In episode 501 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Nick Lezin, senior vice president of e-commerce and marketing at Ashley, an American home furnishings manufacturer and retailer. Lezin expands on Ashley's strategy for launching a fully transactional shopping experience through artificial intelligence platform Perplexity (1:20), along with the unmet customer needs that its Perplexity integration can solve for (3:00). Lezin details how this AI-assisted shopping experience changes the way Ashley thinks about product discovery, consideration, and conversion (4:30).
Additionally, Lezin shares his thoughts on how AI-powered commerce helps Ashley anticipate shoppers' needs and personalize their experience (5:15). He emphasizes trust as critical for both product recommendations and payments, citing PayPal’s reputation and user base, as well as describes internal efforts including associate AI-enablement (10:45), expanding AI talent in 2025, and re-platforming ashleyfurniture.com and its tech stack in 2026 to be more AI agent-friendly. The interview concludes with Lezin sharing where he believes commerce is headed and where brands will need to remain relevant (12:45).
Nick Lezin is the senior vice president of e-commerce and pricing at Ashley, where he leads the company’s digital commerce strategy and pricing initiatives to accelerate growth across Ashley’s omnichannel retail ecosystem. With more than a decade of experience at Ashley, Nick has played a key role in driving transformative marketing and retail expansion, helping support significant omni retail sales growth over time. In his role, Nick oversees Ashley’s digital commerce business, which has delivered strong year-over-year growth and helped position Ashley as one of the first major furniture retailers to enable direct purchasing within an AI-powered search environment. In addition to leading e-commerce and pricing, Nick previously led Ashley’s marketing team, guiding cross-functional strategy and execution to strengthen brand visibility, elevate customer acquisition, and drive performance across channels.
Prior to joining Ashley, Nick built his career in the digital marketing agency world, supporting e-commerce growth for global brands including Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Sunglass Hut. This foundation in performance-driven digital strategy continues to inform the consumer-first, innovation-led leadership he brings to Ashley today. Nick holds a degree in Communications from the University of Southern California. He is passionate about evolving digital retail experiences and leveraging emerging technology to make shopping more seamless, intuitive and accessible for consumers. Outside of work, Nick is an active supporter of Ashley’s Hope to Dream program and a motorsports enthusiast. He enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures with his wife, Kristina.
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