Nathan Bush: Before we get into today's chat, I want to share a little resource that we've just released. As you might know, in our checkout episodes, I ask our e commerce guests, do you have a book or a podcast that you recommend our listeners get into? Well, I've taken all of those book recommendations and there's over a hundred of them, plus the stories that go behind them and put them into their own book called the Book Recommendations of E Commerce Experts. Yeah, I know, it's totally original. You will never ever run out of reading ideas again. You can download that one now for free over on addtocart.com
[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 through your Friday. Here's your host, Bushy.
Nathan Bush: Today's checkout features Joel as a party co founder and CEO of Freddy Freddie make jeans that prioritize comfort and fit and look amazing on everybody. Thanks to their unique fabric technology, Joel acquired the distribution rights to the Italian clothing brand and built Freddy from there, developing a cult following in Australia and New Zealand and now expanding into the U.S. and the U.K. joel, welcome to the checkout.
Nathan Bush: We've learned a lot about what you're building with Freddie here in Australia and New Zealand, but also in the UK and the US really exciting journey and especially as you move into physical retail internationally, we're here to learn a little bit more about you. Five quick questions. Number one, what's the weirdest thing that
Nathan Bush: you've ever bought online?
Joel Azzopardi: I got into my brewing my own kombucha during COVID So some weird things I purchased online were ph strips and a carton of dirty empty glass bottles.
Nathan Bush: Did you, did it last long?
Joel Azzopardi: It did maybe a good six months or so. I, I think I need to try and get back into it again.
Nathan Bush: I do a neighborhood trade. My neighbor over the back of us does the kombucha brewing and we have limes and mint and we just trade over the back fence. It's a great system.
Joel Azzopardi: Yeah, amazing. That's great.
Nathan Bush: Number two, who is your favorite retailer at the moment?
Joel Azzopardi: It's Bunnings. I think I'm there every weekend so I've definitely got to say Bunnings.
Nathan Bush: New house or repairing a house or just.
Joel Azzopardi: Yeah, just renovated. So yeah, there's always something, something to do. So yeah. And I mean who doesn't love money?
Nathan Bush: Dangerous, right? Dangerous. A lot of those little hundred dollar invoices add up to a Lot over a month.
Joel Azzopardi: That's exactly right.
Nathan Bush: Number three, which E commerce practice do
Joel Azzopardi: you wish was history? Buying multiple sizes in the same product to try on with the intention of returning the one that doesn't fit? I think it's. Yeah, it's bad for the environment, it's time consuming and it's costly to the merchant and the customer. So I think there's got to be a better way to use technology to know what your size is.
Nathan Bush: Is it still a significant problem for Freddie?
Joel Azzopardi: Yeah, to a large degree. And it's something we've always had to address and we're constantly optimizing, thankfully. Yeah, we're definitely seeing our return rates come down as a result of the things that we've imp. And by having a really real time kind of live chat and a strong customer service team, we're able to kind of really identify and educate our customers who are new to the brand there.
Nathan Bush: And then can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Joel Azzopardi: Two books that I love and that I was able to really relate to. The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger, who's the CEO of Disney. And the other one's gotta be Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, who's the founder of Nike. I think. Yeah, I've just really resonated with both of their stories and they're really great reads with some really amazing tips in there.
Nathan Bush: Amazing. I think we've just hit a trifecta of Shoe Dog recommendations and I'm not sure if it's the movie air that's triggering everyone. Great book. I think it's our most recommended book by far. But our last three guests have all recommended Shoe Dog. So if you haven't read it, get into it. Tell us about the Ride of a Lifetime. What did you get out of that?
Joel Azzopardi: For me, like, regardless of how big or small a company is, you're kind of. You're faced with very similar issues and challenges. And I think that was the real kind of key to me. And I think Robert Iger has kind of been on a massive journey with Disney throughout his career, and he's able to use that experience to make really confident decisions. And it's been able to get through the success of Disney over the last 15 years or so where he's been at the top, and they're just thriving as a result. And I think he's. He's got his own little personal tips and experiences that he's learned along the way. And for me, it just really resonated with what we're doing at the moment as well.
Nathan Bush: Great. And I love that because obviously you've got heritage there and you know, 1970 founded brand. It just goes to show that just because you're an established and large organization, there's no excuse not to be innovative and move forward.
Joel Azzopardi: Yeah, definitely. You constantly need to reinvent yourself or acquire other businesses or reinvent your proper position. And I think that's something that Freddie's been really great from the beginning because Freddie started off making ballet shoes and in the dance industry really, really early on and then evolved and saw the opportunities within activewear and kind of really ride that wave of kind of dance throughout the 80s and 90s and became a really strong activewear brand up until now. And I think that's the credit to Carlo Freddy who founded the brand. He's the genius that is constantly kind of reinventing the brand and keeping it relevant for today's consumer.
Nathan Bush: Beautiful. Have you met Carlo?
Joel Azzopardi: Yeah, yeah, a number of times. I'll be seeing him in a couple of weeks time.
Nathan Bush: Oh, good to have that link to the past. Fantastic. All right, number five, finish this sentence. The future of retail is being disruptive. And what's your version of disruptive?
Joel Azzopardi: It's doing things completely different, especially when it comes to physical retail. I think the old model is dead, particularly with so many direct to consumer brands that are thriving online. There's got to be a better way to bring that to the real world without having to pay crazy rent that landlords and shopping malls are demanding. I think consumers want a different retail experience and they want to discover different brands in real life. And there's only so many Zara's and H&MS. And shopping malls that you can go into which are basically exactly the same at the moment. So it's definitely been disruptive in that environment.
Nathan Bush: Love it. Disruptive it is. Joel, thank you so much for joining us on the checkout.
Joel Azzopardi: Thanks for having me.
Nathan Bush: To hear more from Joel, jump back into episode 322 where Joel shares the secrets to Freddie's customer happiness. He also tells us the best way to organize a distribution model and the winning formula for influencer marketing. Thanks for listening. And until next time, keep adding to cartoon.
