Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.From Scott Galloway to Carl Boutet to Steve Dennis, savvy business leaders and retail industry thought leaders agree on one thing: the COVID era was the great acceleration of eCommerce. Best estimate: Canada stepped into a pandemic time tunnel and came out the other end five online years later.This year, retailers, big and small, are starting off on...
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
From Scott Galloway to Carl Boutet to Steve Dennis, savvy business leaders and retail industry thought leaders agree on one thing: the COVID era was the great acceleration of eCommerce. Best estimate: Canada stepped into a pandemic time tunnel and came out the other end five online years later.
This year, retailers, big and small, are starting off once again with some degree of uncertainty as a result of the evolving pandemic. One thing we do know is that Canadians are now comfortable and savvy online shoppers. In fact, a 2021 PayPal Canada study, titled “Trends & Spends” found Canadians across the country are spending about $2-billion more a month online.
My guest on this episode of The Voice of Retail has a front seat to the past, present and future of eCommerce and payments: Mike Monty, PayPal Canada’s head of enterprise sales. And he joins me in this exclusive interview to share the insights
- PayPal Canada large enterprise landing page: https://www.paypal.ca/enterprise
- Mike’s LinkedIn profile: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/mike-monty-14a7227
- PayPal Canada’s RCC article on 5 tips for retailers: https://www.retailcouncil.org/industry-news/five-tips-for-retailers-heading-into-the-new-year/
- PayPal Canada small business study on digital transformation: https://newsroom.ca.paypal-corp.com/SmallBusinessStudy2020
- PayPal Canada trends and spends study: https://newsroom.ca.paypal-corp.com/Trends-Spends
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into Barbeque, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Mike Monty
As a successful, self-made entrepreneur, Mike Monty knows what it takes to not only get a business off the ground but to have it make a mark on the industry.
Today, Mike puts his wisdom into practice as PayPal Canada’s head of enterprise sales, where he is focused on helping Canadian retailers and businesses grow and maximize their opportunities in the digital economy within our borders and internationally.
With more than 20 years of experience in the technology and payments industry as an entrepreneur, senior leader and avid investor, Mike is a skilled leader who can masterfully navigate a business restructuring and expertly elevate a company’s performance. He excels at helping companies go-to-market, grow, and scale.
As an investor and part of the leadership team in Hyperwallet, Mike played an integral part in PayPal’s acquisition of the online payout platform. In addition to his own business venture, Mike has been fortunate to learn from and be a part of the journey of other captains of industry such as IBM, FICO and now PayPal.
A citizen of the world, Mike was born and raised in South Africa before moving to Singapore for 14 years, spending a few years in Thailand before settling down in Vancouver in 2013 with his family. He credits his business acumen to his travels, and the understanding he gained that a diverse culture, open communication, continual evolution and empowered people are what make companies thrive.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
