The Machine Ate the Storefront, PayPal Mapped the Collapse

K:LDN 2026: The Architecture of Meaningful Connection

K:LDN 2026 opened to more than a thousand merchants and set a clear vision with several key product announcements: Klaviyo’s expanding toolset has become powerful enough to let a brand of any size operate at a scale that once required a full team. The promise of personalization, long marketed but rarely delivered, has finally become something all brands can ship. Phillip Jackson sits down live with Klaviyo CMO Jamie Domenici and IDC research director Roger Beharry Lall to break down the trends that are shaping the future of retail and Klaviyo as an organization:  the slow collapse of the linear funnel as shoppers move across LLMs, social, and search; the evolution of AI from a disparate chat window to an embedded experience where marketers work; and how the public beta of Klaviyo’s new agent, Composer, is helping marketers create campaigns rooted in data from hundreds of thousands of merchants. MARKET LIKE IT’S HOT KEY TAKEAWAYS: * A year ago brands were still learning what AI was; this year, they’re ready to put it to work. * Klaviyo’s Composer [https://www.klaviyo.com/composer] moves the agent out of the chat window and into campaigns, flows and channels where marketers operate. * Klaviyo's edge is context: customer history plus best practices drawn from 200,000 brands, unified in one data platform. * The funnel is no longer a controlled path; discovery, advertising, and commerce increasingly share the same LLM. * European merchants weigh privacy and compliance more heavily, which favors vendors who have already solved for regulation. * [XX:XX] "Six months ago, you couldn't buy in an LLM. Now you can actually have more visibility into what your customers are doing in an LLM, how they're interacting." (Jamie Domenici) * [XX:XX] "77% of consumers would prefer to click through from the recommendations in their agentic searches, rather than have the agent do a purchase for them. They want control." (Phillip Jackson) IN-SHOW MENTIONS: * Learn more about Klaviyo’s AI marketing agent, Composer [https://www.klaviyo.com/composer] * Learn more about Klaviyo [https://www.klaviyo.com/] ASSOCIATED LINKS: * Check out Future Commerce on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCommercePodcast] * Check out Future Commerce Plus [https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus] for exclusive content and save on merch and print * Subscribe [https://www.futurecommerce.com/subscribe] to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world * Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce [https://www.futurecommerce.com/] Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com [https://www.futurecommerce.com/], or reach out to us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/futurecommerce], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/futurecommercepodcast/?ref=br_rs], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/futurecommerce/], or LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurecommercepodcast/]. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

*TEASER* Was E.T. Slimy or Dry?

On this edition of After Dark: Spielberg's flop(?), GLP-1s are melting nightlife, Midjourney's health pivot, and why this is the Bad Place. this episode is exclusive to Future Commerce Plus members – sign up now at futurecommerce.com/plus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Korean 'Dopamine Sites' Let You Shop Without Shopping

Phillip and Brian run the docket: why "proof of work" is the new luxury signal, what the AI export-control fight shares with a brand guarding its trade secrets, and how AI is flooding the patent office while quietly favoring incumbents.  But perhaps the most profound part of the conversation lies in two trends taking internet culture by storm. "Tasteslop" and Korea's "dopamine sites" appear as distinct ideas, but they’re actually two faces of the same impulse: consumption stripped down to pure signal. Key takeaways: * AI slop makes "proof of work" the new status signal. * Brands win by showing the process and the discards, not hiding them. * Software isn't the moat… chips, power, and craft are. * AI patent tools favor incumbents, widening the gap with upstarts. * "Tasteslop" and "dopamine sites": consumption as pure signal, minus the object. Key quotes: * [~06:45] "When people aren't making up the machine, we start to question everything now." — Brian * [~10:00] "It's the entire PR campaign around it that shows you all of the discarded drawings that weren't used." — Phillip * [~36:00] "AI does not make this more of a level playing field. If anything… they can box the small guys out even more effectively." — Phillip * [~39:29] "You can't trademark taste." — Brian IN-SHOW MENTIONS: * "The Process Is the Product" – Insiders piece by Sophia Epstein [https://www.futurecommerce.com/posts/insiders-231-the-process-is-the-product] * James Bridle – Ways of Being: Beyond Human Intelligence and New Dark Age [https://jamesbridle.com/books/ways-of-being] * AI & Agentic Commerce hub [https://www.futurecommerce.com/ai-agentic-commerce] * Emily Segal on "Tasteslop"  [https://x.com/khole_emily/status/2050232765506019330] * STRATA: 10 Aesthetics Shaping Culture and Commerce [http://futurecommerce.com/strata] ASSOCIATED LINKS: * Check out Future Commerce on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCommercePodcast] * Check out Future Commerce Plus [https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus] for exclusive content and save on merch and print * Subscribe [https://www.futurecommerce.com/subscribe] to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world * Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce [https://www.futurecommerce.com/] Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com [https://www.futurecommerce.com/], or reach out to us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/futurecommerce], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/futurecommercepodcast/?ref=br_rs], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/futurecommerce/], or LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurecommercepodcast/]. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Inside Lululemon’s Resale Engine

