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years of hands‑on product leadership, they break down the hidden cost of fragmentation, from siloed decision making and outdated loyalty systems to the operational drag of “just enough to keep it running.”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.

Payments are mission-critical for ISVs — but they’re also heavy, slow, and expensive to build.

In this first episode of Under the Stack, we go under the hood of one of the biggest decisions ISVs face as they scale: should you build your own payments stack, or buy and integrate instead?

Drawing on real-world examples and decades of payments experience, we explore the true cost of going slow - from delayed product roadmaps and missed revenue opportunities to customer churn, reputational damage, and renewal risk. We unpack why building payments infrastructure often pulls engineering teams away from the features customers actually pay for, and how falling behind in payments can make an entire product feel outdated.

This episode breaks down:

• Why “owning the stack” is still such a powerful - and risky - instinct for ISVs
• How slow payments innovation directly impacts NPS, churn, and ARR
• The hidden compliance, certification, and operational costs most teams underestimate
• Why speed to market unlocks upsell, cross-sell, and expansion revenue sooner
• How buying vs building affects CAC payback and long-term growth

If you’re an ISV navigating payments strategy, product prioritisation, or scale - this episode is a must-listen.

Building a Unified Payments Estate: From Fragmented Forecourts to Connected Experiences.

Fuel and convenience retail is one of the most complex in-person payment environments in the world - for consumers, the experience hasn’t changed in decades.

In this episode of The Fragmented Forecourt, we’re joined by Chris Dickey, a payments and commerce expert, alongside Victor Padee, to unpack why fragmentation has become the accepted norm in fuel retail - and the real cost of maintaining it.

Together, we explore:

• Why modernising the forecourt feels so risky (and why doing nothing is riskier)
• The hidden operational, innovation, and customer-experience costs of fragmented payment estates
• Why up to 60% of fuel visits remain unidentified - despite heavy investment in loyalty
• Where fuel retailers should actually start if they want to move toward a unified, orchestrated payments model
• How customer identification, data connectivity, and orchestration unlock loyalty, personalisation, and competitive advantage
• What a fully connected forecourt could look like in five years - and the role payments play in getting there

Rather than chasing a “perfect future state,” this episode focuses on practical, achievable steps fuel and convenience retailers can take today to reduce friction, regain control, and start delivering experiences customers actually notice.

If you’re responsible for payments, digital transformation, loyalty, or customer experience in fuel and convenience retail - this episode is your starting point.