Chris Perry is the Co-founder and Chief Learning Officer at firstmovr, a satellite Center of Excellence (COE) for eCommerce education and change management. He is also an Executive Educator and Keynote Speaker at the Path to Purchase Institute. With over 12 years of experience as an eCommerce leader and executive educator, Chris aims to empower leaders to embrace change with actionable knowledge, strategies, and KPIs.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [1:23] Chris Perry explains firstmovr’s mission to upskill CPG leaders and provide hands-on digital capabilities
• [4:45] The decline of shopper loyalty and why many brands misuse loyalty programs for acquisition instead of retention
• [9:41] Strategies for aligning human-centric digital shelf optimization with AI-driven recommendations
• [16:54] How to navigate the digital shelf
• [22:08] The importance of optimizing for diverse prompt variations — and how personalized AI recommendations boost conversions
• [33:24] Chris advocates for adopting AI strategies early

In this episode…

The rapid evolution of eCommerce and the rise of AI-driven tools are disrupting the way consumers discover, evaluate, and stay loyal to brands. Traditional loyalty programs often fail to keep pace, and many brands still prioritize acquisition over retention. How can companies adapt their digital shelf strategies to capture human shoppers and stay relevant to AI-driven recommendations?

Digital upskilling advocate and eCommerce strategist Chris Perry advises brands to focus on shopper-centric content optimization by creating long-tail assets that answer detailed consumer questions and appeal to AI agents like Rufus or ChatGPT. Navigating the digital shelf requires understanding how conversational queries differ from traditional keyword searches and proactively testing and reskilling to stay ahead of competitors as AI adoption accelerates.

Tune in to this episode of The Digital Deep Dive as Chris Perry, Co-founder of firstmovr, returns to speak with Aaron Conant about navigating the AI-driven transformation of eCommerce. Chris shares real-world examples of AI-assisted product discovery, the importance of long-tail content for search visibility, and why early adoption and reskilling are critical for the future.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Aaron Conant on LinkedIn
• BWG Connect
• Chris Perry on LinkedIn
• firstmovr
• “LLM's, SEO, and the Future of Voice Commerce With Max Sinclair” on The Digital Deep Dive
• Spencer Millerberg on LinkedIn
• DetailPage

Quotable Moments:

• "We like to say we're upskilling for a change, helping CPG leaders gain actionable capabilities."
• "Most loyalty programs are really designed for acquisition, not retention, which makes absolutely no sense today."
• "Sometimes the best products for your needs aren’t the ones that rank the highest online."
• "If your feet aren’t wet yet, the AI flood is coming — build your ark now."
• "AI will disrupt roles, skills, and structures, so reskilling early is the smartest move."

Action Steps:

1. Audit your digital shelf regularly: Monitoring how your products appear in search and AI recommendations ensures visibility. This allows brands to identify gaps in content, rankings, and opportunities to win shopper attention.
2. Create long-tail, shopper-centric content: Developing content that answers specific questions increases both human and AI-driven discovery. Detailed product information can surface in conversational searches, building trust and improving conversion rates.
3. Test and optimize for AI search engines: Experimenting with queries on tools like Rufus and ChatGPT reveals how your products are recommended. Understanding these behaviors helps you align your strategy to capture AI-driven traffic before competitors.
4. Prioritize loyalty alongside acquisition: Building campaigns and programs that retain existing customers improves lifetime value and stabilizes revenue. Loyal shoppers are harder to win but provide consistent returns and advocacy over time.
5. Invest in team upskilling for AI readiness: Training staff in AI, eCommerce, and content optimization keeps your organization competitive. Skilled teams can adapt faster to disruption and leverage emerging tools for sustained growth.

About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.