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[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.
[Ad]: Today's checkout features Douglas Lowe, CEO of fashion brand and retailer in Kew. Inkyou have 13 physical stores which retail high end fashion brands as well as operating brands including Rag and Bone, APC and Saturday's Doors. They're known for their most beautiful retail and design aesthetic.
Nathan Bush: Enjoy.
[Ad]: Douglas Lowe, welcome to the Checkout. Here we go.
Nathan Bush: Five things we're going to learn about you. Number one, what is the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Douglas Low: The weirdest thing that I've bought online is probably not that weird to most people, but it's just weird the way that I did it. So I would order things from a place called IHERB in America which was kind of like vitamin and protein and stuff like that. And just to tap into that, they also sell kettle chips. And so I was shipping kettle chips packet by packet to me that I probably could have got from the Coles down the road for a lot cheaper.
Nathan Bush: That's awesome. So you do a workout, hit the protein powders and then just sit on the couch and eat chips.
Douglas Low: Pretty much that sums up my life.
Nathan Bush: That's brilliant. I'm gonna live your life. All right.
[Ad]: Number two, we kind of covered this
Nathan Bush: in the episode but you might have more thoughts. Who is your favorite retailer?
Douglas Low: Yeah, we did cover it and probably just the standout for me from a customer experience perspective but definitely Bunnings. The the way that they can simplify a really, really complex things and make it in very layman's terms is just off the charts.
Nathan Bush: Bonus question without warning, what was your last DIY project?
Douglas Low: Trying to think what it was. I've been to Bunnings a lot because we moved house. I had to buy new lawnmower because we finally got a patch of grass. Probably fixing doors, things like that. Actually, the last DIY project didn't require me to go to Bunnings at all. You know how some doors swing open and they just, you know, you open them and they just keep swinging?
Nathan Bush: Yeah.
Douglas Low: I looked it up on YouTube and worked out how to do it, but all you have to do is take out one of the pins, take it outside onto the concrete and give it a big bash and then push it back in.
Nathan Bush: How good is that feeling? When it's like something that's been annoying you for so long and then you actually take the time to research it and you can fix it in like five minutes, you go, I should have done that years ago.
Douglas Low: Yes, exactly.
Nathan Bush: All right, we're getting off topic, but maybe we'll do a whole podcast episode about home hacks. Number three, which retail fad do you wish was history?
Douglas Low: It's probably calling sale when you go on sale events, and it seems to happen so much at the moment, it just seems like it's great for a consumer because you can always get things at the best price. But from a retailer always being on sale, it's just. It's quite obviously quite challenging for margins perspective. But sometimes it limits you getting great products and creating great experiences and being able to offer excellent things to your customer base because it's all driven by discounting.
Nathan Bush: Does it burn relationships with some of your suppliers?
Douglas Low: It means that we can't stock some brands that we really like because if they're stocked in other businesses and they start to slash and burn their product, it obviously affects us. So we take that into consideration. At the moment, whenever we onboard a new brand, we have to check, see what their stockist list is like.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, makes sense. All right, number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into? Yeah.
Douglas Low: Apart from add to cart.
Nathan Bush: Thank you.
Douglas Low: How I built this. It's one of those things that, you know, every time I listen to it, I get inspired. And it's always about pushing harder in business. It's celebrating failure. It's just so inspirational and innovative.
Nathan Bush: And Guy Raz is just the ultimate interviewer. I love his style. So cool.
Douglas Low: Yeah, he's amazing.
Nathan Bush: Yeah. All right, and last one I've got for you. Finish this sentence. The future of retail is customer centric.
Douglas Low: I think it's the same as it always been. I don't think it'll ever change. But if you can approach things from a customer point of view, your chance of success is going to be so much greater.
Nathan Bush: And question again, without warning, do you think that your view of customer centric is different to a lot of retail leaders because you spent time on the floor with customers before moving into leadership.
Douglas Low: Yeah, 100%. I think if you. We will always approach the business from a customer point of view. And when I say that very simple thing is to treat people like customers when they're in your space, respect them like people. One thing that we talk about is that from a brick and mortar perspective, even if you get someone that's just coming in to ask for directions to the bathroom or ask about something, help them out, do it in a really great way. I think we've had stories where we've had emails back to us from customers who have come in from out of town. They've literally just gone in to ask where the bathroom is and then they've struck up a conversation with one of the store staff. It's flowed on to, can you recommend me any restaurants or other places to shop or anything like that? And they've just emailed back to us and said, wow, you know, that person changed my whole holiday because of that. I ate at this restaurant, which was amazing. And I had this, you know, fantastic experience. I think the fact that, you know, as retailers, whether it's, you know, brick and mortar, online, anywhere, we've got the power to turn people's days around. Not to underplay that, not to just kind of treat them like, you know, if people are coming in, you know, try and rinse them of some dollars, I think, yeah, we've got to stop thinking about that and we've got to treat people like customers because, you know, it's good karma and everything's going to come back around.
Nathan Bush: It's a win, win for everyone, right? Makes everyone's day better.
Douglas Low: Exactly.
Nathan Bush: Beauty. Thanks, Doug.
Douglas Low: All good. Thank you.
[Ad]: To hear more from Doug, go back and jump into episode 105, where Doug shares how Covid has accelerated Inquew's online business to now account for over 20% of sales and why he still thinks Enku is a digital laggard. Doug also shares how design and beauty lies at the heart of everything that incoo does. And he also gives us the inside word on how he went from shop floor Assistant to CEO in 17 years. Thanks for listening. And until next time, keep adding to car.
