Podcasts about simplr

This week Connected FM is on a break, so we are revisiting a one of our first episodes with Garr Punnett, Bharani Sankar, and Angel Bou CEO, & Co-Founder at Simplr! Together they discuss new business models within circular economy and how FMs can benefit from thinking circular!Resources MentionedRheaply's Multi-usiverse podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rheaplys-multi-usiverse-podcast/id1593347107Connect with UsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifmaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFacilityManagementAssociation/Twitter: https://twitter.com/IFMAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifma_hq/YouTube: https://youtube.com/ifmaglobalVisit us at https://ifma.org

The guest this time is Jodi McPherson, Co-Founder / CEO Work Simplr Jodi is an intuitive, dynamic and versatile leader with over 25 years in the ed tech and talent sourcing space, architecting SaaS business models.As CEO of Work Simplr, Jodi has built a new talent sourcing platform with students at the center,  for on-demand, fractional paid work.  Work SImplr was recently announced as a member of the ASU+GSV Elite 200 for 2022 and a Shark Tank Finalist for 2023.Questions for Jodi include:How might early career knowledge work be impacted by recent shifts in AI capabilities?How might this impact the skills and experience needed for students to succeed in early career knowledge work? In particular, how might this affect apprenticeships?Considering the evolving landscape of early career knowledge work due to AI, how might educational institutions adapt their curricula to prepare students for jobs that involve collaboration with AI systems? What interdisciplinary skills might become essential?What types of support might companies need to train, improve, or monitor the quality of their AI systems? What role could student workers play?Follow up: Considering the changing nature of early career knowledge work due to AI, how might mentorship programs need to evolve to provide meaningful guidance to students and new professionals entering the workforce? What role can experienced mentors play in navigating the AI-driven landscape?How is the trend of outsourcing, freelancing and farming out entry-level work impacting students and career changers?More About JodiJodi serves on several start-up advisory boards – influencing strategic roadmaps for scalable solutions, and bringing together purpose and profit, for new solutions from ideation to market launch.Jodi serves as a mentor to young high school women and is an advocate of creating a cultThis episode is supported by Right Management North America and ManpowerGroup. For 40+ years, Right Management has transformed organizations across more than 75 countries by evaluating, developing, and transitioning their talent. Their strong pool of coaches and leadership experts works closely with candidates to help them identify their strengths, develop new capabilities, or transition to new careers.Feature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here and contact sales@hr-gazette.com. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events

Simplr is a new type of BPO.  It blends AI and human agent support in a way that most BPOs would never consider.  I sincerely believe that BPOs that do not adopt a similar business model will start to lose chat, email, and SMS support clients in the near future.In this episode we talk about how AI is:Allowing shared agents to perform on par, or better than, traditional dedicated agents;Making attrition an irrelevant data point; andDrastically reducing the cost of digital (email, chat & SMS) support while providing a superior customer experience.To learn more about John Walter, you find him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jowalter/To learn more about Daniel Rodriguez, you can find him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drodriguez4/

Die Themen im heutigen Versicherungsfunk Update sind: Kunden wollen persönliche Beratung durch Vermittler Eine aktuelle Umfrage der Gothaer zeigt, 67 Prozent der Befragten setzen beim Thema Versicherung auf die persönliche, fachkompetente Beratung durch Versicherungsvermittler. Die Studie zeigt außerdem: Ausschlaggebende Faktoren für diese Präferenz sind dabei das Vertrauen in die Versicherungsvermittler (46 Prozent) sowie deren Fachkompetenz (43 Prozent). Die persönliche Beratung ist den potenziellen Kunden besonders wichtig, wenn es um komplexere Themen wie Altersvorsorge oder eine Lebensversicherung geht (62 Prozent). Simplr kann jetzt auch Investment Der Maklerpool blau direkt hat die Funktionen der Vermittler-App Simplr erweitert. Das Kundenbindungsinstrument soll auch im Investment-Bereich eingesetzt werden können. Diese Neuerung, weitere Kooperationen und Bestandskäufe würden „die blau-Welt für Investment aufschließen“, sagte blau direkt-CIO Oliver Lang auf der Network Convention im estnischen Tallinn. Deutsche Finance Group setzt auf Netto-Fondspolicen Die Deutsche Finance Group kooperiert mit der Liechtenstein Life. Künftig solle deren Netto-Fondspolice „Deutsche Finance Performance Plus“ offeriert werden. Diese sei extra für die Vermögensverwaltungsstrategie entwickelt worden. „Mit der Netto-Fondspolice „Deutsche Finance Performance Plus“ erweitern wir zum einen unser Produktangebot für Vertriebspartner mit Zulassung nach §34d GewO und ermöglichen Finanzdienstleistern einen neuen Zugang zu den Investmentstrategien der Deutsche Finance Group“, so Thorben Höfer, Geschäftsführer Deutsche Finance Networks. Signal Iduna mit neuem Tarif in der „Mopedversicherung“ Die Signal Iduna Gruppe bringt zum 15. Februar einen neuen Tarif in der „Mopedversicherung“ heraus. Die Beiträge wurden deutlich gesenkt. Beitragsfrei mit eingeschlossen bleibt die Umweltschadensversicherung. Würzburger überarbeitet Auslandskrankenversicherung Die Würzburger Versicherungs-AG schraubt an der Auslandskrankenversicherung TravelSecure Young. So wurde unter anderem an den Bedingungen bei den Bergungskosten, der Versicherung von Neugeborenen sowie bei der Heilbehandlung von Frühgeborenen geschraubt. AdmiralDirekt startet Moped- und E-Scooter-Versicherung Rechtzeitig zum Auftakt der Zweiradsaison am 1. März geht der Kölner Direktversicherer AdmiralDirekt mit einer Moped- und einer E-Scooter-Versicherung an den Start. „Es ist unser Ziel, einer der führenden Direktversicherer für E-Mobilität zu werden. Dazu gehören neben E-Autos auch Mobilitätsformen wie E-Roller, E-Scooter oder Segways“, erklärt AdmiralDirekt Geschäftsführer Thomas Vogel.

Today's guest is Damien Thioulouse, Head of Machine Learning & AI at Simplr. Founded in 2017, Simplr offers companies a human-first, machine-enabled customer experience solution that meets the demands of the NOW Customer across all digital channels. Offering a combination of a uniquely talented, flexible & scalable staffing pool, AI-based technology, and actionable intelligence, Simplr allows companies to immediately expand their customer service capacity and engage customers with speed, empathy, and precision. Damien leads the AI and Machine Learning across all domains at Simplr. They are developing highly scalable solutions at the forefront of NLP and building highly specialized proprietary models tailored to customer service. He is responsible for growing a top notch team by identifying, sourcing and recruiting talents, creating strong ties with leading universities in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as mentoring new teammates and students. In the episode, Damien will chat about: How Simplr is impacting the customer experience, His role and responsibilities at Simplr, The impact that Simplr brings to their partners, An insight into the AI & ML team, Future growth and what's next for the company and Why Simplr is a great place to work

Leadership from Rheaply, Garr Punnett and Bharani Sankar, and Angel Bou CEO, & Co-Founder at Simplr discuss new business models within circular economy and how FMs can benefit from thinking circular!Topicscircular economy, sustainability, efficiency Resources MentionedIFMA World Workplace 2023https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0GflS67rL8Rheaply's Multi-usiverse podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rheaplys-multi-usiverse-podcast/id1593347107 Connect with UsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifmaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFacilityManagementAssociation/Twitter: https://twitter.com/IFMAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifma_hq/YouTube: https://youtube.com/ifmaglobal Visit us at https://ifma.org

Daniel Rodriguez, CMO at Simplr a machine-enabled customer experience solution that meets the demands of the Customer across all digital channels was our guest on this episode of the SalesStar podcast, Daniel spoke about a few proven marketing practices that should be the highlight through 2022, Key topics covered: Thoughts on core marketing strategies to fuel ROI through 2022 Key martech trends for B2B marketers to keep in mind Creating better end to end experiences for end users in B2B

In this week's episode, we discuss career paths for developers in the tech industry with Miguel Andrés (ex-Google, Badi, now CTO @ Simplr).If you're a developer and want to know what choices are out there, how can you choose between management, product or a purely technical progression path, this episode is for you.If you're someone looking to coach developers, this episode is for you.If you're a developer wanting to learn the differences of potential career paths between startups and corporates, this episode is for you.If you want to learn about Google's 20% rule, how to find mentors for your career, what's the role of a CTO, how to hire C-levels from bigger companies and more, this episode is for you.If you've got great taste for podcasts, this episode is for you.

Every week on Demand Gen Visionaries we sit down with marketing leaders from some of the world's largest and fastest-growing companies to uncover the demand gen strategies that have been fundamental to their skyrocketing success.In each episode, we ask our marketing-leader guests which three areas of investment are most important to their demand gen initiatives. Tune into this special mini-series to hear the budget items our CMO guests can't live without!Find parts one, two, three, four, five & six---Part seven of this special mini-series features 9 CMOs and marketing leaders from some of the world's fastest-growing companies, including:*(03:51) Suzanne Konkle - CMO, Deloitte*(05:14) Randy Frisch - Chief Evangelist Content Experience, Uberflip*(10:50) Daniel Incandela - CMO, Reachdesk*(14:18) Maura McCormick Rivera - CMO, Qualified*(18:02) Meagen Eisenberg - CMO, TripActions *(21:36) Jamie Gier - CMO, Ceros*(24:16) Daniel Rodriguez - CMO, Simplr *(26:24) Anna Kostroun - CMO, NewRocket*(29:31) Micha Hershman - VP of Marketing, Envoy---SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.---LinksFollow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInCaspian Studios

This episode features an interview with Daniel Rodriguez, CMO of Simplr, a human-first, machine-enabled customer experience solution that meets the demands of the NOW Customer across all digital channels. Daniel is leading a team that is redefining the way brands deliver customer service.On this episode Daniel shares his insights into building a successful brand community, creating a halo effect by having the right investments, and ways to get your target audience to think positively about your brand. ---“Community is an organic process. You can try to do things to encourage people to engage, but I think it's understanding. You really have to understand what is it that people are looking to learn, and one of the things that we've realized is that, there's a lot around career definition.”---Episode Timestamps:*(03:19) - Daniel's role at Ceros*(06:13) - Segment: Trust Tree*(09:12) - How demand gen fits into Simplr's marketing strategy*(12:12) - Segment: The Playbook*(17:05) - Creating a movement with community*(24:46) - Getting you target audience to think positively about your brand*(30:46) - Segment: The Dust Up*(34:04) - Segment: Quick Hits SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.LinksConnect with Daniel on LinkedInConnect with Ian on LinkedInLearn more about Simplrwww.caspianstudios.comDaniel's Book: Experience is Everything

Esta semana en Discovering Tech Stories #49 tenemos una nueva cita con nuestro compañero Marcel Gozalbo, co-founder & CTO de Opground, que entrevistará a Miguel Andres, CPTO en Simplr.io, ex-Googler & Tech Executive. Repasamos toda la experiencia de nuestro invitado a través de sus primeros pasos y el desarrollo de su carrera. Suscríbete a nuestras redes sociales a través de Opground, el primer reclutador virtual, para estar al día de todas las novedades de DISCOVERING TECH STORIES. #discoveringtechstories #opground #developers #entrevista

In this episode we discuss the issue of customer neglect with Daniel Rodriguez, the Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr. He just co-authored a book called “Experience Is Everything: How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Wallets in the Era of NOW CX.” There are a lot of strategies companies use to gather customer data, but often company leaders will stick to the metrics that make them feel good about what they're doing rather than actually showing what customers are feeling about their experience. We also discuss the different types of neglected customers, one of which is those who have a large social media presence. They can go on their profiles and blast their whole following about the terrible experience they just had with your company, causing possible revenue loss from all the lost customers that can result.About their book 0:36Why customer neglect is such a pressing issue 6:14The different types of neglected customers 13:34The late night browser 17:52The negative networker 19:42How to address these issues as a leader 21:50“When you then try to understand ‘Where are we with our customers?' You realize that there are a bunch of different things that are happening with customers, and they're feeling many different ways that you are not actually capturing with data.” 7:39https://www.linkedin.com/in/drodriguez4/

