[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.
[Voiceover]: Today's checkout features Zoe Lowe, General manager of July. Launching in 2019, the premium luggage and lifestyle brand was soon plunged into a 90% loss of revenue due to the COVID pandemic. But it bounced back with revenue now reaching reaching 10 times higher than pre Covid figures. Zoe has delivered the data driven creative campaigns behind this phenomenal growth as well as a whole bunch of other initiatives that she tells us about.
Nathan Bush: Zoe, thank you so much for joining us on the checkout. We've heard the July story with AAN earlier on Add to Cart and then you gave us a brilliant view on what 2022 held and what you think is coming up for 2023 on that main episode. We're here to learn a little bit more about you. So five quick questions. Number one, what's the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Zoe Low: I recently, I buy lots of weird stuff because, you know, when you work in E commerce, you're just curious. I would say I got like TikTok trapped by a garlic crusher the other day. It was so stupid. It's like a. You have a handle and you like roll it like a. Oh yeah, I saw that.
Nathan Bush: Almost bought it.
Zoe Low: Like I haven't even used it. That's the sad part. I just buy shit and then I'm like, oh my God, that's so cool. And then I arrived later and I'm like, oh man, why did I buy this? Useless.
Nathan Bush: All right, number two, who is your favorite retailer?
Zoe Low: I have two. We always. This is a July favorite retailer. We love Aesop. Aesop, depending on how you pronounce it. Because our goal is July is to be an iconic global Australian brand. And like there's no one better than Aesop and Aesop and Zimmerman actually. And a smaller one because I love small businesses is there's a business. There's actually two. There's one called Harry Potter. I just butchered that pronunciation. It's green beans in French. It's a New York brand. And basically they take all these little charms and they do something special to them and they make beautiful necklaces and bracelets and it's so unique and I have never seen anything like it. And then the third one is an Aussie small business called Nonna's Grocer and they do fruit and tomato shaped tomatoes. Fruit, sorry, fruit shaped Candles. They look so much like tomatoes and like capsicums and limes and lemons. It's unreal. I cannot believe how good it is.
Nathan Bush: We moved on from that question around the weirdest thing you've ever bought online.
Zoe Low: I know, but I haven't bought it because I'm just like, I haven't bought it for myself. I actually want to buy a lot of them for our Christmas gifts to our suppliers this year. So I'm pretty excited.
Nathan Bush: That's cool. We'll put a link to all those stores in the show. Notes number three, which e commerce practice do you wish was history?
Zoe Low: I think for us and the perspective of July. We were so happy when we discovered the power of in person customer service and in person interaction with the brand. So. And we were proven right by the success that we've seen through our retail stores, but also seeing so many amazing Aussie D2C brands branch out from E commerce. So like lskd, like so many people start their retail stores and I think a lot of e commerce businesses are starting to realize that. Yeah, online only. And Sean touched on this is awesome. And your margins are great and everything, but nothing beats in person. And it is so hard to attribute. And that's why as a marketer you're like, oh, like this is really hard. Like how am I going to measure the return? But I can say for sure they keep coming back. Like everything about it, there's a huge halo effect. So that's why I hope for all Aussie retailers to start trying in a pop up format or in a more permanent format.
Nathan Bush: Yeah. So a real presence. Number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Zoe Low: I recently read a book, it is by Tony Fadell and it's called Build and Tony Fadell, if you don't know him, is the father of the ipod and he's also the. Was the CEO of Nest is a new book. I think it was launched this year or last year. My dad bought it for me because we were going on a family trip and it was funny because I read it, then my husband read it and then my dad read it all on the same trip because we flew through the book. And it's really good if you're anyone that worked with a physical product because he talks about all the challenges and so it's a good book to feel really validate it and to feel like, you know, that you're not alone. And a really good book because he's been through the whole thing, the whole like whole shebang all the way to selling. So he also talks a lot about teams and how your teams change as your business grows. And I found that the most valuable.
Nathan Bush: That's a great recommendation, one we haven't had before. So thank you. Last question. I have for you. Finish this sentence. The future of retail is
Zoe Low: I'm going to go back to authentic, amazing human connections. Because we're coming off the back still. People are still recovering from COVID and people are still really craving it. And I think that will just keep going for next year. Next year, again with the revenge travel. Like, people are just going to be like, yo, I'm going to live my best life ever. I've been locked in for two years. You know, I want all the connection that I can get once they get over the transition.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, ours to the side. I like that better, too. That was good. Thank you so much for joining us on the checkout.
[Voiceover]: To hear more from Zoe, jump back into episode 253, where Zoe shares the affiliate marketing platforms she's most interested in. She also shares why she thinks sexual wellness is a category well worth watching in 2023, and why she spent Black Friday on a yacht in the Andaman Sea. Thanks for listening. And until next time, keep adding to carpet.
