[Voiceover]: Welcome to the checkout. We catch up with previous add to cart guests and ask them five quick questions to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get you through your Friday. Today's checkout features James Fisher and Greg Leibowitz, co founders of Render. Greg and James started the business in 2018 as a side project after spending their gap year in one of the leading tech hubs of the world, Israel. Render now has clients such as Aussie Disposals and cammist Warehouse and are committed to becoming the ultimate on demand delivery solution. Greg and James, welcome to the checkout. We've heard all about Render, but we're here to hear a little bit more about you gents. All right, five quick questions. Number one, what is the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Greg Leibowitz: Good question, Nathan. So this was a rookie mistake by me, but I decided to buy furniture online. So not being too handy when it comes to actually getting on the tools, I went and bought a desk for my room and I thought that I'd measured it out all correctly, but little did I know when I put that piece of furniture from Ikea together that it didn't actually fit the space. So taking that down and packaging it it back up definitely wasn't fun.
[Voiceover]: Did you have to send it back?
Greg Leibowitz: I did have to send it back, but luckily enough I jumped on Render and I used one of our couriers to deliver it back to them. So that was handy. But the experience of taking it down and trying to find all the little pieces to put back in the package wasn't great.
[Voiceover]: What a nightmare. James, what about you?
James Fisher: Mine's an interesting experience. I didn't actually intend to to have this delivered, but it ended up rocking up at my door. So I just went to buy a Michael Jordan frame from like a memorabilia online store. It was off, like ebay. So it was a memorabilia store off ebay, which is already a disaster in its own.
[Voiceover]: I can see where this is going.
James Fisher: A small box has rocked up at my door, so I've brought it in. So definitely not a frame. And I've opened it up and it's this small invitation card with just a rainbow on it, nothing else. Just a rainbow. And I was just like, what the hell is. I've just been completely stitched up. So that will probably go down as the weirdest ever delivery experience I've ever had. I tried to contact the seller, couldn't get in touch, and I was just left with absolutely nothing but an invitation card with just a rainbow on It.
[Voiceover]: So you never got the frame either?
James Fisher: Never got the frame. That was my Michael Jordan frame.
Greg Leibowitz: So
James Fisher: it was one of the weirder moments I've ever experienced and I don't think I've shopped on ebay since, but
[Voiceover]: got well and truly fleeced.
James Fisher: I did. I did.
[Voiceover]: All right, let's go the other angle then. Number two, who is your favorite retailer?
Greg Leibowitz: For me, it's retailers who offer both a amazing in store experience, but then also offer strong online experience. So one retailer that comes to mind for me is Lululemon. I think when you're in the store and the way that they service you, the customer service in store where they greet you by your first name, but then also when you look online at the way that they offer customers an amazing UI experience and easy to check out, I think they're quite a good retailer.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, good example, James.
James Fisher: I'll go with one of my favorites, which is Uniqlo. The reason I'm picking Uniqlo, obviously I'm a big Uniqlo lover. I'm quite a basic man when it comes to clothing and their basic fits are pretty good. But their in store experience of recent was. Was a sight to behold. Where you put your items in the bucket automatically tells you how many is in there, how much it costs straight onto payment. It was one of the. One of the crazier in store experience I've had. And their online experience is great. To be honest, quite frankly, I'm not a massive online shopper, which is interesting. I'm more an in store. But yeah, Uniqlo, definitely with that experience, they took the cake for me.
[Voiceover]: And have you had chats with either of your favorite retailers about a potential render partnership?
Greg Leibowitz: Absolutely. Every retailer. We've spoken to a lot of the big retailers and we haven't got much pushback from them. But for the retailers, it's not about if, it's about when and it's about finding the time to actually slot into their roadmap and work through the detail to help offer their, you know, same day delivery to their customers.
[Voiceover]: All right, number three, which E commerce practice do you wish was? History.
Greg Leibowitz: Pretty obvious one for me, this one. And it is the delayed shipping time. So waiting days for shipping. It's just an absolutely horrible customer experience. And funny story, I once purchased something from a big marketplace. I purchased some gym equipment and it literally took four weeks for the delivery to come. I called the customer service of this particular retailer or marketplace and they said that you have to go and call the carrier and they left that whole responsibility to me as a consumer and definitely wasn't happy with that. But then in contrast, I was looking well, I bought something online from one of our retailers to complement that to the equipment that I had bought. I went online 11pm you know, went on the marketplace or the retailer's website and checked out with render same day delivery as option. The next morning the driver walked into our office, brought this equipment and it was just an amazing experience.
[Voiceover]: Could have been worse. You could have got a rainbow on a card.
Greg Leibowitz: Good app.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? Most customers don't see it as a valued service yet and until you can bring that experience, then that's when customers will be happy paying for it because they're getting that experience with it. Number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Greg Leibowitz: My one Anything Scott Galloway so one that comes to mind is the Prof. G show. He talks about different companies and analyzing different trends in technology or e Commerce or Web3even. And he also talks a lot about personal growth and relationships. So definitely recommend anything Scott Galloway Nice James.
James Fisher: I'll go with Chris Voss. I recently got onto this book, Never Split the Difference, all about the art of negotiation. It's a very, very insightful book touching on for all salesmen out there that want to win some deals want to close sales. This is a must read, a must read book. It really talks on behaviors and how to understand the opposite to really win deals, close negotiations.
[Voiceover]: I can imagine you're in the thick of that at the moment with both bringing on new retailers but also looking at investment partners. Do you have one tip for others who may be looking to increase their negotiation or their sales skills? One tip that has really worked for
James Fisher: you, I think is understand the opposite party. That's something really big. It's easy to walk in and sell a pitch. But I think you have to understand when I look at even the retail space and what we do on a day to day basis, understand their challenges and go solve their challenges as opposed to writing a script and saying, you know this because here listen to what they need and then solve on that need. So that's a big thing.
Greg Leibowitz: Great tip.
[Voiceover]: All right gents, last question. I have for you. Finish this sentence. The future of retail is local commerce.
Greg Leibowitz: I think definitely the way that retailers can fulfill orders for customers that are in close proximity for them, which means that they can get their orders delivered quickly, conveniently and sustainably as well. Local commerce is also good for the environment and it reduces the carbon footprint. And I think yeah, retailers being able to deliver same day to customers who are near to them is definitely the future of E commerce.
[Voiceover]: James, are you going to disagree? Are you going to go like total opposite?
James Fisher: I'm going to go the future of retailers on demand delivery. Retail is going to be swamped by on demand delivery. Customers are going to crave it, retailers are going to have to adopt it and it's going to be an exciting world to be involved in from a customer and a retailer.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, absolutely. James, Greg, it has been really exciting meeting you both and hearing more about Render. Can't wait to see what the next couple of years brings. Thank you for joining us on the checkout.
Greg Leibowitz: Thank you Nathan.
James Fisher: Thanks Nathan.
[Voiceover]: To hear more from James and Greg, jump back into episode 204 where James and Greg share the importance of the local factor and engaging with communities in why they've been so successful so far. They also share why they believe delivery advancement has to be customer driven and how they're taking Click and Collect to new levels with their new delivery service for Clink Collection. Trust me, it makes sense when you hear it. Thanks for listening and until next time, keep adding to car.
