Future Commerce

DAILYLOOK is a personal styling service that sends you a box of hand-picked fashion items right to your door every month. In this interview, Brian shares with us how he started his first business at 15 years old, created and then sold a newsletter with over 450k subscribers to a poker company, and then raised over $11M to build his company DAILYLOOK. Brian uncovers the challenges he faced from pivoting his business and shares some important red flags he looks out for when hiring. In This Episode You’ll Hear About: How Brian Ree started his first tutoring business in high school How the internet boom inspired an idea for an online fine jewelry lifestyle brand How a hobby turned into a content business and developed 450,000 active subscribers Why studying and reading about other entrepreneurs and finding patterns is an important part of the entrepreneur’s journey How he came up with the idea for DAILYLOOK The challenges he faced from pivoting DAILYLOOK into an eCommerce brand His process of choosing a business model that would drive customer retention organically What he learned from making the best,and worst, hiring choices The ins and outs of raising $11.5 million of capital How his Co-Founder helped the company be as successful as they are today The importance of physical health in building a business Experiencing self-doubt as an entrepreneur and how to overcome it To Find Out More: dailylook.com Quotes: “I think there's a lot to be gained in experience from working with great teams and great people.” “I definitely recommend having and surrounding yourself with as many experienced mentors as possible.” “People that didn't have positive experiences with other coworkers in previous jobs will still tend to give a mediocre or medium type of reference check.” “When you start a business, I do recommend that, depending on the business of course, that you have a co-founder.” “I think the mental game is a challenging one. And with time and experience, I've learned my ways of how I cope with things in challenging times.” “As an entrepreneur, self-doubt can creep in from many different angles and places and times.” “I try to maintain the perspective and mindset of being a lifelong learner and always intellectually curious and open to learning new things. Learn from new people around you.” futurecommerce.fm/stairwaytoceo

What makes a brand meaningful? We sought to answer this question in our recent report, Nine by Nine: 81 Brands Changing Our World. In this episode, we sit down and reflect on the report and the categories included, and even talk about what is coming up in Part Two.Nine by Nine: What Is It and How Was It Received?Nine by Nine is our report that asks the question “What makes a brand meaningful?” Spoiler alert: There are nine answers! Nine categories and nine brands that exemplify those nine answers.The report was sponsored by Klaviyo - they made the report possible and lent a lot of creative energy into making it.9x9 was our first time being featured in GQ, Women’s Wear Daily, Sourcing Journal, Adweek, Morning Brew, Market Insiders, Business Insiders.Nine trends, nine answers to “What makes a brand meaningful?”:Community DrivenNew LuxuryHundred ClubPrime ChallengersAudience FirstPurpose DrivenCARLY (Can’t Afford Real Life Yet)Late Stage Retail (or Anti Late Stage Retail)Local HeroesThe Proposal of Nine by Nine: Why?The things that consumers value most about a brand differ, depending on what stage of life they’re in, what their income is, and many other factors. So in order to answer “What makes a brand meaningful?” we have to answer “What is a brand?”Sucharita Kodali, who has been on the show many times, said that a brand is a promise. What makes a brand meaningful is when the brand fulfills that promise and the value they’re providing helps a business or consumer in a specific way - for instance, with Prime Challengers, helping businesses/consumers part ways with Amazon.“This report is for a brand operator who is trying to take in the entire total landscape of everything that’s happening in eCommerce, retail, direct to consumer, and everything that’s digitally enabled in the retail environment. What is meaningful to a consumer? It depends on who the consumer is.” - Phillip JacksonWe didn’t want to just create another list of brands. We have created a system with weighted rubrics within each category, and our scoring system is open to view. On top of this, we received our information from many different angles of different types of operators.Prime ChallengersAmazon comes up in a lot of conversations about retail. Aman Advani, on Merchant to Merchant, said that there are a lot of brands who stand for more than transactional commerce and that the spirit of that is moving away.“We’re moving into a world that’s more soulful. We’re moving away from transactional commerce as a culture and brands need to stand for something bigger. Rather than calling out Amazon directly, there’s a deepening and a hunger from the consumer to have a better experience… the brands that are noted on Prime Challengers help accomplish that.” - Phillip JacksonTarget and Shipt come in at number one - because they are using a much more targeted brand strategy, playing by the D2C playbook, and have a more community centric model versus Amazon’s top down approach.New LuxuryTo understand New Luxury, we have to define Old Luxury: exclusivity, quality, ‘white glove’ brands.New Luxury is about current times, being in the know, and information. New Luxury is tied to drop brands - knowing when the drop is happening, knowing the right people, being involved in the right thought processes and cultures, and understanding ‘hype’ cycles.Everyone is a retailer. StockX is our number one, which some would be surprised to see: “Just because something is resale doesn’t mean it’s not luxury.” - Brian LangeNew Luxury is about discovery - an introduction and orientation to an elevated experience: “Aêsop is helping a millennial man discover gender neutral skin care and self care. Lord Jone is introducing CBD to the upper middle class. Haus is introducing aperitif culture to millennials.” - Phillip JacksonC.A.R.L.Y.CARLY is a consumer psychographic from the acronym “Can’t Afford Real Life Yet,” that might be Gen Z but not necessarily constrained to it. It depends on sharing expenses with other people - and the way CARLY spends its money is deeply personal and considers every purchase very highly.“Starface is interesting in that it’s taken skincare - and where skincare in the past would be used to conceal the blemishes you have, Starface celebrates them and draws attention to them rather than drawing attention away from them.” - Philip JacksonStarface resonates with the CARLY ideal of seeing the world as fundamentally flawed and celebrating those flaws for the sake of authenticity.Community DrivenThese brands aren’t only prioritizing their relationship with their customer, but their customer’s relationships with each other - giving them the space and environments and safety of being able to embed themselves with each other.Peloton is at the top of this list because they’ve done a great job of building a ‘tribe’ that can relate and connect their consumers with each other.These brands have the ability to make and survive missteps because of their community support. Listen to Part 2 of this episode: Episode 168: Rethinking Everlane on the Nine by Nine Report. LinksCheck out our Nine by Nine report: 81 Brands Changing Our WorldPhillip’s original article on C.A.R.L.Y.: Insiders #018See our webinar with Klaviyo on Nine by Nine: 81 Brands Changing Modern eCommerceCheck out where our Nine by Nine report was featured:GQ: Not So Vain: C.A.R.L.Y.s Love Crocs, Memes and Social JusticeAdweek: These 81 Brands Are Shaping the Future of CommerceBusiness Insider: Meet the ‘Carlys’: The meme-loving young shoppers who ‘can’t afford real life yet’ - but will soon enjoy the biggest cohort of spenders in the USMorning Brew: Meet CARLY: Gen Z’s New, Socially Conscious ShopperIndependent Retailer: Meet The New Customer Demographic: C.A.R.L.Y.Women’s Wear Daily: New Report Asks What Makes a Brand Meaningful?Sourcing Journal: New Cohort of Young Consumers Values An Iconic Brand Aesthetic If you have any comments or questions about this episode, you can reach out to us at hello@futurecommerce.fm or any of our social channels. We love hearing from our listeners!