Hey CX Nation,In episode #156 of The CXChronicles Podcast we welcomed Daniel Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr based in Nashville, Tennessee and the co-author of the new book "Experience is Everything". Simplr® offers companies a human-first, machine-enabled customer experience solution that meets the demands of the NOW Customer across all digital channels. Offering a combination of a uniquely talented, flexible, and scalable staffing pool, AI-based technology, and actionable intelligence. Simplr allows companies to immediately expand their customer service capacity and engage customers with speed, empathy, and precision as they grow and scale.Listen to Daniel and Adrian chat through The Four CX Pillars: Team,  Tools, Process & Feedback + share some of the tips & tricks that have worked for Simplr as they've built & grown their business & team to improve the future of the customer experience & contact center space.**Episode #156 Highlight Reel:**1.  Post COVID consumers are becoming more impatient & brands must prioritize how they can prevent neglecting their customers 2.  Why investing in employee experience is becoming an apparent fuel for incredible customer experience  3.   Reasons for why market resonance & positive sentiment are paramount for growing your business & market share4. Ideas for keeping high quality customer & employee experience front & center as your business grows 5.  Why proper planning prevents poor performance for most customer facing teams! Huge thanks to Daniel for coming on The CXChronicles Podcast and featuring his team's work and efforts in pushing the customer experience & technology space into the future.Click here to learn more about Daniel RodriguezClick here to learn more about SimplrIf you enjoy The CXChronicles Podcast, please stop by your favorite podcast player and leave us a review. This is the easiest way that we can find new listeners, guests and future customer focused business leaders to tune into our weekly podcast. Be sure to grab a copy of our book "The Four CX Pillars To Grow Your Business Now" on Amazon & check out the CXChronicles Youtube channel for videos of all of our episodes, they're actually starting to stack up! Reach out to CXC at INFO@cxchronicles.com for more information about how we can help your team make customer happiness a habit!Support the show (https://cxchronicles.com/)

Regalos, rebajas, comilonas… en estos días de consumismo extremo, una solución: la economía circular. Un episodio de nuestro podcast en formato entrevista (Mensaje en una botella) con Ángel Bou, CEO de Simplr. Si te gusta Náufragos ayúdanos a crecer recomendando a otros que se suscriban a la versión premium (http://www.naufragos.info) o compartiendo nuestro contenido en redes sociales. También puedes escribirme con ideas o comentarios al email (naufragoselpodcast@gmail.com) o a través de redes sociales (@Naufragos_ES).

Changes Customer Experience Teams Need to Make to Meet the Demands of the "Now" Customer Shep Hyken interviews Eng Tan, author of Experience is Everything and CEO of Simplr, a company that is redefining the way brands deliver CX. They discuss what CX teams need to let go of in order to succeed in the new era of CX. Top Takeaways: The old perceived notions of control and measures of customer success are misused or no longer relevant in the new era of CX. Some metrics may even lead to customer neglect. For example, a focus on Average Handle Time may lead to incomplete resolutions, striving for a larger customer support headcount may drain a company's resources. In order to meet the demands of the always-on, demanding, "NOW" customers, Eng Tan recommends that CX teams make the following changes or risk getting left behind by their competitors: ·      “Let go” of old CX metrics - Let go of some of the old customer service metrics that is not doing anything for your business. When specific metrics, such as NPS or AHT, are used in isolation, they don't tell the full story. ·      “Let go” of the omnichannel arms race - Brands tend to stretch themselves too thin across multiple modalities and increase the effort level for customers. But, at the end of the day, customers will choose ease of resolution over channel choice. Train your customers on the best way to get support. ·      “Let go” of old ways of measuring internal influence. - We often hear this question in the customer service world: How many agents do you have? CX leaders should stop measuring their influence by their headcount and instead focus on insights provision, brand, loyalty and revenue impact, and operational resiliency. In this episode, Eng Tan also talks about his new book Experience is Everything, customer neglect, and organizational changes that CX teams need to make to stay competitive in the market. Tune in! Quote: "Conversion rates, repeat purchase rates, and customer lifetime value are influenced by not only by the quality of products and services but by how well customer service executes."   About:  Eng Tan is CEO of Simplr, a company that is redefining the way brands deliver CX. He is the author of Experience Is Everything: Winning Customers' Hearts, Minds, and Wallets in the Era of NOW CX. Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Rodriguez, CMO of Simplr, joins the podcast to discuss how the human cloud (in fact what they call their model!) is helping them disrupt customer experience and the traditional call center. They've even written a book on the subject, Experience is Everything, available now. He also talks about being a finance and marketing person in a world of startups.

Today we're going to talk about agile customer service and how organizations can be as nimble with their customer support teams as they are in other aspects of business in our cloud-based world. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Daniel Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr.

Today we're going to talk about agile customer service and how organizations can be as nimble with their customer support teams as they are in other aspects of business in our cloud-based world. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Daniel Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr.

Hoy hemos “eliminado” uno de los juguetes con los que más han disfrutado nuestros hijos en los últimos 15 meses. Se trata de una casita de plástico que ha hecho las veces de su casita en el árbol. Fue el regalo que recibieron ambos en su cumpleaños de 2020 y hoy la hemos vendido por 30 € en Wallapop Hemos enseñado los dos billetes a nuestros hijos para que vayan comenzando su educación financiera. Ambos han estado de acuerdo en la transacción y serán los beneficiarios de su venta. Esto me ha hecho reflexionar sobre la economía circular y sobre el pago por uso que tanto promociona mi buen amigo David Blay Tapia y la empresa la empresa Simplr.io | Life as a Service. PD: Un gesto cotidiano se puede aprovechar para educar a tus hijos de la mejor manera posible. Si quieres comentar este episodio puedes hacerlo a través: hola@nachocaballero.com.

Geoffrey c'est l'ancien DG de Teads, la pépite de l'adtech, spécialisée dans la vidéo publicitaire en ligne. Créée en 2011, c'est devenu aujourd'hui une des réelles alternatives aux GAFA avec un chiffre d'affaires de plus de 365 millions d'euros. Passionné par les médias, Geoffrey a commencé par créer sa première agence de presse audio au lyçée puis, à 19ans, il se lance en tant que journaliste accrédité à Matignon. Cette énergie ne le quitte pas même lors de sa classe préparatoire où il continuera son métier de journaliste notamment chez RMC en parallèle de ses études. Vous l'aurez compris, Geoffrey est mû par cette soif d'entreprendre depuis toujours et sous toutes ces formes. C'est un entrepreneur multirécidiviste qui a également monté une épicerie fine en ligne, Madeleine Market, entrepris pour Fauchon, fondé le siècle numérique et qui a créé sa structure d'investissement avec Simplr Capital. Son motto : croire en ses rêves, être ambitieux et surtout être résilient. Au programme de cet épisode : Créer sa première boîte au lyçée Convaincre des patrons de presse de 50 ans sans ressource à 19ans Créer des boîtes dans des secteurs très différents Galèrer à cause d'un equity donné trop rapidement Apprendre à manager sur le tas Bonne écoute ! Pour soutenir le podcast : S'abonner à La Galère pour ne pas rater la sortie du prochain épisode Mettre 5 étoiles sur Apple Podcast pour aider d'autres personnes à découvrir le podcast

Top Takeaways:-      Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your service is “good enough.” “Good enough” service is never good enough. -      Customer expectations are evolving so quickly that companies don’t even realize they are failing their customers. By not meeting those expectations, brands will let down and lose customers. -      Companies must utilize AI and technology alongside a human element in the customer experience. Technology alone won’t work. -      Think of your customers in terms of the classic iceberg metaphor. There is so much more going on underneath the surface than what is clearly visible. Work to understand those behaviors and motivators you don’t immediately see. -      NPS and CSAT scores are not enough to get the big picture of your customer base. Not enough customers fill out surveys (even one-question surveys) or provide enough details to allow for global projections of customer satisfaction. -      Customers who have a less than amazing service experience with you may not fill out a survey, but they will tell other people. This will affect your brand reputation and could result in missed opportunities and lost revenue. -      We are in the age of the “now” customer. Customers are no longer willing to wait for answers or products, but companies still believe they are. -      It’s crucial to mystery shop your own business so you can get real data to help you understand what is truly happening with your customer base and how your company can improve areas of weakness. -      Deflection is not a customer-centric concept. You can offer your customers alternatives, but always give them the option to come back. -      For more, read Simplr’s report, “The State of CX in 2020” and attend (or rewatch) Simplr’s webinar, “How to WOW the NOW Customer” featuring Shep and Daniel! Quote:“‘Good enough’ is not good enough. A ‘good enough’ mentality causes you to rest on a laurel that is a false presumption of loyalty by your customers and future customers.” About:Daniel Rodriguez is the CMO of Simplr and an experienced marketing executive, entrepreneur, family guy and musician. Before Simplr, he served as VP of Marketing for Seismic and co-founded multiple other companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we sit down with Daniel Rodriguez to discuss the importance of customer service, and how it's baked into your overall customer's experience. https://www.cavesocial.com/daniel-rodriguez

Daniel Rodriguez is the Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr and he was the VP of Marketing of Seismic. In this episode, he talks all about Simplr’s way of working with flex specialists and the advantages of working with them. Tune in now: https://shanebarker.com/podcast/flex-workers-and-how-they-improve-customer-experience-with-daniel-rodriguez/  Also, here are some of the best ways you can improve your customer service: https://shanebarker.com/blog/improve-customer-service/ 

Daniel Rodriguez is the Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr and he was the VP of Marketing of Seismic. In this episode, he explains where brands go wrong in customer service and explains how you can change that. Tune in now: https://shanebarker.com/podcast/overhauling-your-customer-service-better-with-daniel-rodriguez/  Also, if you want to know which chatbots can help you deliver superior customer service, check out the best chatbot platforms: https://shanebarker.com/blog/chatbots-for-websites/ 

Daniel Rodriguez is the Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr and he was the VP of Marketing of Seismic. In this episode, he talks all about Simplr and why it’s important to deliver a great customer experience. Tune in now: https://shanebarker.com/podcast/importance-of-customer-experience-with-daniel-rodriguez/  Also, check out some of the best ways through which you can improve your customer service with ease: https://shanebarker.com/blog/improve-customer-service/ 

