How Are Global Brands Planning Digital Shelf Strategy for 2026? | Ft. Mark Koster (VML) and Rohan Paul Philip (MetricsCart)

What does it actually take to win the digital shelf in 2026, and why are most brands still getting it wrong?In Season 2 Episode 3 of the Digital Shelf Insider Podcast, our host, Shreshta Joy, is in conversation with Mark Koster, Domain Lead Digital at VML, and Rohan Paul Philip, Lead, Product & Strategy at MetricsCart, for a no-holds-barred breakdown of how global consumer brands should be thinking about their digital shelf strategy right now.We're talking real challenges; fragmented tech stacks, underused analytics platforms, siloed teams, and the constant struggle of getting senior stakeholders to see the digital shelf as more than just "the e-commerce team's problem." Mark walks us through a live client example where VML built a full digital shelf strategy in just 8 weeks, complete with 100+ ready-to-execute projects. Rohan pulls back the curtain on why platform adoption fails and what MetricsCart is doing differently to keep brands plugged in when it actually matters.We also get into the big conversations: AI agent commerce, why price monitoring is about to get even more critical amid global economic shifts, and the essential groundwork, data governance, single source of truth, connected processes, that make or break everything else. In this episode:(00:00) Trailer(01:00) Intro(02:00) Meet Mark Koster (VML) & Rohan Paul Philip (MetricsCart)(02:47) The Most Common Digital Shelf Challenges Brands Face(06:15) Platform Adoption: Why Brands Aren't Logging In When It Matters(08:21) The Data Access Problem Nobody Talks About(10:00) Mid Roll Break(10:34) Where to Start When Everything Feels Broken(14:16) Understanding Workflows Before Building Dashboards(16:01) What VML Looks for in a Digital Shelf Analytics Partner(19:38) Which Conversion KPIs Should Brands Actually Prioritize?(21:19) Price Monitoring, MAP Violations & Brand Perception(24:14) Building Brands for the Future(29:13) AI in E-Commerce & Agent Commerce (34:00) How Brands Should Approach AI in Strategy & Planning(37:29) Key Takeaways & Final ThoughtsSubscribe to the Digital Shelf Insider for weekly conversations with the sharpest minds in e-commerce, marketplace strategy, and brand growth; brought to you by MetricsCart.What happens when your top SKU goes out of stock while you're still paying for ads, or an authorized reseller undercuts your MAP pricing, and you don't find out for weeks? MetricsCart is an enterprise-grade digital commerce intelligence platform that tracks pricing, availability, content, promotions, search visibility, and reviews across major retailers and marketplaces. It delivers real-time, SKU-level insights that help brands catch the gaps that silently drain revenue, whether that's a content compliance issue on your top 50 SKUs, a price violation eroding brand perception, or an early review signal flagging a product defect before it escalates. Brands like Mattel, Illy, PVH, and P&G use MetricsCart to move from reactive reporting to confident, data-backed decisions that protect revenue, boost visibility, and drive growth across every digital shelf.