Memory Is the New Competitive Moat

Memory Is the New Competitive Moat

Recommending the wrong whiskey to a loyal customer does not just miss a sale. It breaks trust, and once trust breaks, no amount of personalization copy fixes it. Recorded live at K:LDN 2026 in London, this conversation is about the thing every brand now has in common. Everyone has access to the same AI tools. So what actually separates the brands winning with them from the ones just using them? Phillip Jackson sits down with Jake Cohen, VP of Insights at Klaviyo, and Tim Martin-Harvey, Head of Ecommerce at The Bottle Club, a UK multi-brand alcohol retailer carrying roughly 9,500 products. Their answer: memory. Not the AI kind, the brand kind… meaning the stored, structured context a business builds about its own customers and products over time. Tim explains how one mandatory checkout question, asking whether an order is a gift, for self-consumption, for hosting, or for trade, reshaped his customer insight and exposed why standard RFM and lifetime value metrics break down across different buyer types. Jake widens the lens, arguing that loyalty is better measured through engagement across touchpoints than through money spent, and that the brands seeing real gains from AI are the ones writing customer and product knowledge down as reusable context, what Klaviyo calls "artifacts." The conversation gets specific fast, down to the exact wrong recommendation that can cost a brand its credibility, and closes with Jake's straightforward plan for putting this into practice over the next 90 days. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN * Why context, not performance marketing spend, is becoming the real competitive moat as every brand adopts the same AI tools * How one checkout question corrected years of wrong assumptions about who buys and why at The Bottle Club * Why standard RFM and lifetime value segmentation breaks down once you separate gift buyers from self-consumption buyers * Why loyalty is better read through engagement than through total spend * The exact kind of recommendation mistake that destroys customer trust, and how layered product data prevents it * Jake Cohen's 30/60/90 day plan for building AI context that compounds over time KEY TAKEAWAYS * As every brand uses the same AI tools, the real differentiator becomes stored context, meaning written detail about the brand, the customer, and the products, what Klaviyo calls "artifacts." * The Bottle Club added one mandatory checkout question (gift, self-consumption, hosting, or trade), which corrected wrong assumptions about which products are gifts and showed that standard RFM and lifetime value metrics break down across different buyer types. * Loyalty reads better through engagement across touchpoints than through money spent. The goal is asking the right questions instead of pushing a discount, then building context on each customer over time. * Recommendations get dramatically stronger when product data (margin, weeks of cover, gift versus self-consumption, category nuance) is layered onto customer data. Recommend a Jack Daniels to a lifelong Jameson drinker and you have made, in Tim's own framing, the worst recommendation possible, one that costs more than the sale. * Jake's plan: set up a service agent and build its skills first, then use Composer to explore your data and test ideas, then keep improving the skills as you learn, since the value compounds over time. PULL QUOTES "The word of the moment to me is actually context, and that context, if you can store it effectively and leverage it effectively, is the way that you can create a moat, because you can serve more people more personally, more memorably, which will create deeper relationships and, of course, more durable business over time." — Jake Cohen, VP of Insights, Klaviyo [2:08 to 3:04] "What starts to become very important in the world of AI post LLMs is that the most important thing a brand can do is show up for someone the way that they need when they need it." — Jake Cohen [9:09] "I genuinely think Klaviyo agent makes the most sense to be the agentic storefront, and that's not just me Klaviyo championing it. It's genuinely got the most context from multiple sources." — Tim Martin-Harvey, Head of Ecommerce, The Bottle Club [18:49 to 19:48] "The answer should not be, 'Great, here's 10% off, go buy one.' The answer should be, 'How long are you running? Do you have a color you're interested in? Do you have a race coming up?' As you start to collect that information, that helps build the context for that individual, and they become the type of customer that will stay with you for a lifetime." — Jake Cohen [10:26] CHAPTERS * 0:00 Cold open and introductions * 4:45 Memory is the new moat, why context beats tools * 8:00 The checkout question that rewrote The Bottle Club's customer data * 9:15 Why RFM analysis breaks down across buyer types * 10:40 Showing up for the customer the way they need, when they need it * 12:15 The running shoe example, questions over discounts * 19:08 The whiskey mistake, the worst recommendation in retail * 20:38 Why Klaviyo believes it can power the agentic storefront * 21:18 Jake's plan for the next 90 days IN-SHOW MENTIONS: * The Bottle Club [https://www.thebottleclub.com/] * Learn more about Klaviyo’s Composer [https://www.klaviyo.com/composer] 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.

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.