Retail Disrupted

How does an iconic luxury beauty group stay relevant in an AI-powered world?
Recorded live on stage at London Tech Week's AI in Retail Event in London, this episode of Retail Disrupted features Pernilla Nyberg, SVP & General Manager UK & Ireland at The Estée Lauder Companies. Pernilla shares how Estée Lauder is thoughtfully using AI and data to support creativity, innovation, and personalization across luxury beauty — from trend intelligence and product development to fragrance, digital experiences, and in-store service.
A candid conversation on balancing technology with craftsmanship, brand equity, and high-touch human experience in prestige beauty.

International expansion isn't about copy-and-paste growth — it's about cultural intelligence. 
In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg is joined by CMOs and leading global brand experts Katherine Melchior Ray and Nataly Kelly to explore why so many global brands fail — and what they should do differently to succeed across borders.
From luxury retail and hospitality to beauty, fashion, and FMCG, this conversation unpacks real-world examples (Sephora, Walmart, Target, Louis Vuitton, Apple, Uniqlo) as covered in Katherine and Nataly's book: Brand Global, Adapt Local. 
If you're responsible for brand, retail, marketing, or international growth — this episode is for you.

In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg shares her 2026 outlook and insights from the KPMG Retail Think Tank. She is then joined by international logistics expert Becky Lombardo to unpack how retailers can build resilient, flexible, and profitable supply chains in an increasingly unpredictable world.
Becky shares practical insights on global trade disruption, nearshoring, returns, AI in logistics, sustainability, and why doing less - not more - may be the smartest strategy for retail leaders in 2026.
🎙️ Ideal for: retail executives, e-commerce leaders, supply chain professionals, brand founders, and investors.
00:00 – Introduction to Retail Disrupted
00:28 – Retail trends and challenges shaping 2026
02:48 – Geopolitical risk, weak demand & supply chain pressure
05:10 – AI, personalization & the risk of cognitive complacency
07:05 – Meet Becky Lombardo: global logistics & supply chain expert
08:25 – Why unpredictability is the biggest threat to retail planning
09:45 – Tariffs, geopolitics & global trade uncertainty
10:35 – Sourcing risk, China dependency & supply chain blind spots
12:47 – Nearshoring, profitability & smarter sourcing strategies
14:58 – Doing more with less: cutting complexity in supply chains
16:54 – What luxury retailers get right about customer experience
18:58 – Customer expectations vs speed, service & reliability
20:57 – Logistics, fulfilment & treating every customer like a VIP
23:02 – AI in logistics: efficiency vs human touch
24:39 – Returns, serial returners & charging for returns
26:49 – Sustainability, cost control & smarter supply chains
29:00 – Fixing fit, reducing fashion returns & new technology
31:07 – Direct-to-consumer vs wholesale: hidden operational costs
33:19 – Final advice for brands navigating retail disruption
34:10 – Where to find Becky Lombardo & closing remarks
🔗 KPMG Retail Think Tank: 2026 Outlook (LinkedIn post)
🔗 More about Becky and Londra Consulting

Barcodes are the backbone of global trade. GS1 barcodes are scanned more than 10 billion times a day, helping over two million organisations worldwide identify, describe, and track products across the global economy.
But while the barcode has existed for more than 50 years - largely unchanged - the needs of retail, brands, and consumers have evolved dramatically.
In the final episode of Retail Disrupted for 2025, Natalie Berg is joined by Kerry Morrison, Head of Retail and Marketplaces at GS1 UK, to explore the next generation of barcodes: QR codes powered by GS1. This new standard will do everything the traditional barcode does - and far more - by combining two of the greatest inventions of all time: the barcode and the internet.
From working harder in supply chains with richer data (including batch and lot numbers to support recalls), to enabling direct consumer engagement via product packaging, these QR codes are unlocking powerful new opportunities for revenue growth, sustainability, accessibility, and first-party consumer data.

Rice is the one of the most consumed foods in the world, but few people realise it's also a major driver of climate change. In fact, beef is the only food responsible for higher global emissions. 
In this episode of Retail Disrupted, Natalie Berg sits down with Fergus O'Sullivan, Founder of Nice Rice, to unpack the problems with traditional rice farming and why it's long overdue for disruption.
Fergus shares his unconventional leap from private equity into food entrepreneurship and explains how sustainable rice farming can dramatically reduce methane emissions while saving huge amounts of water. He also reveals why treating rice as a commodity has held back both quality and sustainability - and what happens when you start to rethink one of the world's oldest food categories.