Daniel Rodriguez is the head of marketing at Simplr, which is upending the traditional customer service model by providing premium brands with flexible, 24/7 on-demand specialists for all digital channels. The company's specialists are unique work-from-home pool of highly educated professionals who use Simplr's, AI-powered platform to replicate tone and brand integrity with speed, empathy and precision.   Danielle has extensive marketing and entrepreneurial experience, having served as the VP of marketing for Seismic and the co-founder of multiple companies, including Indivly Magic and PrizeTube. Daniel earned a BA in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from MIT. Questions Could you share a little bit with us about your history? I know it says here that you are Head of Marketing at Simplr and that you've gained a lot of experience as it relates to digital marketing and also entrepreneurial skill. But just share with us a little bit about how you got to where you are today. Simlpr recently conducted a study, a customer experience study, where it says 27% consumers say their brand loyalty has wavered during the pandemic due to long customer service wait times. Could you share a little bit about some of the insights that you gained from that study? Let's say our audience; they do have some of these issues that we're talking about. What are maybe two or three things that they should do that maybe they're not doing now in a very practical sense, things they should really be focused on to just give that great customer experience? Could you share with us what is the one online resource, website tool or app that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? Could you share with us maybe one or two books that have had the biggest impact on you? It could be a book that you read since the pandemic, or it could be a book that you read many, many years ago. But it still has had a great impact on you. Now, can you share with us what's one thing that's going on in your life right now, something that you're really excited about - either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people? Where can they find you online? Do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will revert to this quote, it kind of helps you to move forward, to keep pushing. Do you have one of those?   Highlights   Daniel’s Journey   Daniel shared that he spent the past 8 years of his career running marketing teams at start-up companies, tech companies in the B2B space. So, very high growth companies, they're all venture funded and have high growth expectations. And it's been a really rewarding journey, he thinks, for him, because he started his career on the consulting and finance side, and he had this moment as the wise poet John Mayer once said. He had a quarter life crisis and realized that if he didn't actually be the doer, meaning, be actually on the operating side, he was going to have regrets in his own life about the career choices that he was making.   So that really started him down a path and he’s very thankful to Brad Rosen, who's the CEO of a company called Drink, for taking a chance on him and letting him work for him on kind of a volunteer nights and weekends basis and Drink is a wine app. And for him, it was great to be able to dive into on the operating side, dive into something that he was also passionate about just at a personal level.   So that gave him his first taste, if you will, of actually being at a start-up, super early stage start-up and that really scrappy mode. And once he had that taste, he was completely hooked. So, that started his path then to go to business school, which was giving him an opportunity to learn a lot more about entrepreneurship, experience entrepreneurship himself, try to start a company himself. And it was kind of from there and from some of those failed experiences of his own and trying to get companies off the ground that he was able to then get jobs at more established, albeit still very early stage companies. And so, that's where he has been spending the majority of his career at this point.   Simplr’s Insight on Customer Experience Study Me: So, in preparing for this interview, we were informed that your company Simlpr recently conducted a study, a customer experience study, where it says 27% of consumers say their brand loyalty has wavered during the pandemic due to long customer service wait times. Being in customer service myself, I know that's like one of the biggest pet peeves of customers waiting, whether it be face to face or over the phone or even in a web forum if you have to wait on a chat for somebody to give you feedback, could you share a little bit about some of the insights that you gained from that study?   Daniel shared that they've conducted 3 of these mystery shop reports, the survey that they've gone out, partnered with a third party. They've done 3 of them over the past year. So, they did one in June where they mystery shopped about 800 eCommerce retail brands. And they were looking for areas where they could identify the things that are really important to customers and therefore result in customers having an exceptional experience, an experience that they would want to give somebody a 5-star rating about and tell their friends.   And so they looked at dimensions of Reliability, Relatability and Responsiveness. So, one of the hypotheses that they had was and this was predominantly U.S. based brands, although there are people purchasing products from all parts of the world. And they also then interviewed 500 U.S. customers of those brands, consumers not necessarily specific to any of these brands, but just 500 hundred people that are consumers in the United States.   And they asked them, how did they feel about wait times? How do they feel about brands and their willingness to stick with that brand, if there was going to be a longer wait time?   And their hypothesis was and this was something that they have also been feeling themselves during the pandemic. When the pandemic began in March and April, there was a lot of forgiveness. People were willing to say, “Oh my gosh, the world has just been completely turned upside down. I'm not going to hold it against my favourite brand that things are messed up. And they have shipping delays and they can't figure out where things are. And they might be getting slammed with a backlog because people weren't able to go into the office to answer to these questions.”   So, this idea that he thinks we as consumers were permitting, we were okay with the dreaded backlog happening, consumers don't think of it as a backlog. But we, of course, as the providers of a great customer experience, we think of backlogs and the dreaded backlog, which happens to many companies and for various reasons, he thinks reared its ugly head for many brands.   And what they saw then happen was consumers stopped being as forgiving, basically, they were saying, “Hey, now that we're three or four months into this thing, I've gone back to my previously picky ways and I'm no longer willing to put up with this.” And that obviously is concerning because it's still very difficult for many brands to figure out how to provide a great customer experience.   Me: So, your study focused on ensuring that you are looking at brands that were providing a really fantastic customer experience. And the biggest pet peeve that you picked up in this report was wait times. Why do you think customers as the pandemic got more and more deeper, people got less forgiving or patient as it related to giving brands the breather that they needed?   Daniel shared that what's really interesting about this finding is that he does think that part of this finding is cultural. And by that, he means, Americans are not the same as people from other countries. They had a webinar and they had a couple of guest speakers on the webinar, one of which her name is Alex, she runs customer success at Princess Polly. Princess Polly is an Australian brand. So they have a lot of customers in Australia.   And this idea that felt very validated by an American hypothesis in the data by Americans doesn't actually play out anecdotally anyway, in Alex's experience for their Australian customers. They were just very willing to be forgiving still of things being delayed and challenges, a lot of things relating to shipping and the forgiveness around that.   So, he thinks there's a fair amount of a cultural challenge around this. He thinks the American market; you can probably say that the American consumer has a very high bar. And unfortunately, it's harder than ever before to probably deliver on that high bar.   What he means by that high bar by the way, he thinks that high bar is, he doesn't want to use words that are that are either positive or negative in kind of describing the American consumer here. He is an American. He is an American consumer, but he thinks that the American consumer has been very much influenced by a lot of the existing technology and the way that American consumers have been catered to by that technology.   So Amazon, which is absolutely a ubiquitous company in not just the United States, but as he’s speaking specifically about this has he thinks created an expectation of you get whatever you want, whenever you want it, and it comes fast and that whole idea of hyper catered to.   And so, he thinks that's what we're kind of seeing play out here. There has been a very significant trend that was already happening before the pandemic of both his generation, as well as the generation below us, so the millennial.   He’s a reluctant millennial because sometimes the pejorative to call someone a millennial, he’s like the oldest millennial you can get, he’s like, “No, not those millennials. They're all so young and don't respect their boss and all this stuff.”   But as a millennial and then as Gen Z, there is a there's a pretty significant shift in the way that we want to interact with our brands as consumers away from that kind of unilateral, “Hey, here's the phone and we're available when you need us, if you ever have an issue. And by when you need us, I mean, between the hours of 9:00 and 5:00 Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday.” So, that expectation that customers then have, “Well, actually, I want to be able to interact with a brand on a different channel. I want to be able to use email. I want to be able to use Instagram. I want to be able to use chat right on the website. And by the way, I want to be able to do that whenever it's convenient for me and it's convenient for me probably not when it's convenient for you.”   And that expectation has been exacerbated actually by the pandemic. And the data that they collected also reflects this narrative where brands have now recognized because of the pandemic that they need to offer more digital options for people to interact with them.   They just have to, it becomes table stakes and then it becomes punitive if you're not actually playing the game. The problem is most of the brands in the study hadn't quite cracked the nut on how do I actually deliver a customer experience that is expected by this customer. I'm offering something, I have chat, but then, sometimes it takes more than 5 minutes to respond to a chat and 92% of the people who experience a 5 minute wait time on chat give the brand a very poor rating on responsiveness.   Me: Because their expectation is immediate response.   Daniel agreed and stated that 30 seconds or less, “If it's more than a minute, I'm starting to really get mad; I'll give you a minute. I might start wavering, but if it's more than a minute, I'm actually going to get mad.”   And this world of CX that we've kind of immersed ourselves in here, it's an emotional world. He thinks of times in his own life where he can remember either good or bad experiences with brands. And his blood gets boiling, really bothers him. And these are things he can remember from like 10 years ago.   So, he thinks it's so important for us to remember that in a time, particularly in a pandemic, in a time where everyone is feeling kind of raw, actually, and we're willing to then if we put our own feelings on a 10 point scale, he thinks that our capacity to feel at a 10 is actually heightened by the fact that we are in this kind of simmering state of anxiety.   And so, providing somebody with a very good experience can make someone feel amazing, providing something the very poor experience can make somebody maybe kind of tip over. And this will finally be the thing that I feel like I can scream about.   Me: Agreed. So, you touched on a few stuff that I thought was really, really interesting. One was you said that you thought that at the end of the day, even though you did a study and it was primarily reflective of the American consumer, you also think it's very cultural. And it's funny you said that because I do agree with you, but at the same time, you went ahead to then allude to the fact that Amazon has kind of set the bar so high and I'm doing some research for a customer experience management program I'm building for a client.   And in my research, one of the things that I realized was, no matter what industry you're in, whether are you're a bank or you're a supermarket or you're delivering pizza. Because Amazon has created technology or an experience by which you can just go online and press the button and within minutes or hours depending on what it is that you're ordering, you can get the item delivered to you. You can see where it is every step along the way, it's almost like consumers expect that same experience in other types of businesses, even if the business model is not similar to yours.   And I don't think that's specific to country. I don't think it's because Amazon is an American brand. I think Jamaicans have that expectation as well. Two nights ago, my godchildren's father called me and he asked me. So a lot of companies in Jamaica, especially the fast food restaurants, have been doing delivery services now. And companies like Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example, that never used to deliver in Jamaica, that was like something that we never thought we'd live to see. I couldn't understand why they wouldn't deliver just like pizza delivers, because when I did some research, KFC delivers in Trinidad, but it doesn't deliver here in Jamaica.   And I was like, well, if they can do it in Trinidad and population is less, why can't they do it here? Anyhow, he called and said that his wife ordered some food from like 6:30 pm and it was like 9:00 o'clock and the food hadn't come. And when he called the lady, the lady at the delivery place says to him, “Oh, but we told you 30 to 45 minutes.” I don't even know how giving that statement to the customer is relevant because we're now way past 45 minutes. Six thirty to 9:00 is way past what you would have told them to expect.   So at this point, he's so mad he wants a full refund and then they further said to him, it's going to take them 7 to 10 business days to process this refund. And remember when they took his money; I'm sure it didn't take 30 seconds to run that money off of his card or whatever payment, well, it would have to be off his card if it was a digital payment, because he did it through an app that he use on the phone.   But I'm saying this is say Daniel, you are correct because of the experience that Amazon has created for us and as I said, I don't think it's necessarily cultural. I think, generally speaking, regardless of the country that you are from, if you know of Amazon and you've done business with them, it's almost like your brain is saying to yourself, “Well, if Amazon has human beings that work in their organization and they're able to create these technologies that create this type of experience, why can't other businesses think like this and operate like these to create a similar kind of experience to make life less stressful for me, because there are other things that I have to worry about, and this would be one less thing for me to stress about.”   So I thought that was really, really brilliant. And I think all organizations should really be looking at benchmarking themselves, not against companies that are in the same industry as them, but even companies that are outside of their industry because that's what their customers are viewing their businesses.   Daniel shared that he totally agreed with that. And thanks Yanique for just sharing that anecdote as well. They actually we work with a large restaurant, quick serve restaurant. And they have an application and it's a very similar type of thing where you see a lot of times confusion that people have. And what was sad, they saw recently this really great kind of interaction with the brand they're helping out on helping them answer these customer inquiries. And somebody writes in with basically that same story like, “Hey, something got messed up with my order. It hasn't been here for way too long.”   And he thinks that the bar is currently so low, actually. Here's the saving grace. We don't want to give doom and gloom to everybody. But maybe the saving grace is that the bar is actually quite low in terms of reality and if you then are responsive to people and you are empathetic and this was another thing that their data showed is the relatability aspect.   So being empathetic, showing somebody that you're a human, which bots obviously struggle to do, and which is why people get frustrated with bots. And he’s not saying bots should never be used, but he’s saying and in certain instances, if you put a bot in front of somebody and they are unable to get their situation resolved, it will make them even more mad than they would have been in any other situation.   But when we talk about just that bar being kind of low, you give somebody a quick response, you immediately tell them, “Hey, I am so sorry that your food did not get there when it needed to. That must have been extremely frustrating. And you're probably hungry right now.”   You immediately have made the person feel validated because being validated is the cornerstone, he thinks, of being able to make somebody feel open to then working with you and coming back, so you start with that validation, which is, he thinks, the cornerstone of empathy. And then you give them that refund, you get that processed much more quickly and then what does that person do? And this is actually a real example, by the way.   So, they saw this exact example happen and this person wrote back 5 out of 5 star review on the CSAT survey. And then they write in and they say, “I just have to tell you, I didn't even think anyone was going to write me back. And you've totally blown me away.”   But that first initial idea that they had actually written in, they'd taken the time to write in to express their frustration and they still didn't even expect to hear back to him shows that there is a real disconnect between where people's bar is in terms of like, if you can get over this bar, you're going to actually satisfy people. And then if you can really go beyond it to just the expectation that we want to have for our consumers, that there's plenty of 5 star moments out there to be had.   Me: Agreed. So, true. So one of the things your study actually said, which I thought was really very important, reinforcing what you just said. So, “AI driven chatbots are making significant strides in providing Real-Time information to solve simple customer concerns. But it still remains important to the customer experience that a company brings empathy and humanity to each customer interaction.”   Because, as you said, bots are here to help us, the technology is there to help us. But at the end of the day, there are some circumstances that require human interaction. I honestly don't think that even though technology has advanced so much that the human element of a customer experience is ever, ever going to be void and null, it's still going to need some form of human interaction.   Daniel agreed and shared that a couple of years ago, they were living in the rage; AI bots are going to be able to completely take over multiple parts of the organization actually, it was customer success, it was also sales. He remembers hearing we're never going to need sales reps because the bots can do all the work.   And the reality is, we think of ourselves as a human enabled technology company and we think that there is a place for technology and we see companies and he’s not even talking about their own customers. They see big brands, there's a place for bots and it has certain limited scope. And it's an incredibly valuable way for them to reduce their overall cost of service.   And we see companies that then are using people to answer questions in an on brand way. And you really got a nail that kind of tone and brand. And you have to have the knowledge and the people have to have that knowledge. And we play that role; we play that role for companies. But there's different ways that companies do that. And then there's also always this like core team internally where things need to get escalated to, if something is really going bad, you really need to have some people that are inside the organization that might be able to move larger mountains if need be.   And so, that's kind of where things he thinks sit today. And he doesn't necessarily see a lot of companies saying, “What we really need is more bots.” He hears them say, “What we really need is fewer backlogs.” Because the backlogs are what is killing their customer satisfaction. And bots don't necessarily take away the backlog, they might give you an immediate quick responsiveness, but they won't necessarily be able to resolve the issue. And of course, if you don't resolve the issue, you don't really change the situation.   So, they see a lot of companies also really focused on resolution, first time resolution. Just resolving something is obviously important but if it takes you, “Hey, we're on chat and I can't help you, now email us and I'll get back to you in a few days and we'll work on this over the course of the next week.”   That's not okay, that is just not okay. And when he says it's not okay, the data reflects that CSAT scores are not good when that happens. So, they're really focused on and he thinks a lot of companies agree with this, really focused on getting that resolution to happen in that first interaction.   Things to Focus on to Give Great Customer Experience   Daniel shared that yes, he would say the First Time Resolution. And you accomplish a first time resolution by making sure that the people who are responding on your behalf are empowered to be able to resolve the issue that they are being asked to resolve.   So that's critically important. He would say another thing to do is around Relatability. Oftentimes, we have people that are doing the customer service response, they’re writing back and yet for a variety of reasons, whether it's the incentives we're giving them or whether it's a lack of directive, we are taking out their humanity from the interaction.   If we're just telling somebody, just get through this quickly and get it done, which is sometimes the way that we align the incentive, we then just get them to just do something really fast. And you can tell when you get an email when it's kind of fast, somebody is just being quick. And so, when he means relatability, he means empowering people to actually show that they're people and using that personality.   So, giving a potential anecdote, being able to be empathetic like we were talking about before, validating how somebody is feeling, it's hard for bots to do those things, credibly. They can do them maybe in a way that will get it right some of the time and then not some of the time. And that not some of the time is really a disaster, basically. So, this is where human beings, we have this capacity to allow somebody to have an emotional connection to what you're saying because you're showing your humanity and we need to encourage people to do that.   And the last that he’ll say is it is important to be able to be Reliable with your customers and where they want to be, the data does suggest this, and this is also where the world has been going. If you have chat and you cannot respond to people on chat, it's like what is worse, having it in the first place or giving people a terrible customer experience. It's like a two sides of the same thing. It's terrible because you're going to miss out on these presale opportunities by not having it and a lot of people just prefer to go in through chat for even for a post sale inquiry. But if you don't service it properly, it's a terrible experience.   Same thing with email. People offer up email and they should because many people like to email and they recognize that I'm going to send you an email and he thinks the expectation from what we can see, is the expectation is a day. If you're getting back to him in 24 hours on an email, that is about what he would expect. That's how he kind of think about it even in his own life in business. He writes somebody an email; he expects them to get back to him within 24 hours.   Me: Even if it's just an acknowledgement.   Daniel agreed and stated that just to be able to say I hear you right. Oftentimes in our customer service world, we end up giving people an automated response, just let them know I received your email and we will be getting back to you.   But, in the survey that they did, the average response time on email was 48 hours. He thinks that people recognize that that's probably not acceptable. He thinks that the bar for what we should be attempting to provide, it is attainable because where things currently are has plenty of room to get better. And I think that when you impress people, so if you then get back to people every time in less than 24 hours, every time, and you never create a backlog.   So, because you never want to have a backlog and because customers feel the backlog, the backlog means you can't get back to them for days or chat if your chats are piling up and he’s not talking about at 3:00 a.m. when for some strange reason somebody doesn't get back to a chat, maybe you can be forgiving of that. He’s talking about during a time where you expect somebody to be able to chat and they're piling up, that's a chat backlog. That's a disaster and those should be avoided at all costs.     App, Website or Tool that Daniel Absolutely Can’t Live Without in His Business When asked about on online resource that he cannot live without in his business, Daniel shared that they use a technology called Gong to listen to their sales calls. And he will say that it has been very powerful. As somebody on the marketing side where they are really trying to support their sales team, make sure that they understand what their prospective customers are actually saying about their pain, what is that language and their ability to then provide the right information to their sales team so that they can be successful in those selling interactions.   Gong has been amazing because it allows them to asynchronously participate in the sales conversation, because they can listen to the calls, they can listen to them at faster than real time speed. So you can make it play at more than 1X speed, which is great, too, because it allows him to catch up on some things that at a faster pace. He can skip forward and listen, what they've done is within the Gong platform, they're using Natural Language Processing to tag what people are talking about.   So, when somebody is talking about pricing, when somebody is talking about positioning, He can kind of see where that is in the conversation so he can kind of skip forward to the things that are going to be really useful for him. If it's 2 minutes or 5 minutes at the beginning of just kind of set up time, he can see what that is because that's tag there so he can move past it. So Gong has been a real benefit to them, and he’s only assuming that also because of the pandemic, that it's even more useful because he can't easily just kind of hop in a room and join one of his sales teammates on a call.   Books That Have Had the Greatest Impact on Daniel When asked about books that have had the biggest impact, Daniel shared that on the professional side, Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, which he loved, was 10 years ago. He still loves that book because he thinks in many ways, Tony's way of thinking about the business model as customer centric and obviously he also sold the business to Amazon, which at the time felt like, well, maybe that's not a win and if he's been holding onto that Amazon stock, most of us would think he's probably a billionaire at this point. But they were two companies cut from the same cloth because Amazon also has done the exact same thing and he has listened to podcasts and things where people from Amazon are talking about how do they think about solving business problems.   And they always start with the customer perspective. What will make the customer happier in this circumstance? And he thinks that that ethos and Tony just talks about this basically throughout the entire book, that ethos is what makes the whole discipline of CX a reality, it's not just your customer support function. You have to be thinking about this in every part of the company. Well, what would be better for the customer? And that informs what we do on the marketing side too, what you make this easier for the customer to be able to understand our value, understand what we do, how can we give them more useful information that will make their jobs easier? So, he loves that book.   On the personal side, he recently finished reading How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and it's an amazing book. It he thinks gave him a lot more language to be able to understand the role that he needs to play in the world and how he’s going to be part of change that needs to happen and the role that policy needs to play and what he needs to do to support policy that is anti-racist so that we can dismantle the systemic racism that has plagued not only this country, obviously, but many parts of the world for a long time for centuries.   And so, he’s incredibly grateful for the scholarship of Ibram X. Kendi. He’s actually attending a seminar that he's putting on. So, he’s very, very excited about that book and if anybody else has read this book and is interested in talking about it, he’s very much looking to connect with people who are interested in this as a topic.   What Daniel is Really Excited About Now! Daniel shared that the funny thing about a pandemic is that it can change a lot of the priorities of what you’re able to try to do or not do. One of the things that he’s passionate about is meditation. He started meditating about 10 years ago and has been meditating on a daily basis for close to 4 years at this point. So he's kind of gone on and off in the past with some different ways of doing it. And one of the things for those who have meditated regularly and have done so kind of alone, one of the things that he was realizing he was doing, he has been doing a guided meditation, a daily 10 minute guided meditation through an app called Calm. And there are different apps for this; Headspace is another app. WakingUp is an app that was recently introduced to him. There are lessons that are being broached and he wanted more opportunities to kind of talk about those, talk about those lessons and to reflect on them and hear other people's thoughts on them.   So, he feels like he has been doing this in kind of a siloed, personal way. And recently he brought this to Simplr and he said, “Hey, does anyone want to do a meditation?” He'll talk about why he’s into meditation and they can do one of these guided meditations through the through the app. And to his pleasant surprise, a bunch of people were very interested. And there were also a bunch of people that have meditated, either sporadically in the past or that meditate quite regularly for longer periods of time even more than he does.   So for now, they're starting a company meditation practice where they get together every couple of weeks, every two weeks, and they have a prompt that they are going to then reflect on and then when they get together, they are going discuss what was covered in that prompt as a way of trying to deepen their own practice and understanding. And also just to get to know people on a kind of a different level. So, really, really excited about the things that they can do that will bring them together while obviously, they can't actually see anybody face to face.   Where Can We Find Daniel Online Daniel shared listeners can find him at – LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drodriguez4/   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Daniel Uses When asked if he has a quote or saying that he reverts to in times of adversity or challenge, Daniel shared that in meditation, he thinks so much of what he’s trying to do is actually just come back to the present and come back to the breath. So, he actually really like to remind himself to just breathe and then to actually do it. And oftentimes, if he’s feeling overwhelmed, if he just focuses on that feeling of his breath and just tell himself the word breathe, that it has an incredible effect. So, he will just leave everybody with the single word, “Breathe”   Me: That's brilliant. It's funny you said that because I have an Apple Watch and every now and again I see the breathe thing comes up on it and it says breathe. I guess it's reminding me to breathe. I don't know if it's built into the watch like that or maybe it picks up that my body energy needs to kind of cool down, I have no idea. But yes, breathing definitely does help. I don't know if I intentionally sit down and breathe from time to time because I do meditate sporadically. But breathing, it can definitely create clarity for you; it causes you to kind of just slow down and as you said, brings you back to the present. I have actually experienced that on many, many occasions.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners Links Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi In New State of CX Study by Simplr, 27% of Consumers Say Their Brand Loyalty Has Wavered During Pandemic Due to Long Customer Service Wait Times by Simplr   The ABC’s of a Fantastic Customer Experience Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC’s of a Fantastic Customer Experience.”   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

