#802: eTail's Lena Moriarty on e-commerce in the year ahead

The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

The Agile Brand

Business, Marketing

4.9 • 113 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens when your best customer is no longer a person, but an AI agent acting on their behalf? Agility requires not just adapting to new technologies, but fundamentally rethinking the customer journey when those technologies change the very definition of a customer. It demands a proactive stance on what’s next, rather than a reactive one. Today, we're going to talk about the seismic shifts happening in e-commerce, fresh off the floor of NRF 2026, and what it all means for the year ahead. We’ll explore the real-world impact of AI on the customer experience, the rise of agentic commerce, and how marketing leaders can prepare for a future that’s arriving faster than anyone expected.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome back Lena Moriarty, Head of Marketing at eTail. About Lena Moriarty Lena Moriarty is the Head of Marketing at eTail, the conference community designed to power your growth 365 days a year. At eTail, she takes charge on all things omnichannel marketing and strategy, from point A to point Z. Lena Moriarty on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/lenamoriarty Resources eTail Palm Springs: https://etailwest.wbresearch.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Palm Springs, Feb 23-26 in Palm Springs, CA. Go here for more details: https://etailwest.wbresearch.com/ Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://www.thecrmc.com/ Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://ratethispodcast.com/agile Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Agile Brand
0:02.3	Welcome to Season 8 of the Agile Brand podcast.
0:10.1	This season we're going all in on expert mode
0:12.7	MARTEC, AI, and customer experience, talking with the people and
0:16.8	platforms behind the brands you know and love.
0:19.4	I'm Greg Kilstrom, your host, and I help
0:21.7	Fortune 1000 companies make sense of Martec, AI, and marketing ops. Hit subscribe or follow to make
0:28.1	sure you always get the latest episodes and leave us a rating so others can find us as well. And make
0:33.1	sure you check out our sponsor, Tech Systems, an industry leader in full-stack technology services,
0:37.9	talent services, and real-world application. For more information, go to teK-systems.com. Now let's dive in.
0:49.0	What happens when your best customer is no longer a person, but an AI agent acting on their
0:53.9	behalf? Agility requires not just no longer a person, but an AI agent acting on their behalf.
0:55.0	Agility requires not just adapting to new technologies, but fundamentally rethinking the customer journey when those
1:01.0	technologies change the very definition of a customer. It demands a proactive stance on what's next
1:07.0	rather than a reactive one. Today we're going to talk about the seismic shifts happening in
1:11.6	e-commerce, fresh off the floor of NRF 2026 and what it all means for the year ahead. We're going
1:17.2	to explore the real-world impact of AI on the customer experience, the rise of agenta commerce,
1:22.4	and how marketing leaders can prepare for a future that's arriving faster than anyone expected.
1:27.4	Tell me to discuss this topic. I'd like to welcome back. Lena Moriarty, head of marketing at ETAL. Lena, welcome back to the show. Greg, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure. I love the Agile brand, so very excited to be here. Yeah, I always love talking with you as well. And obviously, looking forward toTale Palm Springs as well. And we'll get to that in a few minutes too. But for those that didn't catch a previous show with you, why don't you give a little background on yourself and you're all at E-Tel.
1:55.5	Yes, amazing. So I'm Lena Moriarty. I'm the head of marketing at E-Tale. And what E-Tel is, is a conference and
2:03.0	insights community that encompasses retailers, e-commerce professionals, technology providers that
2:09.6	really powers your growth 365 days a year. So what that means is we love to unite the community.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Agile Brand, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Agile Brand and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.