Coworking with Melissa Minkow

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Melissa Minkow is global director of retail strategy at digital solutions company CI&T.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I identify key existing, new, and emerging consumer behaviors that will impact how they shop so that CI&T can build the most resilient, productive technology solutions for retailers and brands. My goal is to demonstrate to the market that CI&T knows what’s best for its retail clients through content creation that showcases our deep understanding of what will work in the industry and why.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? It requires a lot of time not in meetings, just absorbing and thinking. If I want to put out a high quantity of content, at a high quality level, I need a lot of “input” time for that level of output. And, oftentimes, the less the inputs I’m consuming and synthesizing are about retail itself, the better. I do always, always, always read Retail Brew though 🙂 because I stick to the retail news most of the time rather than retail opinion. If I’m reading retail thought leadership content, I’ll risk echoing someone else’s ideas. Outside of retail news sources, my inspiration for retail ideation typically comes from shifts in the worlds of pop culture, art, travel, dating culture, etc.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Every year I write up some sort of “future of retail” piece where I get extra imaginative and say what I’d love to see retailers do or offer in terms of user experiences. The one I wrote last year had some especially creative ideas in it. Hopefully I can top it this year.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? I love that secondhand retail is growing. Obviously, it’s great for the environment, and there is so much untapped opportunity there, so the fact that consumers are increasingly interested is very exciting to me.

What’s your go-to coffee order? Can I cheat and say it’s an iced matcha latte with almond milk and light vanilla syrup?

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? Not to take a pay cut for a dream job (it was in my 20s, when I was leaving Target, and I ignored the advice, thank goodness).

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? I got a purple Zen Micro (MP3 player) when I was 15 because for some reason, I wasn’t allowed to have an iPod. I was obsessed with playing music in such an easily portable way. Now, it’s probably my Oura ring. It’s unfortunately become a large part of my personality in that I end up talking about the data and showing people my sleep scores far too much. That, or the Parachute Cloud Cotton Quilt. I wrapped myself in one at a friend’s house, and I couldn’t unfeel how soft it was. I’ve never ordered something so expensive so quickly. I’m debating grabbing another one when I’m in the states for the holidays…