Episode 8 - RE-IGNITING THE MIRACLE OF YOU with Dean Kilby of Simplr.Health in Sydney, Australia! WOW! In this episode Dean talks us through his approach to meeting his clients where they are and opening them up to what is truly possible in their lives! Dean uses the "Power of the Protocol," his background as a High Performance Transformational Coach, and unique personality to more from his clients than they even thought possible truly changing lives! Dean combine a unique scientific background and knowledge with genuine authenticity in coaching as he "Stands Shoulder to Shoulder" with his clients as they go for goals they never dreamed possible! He had me laughing and he even made me cry, but he always inspires me to do more for my clients and with the "miracle that is my life!" Warning - This one is not for the faint of heart, but for those who truly listen, hopefully you will come out inspired and committed to your own journey! Coaches - he will call you to up your game! #livinglifepossible

Shrevan started off his career as a Sound Engineer in the UK. After going through a tough situation where his years of working as a Sound Engineer were considered 'invalid', he decided to do something about it. That's when he created Work Simplr. "Work Simplr is a virtual co-working platform for students, businesses, and professionals to network and collaborate with each other. We aim to create a centralized and professional gig working economy that is fuelled by local communities." Throughout the episode, we do a deep dive into the growing pains of a startup and what it's like working in the startup world while dealing with immigration. Be sure to Subscribe and tune in every Monday to hear more amazing interviews #FireTeam

After raising $164,775 on Kickstarter, this husband & wife team is disrupting carbon fiber manufacturing.You'll the hear answers to:How they raised $164,775 on Kickstarter to start their businessHow a revenue share agreement empowered their businessThe exact influencer outreach strategy they usedHow niche group buys are growing their manufacturing businessGabriel Mountjoy is a graduate of the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Department in San Luis Obispo, CA. He and his wife, Ann Mountjoy, founded Common Fibers in 2013 after invention of a carbon fiber hinge. For the past six years they have developed composite products for the automotive, aerospace, medical, construction, and consumer goods industries. With two patents, they are building a passionate team that will continue to disrupt the composites industry and change how manufacturing is currently done.Links MentionedKickstarter Carbon Fiber Wallet Campaign (2014)Book: How to shoot video that doesn't suckGabe's wallet store: Common Fibers - 30% off with code ETHERCYCLE at checkoutRefersionCFGroupBuyCrowdfunderNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.Subscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleTake a ride with Kurt on YouTubeApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.SponsorsTry Bold Product Upsell free for 90 daysSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify themeImprove your shop's search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerOutsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

Welcome to Simplr® CXLife Today, a resource for staying up to date on the latest consumer trends, as well as retail, e-comm, and consumer technology headlines. I’m Madison Huffman with this week’s news.Curve, a banking platform that lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into one Curve card and app, has been quietly testing its planned “Klarna rival”.Buying used clothing is a trend that has skyrocketed within the past few years, with major players like The RealReal and thredUp leading the way in the industry. Walmart is betting the trend won’t slow down anytime soon. The company recently announced an e-commerce partnership with thredUp.On a promising note, the unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent and employers added 2.5 million jobs in May.Speed matters when you’re talking to your customer. "The fastest growing brands are responding in under an hour." - CMO of Simplr, Daniel RodriguezEmpathy is more important than ever. Everyone you talk to is experiencing something entirely new and unexpected. Chris Vetrano, Head of Partner and Customer Engagement at Lyft, perhaps said it best during his panel session at the Virtual Conference. Quote, “We’re all in this together. We don’t know what tomorrow looks like. When -- or if --  we go back to normal, what is that going to look like? ...Come down on the human level of ‘Hey, we didn't anticipate this happening to you. We didn't anticipate it happening to us. So, we're going to work through this together.’Have you joined the CXLife Community yet? It’s totally free to join and get access to a vast array of perks, including listening to the virtual conference replay sessions on demand! 

