In this Day 1 panel at this year’s ecommerce conference, our panelists specializing in direct to consumer brands include Andrea Zaretsky (SVP, CRM & Loyalty), Sunil Kaki (SVP of Marketing at Thrive Market), Liesel Walsh (VP, CRM, Loyalty and Insights at Party City), Lewis Gersh (CEO, PebblePost), who will guide us through “Unlocking the Secrets to Loyalty and Retention.”
Why this panel topic?
Given how much retailers and direct to consumer brands invest in customer acquisition, we would be remiss not to cover the other side of the equation—retention. Capitalizing on retention and commanding loyalty from existing customers is critical to a company’s viability and long-term success.
Studies have shown that a happy customer is up to five times more likely to repurchase. The marketing executives on this panel straddle both ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retail, and know what it takes to achieve happy customers through holistic customer engagement.
What will this panel teach me?
Moderated by Scott Ableman (SVP Marketing, Americas at GTT), this panel will cover the hardest topics around retention and loyalty, like:
- They say it’s cheaper to keep a customer than it is to acquire a new one, so how can we measure the cost and return of each?
- How can we measure loyalty?
- How does customer participation in loyalty programs translate into actual customer loyalty?
- How can we track the value of a customer and extend engagement across digital, physical, and indirect channels?
Who are the panelists?
Andrea Zaretsky is SVP, CRM & Loyalty, at Sephora, where she leads Loyalty and CRM. Prior to Sephora, Andrea spent the majority of her career at American Express, most recently leading Customer Marketing for the US Card Business.
Sunil Kaki is a marketing executive with a proven track record for building high performing teams at Amazon, Intuit and Zulily. He is the SVP of Marketing at Thrive Market, a membership-based market that makes high-quality healthy products for every lifestyle.
Liesel Walsh believes brands can be developed effectively through a digital/direct marketing focus which provides clear ROI as well as brand awareness. Now as the VP of CRM, Loyalty and Insights at Party City, Liesel has collected more years than she wants to count developing brands in direct marketing and digital channels—starting in the catalog business (Seventh Generation, J. Jill and Levi’s) and moving into the digital world (Levi’s, Gap, The Sharper Image, Restoration Hardware and Petco).
Lewis Gersh is CEO of PebblePost. Prior to PebblePost, Lewis founded Gersh Venture Partners (later Metamorphic Ventures), one of the first and largest seed venture funds in the country, focused primarily on B2B marketing and e-commerce technologies. The fund specialized in retargeting, e-commerce and database marketing. Prior to Metamorphic, Lewis founded Worldly Information Network.
Scott Ableman is a marketing executive, advisor, and VC for companies in the ecommerce, digital media, and ed tech space. He has served as Chief Marketing Officer for three Internet Retailer 500 companies, and is currently building a marketing function in the Americas for cloud networking giant GTT.
How can you see this panel?
Apply today to attend this year’s ecommerce conference. Retailers and brands generally qualify for complimentary passes, as long as spots remain available. Hurry and reserve your spot!
