Future Commerce

Diversity and Transparency

• It’s important to instill trust into diverse founders.
• Transparency in businesses allows for a culture to be built that is proud to be shared.
• Instagram account Pull Up or Shut Up has held brands accountable for their diversity numbers and has had many brands go transparent in their diversity numbers.
• “The culture of your business is built in your first five hires.” A brand’s culture is naturally built through the employees and their diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
• Aiding in diverse brand visibility like this Twitter feed of Black owned candle companies helps to bring unification.

Gradually, then Suddenly

• Hemingway’s “Gradually, then suddenly” quote applies to commerce as well as civil rights.
• Instead of government leadership and direction, the private sector has stepped forward to unite people in solving problems.
• It’s important to stay connected in your local and digital communities - commerce connects people. There is power in retail and merchant classes to effect change locally. This is also why it’s important to be diverse - because every person involved changes the culture.
• There is a massive importance in being hopeful and looking for positive change in the future. Using your own vision and your own intentionally created brand culture, you create the future you want to see through that culture, commerce, and technology.

Brands Mentioned

MailChimp

Check Your Pulse

Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels, we love hearing from our listeners!

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Today, Brian sits down with Julie Bornstein, former COO of Stitch Fix, currently launching the personally curated shopping app, The Yes. What is The Yes? How does an AI-integrated shopping app differ from traditional retail or eCommerce experiences?
 

• Julie has been working in the industry since the beginning of eCommerce and has always seen new ideas and opportunities which are now finally possible through technology.
• The Yes is an AI-shopping app which makes a consumer’s shopping experience more efficient, personal, and relevant.
• The Yes features a conglomerate of products from different brands, asking consumers questions to find and personally curate their own personal style and experience in-app.
• Think of Spotify, but for shopping. There’s not one style that’s preferred or featured more than another - it’s an experience in which anyone can find their own specific niche. The Yes does this by focusing on user experience while supporting brands and their relationships to their consumers.

• There is a lack of trust in off-brand clothing because of its variance in size, style, fit, etc.
• The Yes is focusing on name-brand products and helping brands to establish trust and alignment between brands and consumers - an example of this is in The Yes mixing DTC brands and traditional brands all within the app.
• Every product has its own very intricate taxonomy that relates it to other products.
• Launching during COVID-19 helped the Yes to sit with their initial product and spend time adding features that originally were not going to be included in the initial version.
• “Adversity spurs innovation and adoption of that innovation.” During COVID, the physical retail experience has become non-existent so eCommerce has had to shift to becoming a more immersive experience. The Yes fits that needed role as a fashion curation by blending AI and human facilitation.

BRANDS MENTIONED:

The Yes

Stitch Fix

Good+Foundation

Mythology
 

Amazon

Spotify

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Brian chats with Melanie Travis, founder of Andie Swim. How has COVID affected Andie and similar direct to consumer brands? How might we shift our approach from product-centered advertising to building a direct brand-to-consumer relationship? 
 

Melanie tells her history and experiences building up to creating Andie. Melanie’s experiences with brand storytelling and customer acquisition lead her to testing the waters for Andie with advertisements to feel out the market with her first 400 swimsuits, growing Andie into what it is today.
 

Swim season is approaching but COVID initially had revenue falling off for Andie. They responded by cutting back on ads and converting to a day-by-day strategy with employees working remotely to find ways to resonate with customers in the current climate.

• Consumer demand roared back given that consumers shop 100% digitally during COVID.
• It’s been proposed that direct to consumer brands were disappearing, but there was a 180 shift into eCommerce during COVID.
   

• Andie backed out of diversifying into a physical retail experience and started incorporating less traditional marketing strategies - more community-centric working with transparent storytelling in order to resonate with consumers.
• To directly establish one-on-one relationships with its customers, Andie used less social marketing and shifted to more email and SMS.
• Andie launched a niche product during COVID - a maternity line of swimsuits - in which they kept promotional materials more personal by having close friends and family of employees participate in the photos for the launch.
• By doing so, the brand identity of Andie shifted to being more transparent, more community-driven, and more personal - which will stick around post-COVID.
   

• Brands can have their employees perform duties outside of their traditional job roles to cultivate a more creative community of ideas in the workplace.
• SMS and email are great ways to have one-on-one conversations with your consumers in order to build trust, transparency, and a closer brand-to-consumer bond.
• Especially in the time of COVID-19, brands can transform their identity from community-centered physical retail experiences into a digital community bound through mutual connection - making brands less focused on selling products and more focused on building a community.

BRANDS MENTIONED:

Andie Swim

Radically Personal Podcast

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Phillip and Brian are joined today by Ingrid Milman Cordy. How have brands contributed to community-based fanaticism or an individualized mindset? How has COVID-19 affected the online and in-person consumer experiences? What residual effects will the pandemic have on consumer experience? How can we be innovative in staying ahead of the curve on these changes?

• Ingrid owns a Mirror, which has proven an essential and loved piece of equipment in the time of COVID-19 because of its individualized and private user experience.
• Peloton has avoided accusations of “technology for the sake of technology” because of its contribution to building a connected, fanatical community.
• Competitiveness contributes to a more community-based mindset in the likes of Peloton users, Crossfitters, etc.
• Brands have an open market right now for niche devices supporting at-home and individualized experiences.
• Brands have become like “tribes” of communities during a time of physical disconnection.