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your weekly briefing.  OpeningWelcome to Simplr® CXLife Today, a resource for staying up to date on the latest consumer trends, as well as retail, e-comm, and consumer technology headlines. I’m Madison Huffman with this week’s news.Shopify has continued to perform well, becoming Canada’s second-most valuable stock on the market just last week, according to Bloomberg. Now it’s pushing into the crowded mobile commerce space with its new Shop app in an effort to help small, local businesses that are struggling and compete with other e-commerce platforms experiencing a surge during the pandemic, like Amazon.First, here are the latest headlines.Amazon Topped 4 Billion Visitors in MarchAccording to data from LearnBonds, Amazon had over 4 billion visitors in March. The staggering number is more than the combined number of visitors to eBay, Apple, Walmart, and Samsung during the same period. LearnBonds also predicted that since no economies have been reopened at large yet, the number of online shoppers in April will also be high as consumers stay away from physical stores during safer-at-home orders.Curbside Pickup Catching OnStaying at home hasn’t stopped consumers from shopping, as evidenced by the staggering number of visitors for Amazon during March. While pure online players have had an advantage during the current pandemic, many brick-and-mortar stores have relied heavily on strategies like curbside pickup. The strategy was already becoming a popular trend with shoppers before the pandemic, but since concerns over social distancing and health safety, the fulfillment option has become a go-to. April 1st through the 20th saw a 208% surge in curbside pickup orders when compared to the previous year, according to Adobe Analytics. According to the president of commercial real estate services firm JLL’s Retail Advisory Team, the trend is here to stay citing that shoppers will likely be more hesitant to visit stores even once restrictions end. The model of delivery has proven to be valuable to both customers and retailers during an unprecedented time.Allbirds Releases New Style Amidst PandemicAllbirds, known for making sustainable wool runners, is making a push into the highly competitive market for athletic footwear. It’s a bold move to release a new product during a pandemic while simultaneously joining the ranks of powerhouse brands like Nike, Adidas, and Asics. When asked about the decision to release the new athletic style now, co-founder Tim Brown said the company has been working on perfecting the running silhouette for years and stated, “In the midst of all this, people are running...more than ever...we felt like the product was serving that purpose.” He also suspects that people are growing more comfortable with making purchases online and said that while the current circumstances present unique challenges, they’re trying to adapt just like everyone else to the situation.  Shopify Pushes Into Mobile Commerce With Shop App  According to a press release, Shopify debuted a mobile shopping assistant app called Shop. The app provides a range of services for users from product discovery, to payment, and real-time delivery updates. In the press release, Shopify positioned the app as a means of deepening connection and loyalty between consumers and their favorite brands in, “a world of increasing physical separation.”  Key feature of the app, including the spotlight of local brands and driving repeat business, could resonate with users. A recent survey from Ernst & Young found that 34% of respondents are willing to pay more for local products amid the pandemic. Small businesses in general have been at peril during the outbreak as store closures and safer-at-home orders have continued, forcing them to rely on pickup and delivery. Shopify is positioning the Shop app as a means of supporting those struggling at the moment.  At launch, Shop has its share of large brands, including several in the direct-to-consumer category. Allbirds, Universal Standard, ThirdLove, and Brooklinen are among the brands that were highlighted in a video promoting the app.  Shopify’s push into the crowded mobile commerce space comes as the company continues to perform well, becoming the second-most valuable company on Canada’s stock market just last week, according to Bloomberg. While it’s pushing into a crowded space, its focus on smaller, local merchants could help differentiate Shop from other e-commerce platforms seeing a surge during the pandemic, including Amazon.    ClosingWant to hear the latest innovations in CX from leaders at companies like Uber, Doordash, LinkedIn, and more? Register for the CXLife Virtual Summit on May 21st. Find the link to register below in the show notes: https://cxlife.org/cxlife-2020    Thanks for listening to CXLife Today. Until next time.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your weekly briefing.  OpeningWelcome to Simplr® CXLife Today, a resource for staying up to date on the latest consumer trends, as well as retail, e-comm, and consumer technology headlines. I’m Madison Huffman with this week’s news.NBCUniversal is making its push into the shoppable commerce space. The company debuted its shoppable e-commerce platform, NBCUniversal Checkout, on Thursday.First, here are the latest headlines.Some Industries Still Reporting Strong SalesWhile many companies are facing the impact store closures have had on business, some industries are still reporting strong sales. Pet retailers like Chewy, PetSmart, and Petco saw a boost in sales during March as consumers stocked up on supplies for themselves and their furry companions before safer-at-home orders began. For the month of March, pet food dollar growth was up 24% from the previous year, while pet supplies dollar growth was up 10% from last year. In comparison, apparel sales in March fell a whopping 52% year over year, furniture sales fell 28.6%, and sporting goods fell 23.5%. The strong sales reported for pet retailers underscore the importance of pets to families and how COVID-19 has affected consumer’s purchasing priorities.  Sycamore Partners Trying to Back Out of Victoria's Secret DealSycamore Partners is now looking for a way to back out of its previously agreed-upon deal to acquire a majority stake in L Brands Victoria’s Secret. L Brands said on Wednesday that Sycamore delivered a notice to terminate their agreement. L Brands also said that Sycamore asked the Chancery Court of Delaware to allow it to rip up the agreement. The firm is now saying that by taking measures such as shuttering stores and laying off employees, L Brands violated its obligation to conduct business per the agreement between the two companies. L Brands said it will quote, “vigorously defend the lawsuit and pursue all legal remedies to enforce its contractual rights, including the right of specific performance,” end quote.  Target Gaining Market Share But Shedding ProfitsTarget revealed that while its gaining market share as shoppers shift to online shopping, it’s also shedding profits. The company’s digital sales are up 100% year-over-year since the beginning of February, with April sales increasing more than 275%. The company said they expect operating margins to drop by more than 5% in the first quarter.  Universal Ventures Into Shoppable Commerce With NBCUniversal  NBCUniversal just debuted a shoppable e-commerce platform. On Thursday, the company introduced NBCUniversal Checkout, a direct-to-consumer platform that allows companies to connect content with their e-commerce operations, according to a press release. With the platform, retailers can create branded and editorial on NBCUniversal properties with links to featured items, use NBCU codes to connect TV viewers with items shown and integrate NBCUniversal Checkout with their social media posts, the company said. It’s the latest effort on the part of NBCUniversal to bridge the gap between content and commerce. The company said it’s trying to ease the shift from physical stores to delivery and e-commerce in the wake of COVID-19 forcing stores to close.  NBCUniversal isn’t the only company venturing into the shoppable commerce space. On Wednesday, Google announced it would allow sellers to list products without selling fees, and began testing shoppable commerce on Youtube last May.  ClosingWant to hear the latest innovations in CX from leaders at companies like Uber, Doordash, LinkedIn, and more? Register for the CXLife Virtual Summit on May 21st. The tickets are free, the learnings priceless. https://cxlife.org/cxlife-2020Thanks for listening to CXLife Today. Until next time.   

Introducing WP Simplr - Providing Elementor landing page templates If you own a website built with Elementor or would like to add some professional Elementor templates, check out the website! Check out WP Simplr: https://www.wpsimplr.com Read our blog post: https://www.tinybluerocket.co.uk/web-design/wp-simplr-landing-pages-for-elementor Build your own website quote: https://quote.tinybluerocket.co.uk

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your weekly briefing.  OpeningWelcome to Simplr® CXLife Today, a resource for staying up to date on the latest consumer trends, as well as retail and e-comm headlines. I’m Madison Huffman with this week’s news.In an effort to improve current systems to keep up with a spike in demand, Instacart has rolled out two new features to add speed and flexibility for customers.First, here are the latest headlines.Bed Bath & Beyond Sells Off One King Lane BannerOn a call with analysts, the CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond, Mark Tritton, said they sold off its One King Lane banner to an unnamed third party. The retailer acquired the home decor site in 2016. He didn’t disclose how much the banner sold for on the call. It’s one of the retailer’s latest moves in responding to the effects the coronavirus has had on business. While store closures have hit the retailer, some of its banners that are deemed essential have remained open. BuyBuy Baby launched curbside pickup at the beginning of the month and fulfilled over 11,000 orders during the first week.  Streaming Services See Spike in Demand Due to Social DistancingWhile movie theatres have been crippled by the coronavirus and social distancing measures, streaming services have seen a spike in demand. The Starz app has seen a 142% increase in new customers since the stay-at-home orders began and a 44% increase in average viewership. Similarly, Disney’s streaming service, Disney+ announced it now had more than 50 million subscribers, twice the amount reported in February.  Procter & Gamble Q3 Sales Up 10%Procter & Gamble reported that its fiscal third-quarter U.S. sales surged 10% as consumers stocked up on staples like toilet paper and paper towels. Jon Moeller, both the CEO and CFO of Procter & Gamble, said that the coronavirus pandemic could change consumer behavior permanently when it comes to certain products. Net sales rose 5% to over $17 billion dollars.Grocery Delivery Services Adapt To Keep Up With DemandInstacart debuted two new features to speed up its service and add flexibility amid the coronavirus pandemic. With the company’s fast and flexible feature, customers can choose to have their order delivered by the first available shopper, rather than selecting a specific delivery window. The new order-ahead feature will let customers place orders up to two weeks in advance. Previously they could only place an order up to seven days in advance.  The features are an answer to some of the frustrations customers have expressed during a time the service is seeing a spike in demand. Other delivery services like FreshDirect, Amazon Fresh, and Shipt have all seen challenges during the pandemic, with the demand for grocery delivery skyrocketing. Instacart’s CEO said in a statement that the demand they’ve seen in the past few weeks was what the company expected to see in the next two to four years. The company has seen a 300% increase in customer volume year over year and has added over 150,000 additional shoppers to its pool of contractors in the past two weeks.  While these grocery delivery services are working to adapt their systems to the current circumstances and staffing up as quickly as possible, it is taking time to deal with the strain on their existing systems and course correct.  ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more.Thanks for listening to CXLife Today. Until next time.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your weekly briefing.  OpeningThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Saturday, April 11th. Here are this week’s headlines.According to a report from App Annie, consumers spent over a whopping $23.4 billion dollars via app stores in the first quarter, becoming the highest quarter ever for consumer spending in that area. The App Annie report adds further context to how consumers are adjusting their media consumption and commerce online during the coronavirus pandemic.Here are the latest headlines.Panera Making Dairy Products and Bread Available for PickupAs common essentials like dairy products and bread become more difficult to find on the shelves at grocery stores, Panera is making these select items available on their menu for pickup or delivery. The food company is even offering select produce like tomatoes and avocado to its customers. Panera’s CEO said , “...it is an incredibly stressful time when it comes to putting wholesome food on the table, and we knew Panera could help...With this new service, we can help deliver good food and fresh ingredients from our pantry to yours, helping provide better access to essential items that are increasingly harder to come by.”Amazon Prime Day PostponedPrime Day, normally held in July, has reportedly been postponed through at least August. The e-commerce giant is also anticipating a $100 million dollar loss because it may have to deeply discount devices, according to Reuters. It’s yet another adjustment that shows how changing consumer behavior and the coronavirus pandemic are changing behavior both of shoppers and businesses.Walmart Hired 100,000 EmployeesWalmart has hired another 100,000 employees to keep up with demand during the pandemic. The company’s VP of Corporate Affairs said many of Walmart’s new employees come from hard-hit industries and are using the jobs to stay afloat until their traditional jobs come back online. The retailer has seen a surge in demand for products like hair color, beard trimmers, and sewing machines as shoppers stay indoors and make their own cloth masks.  A Report Reveals Mobile Apps Saw Record Spending In Q1According to a report from App Annie, consumers spent over a whopping $23.4 billion dollars via app stores in the first quarter, becoming the highest quarter ever for consumer spending in that area. Consumers spent $15 billion on iOS and $8.3 billion on Google Play. App Annie attributed the growth in app downloads and purchases to the COVID-19 outbreak, as governments impose quarantines and self-isolation, leaving consumers with more time to be on their mobile devices.The App Annie report adds further context to how consumers are adjusting their media consumption and commerce online. Ad Colony reported that mobile gaming increased 24 percent in the last two weeks of March as people consume entertainment through their mobile phones. A similar trend has emerged in the e-commerce sector. Grocery delivery apps have seen a spike in downloads as consumers shift their ordering online.    ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Until next time. 