Local commerce is making a comeback and the digital realm is crucial to its success. OfferUp strives to create a platform that enables anyone to buy and sell locally. Nick Huzar, CEO of OfferUp joins the show to discuss how they're evolving with local commerce.The Potential for Secondhand CommerceNick loves to build and create things. While having a baby on the way, he needed to clear a room and was frustrated at the time and effort it would take to sell his belongings. The idea for OfferUp sparked.When he started OfferUp in 2011, there was no Android phone - but there was the belief that everyone would have smartphones.He began OfferUp slowly with a lot of research, finding out that 25% of U.S. households with a two car garage can’t park in their garage and 10% of the population rents storage units.OfferUp has become effectively the fastest growing marketplace in the U.S. OfferUp has been installed over 90 million times.Nick says that OfferUp is really a platform for local commerce but has many phases in its evolution: “Today, I think the primary use case of OfferUp is definitely peer to peer, [but] long term it definitely doesn’t have to be. We have a growing segment of stores that are using OfferUp as both online commerce and local commerce.” - Nick Huzar“Early on, we moved to more of a C2C approach with the idea that if we could get consumers to use the product, then we would have a huge base of users that we could then layer on other businesses. C2C was very intentional.” - Nick HuzarNick says that OfferUp has been focused on simplicity and product experience to bring trust and because of that, OfferUp’s growth has mostly been word of mouth.During COVID, OfferUp saw a 90% increase in overall engagement - nonessentials like fashion trending downwards, but fitness equipment and entertainment spiking.Customer Acquisition for Local BusinessesLocal businesses have a more difficult time getting in front of customers due to their lower budgets for advertising.Local car dealerships have been offered a monthly subscription in return for special detail pages, badges in their profile, increased promotions, and analytics to see what’s working and what’s not.The challenge with local businesses was that the initial app was designed for an individual to use to sell items, so OfferUp has helped redesign to accommodate having thousands of items and the ability to plug in their CMS system.OfferUp wants to create more tools for local entrepreneurs to use to get their products on the platform.C2C During COVID-19 & the Acquisition of LetGoCustomers have been more accommodating during COVID, realizing that buying/selling C2C comes with less exposure than going to a physical store.Customers are trusting each other more with in person exchanges and OfferUp’s shipping option is up 100% statistically.It’s unfortunate, but many people have liquidated items in their home to help with financial stress during COVID. Nick is happy that they’ve created a service that can help with that.“This is a perfect example of how commerce connects people and demonstrates that people still have the ability to interact with each other in good ways in crisis.” - Brian LangeLetGo and OfferUp had different markets where they were doing well, so they decided to come together to offer a more cohesive service and accelerate growth as a unified marketplace.The Future of Peer to Peer CommerceOfferUp’s focus has always been on removing friction in the buying/selling experience as possible.There’s a lot of opportunity left in local commerce from moving goods to payments, and there’s plenty OfferUp wants to do in helping professionals get integrated into the platform.“We want to be a platform that enables anybody to be able to buy and sell things locally. It can be a business. It can be an individual.” - Nick HuzarLinksCheck out Future Commerce Insiders #033: We’re All Retailers, NowCheck out OfferUp, available on all smart devices. If you have any comments or questions about this episode, you can reach out to us at hello@futurecommerce.fm or any of our social channels. We love hearing from our listeners!

