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[Voiceover]: Welcome to the checkout. We catch up with previous add to cut guests and ask them five quick questions to to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get through your Friday. Here's your host, Bushy.
[Ad]: Today's checkout features Joshua Mameliti, Founder and CTO of the bluespace. The bluespace is Australia's largest pure play online renovation retailer with a background in digital. Working for leading Australian bathroom and kitchen brands like Caroma, Josh saw an opportunity for e commerce innovation at a time when very few in the industry agreed. Eight years later, the Blue Space is very well established, a leader in their category, and Josh himself has been recognized by making the 2023 top 50 people in E Commerce list.
Nathan Bush: Josh, thank you for joining us on the checkout. We had a brilliant main conversation around everything that you're doing at the Blue Space, especially around delivery. One of the most unique delivery problems that I've heard around you deliver too fast, that being a point of customer contention all the way through to some of the tools you're using and how you're integrating AI. So that was a fantastic chat, but we're here to learn a little bit more about you. Five quick questions. Number one, what's the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Joshua Mammoliti: Weirdest thing I've ever bought online. So I don't think nothing I buy is weird, but something someone brought up to me that I didn't think it was weird but they thought it was really weird, was I was resurfing the backyard and it turned out, yeah, surprisingly well for someone like me that's not very good at DIY work. And I had someone asked me, oh, where'd you get the turf from? And I said I just bought it online. And they're like, well, you bought your turf online? I said yeah. I said I couldn't even Tell you who I bought it from, I couldn't even remember. I still can't remember the website. I'd have to look it up. But, you know, I just bought it online. And I think when I thought back, I thought, yeah, actually I wasn't planning on buying online. I was just researching best way to lay the turf and how to actually do it because I'd never done it before. And I just saw an ad pop up that said buy the turf online. I wasn't. Yeah, I just clicked on the ad and I thought, oh, yeah, this seems pretty easy. Like I can put my square meters in and it's going to turn up on Friday. That's when I need it. I just bought. I think it was 10 o' clock at night and I just bought the turf. And in hindsight, I didn't think about that a lot because obviously the business I'm in is also very similar. Right. If you think of renovating, usually pop down to a showroom or something like that, you may not think of buying online. So, yeah, I did analyze that process in my mind a lot. Thinking is that we like is. Yeah, I would have gone the way I would have done it was gone to a nursery, not looked at the turf. Anyway. I wouldn't even know what it looked like. Anyway, I just went. I would have just gone there to talk to someone behind the counter and place an order with my credit card and driver. Right. So I might as well do it at home without leaving the house.
Nathan Bush: I suppose when you're helping people skip the traditional process of designing and ordering things like custom bathroom vanities and getting them to order online, probably nothing seems that weird to you buying online anyway.
Joshua Mammoliti: Yeah, no, I didn't. Yeah, it didn't seem weird at all.
Nathan Bush: All right, number two, who is your favorite retail?
Joshua Mammoliti: I know that chat will mention appliances online, so I won't mention them again, but I really like Bellroy. Bellroy from a personal perspective. I love their products, I love their website. I have tried to buy a bag a different way, not from Bellroy. And it is really hard to buy any other bag or wallet from another company because they've done such a good job with their content, showing you exactly what you're going to get, what fits in a wallet, the different combinations you can have. And yeah, you know, the products are good too. They're an Aussie business. They back their products as well. They do a lot of R and D around their products. So I really like them. So I think they really have changed the game in their space. Because yeah, personally I've tried to buy, I've liked the look of a wallet somewhere else. But short of me going to a store and buying, which I'm not a fan of, clothes shopping or I can't do it at a physical location, short of doing that, which I don't like doing Bell, I've done such a good job of showing you what you're going to get and what will fit. So I think for that I've got to tip my hat to them.
Nathan Bush: I'm a fanboy as well. I've got the phone case, the book cover, the wallet, the laptop bag, but everything just works and it lasts forever.
Joshua Mammoliti: It does.
Nathan Bush: I've been so if there's anyone from the Bellroy team listening and want to come, I love the chat. All right, number three, which E commerce practice do you wish was history?
