Author: Ricardo Belmar

Named a top 100 retail industry influencer for 2021, 2022, & 2023 by RETHINK Retail, Ricardo is a go-to-market strategist and digital transformation specialist, currently serving as the Director, Partner Marketing Advisor for Retail & CPG at Microsoft where he leads go-to-market to grow Microsoft’s retail tech partner community in the US. In this role he helps retail tech organizations of all sizes execute their go-to-market, brand strategy, and integrated marketing by leveraging his many years of tech industry experience, and media and industry analyst relationships. He also works with partners to advise retailers on how to build & scale transformational customer experiences while gaining operational efficiencies throughout their organization and supply chain. Over the past two decades, Ricardo has worked for technology and managed services providers targeting the retail ecosystem in roles as head of product, product marketing, or marketing organizations. Ricardo also hosts The Retail Razor Show podcast where he cuts through the clutter in retail and retail tech to simplify the knowledge retailers and retail tech providers need to succeed with today’s rapidly changing consumer. A frequent contributor to blogs, podcasts, and publications in the retail, payments technology industries, focusing on digital transformation and customer experience, Ricardo is a Top 10 social media influencer at the annual NRF Big Show. He is a featured member of RetailWire’s BrainTrust panel, a previous ICX Association director, a RETHINK Retail Advisory Council member, and a founding Advisory Council member of George Mason University's Center for Retail Transformation. He has been named Social Media Mayor by RIS News four times at retail conferences and is a contributor to Retail Customer Experience, Mobile Payments Today, and The Robin Report. He is a supporter of the RetailROI charity organization and can be found leading industry discussions on Twitter and LinkedIn. Ricardo holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia and is a Section4 Certified Business, Brand, Product, Platform, Innovation, Viral Growth, and Scaling Marketing certified strategist. Opinions expressed are those of the author only and not his employer.