RetailCraft - digital retail, ecommerce and brands - Retail Podcast

At the end of NRF 2024 in New York I was able to chat with Juliet Scott-Croxford of Brompton Bicycle. Juliet is President, North America, and leads the growth of this quintessentially British brand in the market.

Brompton is an urban-first, engineering-born, British-made success story, and so the transition to the US is an interesting one. Leading with a combination of product quality and clubhouse retail vibe, they have been at the vanguard of the city-centre, community cycling renaissance that brands like Rapha (just along the road from them in Soho) have embraced.

I caught up with Julia in the back-office stock area of their Soho store as she prepped for an evening event, hence a bit of "real life buzz" in the background of the recording 📼.

In our chat we cover their hire scheme, the Brompton Junction Stores concept, retail partnerships and expansion, Juliet's career path, the importance of a strong team, the "Activating Cities" strategy and the move to B-Corp status...

-- Run time: 32 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

Brompton Bicycle: https://www.brompton.com/ and https://www.brompton.com/find-a-store/brompton-junction/new-york

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Juliet Scot-Croxley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliet-scott-croxford-72050313/

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/ and www.twitter.com/ianjindal

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal

SISTIR is a coffee-originated gifting brand, that grew from a sisterly conversation (SIS) about coffee (Stirred) around the ideal '3am blend' to power parents through that mid-night wake-up moment for a crying baby.

SISTIR's founder, Georgie Janion-Shaw, joins us in the studio and we hare about the brand's beginnings and how the combination of branding savvy, punning and the availability of a gifting channel in NotOnTheHighStreet allowed them to start. Over time - and through experimentation, optimisation, product development efforts - the product range and channels grew. Georgie share with us her journey and learning with a level of humour and wordplay!

We get a chance to reflect upon the mindset of the growth entrepreneur as well as hearing about the extension into sweets and pets.

See below for the AI-generated show-notes: summary, takeaways and timestamps - pretty impressive and created by Riverside.fm...

-- Run time: 33 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

SISTIR: https://sistir.com/

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Georgie Janion-Shaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiejanionshaw/

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/ and www.twitter.com/ianjindal

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal

Here's the AI summary...

<ai>

Summary Georgie, the founder of Novello, shares the story of her coffee brand Sistir and how it started with a concept for a business. She discusses the importance of branding and packaging in creating a unique proposition for consumers. Georgie also talks about launching on Not on the High Street and tailoring product listings for different platforms. She emphasizes the importance of supporting women growers in the coffee industry and how Novello is working towards female empowerment. Georgie shares her experience working at Disney and Hasbro and how it has influenced her approach to product development. She also discusses the mindset of a successful entrepreneur and the challenges of starting a business. Finally, Georgie talks about her plans for the future, including expanding into other product categories and exploring retail opportunities. Takeaways

• Branding and packaging are important in creating a unique proposition for consumers.
• Tailoring product listings to different platforms can enhance the consumer experience.
• Supporting women growers in the coffee industry is a priority for Novello.
• The mindset of a successful entrepreneur involves optimism and a willingness to try new things.

Chapters 00:00. Introduction and Background 01:19. The Story of Sistir 03:13. Starting a Coffee Business 04:34. Launching on Not on the High Street 07:25. Analyzing and Tailoring Product Listings 09:31. Supporting Women Growers in the Supply Chain 12:20. Lessons from Working at Disney and Hasbro 15:20. Becoming an Expert in Coffee 17:36. The Path of Purpose in Retail 18:32. Overcoming Challenges as an Entrepreneur 19:29. The Mindset of a Successful Entrepreneur 20:56. Expanding into Other Product Categories 24:09. Lessons Learned from Global Corporate Roles 25:53. Maintaining Consistency and Flexibility 28:42. Knowing When to Take the Next Step 30:37. Future Plans and Expansion </ai>

Our studio chat with Kieron (Digital Director at Blackwells, part of the Waterstones group of booksellers) had a number of firsts... Not only the first podcast of 2024 (Happy New Year to one and all!) but also the first time that Georgia and I had been given gifts. In our prep for the studio session Kieron had asked us what were the last three books we'd read. He used this to predict a book for each of us and wrapped them for us to give in the studio! Utterly thoughtful, but more importantly gets to the heart of Kieron's focus upon data AND intuition.

