This week Bill and I are joined by Andy Peebler to mix up a delicious mocktail and discuss the commerce platform wars, the role of suites moving forward, B2B commerce, the influence of AI on commerce, and much more.
Andy has an impressive background, spanning both the services and product sides of the Commerce tech market. Most recently, Andy was VP of Product Strategy & Ecosystem for Salesforce Commerce Cloud, having joined through Salesforce’s acquisition of CloudCraze. Prior to that, Andy played key leadership roles at Acquity Group, guiding its IPO and eventual acquisition by Accenture, where he oversaw much of their North American commerce and digital solutions business. Andy now claims to be retired, but we are not so sure.
So pour yourself something to sip along with us and enjoy our conversation with Andy.
Cheers!
Chapters:
Introductions and the Wandering Path mocktail
Exploring Non-Alcoholic Cocktails
Understanding Commerce Platforms
The Future of B2B Commerce
Challenges in Implementation
The Role of AI in Commerce
Navigating Product Management for a large platform
Conclusion and Future Outlook
This week’s drink - The Wandering Path mocktail
The Wandering Path mocktail is from Portland, OR bartender Benjamin Amberg who came up with this wonderful, simple NA drink for his bar Pacific Standard - owned by the legendary mixologist and bar-owner Jeffrey Morgenthaler. They developed this to feature The Pathfinder, an emerging non-alcoholic spirit company out of Seattle. Impressed by Pathfinder, they set out to work it into the menu.
The Pathfinder is a hemp-based non-alcoholic spirit that drinks more like an amaro or a dark, spiced rum than your typical N/A spirits. Pathfinder it that rare N/A spirit that bartenders and mixologists also can find themselves reaching for regardless of whether they are mixing a mocktail or a cocktail -. The distribution of Pathfinder is now reaching much of the county - and I encourage you to get some to add to your home bar. For an N/A spirit, The Pathfinder has a complex flavor profile with notes of bittersweet citrus, backing spices, dried herbs, and root cellar aromas.
Cheers!
Wandering Path Mocktail Spec (Serves one)
2 oz (~60 ml) - The Pathfinder
1 oz (~30 ml) - Grapefruit juice
¾ oz (~22.5 ml) - lemon juice
½ oz (~15 ml) - 2:1 rich simple syrup (see note)
½ oz (~15 ml) - egg white
The process:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well until cold (see note). Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Serve without garnish.
Notes:
Rich simple syrup calls for two parts sugar to one part water. (Normal simple syrup calls for one part sugar to one part water.)
For an advanced maneuver, you can “dry shake” the ingredients without ice to better incorporate them, then shake with ice. You may get a better froth/foam with that technique.
As always, it’s great to have you here! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Cocktails & Commerce on Substack, share, rate (it helps!), and let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from our listeners.
Be well, be safe, and here is to good business! Cheers! - Brian & Bill
Cocktails & Commerce™ is a wholly owned subsidiary of StrategyēM, LLC.
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