While so many of us are now adapting to working remotely, Mimi Bliss of Bliss Communications and Vincent Phamvan, Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr, tell Lipstick Economy about some of the benefits to remote work and offer practical tips for effectively working from home.  

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  OpeningThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Monday, March 30th. Here are today’s headlines.The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected brick-and-mortar retail, but what about e-commerce? Some retailers are relying on digital sales to make up for lagging brick-and-mortar performance, but data shows even e-commerce has slowed for companies.Here are the latest headlines.Joann Stores Opening Classrooms to Help May Stuff for Healthcare WorkersJoann Stores has launched an effort to make items for healthcare workers. The arts and crafts retailer announced it would be opening its classrooms to any who would want to help make essential items for healthcare workers, including facemasks and covers, gowns, and other items to donate to American hospitals. Participating locations will offer sewing machines, materials, and guidance to help customers safely make the items. Classroom occupancy will be limited to adhere to CDC recommended guidelines for social distancing and local restrictions.  H&M Offers Supply Network to EUSweden’s H&M, the world’s second-largest fashion retailer, said on Sunday it would use its supply network to source personal protective equipment for hospitals in the European Union to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. H&M said it had offered the EU its help and was now trying to understand which needs were most urgent while working out what its supply chain could deliver. In an email, an H&M spokesperson said,  “The EU has asked us to share our purchasing operations and logistics capabilities in order to source supplies, but in this urgent initial phase, we will donate the supplies.”Allbirds Offering Free Shoes to Healthcare WorkersSustainable footwear company, Allbirds, is joining other retailers in finding ways to support healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The San Francisco-based company announced it is supporting healthcare workers in the United States by offering free shoes. In a tweet, the company said, quote, “We are donating shoes to anyone who works in healthcare and is on the front lines of fighting COVID-19 right now.” The company also added, “To our US healthcare community – we want to thank you for being on the front lines and helping to keep our communities healthy.”  COVID-19 And Its Impact On E-commerceCOVID-19 continues to impact retail around the globe. Many stores that are considered unessential are being forced to close to curb the spread of the coronavirus. While physical retail stores are closing, many businesses have turned to e-commerce to make up for the lack of physical foot traffic.  Some retailers are even waiving minimum order requirements to help e-commerce efforts along, like offering free shipping or free returns for a limited time. Yet, other retailers like Victoria’s Secret, TJMaxx, and Marshalls, have also halted their digital sales. Most site the need to protect workers in those operations and the goal of slowing the spread of the disease. Retailers that are continuing with their e-commerce efforts have sent assuring messages to customers detailing the efforts and steps they’re taking to sanitize distribution centers and extra measures to keep employees and consumers safe.  Pure-play retailers may have thought they’d escape the consequences of rapidly changing consumer behavior by running few or no physical retail spaces, but performance agency Within found that their revenue fell 63 percent on March 18 compared to its pre-virus benchmark period. Conversion rates were also at an all-time low at negative 35 percent versus pre-COVID-19.  The mixed responses and latest data show that even e-commerce isn’t untouched by the current circumstances as retailers scramble to drastically shift their strategies and operations.  ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Until next time.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Monday, March 23rd. Here are today’s headlines.Large retailers are making dramatic changes in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Companies like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart have taken steps like increasing employee wages, hiring more employees, and providing paid leave as the economic landscape and consumer demand changes rapidly.Here are the latest headlines.COVID-19 Affecting Shipping and FulfillmentUnsurprisingly the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting shipping and fulfillment. New study findings from delivery experience management company, Convey, show that shipping volume for cleaning and household supplies is up 52 percent. At the same time, order fulfillment and delivery are experiencing significant delays. According to the findings, fulfillment time has increased by 40 percent during the past three weeks. The trend has been especially evident in large-format deliveries, indicating supply chain slowdowns.  Best Buy Goes "Contactless"Starting yesterday, Best Buy is limiting its U.S. stores to contactless curbside pickup, allowing only its employees into stores, according to a statement from the company. The company has also suspended its in-home installations and repair services, as well as its product trade-in and recycling services. The changes come in response to the rapidly evolving Coronavirus situation and as they see a surge in demand for products needed to work or learn from home.  Walmart Plans to Hire 150,000Retail giant, Walmart, is planning on hiring 150,000 people in the midst of the pandemic to help keep up with consumer demand. The roles would initially be temporary, though many will convert to permanent roles over time, Walmart said. The roles are based in the retailer’s stores, clubs, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers. The company also announced $550 million dollars in bonuses to reward its workers. Walmart’s President and CEO, Doug McMillion, said, “We know millions of Americans who are usually employed at this time are temporarily out of work, and at the same time we’re currently seeing strong demand in our stores...We’re looking for people who see Walmart as a chance to earn some extra money and perform a vital service to their community.”Target Increasing Benefits Amid COVID-19 OutbreakTarget joins Walmart on a growing list of retailers increasing the benefits for its employees in response to COVID-19. The company is investing more than $300 million dollars in added wages, a new paid leave program, bonus payouts, and associate and community relief fund contributions. Full-time and part-time hourly associates working in stores and distribution centers will receive a two-dollar pay increase through at least May 2nd. In addition, U.S. team members who are 65 or older, pregnant, or who have underlying medical conditions as defined by the CDC now have access to 30 days of paid leave if they prefer not to work. Target’s CEO Brian Cornell said, “With each passing day, it’s clearer how indispensable our team is to communities across the country as our guests cope with the coronavirus...Increasing their compensation for a job incredibly well done and ensuring continued compensation for those who need to care for themselves and their families is a reflection of our company’s values and simply the right thing to do.”ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Until next time.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, March 19th. Here are today’s headlines.There’s no escaping the dramatic effects of COVID-19 as it spreads across nations around the world. It’s changing the retail landscape dramatically as companies scramble to put safety measures into place, including shuttering stores temporarily to help flatten the curve.Here are the latest headlines.Amazon Making Major Changes Due to COVID-19As the coronavirus epidemic rages on, Amazon has limited Marketplace fulfillment to medical supplies and household essentials. According to a notice, Amazon has suspended the intake of most products from U.S. and European Union Marketplace sellers into its fulfillment centers through April 5th. The e-commerce giant is temporarily quote, “prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers,” end quote.  It’s one of the latest measures Amazon has taken as the current epidemic rapidly changes consumer behavior and effects how retail operates. The e-commerce giant will also open 100,000 full and part-time positions in its fulfillment centers and delivery network as it sees a spike in demand for e-commerce due to quarantines and social distancing. In a company blog post, Amazon described its labor requirements as,“unprecedented for this time of year.” Amazon will also increase pay for hourly workers by two dollars through April.  Retails Making Closures in Response to COVID-19Amazon isn’t the only company changing day-to-day operations. Retailers from Apple to Lululemon have joined schools, workplaces, and churches in shutting their doors temporarily to contain the spread of COVID-19. The American Dream mall in New Jersey announced last week it will be postponing the opening of several retailers and the DreamWorks Water Park, which was slated to open March 19th, and is temporarily closing the mall entirely. The closures come as the CDC recently recommended canceling or postponing gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks.  Grocery Delivery / Meal Delivery Subscriptions Seeing SpikesAs Americans across the nation practice social distancing, grocery delivery services like Instacart and Amazon Fresh have seen spikes in demand. But other food startups are also seeing increased consumer demand and we expect will continue to see increased demand for the foreseeable future.  Meal delivery kit subscription company, Blue Apron, has seen its stock prices more than double this week. Daily Harvest, which sells smoothies and soups, posted on social media that it was doubling its inventory in response to an increase in demand. Trade Coffee reported a 10x increase in new subscriptions and Real Good Foods, which sells a line of Keto-friendly foods, said it has seen a 20x increase in its direct-to-consumer business.E-commerce food businesses are facing a similar dilemma to makers of hand-sanitizers, soap, and other in-demand products, which is how to keep up with demand. While these food startups have only experienced sales bumps within the past few weeks, it’s likely to be a trend that sticks around and they’re preparing for the unprecedented demand for the foreseeable future. The chief marketing officer of Real Good Foods said, “People with autoimmune issues — they are not going to be going to Chipotle in 6, 12, 18 months because they are just scared. This is going to change behaviors, for sure over the next 18-24 months.”ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Until next time.   

Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of Today In Five. I’m your host, Madison Huffman, and I’m reporting on the latest headlines on digital disruption.Today’s Quick Headlines:Wayfair’s losses continue to grow despite the online home goods retailer’s continued sales growth.Shortly after selling a majority stake in its Victoria’s Secret brand, L Brands has big plans for its Bath & Body Works business.Panera launched an unlimited-coffee subscription last week that costs $9 dollars a month.Walmart’s Answer to PrimeWalmart just created its answer to Amazon’s Prime membership. Walmart+ is the retailer’s new subscription program that will offer perks such as unlimited same-day grocery delivery and more. Want to stand out? Simplr can help deliver wow moments for your customers through unparalleled customer service support. Visit simplr.ai to learn more. Resources:https://www.retaildive.com/news/wayfair-posts-eyewatering-985m-loss-for-the-year/573223/https://chainstoreage.com/bath-body-works-has-big-store-expansion-planshttps://www.businessinsider.com/panera-unlimited-coffee-subscription-cost-how-to-sign-up-2020-2https://www.retaildive.com/news/walmarts-answer-to-amazon-prime-is-in-the-works/573225/

