, rising slowly but surely. You see weird numbers like vinyl records had its biggest sales in, like, 30 years. Some people here might have been part of the group where this last Christmas, we tracked over 20,000 social media posts where a 12 to 14-year-old asked for an analog phone instead of a smartphone. Gen Alpha sees Gen Z, and they don't want to be like that. Gen Alpha does see it two ways. One, they think their older siblings are entitled and soft, which is probably a good thing for the future.
Kelly· Guest0:38
Right ...
Gary Vaynerchuk· Host0:39
but they're also more cynical to technology. And I think that in an incredibly bullish analog, I'm incredibly bullish the real world. But just 'cause that macro trend is happening, we still have a lot of work to do. This is the Gary Vee Audio Experience.
Kelly· Guest0:54
[upbeat music] For starters, Gary, I'm so thrilled. You are a busy guy. If you follow Gary, you guys know Gary's out and about. He's everywhere. I am so grateful that you thought it was important enough to come to Orlando with our field leaders and everybody here that is the heartbeat of Ulta Beauty to talk to us for a few minutes just about you, about leadership, also about what you're seeing in retail. I think one thing that I've had the pleasure of getting to know you is I know you believe what we believe, which is business is about people and people power business. So I'm