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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.
Nathan Bush: Today's checkout features Richard Kelsey, co founder of Beer Cartel. Started from a Kennard shed in 2009, Beercartel was one of the first online beer businesses in Australia. Today they stock over a thousand craft beers, have created a new tradition with their famous advent beer calendar and have just launched their equity crowdfunding where you can buy a share in Beer Cartel. Richard Kelsey, welcome to the Checkout. I have five quick questions to learn a little bit more about you and what you're doing at Beercartel. All right, number one, what is the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Richard Kelsey: So each year I go onto Fiverr and I buy my wife a happy birthday kind of singing thing. So there's always weird and wonderful things that people are doing.
Nathan Bush: What do you mean a singing thing?
Richard Kelsey: Well, so I think the very first year I did it, there was a Welsh guy and a G string that then sings Happy Birthday.
Nathan Bush: That's so good.
Richard Kelsey: So I've done that. I've had a person overseas that was kind of looking after his cows and then he's singing a happy birthday one. I've had someone doing like a voiceover for. I think it was the Queen or something. So yeah, always try and find something different each year to surprise her with on her birthday.
Nathan Bush: That is amazing. Oh, you've just sparked so many ideas. All right. I don't know if I'll get over that one. Number two, who is your favorite retailer?
Richard Kelsey: I think it would have to be Bunnings. Basically every weekend I find myself there. Whether it's replacing something that's gone wrong or looking to build something out or do something at home. I think for Most people, one that you go to many times a year, particularly if you move, as soon as you move, you find that you're at Bunnings every single week. But yeah, I was there on the weekend again, went to a new Bunnings, Bunnings in Gladesville in Sydney. It's relatively new and you just look at the size of the buildings. That single store is just so huge and employing so many people and they're doing such a great job both online and in store and. And they're getting that sort of mix of getting people from online into store and the other way working so well as well.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, I've been surprised by how well they've transitioned to online and obviously Covid shot things up a notch, but it is pretty seamless.
Richard Kelsey: Oh absolutely.
Nathan Bush: Number three, which retail fad do you wish was history?
Richard Kelsey: Retail fad I wrote there's something down on this I'll have to remember. Oh yes, less a retail fad and it's more a customer reaction. And so most customers absolutely fine. But it's those ones, those few customers that you get all the time that absolutely just self detonate as soon as something even slightly goes wrong, all of a sudden that the parcel that they ordered didn't get picked up or something happened and straight away you've got a one star review and you're the absolute worst person possible after the time you actually find that the customer made a little mistake and put in the wrong address or something else. But it's just how quickly they'll react and react in a negative way and just make a huge singing song and dance about it. So yeah, it's funny how it happens and I'd love it to vanish, but I think it's possibly here to stay.
Nathan Bush: What's been your best tactic to turn a customer from being really worked up into an advocate again, I think it's
Richard Kelsey: just getting in contact with them and just talking to them. You can't go aggressive on them and just try and relate to them, almost
Nathan Bush: show them that there's a human on the other end of this.
Richard Kelsey: Yeah, absolutely. And I think when they start to understand things, and particularly if they have made a mistake themselves, but if you don't do it in a way that it was completely your fault and you're the one to blame, just say, okay, we noticed that you actually put in a wrong address by mistake or something, then they're completely understandable and you'll go from one star review and then it gets changed to a five star review, then it says these Guys are really wonderful to deal with. So yeah, you can definitely turn them around. It's just that the challenge is that first stage.
Nathan Bush: Absolutely. All right, number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Richard Kelsey: Yeah. So I've got two, I guess one for when you're relaxing that there's one I read last year during COVID was called the Happiest man on Earth.
Nathan Bush: Oh, nice.
Richard Kelsey: About a person that went through the horrors of going through holocaust and everything and all the challenges there, but just amazing to see his positive mindset and yeah, I think how he's gone through life and yeah, he's still going strong.
Nathan Bush: And he's from Sydney, right?
Richard Kelsey: Yeah, he is, he is. And I think he's done a lot of good things over in Australia as well. But yeah, that's very interesting. And then from a business side of things, there was one called Extreme Ownership that I've read, how the U.S. navy SEALs lead and win. That's a great one as well. So well worth reading. Brilliant.
Nathan Bush: Great recommendations. Thank you. Last one I've got for you. Finish this sentence. The future of retail is, I think
Richard Kelsey: it's going to be completely different to what we know now. So when you look at, I guess the last 20 years, retail has evolved so much and the likes of things happening online and I think when we go into the next sort of hundred years, it's going to evolve so much again. Innovation in retail is happening at such a greater rate than it ever happened before and there's so many new things that are taking off. So I mean, even if we go back five years ago, buy now, pay later, the kind of concept wasn't really around. So there's just so many different changes and I think it's going to continue to change in so many different ways.
Nathan Bush: Any crazy technologies you've got a keen eye on?
Richard Kelsey: Nothing specifically at the moment. I mean, from an E commerce point of view, we're doing a lot of sort of merchandising stuff and just making sure the right products are showing in the right category. And that's something that I think there's lots of opportunities with. But yeah, we're always on the lookout at things. It can sometimes take a while to work out how it's going to apply to your business or if the platform sort of works with it or anything else. But it's always an evolving scene. So I think it's a kind of watch the space and you see what happens next type thing.
Nathan Bush: Awesome. Thanks for coming on to check out Richard really excited to see what's next for Beer Cartel, so sounds great.
Richard Kelsey: Thanks.
Nathan Bush: To hear more from Richard, jump back into episode 87 where Richard shares how Beer Cartel have capitalized on unique gifts and actually created their own gifting occasions to grow market share. He shares how research has opened up amazing and at times unforeseen opportunities, and also why you should drink beer out of a glass. No more drinking beer out of cans or bottles, you uncouth bogans. Thanks for listening and until next time, keep adding to cart.