Resale is forcing brands to rethink product design, pricing, and customer acquisition from the ground up. Ryan Rowe (Archive) and Alison Buchanan (Lululemon) join Brian and Alicia to unpack how lululemon’s Like New evolved from a sustainability pilot into a meaningful commercial channel. We unpack messy reverse logistics, the AI agents now quietly running warehouse decisions, and the organizational vision required to make circular commerce work across a vertically structured enterprise. WHEN THE FUTURE OF COMMERCE IS CIRCULAR, EVERY BRAND IS A SECONDHAND BRAND KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Resale has shifted from a sustainability gesture to a commercial channel with P&L accountability. * Branded resale wins where third-party marketplaces can't: data integrity, trust, and brand language. * Like New must operate to tackle a fundamentally different eCommerce problem — one-of-one inventory breaks mainline systems. * AI is moving from assisting warehouse operators to serving as autonomous agents that optimize pricing and routing. * Circular commerce is an acquisition engine; roughly half of resale shoppers are new to the lululemon brand. KEY QUOTES: [02:41] "It's a very technical problem. It's a large-scale platform problem that touches virtually every piece of a brand's business." — Ryan Rowe [06:12] "Commerce is, is obviously just a space that we are starting to realize is a strong commercial lever… Like New for our business is really sitting at this intersection of business and impact." — Alison Buchanan [08:40] "Resale of lululemon was happening at scale already all around us. And it was either let it happen without us… or uphold our brand standards." — Alison Buchanan [26:26] "A lot of customers are actually trying brands for the first time with a used item… because it's a way for them to test things like fit and material and quality at a much lower barrier to entry." — Ryan Rowe IN-SHOW MENTIONS: * Archive [https://www.archive.com/] * Like New by Lululemon [https://likenew.lululemon.com/] ASSOCIATED LINKS: * Check out Future Commerce on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCommercePodcast] * Check out Future Commerce Plus [https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus] for exclusive content and save on merch and print * Subscribe [https://www.futurecommerce.com/subscribe] to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world * Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce [https://www.futurecommerce.com/] Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com [https://www.futurecommerce.com/], or reach out to us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/futurecommerce], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/futurecommercepodcast/?ref=br_rs], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/futurecommerce/], or LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurecommercepodcast/]. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Machine Ate the Storefront, PayPal Mapped the Collapse

Dr. Mark Grether, SVP and General Manager of PayPal Ads, joins Phillip from PayPal's Manhattan offices to argue that the merchant storefront is migrating off owned websites and into LLMs. This may make the mechanics of customer experience and loyalty a bit murky, but Mark explains how PayPal's "transaction graph,”  built on real purchases across 30 million merchants and 400 million consumers, acts as the deterministic identity layer that the post-cookie ad world has been missing.  We also cover the evolving world of commerce media, from zero-click commerce and CTV attribution to PayPal Ads’ newest product, Storefront Ads, which transforms the creative into the checkout.  THE CART CARTOGRAPHER KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Consumers now start product discovery on LLMs, not search engines or merchant sites. * PayPal's transaction graph spans 30M merchants and 400M consumers, representing real purchases, not just clicks. * Deterministic payment identity beats cookies and probabilistic IDs for cross-channel attribution. * Storefront Ads turn any ad into a one-click, pre-populated checkout. * Creators run two businesses: generating consumer data, then monetizing it. * [00:04:03] "We're not just seeing behavior, we're actually seeing the real transactions. We know what people are purchasing — not whether they search for something or browse for something. We actually see what they are buying." – Mark Grether * [00:11:00] "The trick about our identity is it was built from a finance perspective, meaning I need to understand that you are you and not your twin brother. Our identity has to clear a much higher bar compared to probabilistic IDs or cookies." – Mark Grether * [00:13:40] "The idea of Storefront Ads is that the creative itself becomes the shop. You're getting exposed to the sneakers, and with one click, you can actually make the purchase. We already know who you are, we know your bank account, we know your address — everything is pre-populated. From a consumer perspective, it becomes super easy to finish a transaction." IN-SHOW MENTIONS: * PayPal’s Storefront Ads [https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/storefront-ads--help1320] * Learn more about PayPal Ads [https://www.paypal.com/us/brc/article/how-to-use-paypal-ads] ASSOCIATED LINKS: * Check out Future Commerce on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCommercePodcast] * Check out Future Commerce Plus [https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus] for exclusive content and save on merch and print * Subscribe [https://www.futurecommerce.com/subscribe] to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world * Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce [https://www.futurecommerce.com/] Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com [https://www.futurecommerce.com/], or reach out to us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/futurecommerce], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/futurecommercepodcast/?ref=br_rs], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/futurecommerce/], or LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurecommercepodcast/]. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.