Joseph Ansanelli, CEO at Gladly and friend of Future Commerce, sits down with Phillip & Brian to talk about Gladly’s 2020 Consumer Expectations report. Now more than ever, consumers expect a much more personal experience than ever before, and Phillip, Brian, and Joseph discuss practical ways eCommerce brands can exceed those expectations.

How was Sunday born? Lawns are the 3rd largest crop by land area: 40 million acres of land.“You can’t purport to have a deep care for carbon sequestration and soil and the way we treat land, runoff, and environmental issues and not think about [lawn care].” - Coulter LewisA typical managed lawn gets 5x the amount of pesticides per acre than an industrial farm.In starting Sunday, Coulter saw these statistics as a hole in our ethos. We spend time being conscious about what we’re putting into our bodies but not the yard that our bodies spend a lot of time in. This is where Sunday comes in to align our lawn care with our values.DTC Experience of Sunday Lawn CareSunday is 100% direct to consumer through their website.Sunday starts with your address. They pull soil data, climate history, and current weather in order to create a custom plan that takes all the guesswork out of the equation for you.Sunday’s first kit comes with a soil test to get the exact chemical makeup of your property which gives an accurate evaluation of what nutrients your soil is sufficient/not sufficient in and uses that to give you tips and guidance on how to maintain your property sustainably.Your Yard is Your Own National ParkSunday is on the same trajectory that they were on before COVID and during the pandemic, they’ve seen even more growth due to their business model being based around having a healthy space at home.“There is an incredible spectrum of emotional connection people have with their lawns… This is a vast part of our experience and landscape. In some respects, it’s your own national park.” - Coulter LewisCustomer service is top priority at Sunday - in encouraging communities to learn more and engage more with their properties, as they spend massive amounts of time at home.LinksCheck out Sunday’s website. Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at info@futurecommerce.fm or any of our social channels, we love hearing from our listeners!

We have some big news here at Future Commerce! The Stairway to CEO podcast is joining Future Commerce. Every Tuesday, Lee Greene, host of Stairway to CEO will bring you fresh and insightful interviews with CEOs and Founders, highlighting their journey to leading a company. You don't want to miss it! Like & Subscribe to the Stairway to CEO podcast to catch the official relaunch on June 23.

Diversity and TransparencyIt’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 SuddenlyHemingway’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 MentionedMailChimpCheck Your Pulse Have any questions or comments about the show? You can reach out to us at info@futurecommerce.fm or any of our social channels, we love hearing from our listeners!

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? THE YES AND THE NEED FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONJulie 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.OFF-BRAND, NAME-BRAND, AND A PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCEThere 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 YesStitch FixGood+FoundationMythology AmazonSpotify‍

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 AND THE CREATION OF ANDIE SWIM 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. ANDIE DURING COVID-19Swim 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. LEARNING TRANSPARENCY 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. COMMUNITY BUILDING AND BRAND-TO-CONSUMER RELATIONSHIPS 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 SwimRadically Personal Podcast‍

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?PELOTON, MIRROR, AND THEIR DIVIDING LINE: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.EVERYTHING HAS A BEGINNING, A MIDDLE, AND…: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.… AN END: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.