Mandeep Shah, founder and ceo of independent bricks and mortar website Trouva, was among the top level speakers taking to the stage on the first day of the Retail Week Live conference, which took place on March 27 and March 28 at the O2’s Intercontinental London.
For the past three and a half years, the online company has been helping bricks and mortar independent retailers from Brighton to Berlin to thrive –with businesses currently including gift retailers such as rigbyandmac (part of The Dulwich Trader group in South East London), and Lily King in North London.
Mandeep was one of three panellists taking part in the seminar ‘Starting From Scratch – A New Model For Retail’, where he shared the stage with Molly Johnston head of strategy at business consultancy Stone River, and Oskana Stowe, an early stage investor with True.
“Knowing what we know, if we could reboot the high street, where would it go now?” presenter and broadcaster Alice Beer asked the panel.
“If you were starting out as a retailer from scratch, then you would go online first and reverse into a brilliant bricks and mortar space,” stated Mandeep, “so it’s about investing in both. At Trouva, we have one foot in the old, and one foot in the new. What is amazing about independents is that they are continually re-inventing themselves. They are great at recognising where the future is, and they know that they have to be better than what is out there. Many of the independent retailers that we work with hold events such as workshops to take their shops to the next level, using these type of retail experiences to encourage people to visit their shops.”
He continued: “We are working alongside what we believe are the best bricks and mortar retailers in the world. Separating online and offline is antiquated thinking.”
Molly Johnston’s view was that, when a retailer is starting out, they need to ask themselves ‘why?’ “Why do I, as a business, exist, apart from to buy and sell products, why do customers come in to shop from my store, and why would someone want to work for me?” she explained. “A retailer also has to ask themselves, do my staff believe in me, and in what I’m doing and selling? Without the right people a business won’t be successful, so retailers need to ensure that their staff are happy and that their shop is a place that people want to work in.”
Customer service and differentiation too, are crucial in today’s retail world said Oskana Stowe. “It’s not so much about the business model but about service delivered to the highest standards. Everything is merging and many retailers haven’t caught up,” she commented. “It’s therefore about having the right inventory software. The larger retailers have been faster to adapt but it’s not a fully virtual world yet.”
On the subject of A1 technology, Mandeep said it was like asking someone if they had a website. “Today it’s about what data sets you are using and what you are doing with technology,” he explained. “At Trouva, we are always digging deeper. It’s no longer about buzzwords,” a view that Molly concurred with. “My advice to anyone starting a business is that it is all about A1 machine learning, and having a well built end-to-end consumer programme. The online and bricks and mortar process has to be seamless.”
Oksana added that what is emerging is that there are a lot of niche communities. “Therefore retailers need to create a platform that will service those communities,” she emphasised. “In fact, under-served communities are an interesting way for a retailer to reach out to customers.”
This year’s Retail Week Live conference featured over 150 top level speakers, and played host to some 300 companies.
Top: Delegates are shown arriving on day one of the Retail Week Live conference held in London this week.
