Supplying your economics demand

Biographies

Short (55 words)

Dr. Thomas Weinandy is the Principal Research Economist at Upside, providing valuable insights into consumer spending behavior and macroeconomic trends for the fuel, grocery, and restaurant industries. With a Ph.D. in Applied Economics, his academic research is in digital economics and brick-and-mortar retail. He recently wrote a book on leveraging AI for business intelligence.

Medium (97 words)

Dr. Thomas Weinandy is the Principal Research Economist at Upside, where he studies consumer spending patterns and the broader forces shaping today’s economy. His work explores pricing, loyalty, and the future of brick-and-mortar retail in the digital age, with insights featured on CNBC, Yahoo Finance, NPR, and The Today Show. He wrote a book on using AI for business intelligence and has published in both economics and marketing journals. A frequent speaker at national conferences, Dr. Weinandy provides audiences with clear, data-driven perspectives on inflation, consumer behavior, and the challenges and opportunities facing retailers and suppliers alike.

Long (202 words)

Dr. Thomas J. Weinandy is the Principal Research Economist at Upside, a digital marketplace that helps grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and gas stations drive measurable, incremental profit through targeted cash-back promotions. He leads the company’s industry research and analyzes billions of real-world transactions to uncover meaningful trends in consumer behavior. His work helps retailers understand how price sensitivity, inflation, and competition affect where people shop—and what earns their repeat business. His investigations on digital technology, cross-shopping behaviors, and evolving consumer spending habits have been widely recognized, including coverage on Yahoo Finance and NPR as well as a full feature on The Today Show.

Dr. Weinandy holds a B.A. in Social Entrepreneurship from John Carroll University, an M.B.A. from Wheeling Jesuit University, and a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Western Michigan University. He has published research in the Journal of Marketing Analytics, United Nations Chronicle, and Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade. A frequent speaker at industry and retail conferences, he also co-authored Artificial Intelligence with Microsoft Power BI (O’Reilly). Dr Weinandy’s work provides food retailers and suppliers with actionable economic insights to navigate pricing challenges, shifting consumer preferences, and digital disruption. He currently lives in Jackson, Michigan.

Style and pronunciation guide

• Weinandy is pronounced "WHY-nan-dee" with stress on the first syllable
• Professionally I go by Dr. Thomas Weinandy or Thomas Weinandy, Ph.D.
• Avoid using redundant honorifics (i.e., don't say Dr. Thomas Weinandy, Ph.D.)
• Most friends and family call me Tom
• In informal settings or when striving for a familiar and casual tone, it is appropriate to first introduce me as Dr. Thomas Weinandy and then switch over to calling me Tom
• I publish under Thomas J. Weinandy to distinguish from the author Thomas G. Weinandy (no relation)