The Humans Behind the Data at Placer Discover
Year-end can be a challenging time to bring a group of business professionals together for one final conference. Seasonal obligations, meeting fatigue, and EOY pressures are convenient excuses to skip that trip to New York. Unless, of course, the event organizer is Placer.ai.
Location analytics hardly seems like a merry topic, but the organizing team behind Placer Discover (which took place on December 10th at Pier 60, a spacious event venue on the Hudson River) filled the day with surprises and delights — not the least of which was a fantastic line-up of speakers on a wide range of topics.
Placer.ai is a relatively new company with close to 5K customers. As President Koby Ben-Zvi detailed in his talk, the company started in 2018 as just a data source for commercial real estate and retail. The scope has since expanded to include grocery, dining, shopping centers, CPG, and civic organizations.
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Each sector and many functional areas of Placer.ai were well represented at the gathering. Topics ranged from strategic glimpses into the future to tactical how-tos on using new product features. The session rooms promised wisdom, with names like White Owl, Purple Owl, Silver Owl, and Golden Owl.
The kick-off session was “Retail Reinvented,” which is on the minds of every MULO (multi-location) business. A fireside chat between Alicia LeBeouf of Meta and Ethan Chernofsky of Placer.ai delved into the fundamental change in consumer behavior. People are no longer just planning “shopping trips.” They are exposed all day to product and brand messaging, and their spending decisions are directly impacted by the latest Reel or a friend’s recommendation in their feeds.
Ian Tyndall of Altria shared an interesting case study on how big brands now utilize highly targeted data to support local businesses that can’t afford their own analytics systems. CPG companies have insights into traffic and purchase behavior that the corner bodega doesn’t. Utilizing that data, they can advise their customers (in this case, the C-store) on what products to keep in inventory.
Because the year is almost over, Expert Predictions for the New Year was a must-attend event, with speakers representing a wide range of perspectives. Brandon Isner of Newmark, Erich Kahner of Dunnhumby, David Croushore of AlixPartners, Ashley Robinson of The Seaker Group, and Deborah Weinswig of Coresight Research shared buyer trends and what they might mean for retailers, restaurants, and real estate developers.
The event comprised 15 sessions, ranging from local-level insights (“Doing Business in New York”) to practical merchandising and marketing guidance like “Rockin’ the Store Experience” and “Creating Memorable In-Store Experiences.” Retail media and DOOH (digital out-of-home) are top of mind these days, and Discover’s content did not disappoint. The marriage of creative and data is long overdue!
In addition to all the food for thought, the refreshments at the breaks were outstanding and considered a wide range of tastes and preferences. The networking room was conducive to conversations and new connections. Tech-based companies can often fail when they attempt to deliver human experiences, but as in the consumer shopping experience, the right inventory needs to be combined with best-of-class service for the customer to want to return.
Discover served up thought leadership, unique insights, boundless data, and hospitality (not to mention healthy snacks). This writer will return!
P.S. Looking for ways to expand your MULO (multi-location) business knowledge across all industries? Save September 18th, 2025 for the return of Street Fight LIVE. (Location TBA soon.)
