mornin’ merry makers 👗🪞📊💡🔍

online shopping trained us to add to cart. cross our fingers. hope it fits.

but there’s still a better way: stores.

but deep down, we know better. the only place to break the hope-and-pray cycle is the fitting room. that cramped little stage with lighting that’s either the least or most flattering, never in between.

fitting rooms are where carts live or die.

yet most retailers treat them like an afterthought.

today’s behind the stores guest, matthew cyr, watched this heartbreak on loop as a store manager. so he built crave retail to finally study the square footage that actually decides sales.

crave retail has receipts to prove the fitting room is where the real drama happens and that it’s time we gave the fitting room the spotlight it deserves.

bts q&a: matthew cyr

Q1: can you share a little bit about you and the work that you do?

I’m a dad to two of the most amazing little kiddos, a husband, and founder of Crave. I started my career in stores - managing them, scaling them, learning what actually makes them tick.

Crave came from years of seeing how much potential gets lost in the moments retailers aren’t measuring. Today, I spend my time helping global brands turn fitting rooms and store experiences into measurable growth levers.

Most days, I’m toggling between raising kids, raising capital, and making sure both get out the door on time.

Q2: your website mentions that shoppers convert 7x higher in a fitting room. how exactly does crave retail help do this?

We make it easier for shoppers to buy without the awkward hallway peek.

Picture this: you’re in the fitting room, the jeans almost fit, and now you’re debating whether to go searching in your socks.

With Crave, you tap a screen, request a new size (or the matching top), and boom-an associate is on it.

Q3: what's the most surprising insight you've discovered about shopper behavior in fitting rooms that most retailers had no idea was happening?

That shoppers don’t just try things on - they’re making decisions, giving feedback, and walking away with intent that no one’s capturing.

We’ve seen shoppers bring in six items, only buy one, and leave no trace of what didn’t work or why. One fit issue, one missing size, one missed moment - and the rest of the basket disappears.

That’s not a conversion problem, that’s a visibility problem.

Crave makes that moment measurable, so brands can finally fix what they couldn’t see.

Q4: your solution provides real-time insights into all customer activity. what's one metric that consistently surprises retail partners?

Most retailers know the fitting room matters, but they have no idea it holds that much weight. And until Crave, they couldn’t measure any of it - sessions, try-ons, wait times, nothing.

Seeing that number reframes everything.

It shifts the fitting room from a nice-to-have to one of the most valuable spaces in the store.

Q5: having worked in the field, in corporate, in different countries, and in tech, what's the biggest gap you see between what retailers think customers want versus what they actually want?

Retailers often believe their customers want a high-touch, human-first experience- and when it’s done well, that’s true.

But the real expectation is something simpler:
shoppers want help when they need it, no matter the channel. 

Help finding the right size.

Help understanding what’s available.

Help making a confident purchasing decision.

Crave’s technology doesn’t replace humans, it empowers them. And where there’s no associate available, we fill in the gaps.

That’s the real unlock: tech that feels like service, not surveillance.

Q6: what's next for crave retail? any particular areas of expansion or new solutions you're excited about?

We’re scaling beyond fitting rooms and building a full in-store performance platform.

That means giving retailers real-time visibility into what’s actually happening on the floor - from shopper behavior to associate response to product-level insights.

We’re also leaning into lighter, faster ways to start - like dashboards, QR-based tools, and AI-driven coaching for store teams.

Not every retailer can launch the full suite on day one, and that’s okay.

Q7: what’s one thing you wish more brands understood about the digital fitting room experience?

That it’s not about the tech, it’s about the moment.

The fitting room is the most emotionally charged part of the store.

It’s where decisions happen.

When brands get that right, when they treat it not just as a utility but as an experience, they see the impact in loyalty, basket size, and brand perception. The brands winning in retail today are the ones who recognize that the store is their greatest asset.

Crave just gives them the tools to make it shine.

retail rapid-fire round

• fave retail store of all time? 

  • Eataly is where my heart is, when I’m not in Italy

• retail center that gets it right? 

  • The Grove has great energy, experiential, and lots to see and do

• can’t live without retail tool?

  • Tech that turns fitting rooms into data goldmines

• retail metric you obsess over?

  • Units Per Fitting Room Visit

• your signature style of merrymaking? 

  • Biking with my kids

• best retail advice you've ever received?

  • Get to know everything about your customers

• what do you love about working in retail? 

  • The people. Whether they love it or hate, they show up and embrace it.

connect with matthew & crave retail

matthew is solving one of retail's biggest blind spots by finally making the fitting room measurable and actionable. if you're tired of watching potential sales disappear behind curtains with no idea why, crave retail is the visibility you've been missing.

🔗 link up here:

• follow crave on linkedin 

• learn more about their solutions

all i can think about is if an online marketer discovered that 60% of their conversions happened in a space they couldn't measure or optimize, they'd be pulling all-nighters until they fixed it.

brick & mortar retail has shrugged off these unknowns for too long.

i’m excited to see the crave team help more retailers solve these mysteries for the benefit of us all bc i hate the awkward hall peek.