Retailers keep chasing best of breed tools, but every new integration adds complexity, slows teams down, and chips away at value. The result is a brittle, tangled Frankenstack that nobody truly owns and everyone struggles to maintain.
In this episode of Under the Stack, Leni Hakvoort, Head of Product at New Black, and Victor Padee, CRO at Aevi, unpack why retail tech becomes so fragmented, why change is so hard to drive internally, and what actually happens when retailers delay modernization for too long.
Drawing on real retail scenarios and years of hands‑on product leadership, they break down the hidden cost of fragmentation, from siloed decision making and outdated loyalty systems to the operational drag of “just enough to keep it running.” They explore how disconnected systems erode customer trust, stall unified commerce, and make it nearly impossible to deliver the experiences shoppers now expect as standard.
This episode breaks down:
- Why best of breed decisions often create the Frankenstack retailers fear
- How feature‑based vendor selection leads to brittle, over‑integrated environments
- Why organizational silos slow down modernization and block long term strategy
- Why unified commerce is no longer a differentiator but a minimum expectation
- How loyalty programs fail when they are generic, slow, and disconnected
- What retailers really risk when they delay architectural change
If you are navigating unified commerce, tech modernization, customer loyalty, or the complexity of retail transformation, this episode is a must‑listen.
What is AeviPod?
Hosted by Aevi, this podcast explores how in-person payments are evolving across retail, ISVs, banking, and fuel & mobility.
Each episode brings together industry leaders, product owners, and operators to challenge established thinking, share practical product updates, and unpack the biggest learnings and obstacles they’ve faced along the way.
From payment orchestration and estate management to emerging payment technologies, regulatory change, and new in-store use cases, the focus is on what’s actually working, and what’s slowing progress down.
The conversations cut through fragmentation and legacy constraints to examine how modern payment ecosystems are being built, scaled, and operated across regions. Expect honest perspectives on decision-making, execution, and the trade-offs enterprises face as they modernise in-person payments.