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Retail Tech Insights: Specials Magazine
Tilia Wong is VP of Digital Strategy and Analytics for Macy’s Digital, leading digital operations and analytics to drive data-informed growth and enhance the customer experience. Before joining Macy’s, she spent several years at Amazon, where she gained valuable P&L experience running multiple retail functions spanning operations, merchandising and technology, while championing data-driven growth. Her career began in construction after earning a civil engineering degree, where she developed strong leadership skills. She later moved into consulting at McKinsey & Co focusing on analytics for the semiconductor industry in areas such as R&D, manufacturing and product strategy. Across her journey, she has championed the use of data to drive efficiency, innovation, and strategic decision-making in complex environments. This feature explores Wong’s approach to building analytic and operational systems that deliver measurable impact and shares practical insights on how strategic thinking and cross-functional collaboration drive lasting business success. Building Systems of Insight across Industries In my current role, I ensure that Macy’s Digital teams have the analytic and operational frameworks necessary to optimize performance and customer experience, focusing on the core drivers of digital success: traffic, conversion and average order value. Transitioning across industries, from construction to consulting to e-commerce, I have leveraged my experience to establish clear baselines for operational efficiency and data-driven strategy. In every role, my priority has been strengthening analytics capabilities to ensure all decisions are driven by actionable insights and measurable outcomes. Over the past decade, the evolution of data and technology has been remarkable. Early discussions focused on machine learning, followed by interest in blockchain and more advanced analytical models, before the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Each phase expanded wh
Top Shopify Plus Stores Merchandising Platform 2026
Why do search and merchandising capabilities strongly influence profitability for Shopify Plus merchants? For Shopify Plus merchants, search and merchandising directly influence profitability. Product catalogs must sync in minutes, AI search must recognize acronyms like “OOTD” for “Outfit of the Day” and implementation has to be sustainable without operational costs that outweigh the software itself. Layers, the Shopify Plus native search and merchandising platform, is built to address these demands. Founders Jake Casto and Lukas Tanasiuk developed Layers from deep experience inside enterprise Shopify environments. While leading a New York-based consultancy serving enterprise Shopify brands, Casto repeatedly encountered limitations in search and merchandising systems, including slow catalog syncs, limited query expansion and shallow integration with Shopify’s native metadata. His client solutions soon became a system architected directly around Shopify’s data structures and storefront behavior. “Layers was created from years of fixing a series of problems that existing search and merchandising tools couldn’t address on Shopify,” says Casto. “Before we knew it, we developed a proprietary, purpose-built stack designed specifically for the platform.” Across multiple Shopify Plus deployments, Casto and Tanasiuk observed a consistent structural pattern. Many enterprise search platforms were designed to operate across multiple commerce environments. While flexible, that approach required additional configuration to align fully with Shopify’s native data model. Layers was designed with Shopify as its primary foundation, integrating search and merchandising directly into the platform’s existing data and storefront workflows. Faster Syncs, Smarter Search and Zero Manual Configuration How does Layers improve catalog synchronization, search intelligence and operational efficiency for merchants? The platform unifies search, visual discovery and intelligent merchandising within a single environment connected directly to Shopify’s catalog data. Product catalogs sync in minutes, keeping inventory and pricing changes current during high-volume events like Black Friday sales. The AI understands intent without manual rule building. With many legacy systems, merchandising teams maintain synonym libraries and ranking rules to preserve search accuracy. Layers trains its model on live catalog data and query behavior, reducing ongoing rule maintenance while allowing relevance to adjust as catalog and customer patterns evolve. .