In our conversation we talk about the history of Blackwells (surely one of the most famous longstanding and academic booksellers, now a part of the Waterstones group) and some of the dynamics of the book trade online. We discuss learning and the ongoing quest for information and knowledge, and the vital role of staff in retail. This is the origin of the "really different" of our title - how to engage staff with knowledge, skills, passion and individuality rather than falling into the trap of homogeneity.

There is so much to learn here about individuality, passion and invention in retail - our thanks to Kieron for being so open with us.

-- Run time: 53 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

Blackwells (https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home) is part of the Waterstones (https://www.waterstones.com/) group.

Kieron's offered books were:

- for Georgia:"A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles (https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/A-Gentleman-in-Moscow-by-Amor-Towles/9780099558781)

- for Ian: "Tokyo Express" by Seicho Matsumoto (https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Tokyo-Express-by-Seicho-Matsumoto-author-Jesse-Kirkwood-translator/9780241439081)

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Kieron Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieron/

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/ and www.twitter.com/ianjindal

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal

Ntola and Raine joined Georgia and me in the studio and reminded us just why a roundtable discussion is so much fun and enlightening!

Raine - the head of digital at New Look (www.newlook.com) - talks us through how to connects with the 'moments' in customers' lives, and of course the planning, data, heuristics and approaches needed to deliver that at scale. We hear about her experiences ranging from luxury and digital (Farfetch) to high street (Arcadia), fast-moving digital (Boohoo.com) to more 'considered' retailers.

Ntola - trading director at Emma Bridgewater - picks up on the themes of data, customer focus and engaging the consumer and discusses how the pottery-and-homeware brand is embracing digital.

Ntola is a podcast host too, and creator of the Trailblazers Experience podcast that you can get on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trailblazers-experience-podcast/id1674539126?app=podcast

-- Run time: 44 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

NewLook is at www.newlook.com

Emma Bridgewater is www.emmabridgewater.co.uk

Ntola's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trailblazers-experience-podcast/id1674539126?app=podcast

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Raine Peak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raine-peake-19954a11/

Ntola Obazee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ntolaobazee/

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/ and www.twitter.com/ianjindal

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal

Paddy joined us in the studio with "time" clearly on his mind. Throughout our zinger-filled, high-protein chat, Paddy returned to the theme of "if you find a fix for time, you'll see the sales".

B&Q is the £4bn-ish turnover DIY retailer that is now part of the Kingfisher PLC group (which also includes in its portfolio the trade-focused Screwfix, plus Castorama and Brico Depot in France and Koctas in Turkey.

During our conversation it was clear that Paddy's broad experience (financial services, department stores, logistics and final mile) has created an omnivorous approach to references and models. A synthesis of this is his contention that "to remain as #1, you have to think like you're #2". Seeking ideas from across the D2C realm, he's "receptive to what's good in the space" and looks at others' capability with 'envy and with pride' - taking the best of ideas and applying them to what B&Q already does well.

Listening to the recording, it's noticeable how frequently the ideas of "time" and convenience appear as a central theme. As their trade-only Tradepoint service has shown, "time is money", but the service also needs to be tailored to the consumer. We talk about just-in-time trade deliveries, and Paddy notes drily that "you can't deliver a fence post on the back of a moped".

Paddy's focus on time and efficiency is all in service of an emotional bond with the customer and products. Noting that in DIY customers seek "to improve their homes so that they can build their lives", we talk about layering emotion into the sales process while simultaneously making that service zippy and on-trend.

A high-speed (of course!) tour de force of insight.

-- Run time: 47 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

B&Q is at DIY.com: https://www.diy.com/

Kingfisher PLC information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingfisher_plc

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Paddy Earnshaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddy-earnshaw-aa84882/

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/ and www.twitter.com/ianjindal