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Friday, February 28th. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.Amazon has debuted Amazon Go grocery this week, a cashier-less grocery store that further pushes the giant into the industry.  First, here are the latest headlines.Disney CEO Iger Steps DownDisney CEO Bog Iger has stepped down. The change will take effect immediately but will be staying on as the company’s executive chairman, Disney announced. Iger, who pushed back his retirement several times, will continue overseeing creative projects through 2021. In a statement, he said now was, “the optimal time,” to transition following the company’s launch of its direct-to-consumer business and completes its integration of 21st Century Fox.Target's Focus on E-Commerce "Paying Off"A new report from eMarketer revealed that Target’s focus on building its e-commerce operations is paying off. The company, who used to rank number 11 in the U.S. in e-commerce sales, is now poised to take the number 8 spot. According to eMarketer, Target’s e-commerce business will jump 24 percent in 2020 to $8.34 billion dollars and its share of the U.S. market will grow to 1.2 percent. Target will also inch past Costco this year, with only $10 million in online sales separating the two companies.Google Driving E-Commerce Sales Better Than Facebook and InstagramAccording to a new study, Google is a better driver of e-commerce sales than social networks Facebook and Instagram. The study suggested that the search giant reaches consumers who are more intent on making a purchase. Google’s ability to drive better sales and web traffic indicates a key difference in how consumers use the respective platforms. Google and Facebook, which owns Instagram, have boosted their e-commerce efforts over the past few years to address growing competition with Amazon, which has a rapidly growing digital advertising business and is the first place many consumers go to find a product.  Amazon Opens Cashierless Supermarket In Latest Grocery PushAmazon rolled out its checkout-free Go technology in a large grocery store and plans to license the cashier-less system to other retailers. Amazon Go Grocery opened on Tuesday and uses an array of cameras, shelf sensors, and software to allow shoppers to pick up items and walk out without stopping to pay or scan merchandise. Accounts are automatically charged through a smartphone app once shoppers leave the store.  The company has operated a string of Go-branded convenience stores since 2018, but improvements in camera technology and its use of algorithms have allowed it to build a larger-scale format. Amazon hopes the grocery store will serve as a showcase for its technology as it seeks to sell its systems to other businesses.Amazon’s cashier-less stores have inspired other retailers and tech startups to explore similar technology, including models that feature smart shopping carts. Some startups, including Grabango Co, have signed deals with regional grocery chains.  Go Grocery is part of a broader expansion of Amazon’s presence in grocery. Aside from the more than 500 Whole Foods stores, the company recently confirmed plans to start a separate grocery chain with human cashiers, with the first store planned for the Los Angeles area this year. Grocery delivery has also been a growing focus. Amazon has used Whole Foods locations to deliver food to customers, and the company also offers delivery in some areas through its Amazon Fresh unit.  As Amazon has gained a strong foothold in the industry, Walmart and Target have also ramped up their grocery delivery efforts. Walmart this month said online grocery sales helped boost its U.S. e-commerce revenue by 35 percent in the fourth quarter.  ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more. That’s s-i-m-p-r.ai.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  L Brands has reached a deal to sell a controlling stake of Victoria’s Secret to Sycamore Partners. The deal will see longtime CEO, Les Wexner, step down from the company. “I have decided that now is the right time to pass the reins to new leadership.”Quick Headlines:Banana Republic announced a new partnership with Postmates, introducing on-demand delivery in select markets.  Gap Inc. is the latest retailer to partner with apparel resale company, thredUp.Morgan Stanley pushed further into retail with the largest acquisition since the financial crisis.  Find out how Simplr can cut your customer service response time through cutting-edge technology and on-demand talent at simplr.ai. 

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  OpeningThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Tuesday, February 18th. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.The coronavirus epidemic has had a dramatic global impact, even on the global economy. Apple’s warning that it wouldn’t meet revenue expectations underscores those far-reaching effects.  First, here are the latest headlines.Rent The Runway Chooses Amazon Exec for Chief Supply Chain OfficerRent The Runway is tapping former Amazon exec as chief supply chain officer. Bringing on board a veteran in operations will help the popular startup fine-tune its supply chain. The company’s CEO and founder said, “Brian’s leadership and experience in operations and logistics will be a valuable asset to the company.”1-800-Flowers Purchases PersonalizationMall.com from Bed, Bath & BeyondBed, Bath & Beyond is selling its personalized gift e-retailer, PersonalizationMall.com to 1-800-Flowers.com for $252 million dollars in cash, according to press releases from the company. The flower and gifts site will get the PersonalizationMall.com website as well as a “new, state-of-the-art...production and distribution facility…” The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including scrutiny under antitrust regulations, according to the companies, which say they have signed a definitive agreement. The CEO of Bed, Bath & Beyond said the sale would help streamline the company’s operations and hinted there may be more of that to come.  Bezos Gifts $10B to Fund Climate Change ProgramsAmazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, just made the second-largest charitable gift in recent history. The Amazon founder is giving $10 billion dollars to a new initiative that will fund programs to combat climate change. He announced the donation on Monday through an Instagram post. In his post, he said, “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share...This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.”Apple Warns It Won’t Meet Quarter Revenue Expectations Because Of Coronavirus EpidemicApple on Monday said it expects to fall short of revenue goals in the current quarter because of the coronavirus outbreak, underscoring the far-reaching effects of the virus on the global economy. In a statement to investors, Apple said that while factories in China were reopening, iPhone production in the company was ramping up more slowly than expected. The company said, “These iPhone shortages will temporarily affect revenues worldwide.” Demand for iPhones in China has also dampened, where all the company’s stores have shuttered, according to the statement.  Apple’s success over the last decade, its value increasing by more than $1 trillion dollars, has largely depended on its ability to harness the power of China’s massive labor force and its network of manufacturers who can meet the demand for the world’s most popular gadget: the iPhone. But that dependence on China is now at risk.  Apple’s announcement added to the mounting economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic. Analysts expect the global economy to shrink this quarter for the first time since 2009 as a consequence of the outbreak.  ClosingThanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review. We’ll see you tomorrow.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Monday, February 17th. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.DTC has been a rapidly growing trend in the age of online shopping. According to Shopify’s COO, direct-to-consumer retail is more than just a fad, it’s here to stay.  First, here are the latest headlines.Stitch Fix Shop Your Looks Feature Out of BetaThe new Stitch Fix Shop Your Looks feature is out of beta and available to all women’s and men’s customers in the U.S. The company’s CEO announced in October that the company was testing the algorithm-led sub-service, which allows customers to choose among items that would go well with pieces they already own, rather than leaving that choice up to their stylist. By December, she reported the beta test had been expanded to about a third of its female clientele and would extend to men. She also said that those using the feature interacted with the company multiple times and that it boosted sales. The new tech introduces a level of traditional e-commerce that departs from the company’s curated boxes.  L Brands Close to Deal to Sell Victoria's SecretL Brands is nearing a deal to sell its Victoria’s Secret brand to private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, in a deal that could be announced as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter. For Sycamore, a deal to buy Victoria’s Secret would be a bet on a dominant player in the large intimate apparel industry. Bras are a $7.2 billion dollar category, and Victoria’s Secret, which also sells, pajamas, perfumes, and other accessories, had roughly $7.4 billion dollars in sales last year. Sycamore would also be betting it could reinvigorate the lingerie brand after it has faced several setbacks and losing share to competitors like ThirdLove, who prioritize comfortable styles.  Walmart Shutting Down JetBlackWalmart is shutting down its JetBlack personal-shopping service. Most of its 350 employees will be laid off after the retailer failed to find investors for the unprofitable operation. The company will stop delivery services on February 21st, according to a Walmart spokesman. Last year, Walmart worked to spin-off the unit, which had less than a thousand customers as of last year. The retailer discussed an investment with several potential partners, but people familiar with the matter said those talks have ended. The news comes at a time when Walmart is working to stem its losses from its smaller e-commerce units, selling acquired brands or cutting staff in those businesses.Shopify COO Says DTC Is “No Longer A Fad”DTC retail has emerged as a key strategy in the age of online shopping, with big brand names like Nike and Tesla Motors taking advantage of the trend. Now one of the top e-commerce platforms is saying their performance speaks to a broader shift in digital commerce. According to Shopify’s COO, the company’s holiday quarter performance is indicative of emerging retail trends. The e-commerce platform recorded almost $3 billion dollars of global sales over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period last November, a 61 percent increase from the year prior. In an interview, the COO said, “That is the example where direct-to-consumer is no longer a fad...It is now a steady-state, and it’s being powered by Shopify. We’re at the center of that.” Shopify’s holiday numbers are part of a better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report. The company grew its top line by 47 percent year over year to $505 million dollars in the December quarter, crushing analyst estimates. The COO said, “This is the story of independent brands and entrepreneurs doing really, really well, and the consumers are voting with their wallets...I think Shopify is powering the entrepreneurship movement.”   ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you'll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question—so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Head to Simplr.ai to learn more. That’s S-I-M-P-L-R.ai.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, Thursday, February 13th. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.Harry’s and Brandless both suffered major setbacks this week, revealing the limits and struggles direct-to-consumer disruptors are facing.First, here are the latest headlines.Goop and Banana Republic Launch Co-Branded CollectionGwyneth Paltrow’s goop brand is launching a co-branded online apparel collection and podcast series installment with Banana Republic. The goop Edit for Banana Republic will launch in spring 2020 and feature five everyday essentials. The capsule will launch exclusively on goop.com February 11th and on Banana Republic’s e-commerce site beginning February 25th.Saks Off 5th Being Led by Former Nordstrom Rack ExecFormer Nordstrom Rack executive, Paige Thomas, will now lead Saks Off 5th, effective immediately. Thomas was most recently the general merchandise manager of men’s and kids at Nordstrom’s full-price business but was general merchandise manager at its off-price Nordstrom Rack operation for more than five years. She oversaw growth in both e-commerce and physical retail while there, including the opening of more than 100 stores and the launch of the Rack website. In tapping Thomas, Saks Off 5th is regrouping under the direction of an executive who once helped lead a powerhouse in the segment. The CEO from Hudson’s Bay Company said, “With her deep merchandising background and instinct to quickly capitalize on digital opportunities, I believe Paige is the right leader to further evolve Saks Off 5th and unleash its potential as a true off-price retailer.” Spotify Purchasing RingerAs part of its push into podcasting, Spotify is reportedly paying close to $200 million dollars for the Ringer, a growing online sports and pop-culture outlet. Spotify is expected to detail the costs in a regulatory filing soon. The streaming service has now spent more than $600 million dollars to acquire four companies that can accelerate its podcasting business. The company is already the world’s largest paid music service and is challenging Apple as the dominant way people listen to podcasts.  What Harry’s And Brandless Mean For DTC DisruptorsThis week, two promising DTC companies suffered major setbacks. Grooming company, Harry’s, learned that Edgewell is dropping its bid to take it over after the FTC sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds. And online consumer goods company, Brandless, shuttered its operations. The brands’ stumbles have a lot in common, notably, an inability to scale on their own. And they reveal the limits of DTC retail.  The principal at venture capital firm Comcast Ventures told a National Retail Federation audience that, “the pendulum has swung,” , regarding venture capitalist expectations, noting that it’s becoming easier to launch a direct-to-consumer company than to grow or sustain one. The fate of Brandless is a prime example of that swing.  The company launched in 2017 saying that each of its items would only be three dollars thanks to the company’s elimination of the middle man and that by going directly to the consumer, Brandless claimed it saved some 40 percent, which was passed along to its customers. The company received backing from SoftBank in 2018, allowing it to expand into new categories. Now, after a little over two years, the company is shutting down.  The two companies pose an interesting example of the changing retail landscape. The disruptor DTC brands have their limitations. The fate of Brandless seems clear, less so Harry’s. But most if not all DTC brands are likely grappling with the same realities of customer acquisition, the challenge of turning a profit, and a need to stand on their own.  ClosingSimplr can help you scale your customer service at any stage of growth. Head to Simplr.ai to learn more. That’s S-I-M-P-L-R.ai.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. We’ll see you tomorrow.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five, for today, Wednesday, February 12th. I’m your new host, Madison Huffman, reporting on the latest developments in the modern business world. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.Strip malls, once historically ignored by some retailers, are now becoming a valuable alternative to traditional malls.First, here are the latest headlines.Brandless Shutting DownDTC retailer, Brandless, is shutting down. A report from Protocol broke the news, noting the company would stop taking orders and halt its business operations. 90 percent of Brandless staff will be laid off and the remaining employees will fulfill existing orders and evaluate acquisition opportunities. In a statement on the company’s website, they said, “While the Brandless team set a new bar for the types of products consumers deserve and at prices they expect, the fiercely competitive direct-to-consumer market has proven unsustainable for our current business model.” Edgewell Abandons Plan to Acquire Harry'sEdgewell Personal Care abandoned its plans to acquire upstart rival, Harry’s after the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the over $1 billion dollar deal. It was a notable victory for the FTC, who said the deal would have eliminated one of the most important competitive forces in the shaving industry. Edgewell’s chief executive said the company would continue to pursue its direct to consumer efforts but that it would take longer to build than it would by buying Harry’s. He also said Edgewell would continue to look for smaller brands to acquire but isn’t looking for another large deal like Harry’s.  China to Cut Tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. ImportsAccording to a statement from China’s Ministry of Finance, China will cut tariffs in half on $75 billion dollars worth of U.S. imports. The changes will take effect on February 14th. The move follows the Trump administration’s announcement during the signing of a phase one trade deal to reduce the tariff rate from 15 percent to 7.5 percent on February 14th on about $120 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports. The cutting back of tariffs represents a thawing of tensions between the two nations and will offer relief for many U.S. exporters and Chinese importers.How Strip Malls Are Becoming A Prime Location For RetailersStrip malls are starting to become a viable alternative for retailers that historically ignored them. Last week, both Macy’s and Sephora announced they would seek to open more stores in strip malls in the coming years. Last year, supplements store GNC announced plans to close 700 of its locations in malls to focus on stores in strip malls, which were reporting relatively stable store comps.  As customers increasingly shop online and malls see declining foot traffic, strip malls offer a few benefits that are becoming more important. The rent at strip malls is cheaper since their stores are typically smaller. The anchor stores are often gyms or grocery stores, giving retailers the added benefit of being in a place consumers visit on a regular basis. Sephora’s senior VP of real estate and development said, “What we have been lacking is being in those neighborhoods where our customer goes to SoulCycle or picks up pizza on Friday evening.”Retailers that have reported most or a significant amount of stores in strip malls include Target, Ulta Beauty, TJ Maxx, and Kohls. Ulta’s seen success in strip malls, with its third-quarter earnings beating estimates. The beauty retailer’s success explains why Sephora is keen to open more locations in strip malls. While the data doesn’t show a stampede of retailers filling up spaces in strip malls, it does show that vacancy rates are staying steady, while they are rising at more traditional malls.ClosingThanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