Top Ecommerce Sales Tax Management Software 2026
Ecommerce businesses expanding across regions often encounter growing complexity in managing sales tax obligations. Multi-state compliance, evolving regulations and audit risks create uncertainty, particularly when businesses rely on systems that focus only on calculations without addressing the broader compliance picture. TaxHero addresses this challenge by positioning itself as a complete sales tax function rather than a standalone tool. Its approach combines automation with direct involvement from accounting professionals to manage compliance end to end. “You can think of us as your own sales tax department; we do the work end-to-end,” says Lahari Neelapareddy, founder, CEO and CPA. Moving from Reactive to Proactive Compliance A key issue for ecommerce companies is the hidden risk of triggering tax obligations without realizing it. Many businesses rely on systems that calculate taxes accurately but fail to identify when nexus has been established across multiple states. This often results in unexpected liabilities, penalties and increased audit exposure. TaxHero addresses this by actively monitoring business activity and identifying nexus as it occurs. Instead of discovering compliance issues after they escalate, clients receive early visibility into their obligations and the steps required to address them. This shift from reactive to proactive management enables businesses to maintain control over compliance. By identifying risks early, companies can avoid costly corrections and maintain consistent reporting practices across jurisdictions. Integrating Automation with Expert Oversight Managing high transaction volumes requires automation, but compliance also demands interpretation and judgment. TaxHero integrates directly with ecommerce platforms such as Shopify to automate real-time tax calculations and data collection. From there, filings, reporting and compliance monitoring are handled within a single workflow. Automation manages transaction processing and routine tasks, while the company’s accounting team ensures accuracy and alignment with regulatory requirements. This combination reduces the risk of gaps that can occur when systems operate without oversight. Clients interact directly with accountants rather than navigating multiple support layers, ensuring that questions and issues are addressed with context and expertise. The result is a streamlined process that maintains accuracy while reducing the manual burden associated with multi-state compliance.
CXO INSIGHTS
The Future of Localization Using AI
Jackie Long, Director of Merchandising Technology Initiatives, Bealls Inc
The Intersection of Data and Merchandising
Cameron McDonald, Vice President of Merchandising, Planning & Inventory, Batteries Plus
Leading Impactful Technological Innovation in Retail
Malcolm D'Souza, VP Enterprise Technical Services, Paradies Lagardère
The Competitive Edge of Clarity
Rita Zahir, VP of Marketing & Ecommerce, Unique Vintage
From DTC Site to Brand Experience Hub: Operationalizing the Channel's Dual Role
Olivia Fuller, Director of eCommerce North America, Jellycat
IN FOCUS
Unlocking the Potential of Shopify Plus for Businesses
Shopify Plus streamlines store management, provides enhanced customization, and boosts checkout performance.
Smart Retail: How Technology is Shaping Customer Engagement and Supply Chains
Retail technology enables smarter shopping, more efficient operations, and sustainable practices by integrating AI, automation, data intelligence, mobility, and providing seamless digital experiences.
EDITORIAL
Operationalizing Growth in Modern Retail
Our cover story recognizes Layers as the Top Shopify Plus Stores Merchandising Platform 2026, reflecting its focused approach to solving structural inefficiencies in enterprise Shopify environments. Built natively into Shopify’s data architecture, Layers integrates search, merchandising, and discovery into a single system that dynamically responds to live catalog data and customer behavior. Its ability to eliminate manual rule-setting, enable rapid catalog synchronization, and deliver context-aware search outcomes positions it as a direct lever for revenue performance. By aligning merchandising logic with real-time signals such as geography, purchase patterns, and inventory, Layers redefines how product discovery translates into conversion at scale.
Beyond the cover, this issue highlights organizations advancing retail through disciplined execution rather than abstraction. These companies demonstrate that sustained impact comes from embedding intelligence directly into operational systems, whether through datadriven merchandising, infrastructure resilience, or scalable platform design. Their recognition reflects measurable contributions to efficiency, adaptability, and long-term value creation across the retail ecosystem.
From the CXO perspective, Tilia Wong, VP, Digital Strategy & Analytics at Macy’s, emphasizes the shift from short-term conversion optimization to maximizing customer lifetime value, underpinned by strong data foundations and cross-functional collaboration. Complementing this, Mark Alvarado, Executive Director of IT Security & Compliance (CISO) at Academy Sports + Outdoors, underscores the financial and operational necessity of proactive threat and vulnerability management as a core business function rather than a compliance exercise.
Together, these insights reinforce a clear mandate: retail leadership today hinges on operational rigor, data discipline, and system-level thinking. The organizations featured in this edition exemplify that standard. We invite readers to explore the full issue and engage with the perspectives shaping the future of retail.
