Episode Details

We all need Heroes - and Alistair Crane and recurring guest Ingrid Milman Cordy join us today to talk about how any retail business can become a Hero to their customers. PLUS: Shoptalk's own Zia Wigder joins us to talk about their decision to program only female speakers in their 2020 event. Listen now!

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Show notes

Main Takeaways:

• Ingrid Milman Cordy from e.l.f. and the CEO of Hero, Alistair Crain join Brian on today's episode to talk about Hero.

• Bridging the gap between in-store associate interactions and online shopping behaviors is an extremely powerful tool.

• There is massive untapped potential in local and smart brands are starting to make moves. 

• Zia Wigder from Shoptalk joins Brian and Phillip to discuss an enormous announcement about Shoptalk 2020. 

A Brief History: Alistair Crain and Hero:

• Alistair has always been in technology and he was previously the CEO of a company called Grapple that was acquired by a Visa subsidiary.

• He came over to retail about five years ago when an old friend of his had an idea of connecting associates that are in-store with customers that are browsing on the website. 

• With a standard retail cycle, there are periods when associates in-store have availability to be helping customers but there are no customers in-store.

• Hero gives associates and store teams the power to connect live with customers who are shopping on the store's website and gives customers guidance through video and live streaming that gives them a better shopping experience. 

The Decline of Footfall: Combining Physical and Digital:

• Why is it important to engage both the physical and digital in one place?

• Over the past 5-10 years, messaging has become the single biggest use of mobile phones and even before the start of Hero, customers and associates were connecting through means of social media. 

• In tech, technology usually tries to "create the wave" but Hero filled a need for a trend of communication that was already happening.

• Sales that happened from these online interactions were not being attributed to store targets, so Hero provides stores a professional, secure, and trackable method of associate to customer interactions and sales.

Traditionally Luxury: Unlocking High-End Interactions for Smaller Businesses:

• Associates connecting on a one to one basis with an online customer is a high-end experience that naturally lends itself to the luxury market. 

• Traditionally, only bigger brands (usually in the luxury space) would have an eCommerce and online footprint large enough to accommodate direct communication with online customers, but Hero unlocks that potential for smaller brands. 

• Younger, technology competent people just want to shop and just want the ability to find out quickly if an item is in stock and where they can get it. 

• Sneaker companies have been adopting this communication trend and have been using it in more and more innovative ways. 

The Importance of Local: The Future of Commerce:

• There has been a trend on the show highlighting the importance of local when it comes to commerce. 

• Doesn't it make the most sense to connect with local representatives when customers are interacti