RetailNext’s Marlie Liu Makes Inc.’s 2024 Female Founders List

RetailNext, recognized as “the pulse of the store” with its leading in-store analytics used by 450+ top retail brands, announced today that its co-founder and Chief Operations Officer, Marlie Liu, was included in Inc.’s seventh annual Female Founders list, honoring a bold group of 250 women whose innovations and ideas are shaping the world. The complete list of winners can be found here.

The founders cross all industries and bring with them unique stories of success from each stage of the entrepreneurial journey—from startup to going public, being acquired by big buyers, or spending decades at the helm of an organization. They are reinventing everything from shoes to food and are challenging issues such as financial literacy and reproductive health.

“When we founded RetailNext nearly 16 years ago, I was wearing every hat there was, from sales engineer to nighttime hardware installer,” said Marlie Liu, co-founder and chief operations officer at RetailNext. “To see our footprint now span more than 95 countries, with another 100 employees supporting me just on the ops team, is both humbling and exhilarating. Thank you to my co-founder, Alexei Agratchev, and every member of the RetailNext team for your tireless work, and congratulations to all the honorees – your innovations and leadership are truly inspiring.”

Marlie’s part in deploying AI sensor technology has enhanced marketing effectiveness and operational efficiencies for more retailers and reduced the time needed to investigate thefts by up to 75%. Her emphasis on innovation and practical application has enabled RetailNext to help its customers rebound and recalibrate amid retail’s ongoing challenges.

Critical to Marlie’s role was overcoming the company’s pain points in global deployment and scaling its operations. By partnering with local vendors across the APAC region and training them to deploy the tech, Marlie has mastered the financial and logistical challenges that come with operating in nearly 100 countries. Under this model, RetailNext deployed its tech in 6,500+ new stores (7,100+ sensors) across 57 countries in 2023—without requiring permanent employees or a physical presence in each location.

By streamlining operations, Marlie has helped bring RetailNext’s customer base to 450+ customers. This growth helped the company surpass 100,000 proprietary AI sensor installations worldwide, solidifying itself as a global leader in retail analytics technology.

“The past year, for many, will go down as one of the hardest ever—between a funding freeze and ad-spending pullback,” said Diana Ransom, executive editor at Inc. “The female founders on this year’s list are a testament to what triumph over adversity looks like. They should all be proud of this singular accomplishment.”

Each year, Inc. editors review thousands of applications highlighting female founders who are challenging the status quo and tackling some of the world’s biggest problems. The list features women who have overcome challenges and lifted those around them while leading impactful organizations across the country. They join the ranks of previous honorees including Jessica Alba, Tracee Ellis Ross, Rihanna, and Shonda Rhimes.

To learn more about RetailNext, visit https://retailnext.net/.

About RetailNext

The first retail vertical IoT platform to bring e-commerce style shopper analytics to brick-and-mortar stores, brands, and malls, RetailNext is a pioneer in focusing entirely on optimizing the shopper experience. Through its centralized SaaS platform, RetailNext automatically collects and analyzes shopper behavior data, providing retailers with insight to improve the shopper experience in real-time.

More than 450 retailers in over 95 countries have adopted RetailNext’s analytics software and retail expertise to better understand the shopper journey in order to increase same-store sales, reduce theft, and eliminate unnecessary costs. RetailNext is headquartered in Campbell, California.

Learn more at https://retailnext.net/.

About Inc.

The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning, multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels, including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion among the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

Contact Information

Madalyn Boyd

Account Executive

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