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal

Tony Preedy is a bit of a legend at Etail Towers and has one of the most rounded and in-depth knowledge of e-commerce performance (brand, digital marketing, CRM and business models) that we know. Having run through Tony's CV, we focus on Fruugo - its history, operation and market position. With a blend of incisive wit and deadpan humour, Tony talks about the importance of relevance and focus at scale ("We're not a marketplace, we're a very good marketing machine"), and how a combination of AI and human care can present 140 million SKUs in 40 markets - a combinatorial challenge resulting in c6billion combinations, and serving around 1800 different ads per second. An insight from Tony is the focus on ROAS (return on advertising spend). The bid model takes price, propensity and margin to determine whether or not to bid and if so at what level. This 'anticipation' and planning means that all transactions are profitable and there's no anxiety over CPC spend rising to unprofitable levels. Tony doffs a digital cap to Claude Hopkins (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_C._Hopkins), author a century ago of "Scientific Advertising", who emphasised the importance of copywriting for relevance (and whose book was seen in the background of several Mad Men episodes!). Amongst many 'zingers' and insights, a further point of note was that 80+% of traffic comes to a product description page (PDP) - the lowest level of a site's hierarchy. Rather than being seen after a brand-first browsing and filtering journey, Tony's customers land straight at the 'here it is, buy it' level, and these pages have to carry the whole brand, product and service story. He mentions the importance of the on-page "carousels" of products to increase the number of products shown, fish for opportunity and how these carousels (rather than navigation or on-site search) then drive the browse journey. So many more things covered in our 40 minutes in the studio, and we'll update the InternetRetailing.net page with the full transcript. -- Run time: 47 minutes INFORMATION: [ 🖥️ ] Free digital copy of Scientific Advertising - https://scientificadvertising.blogspot.com/ Fruugo - https://www.fruugo.co.uk/ Fruugo awarded King's Award for Enterprise - https://channelx.world/2023/04/kings-award-for-enterprise-fruugo-marketplace/ Tony in conversation with Chris Dawson on international selling (video interview) - https://channelx.world/2023/09/introducing-specialist-retailers-to-the-international-stage/ [ 👨‍👧 ] Tony Preedy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonypreedy/ Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/ Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/ and www.twitter.com/ianjindal [ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal

Some 'summer listening' in this episode, where we take as our theme "retailers and the arts". There's a long and illustrious history of retail professionals swapping the stores for galleries, but with our current digital dimension there's still a consumer/customer/visitor/individual connection.

In the studio today we have Ros Lawler, COO of the National Portrait Gallery, fresh from a multi-year reworking of the space, the interpretation and the visitor facilities. Widely hailed as a triumph, Ros reflects on an extremely varied career that spans music, publishing, retail and the arts - all, however with a distinctly digital and transformational flavour.

Zia's retail career has been customer-focused and digital since her time in retail, consulting, then Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason. Moving to the high end of the arts market at Hauser and Wirth, as well as engaging with an inspiring and stimulating arts group in Peckham, London (Bold Tendencies) we hear of the consistent threads throughout retail and the arts - the focus on the consumer's experience and the integrity of the product.

 

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Run time: 40 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

National Portrait Gallery: https://www.npg.org.uk/

Bold Tendencies: https://boldtendencies.com/ 

Ros' previous visit to our studio while at Crabtree & Evelyn: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/retailcraft-08-hands-made-conversation-with-made-com/id1418542382?i=1000431732461 

 

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Ros Lawler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslawler/ 

Zia Zareem-Slade: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ziazareemslade/ 

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/ 

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/   and www.twitter.com/ianjindal 

 

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal 

 

Molly Dobson is the Managing Director of Currys Business, the B2B operation of the long-established Currys brand, that covers white goods to smart devices via outdoors electricals and gaming... basically anything with a plug or voltage! See www.currys.co.uk. Molly explodes into our studio like a positive force of nature, and takes us at a gallop through the business, the service approach, and how expertise, people, systems and great service come together into the B2B offering. We hear of Molly's career and how the data+customer obsession has been a connective line through her roles. 

Molly takes us through how to balance "service with a capital and small 's'" and how to attach that service element to products. We go through the weird and wonderful and perhaps dwell for a while on pink flamingoes, yet the central core is a commitment to the business customer.

This chat changed our views on Currys and B2B.

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Run time: 40 minutes

INFORMATION:

[ 🖥️ ]

Currys Business: https://business.currys.co.uk/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/currysbusiness/ 

 

[ 👨‍👧 ]

Molly Dobson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollydobson/ 

Georgia Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiajones1/ 

Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/   and www.twitter.com/ianjindal 

 

[ 📷 ] (c) Ian Jindal / www.instagram.com/ianjindal 

 

In this episode we will hear from natural deodorant company Wild who aim to transform the bathroom with a range of refillable products. Origin Coffee are also back to describe how physical stores (or coffee shops) can play their part in this refillable revolution.

A dress for a special occasion, a designer handbag, even curated wardrobes - this episode will look at how retailers are renting their fashion out. But it is not simply apparel that is rentable, we are joined in the studio by The Bike Club’s founder James Symes.