“We had no idea writing the word “SHITI” on a napkin and taping it to an old cooler would have such a following behind it”In 2016, Trevor and Austin Zacny founded SHITI® Coolers with a basic mission: To keep using that same damn Coleman with the rusted lid and squeaky hinges in hope there were more people out there just like them. A simple SHITI sticker was enough to represent the lifestyle they had been living for years.This is the journey of a brand that started wiuth $400 in parody stickers back in 2016 and by 2019 had grown into a seven-figure lifestyle brand.Show LinksSHITI Coolers - (Use code UNOFFICIAL10 for 10% off.)App: BACK IN STOCKBackpack Cooler@shiti_coolersNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.Subscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleTake a ride with Kurt on YouTubeApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.SponsorsTry Bold Product Upsell free for 90 daysSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify themeImprove your shop's search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerOutsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five, for today, Wednesday, February 5th. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.The Federal Trade Commission announced they sued to block the $1.37 billion dollar acquisition of Harry’s by Edgewell Personal Care. The complaint against the deal was that the merger would eliminate one of the most important competitive forces in a shaving industry long controlled by two well-established players.First, here are the latest headlines.H&M Appoints Its First Female CEOH&M is shuffling its top leadership. The company announced it’s appointing its first female CEO, Helena Helmersson, effective immediately. Helmersson joined the company in 1997 as an economist in the buying department. Before becoming the COO, she also served as the company’s sustainability manager and production manager. She noted in a statement that, as CEO, she’ll continue moving the company along its strategic plan and would have a focus,  “on the customer to continue strengthening our financial development in the short and long term.” She also added that there was potential to expand with both existing and new brands, with new types of partnerships and to continue leading the development towards a sustainable fashion industry.Hulu CEO Stepping DownStreaming service, Hulu, also announced a leadership shakeup. The company announced that CEO, Randy Freer, is stepping down from the company as part of a major restructuring of Disney’s direct-to-consumer business. Disney acquired control of Hulu following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox and subsequent deal with NBCU last year. The giant has, up to this point, left Hulu to run business as usual. The new move signals Disney’s plans to streamline its DTC operations, which also includes Disney+ and ESPN+. The changes will also allow the company to better distribute resources across its streaming services, as well as take Hulu to international markets more quickly and efficiently.  Sephora to open 100 More Stores in 2020Popular beauty retailer, Sephora, announced they plan to open 100 stores in 2020. It’s the company’s largest rest estate expansion to date, more than doubling its store growth in 2019. The focus on its growth this year will be expanding outside of shopping malls, a place where the retailer has typically been found. Jeff Gaul, the senior vice president of Real Estate and Store Development at Sephora Americas said in an interview, "We love our stores in malls...but the focus on this next 100 is more off-mall locations.”  Sephora will also look to grow in cities like Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, not necessarily urban markets like New York and Los Angeles. The company’s growth move comes at a time when store closures are the growing trend.The FTC Sued To Block Harry’s Acquisition By EdgewellThe Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $1.37 billion dollar deal where the maker of Schick razors, Edgewell Personal Care, would acquire upstart rival, Harry’s. The FTC alleged that Edgewell’s planned acquisition of Harry’s would eliminate one of the most important competitive forces in a shaving industry that has long been controlled by two entrenched companies. The deputy director of the FTC’s bureau of competition said in a statement that Harry’s, “has forced its rivals to offer lower prices, and more options, to consumers across the country.” All of the FTC’s commissioners voted in favor of the lawsuit, the latest sign that antitrust enforcers remain willing to challenge deals they believe could lead to higher prices for consumer staples.  Edgewell and Harry’s announced their deal last May, saying the companies were evaluating their options. Edgewell’s president and CEO said,  “We believe the combination of our two companies would bring together complementary capabilities for the benefit of all stakeholders, including customers.”  Harry’s had recently expanded from its online operations into brick-and-mortar stores, posing even more of a threat to powerhouse companies like Edgewell and Proctor & Gamble. It started selling products in Target stores in 2016 and recently began selling products at Walmart. Harry’s chose a sale to Edgewell over going public or staying independent.  The FTC signaled it would follow a two-tiered process to challenge the deal. The case is the latest in a multitude of merger challenges from the FTC.    ClosingThanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review. We’ll see you tomorrow.   

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five, for today, Monday, February 3rd. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.Is Kim Kardashian’s move into wholesale with Nordstrom a sign of the changing DTC times? In this episode, we explore how Kim, who has an impressive social media following and online presence, still needed Nordstrom to expand and grow her SKIMS brand.First, here are the latest headlines.Forever 21 Receives BidMonths after filing for bankruptcy, Forever 21 has a new bid from Authentic Brands and mall operators Simon Property and Brookfield. The $81 million dollar bid would serve as a baseline for an auction for Forever 21 and includes a breakup fee of $4.7 million dollars and expense reimbursement of $1 million dollars if the retailer accepts an alternate deal. The retailer proposed to the court a bid deadline of February 7th and an auction, if necessary, by February 10th.  Macy's Opening a New Concept StoreAccording to a press release, Macy’s will open what it calls a flexible retail store format in Southlake, Texas. The 20,000-foot store will be called Market by Macy’s. The new store’s space will host, “community-driven programming from cooking tutorials and book signings to crafting and fitness classes.” The new location will also debut two new exclusive Macy’s brands. The move indicates the retailer is taking new steps to develop store concepts, and to learn from the process, as it considers doing business on a much smaller scale.  Facebook Reports Increased Growth and RevenueFacebook reported a growing userbase and increasing quarterly revenue, capping a year of strength in its core advertising business even as expenses climbed. The social media giant’s revenue rose 25 percent to $21.1 billion dollars for the quarter, beating analyst expectations. Revenue for 2019 rose by nearly 27 percent. Profit for the fourth quarter also topped expectations, rising 7 percent to $7.35 billion dollars. The latest report extends a strong performance typical for the company even in the midst of social questions and government scrutiny.  Kim Kardashian’s Expansion Into Nordstrom Is A Sign Of The Changing DTC Times  Is Kim Kardashian’s move into Nordstrom a sign of the digitally-native times? When Kim launched SKIMS, her shapewear brand featuring a variety of diversified products in a broad range of sizes, early products sold out. Kim continued to promote the brand using her immense social presence, and the products continued to sell out as the brand restocked. SKIMS had the potential to be the defining brand for Kim, having more promise than her previous brands KKW Beauty and Fragrance, which were more opportunistic than unique.Earlier this year, Kim announced that the SKIMS brand would be expanding into 25 Nordstrom stores across America starting in early February, and would also be available online at Nordstrom.com. The move raises the question that if Kim Kardashian, who has a large social presence and earned media followings need Nordstrom, what about all the other digitally-native brands?  This isn’t the first time she or one of her family members has expanded into wholesale after hitting the online-only growth ceiling. Her sister Kylie was the first to move into Ulta after three years with Kylie Cosmetics, and Kim soon followed suit with KKW Beauty. Then after Kylie launched Kylie Skin, she moved into Ulta only five months after the brand’s debut. Now, five months after launching SKIMS, Kim is entering Nordstrom.The reasons she’d make the move toward wholesale are simple. An apparel brand that offers such a broad range of sizing means that customers are going to return a lot of items as they try to find their fit. Kim’s social media followers are also potentially saturated by the marketing of Kardashian products, while the Nordstrom audience is likely wealthier and older than most of Kim’s following. Not to mention that digitally-native brands can only get so big before they have to expand into other channels to avoid high digital marketing spend.  If Kim Kardashian needs Nordstrom to grow her business, there’s a good chance that every consumer brand could benefit from the strategy.  ClosingWant to stand out? Simplr can help deliver wow moments for your customers through unparalleled customer service support. Visit simplr.ai to learn more. That’s S-I-M-P-L-R.ai. 

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five, for today, Friday, January 31st. Here are today’s headlines in digital disruption.Amazon has reported a sales boom, one that executives say was caused by the roll-out of one-day free shipping for Prime members.First, here are the latest headlines.UPS and Waymo Piloting Autonomous Package Pick UpUPS and Waymo, a self-driving vehicle company, are partnering to launch a package transportation pilot according to an announcement. Waymo’s autonomous vans will pick up packages from UPS stores in the Phoenix area, and deliver them to nearby UPS sorting facilities. A trained driver will be present in the vehicles at all times. Scott Price, the UPS chief strategy and transformation officer said in a statement that the pilot would assist with,  “getting packages to our sortation facilities sooner and more frequently, while also creating an opportunity for later drop-offs for next-day service.” The companies plan to use the pilot to explore ways they can incorporate autonomous vehicles at scale and potentially work together long-term. The partnership comes at a time when last-mile delivery is in demand and more firms are looking to autonomous vehicles to cut down on labor costs and improve driver retention.  Sale of Victoria's Secret May Be LikelyA sale of Victoria’s Secret in the midst of declining sales looks more likely. The private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, is reportedly in talks with L Brands founder and CEO, Les Wexner, to buy Victoria’s Secret according to the Wall Street Journal. The publication previously reported that L Brands was in talks to sell off the brand and that Wexner was set to step down, except to retain his seat on the board as chairman. There’s an existing relationship between L Brands and Sycamore, with the latter taking a controlling stake about eight years ago in the company’s Mast Global Fashion sourcing and logistics unit, and in 2015, took over the rest as L Brands spun it off into a separate company.  Nordstrom Opening Apparel Resale ShopNordstrom is diving deeper into the resale industry. The company announced they were opening an apparel resale shop, called See You Tomorrow, at its New York flagship store and online. The assortment will include women’s apparel, shoes, and handbags, along with men’s apparel, accessories, and shoes. The shop will be stocked in part with cleaned, repaired, and refurbished the Nordstrom Quality Center, which processes returned and damaged merchandise. Another source will be customers, who can exchange their own used clothing at the New York flagship for gift cards they can use at Nordstrom. With its take on resale, Nordstrom may be working hard to prove the viability of department stores during a time when most department stores are struggling.  Amazon Reports Sales Boom After The Rollout Of One-Day Prime DeliveryWhile many doubted the profitability of  integrating one-day shipping, Amazon just reported that it actually fueled a sales boom. The e-commerce giant reported that fourth-quarter net product sales rose year over year to $50.5 billion dollars from $44.7 billion dollars. For the full year, net product sales rose to $106.4 billion dollars from $141.9 billion dollars in 2018. Net online store sales in the quarter rose 15 percent year over year. Third-party seller services rose more than 30 percent. Executives said that the move to deliver items in one day helped drive those sales.  The roll-out of one-day shipping had many thinking the added expense for fulfillment would cut into the giant’s profits. Amazon instead answered with profits soaring 8 percent $3.3 billion dollars. The e-commerce giant continues to innovate and drive consumer expectations as it implements difficult to carry out strategies, and is challenging many other retailers to rise to the challenge. Its consumer-focused initiatives have set a new precedent that will be hard to follow.  ClosingFind out how Simplr can cut your customer service response time through cutting-edge technology and on-demand talent at simplr.ai. That’s S-I-M-P-L-R.ai.  Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. We’ll see you tomorrow.