Joshua Mammoliti: I've been known in our business to say no to every single pop up website pop up that happened. I just personally, I can't stand website pop ups. I have caves to. We've got one on our website, very restricted. It's got a lot of rules before it will pop up. The worst thing about pop ups is that they do work and the stats are there and they're incredible stats. They really do work. If you want a customer's email address, a pop up is the way to do it. Offering a discount. Every website does it. It's almost standard nowadays. You jump on a new website for the first time, they're going to try and get that email address off you and give you a discount. But I hate them. I sort of hate them, but I just. They do work. So I'd love.
Nathan Bush: Yes.
Joshua Mammoliti: Yeah, one day I'm sure we'll work out a different way to do do the same thing. But yeah, for now I feel someone
Nathan Bush: needs to write a thesis around the pop up dilemma in that you know, they work but everyone hates them. So the psychology of the pop up. Why do they work if everyone hates them? Customers and retailers combined. I might put Dr. Jason Plant. All right, number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Joshua Mammoliti: Yeah, podcast. I love podcasts. I think listening. Yeah, just listening to the car or anytime there's a spare moment. I do love listening to podcasting. Two I'm sort of into at the moment. One recent, but the other one probably a bit longer. I think marketing school with Eric Su and Neil Patel I really like. I'm a bit of a short and sharp listener. I've only got a short drive to work so they're 10 to 20 minute episodes and they pack a fair bit in. But if you just want to stay finger on the pulse with what's happening in marketing and what these big agencies are looking at, because they're looking at both Neil and Eric are big agencies and they're looking at this sort of new tech or strategies all the time. I think that they're too just to get a really good feel for what's happening. Sometimes it can be a bit information overload and you can run down a rabbit hole with a great day. I saw that they've mentioned and spend a whole day looking at it, but it is good. And the other one, I think as a founder, if there's any founders listening or people looking to start a business, I think a mentor with Mark Boris I really, really enjoy listening to that. I think I've almost listened to probably every episode is put out because I just love every story. Whether he's got a founder or a leader or business leader on there, every story is different. Yeah, I would have loved to have that back when I was starting the Blue space. I think back, I don't think podcasts were a thing. I definitely wasn't listening to them when I started the business. But I wish I had podcasts like that back in when I was starting because you know, so many lessons you have to learn on my own that lots of founders have been through. Almost all of them been through very similar challenges but if you listen to a few, you might just avoid a few mistakes.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. It can be a lonely journey being a founder or an entrepreneur and just to have that space to hear someone's journey over an hour whenever you want it to is brilliant. So yeah, I agree. Mark Boris podcast is fantastic. So well done. Last question I have for you finish this sentence. The future of retail is faster.
Joshua Mammoliti: Oh yeah. I think retail, whether you look at bricks and mortar online, I think it's just all faster. I think yeah, there'll always be a space for experiential retail where people do want to have a experience with a retailer, but majority of what, yeah, what I can see coming and what personally but also in our business, even though there are those customers don't want it faster, there definitely is those customers, they do want to get through the process faster. So not always be delivery, but even just making a decision, a lot of people are looking for that ease and speed to getting to a decision point. And to be honest with the retailer, you kind of strive for the same thing as well. You really want the customer to get to that checkout and you want them to buy. So it kind of works both ways. The retailer wants the speed and customers want the speed speed too. So I think, yeah, I think there's a lot more to come in that space. I think there's obviously some clear leaders that are doing it really well. And I think there's a lot more to come.
Nathan Bush: It's a really good point because oftentimes we seek engagement and interest and want to be the center of a customer's world when really they want to get in and out. And actually, for our business perspective, it's better if they get in and out really quick as well.
Joshua Mammoliti: Exactly.
Nathan Bush: Josh, thanks for joining us on the checkout.
Joshua Mammoliti: No, thanks. That would be nice
[Ad]: to hear more from Josh. Jump back into episode 380, where Josh shares the unique delivery needs of the Renovator. It's a really interesting one where speed is not necessarily a good thing for the BlueSpace customer. It's quite the quandary. We also talk about the AI customer service tool that Josh considers head and shoulders above any other tool that he's got. And we hear the valuable lessons from the BlueSpace's recent enterprise systems implementation. Thanks for listening. And until next time, keep adding to cars.