• Ingrid predicts that after all of this is over, people are going to want community and in-person experiences even more after the pandemic.
• Phillip plays ‘devil’s advocate' (and quotes his Insiders piece) and proposes that reality now is mimicking an unpleasant eCommerce experience.
• Digital commerce is now the new preferred method of purchasing, so there is a need for online customer service to change with this, in incorporating better systems for handling post-purchase relations.
• Phillip, Brian, and Ingrid discuss innovative ways to cultivate IRL experiences for customers on a digital platform in order to establish and keep positive online and IRL relationships.

• We discuss the possibilities for social changes in customer relations after the pandemic ends, in stronger communities being built or the likelihood of there being long-lasting effects for social norms in IRL experiences.
• IRL experiences and eCommerce experiences have both changed dramatically in the last few months, in product affordability, access to products, as well as the jobs involved in the production, shipping, and selling of the product.

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Show notes coming soon.

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Somehow Google Docs has become the future of eCommerce, or ecommerce or E-Commerce or however everyone wants to spell it (eCommerce is correct)

There's a virtual mall in Google Docs, and it's insanely cool

Phillip may or may not be really into Jurassic Park

Brands are finding "scrappy" new ways to get feedback from their customers

eCommerce has become the name of the new shopping game, could that be a forever thing?

There's so much going on in the world during quarantine, and Google Docs is somehow the thing right now. And somehow everybody has decided that Google Docs are how we do everything, even how we throw shopping sprees.

Not to 'Googlesplain but the mind-blowing game-changer is how business are using it as a collaboration tool with the world writ-large

Seventy movies revolve around body-switching, just in case you needed to know that, and you do because Phillip's Insiders (#036) this week, aptly called Freaky Friday revolves around this very concept

Everyday eCommerce gets more accessible, because of the body swap that occurred between eCommerce and brick-and-mortar

What would have happened in Freaky Friday was forever (we may find out)

Jurassic Park is an incredibly frightening movie, which somehow relates to Google Docs

Brands are utilizing all elements of Google Drive to do all kinds of crazy cool things (lots of fun links below)

With everything that's happening in our community, from massive eCommerce numbers in the wake of a complete brick-and-mortar shut down, and the possibility of COVID-19 continuing, bands are finding ways to utilize Google Docs (especially Google Sheets) in unique ways. Still, brands are also trying to find ways to entertain and distract their customers in the wake of a global pandemic.

And we're seeing a semi-body swap that's happening between brick-and-mortar and eCommerce, with a forced way that's happening is with returns.

One of the things that's very different in the age of COVID-19 is returns, often quite an in-store experience for customers. Which is why customers often choose in-store brands that make returning a product a seamless experience

Now, though, with online brands often being the only option, shopping is happening online, and now customers have to contend with eCommerce return policies as well (which could get tricky)

Phillip takes the time to mention a new Future Commerce sponsor, Relay Cloud. This platform makes returns easier for everyone (customer and company), which is very helpful right now.

And just to mention another cool Google Doc concept, Bambu Earth, put together a form for customers to fill out so they could send "love letters" to first responders, and they aggregated feedback for customers, and then baked it into ad-creative for first responders.

And as Brian so eloquently said: a lot of these google docs solutions are just a great example of brands not always having to have the perfect solution.

Phillip says the show is more fun this week, Brian says the show is always fun, and that's up to the audience to decide, but there are so many great stories this week.

And even with all the fun, this is the most boundary-filled time in recent times, and so brands can take risks, as Brian said, now is the time for brands to get scrappier than ever.

It's the New Abnormal, one might say.

One of the best parts of all of this, and there are advantages for brands willing to try new things during this period, is how much fewer fanfare initiatives need to have right now.

Instead of putting together fancy dramatic productions, brands can send a Google doc form to customers, put together a presentation on Slides, or relay information in a Google Doc that everyone can view.

It's a new kind of User Generated Content, where customers can just participate in a new way

Brian: We're in a moment right now where people are more excited to contribute than trolls are to destroy." (This is so Tweetable it needs to be Tweeted)

Digitally native brands are now fundamental scrappier, and the operators in those brands are more skilled and wear more hats, and they are the ones who know how to work the moment (from a conversation between Phillip and Matt Axline from 4x400)

Brands are starting to engage with their brands in new ways, which is so important, which is going to lead to reinforced customer expectations. The brands that are getting scrappy and doing the work right now to get the job done are going to set themselves up directly.

Which is very much a PSA to brands: Do the work so that you can succeed in the brand new world.

Phillip and Brian bring up a returning sponsor, Gladly, who are doing incredible things when it comes to customer service, radically personal if you will.

Future Commerce is going to be doing some pretty cool projects with Gladly, so make sure you're signed up to our mailing list to always be in the know (and get some really fantastic content in your inbox).

Phillip decides to end the show with a brand new segment: What was the last thing you bought online? (links below)

Phillip and Brian agree that Monoprice is the absolute best

Also, we have an incredible market research report coming out with Klayvio called 9x9 in a few weeks (hint: it's super freaking awesome)

Important links from the show:

Google Doc for eCommerce workers impacted by COVID-19

adult content warning Unbound Babes Google Doc of recommendations

Elliot Google Sheets Mall

Phillip and Brian's recent purchases:

Monoprice double wall water bottle

Tracksmith Hare AC

Other episodes mentioned:

Episode 155 with Farmgirl Flowers

Episode 132 with Tracksmith

Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at [email protected] or any of our social channels, and we love hearing from our listeners!

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