Commerce Talks with Alexander Graf: Recent Episodes
Spryker Systems
Join Spryker’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO Alexander Graf and his special guests every other week as he breaks down different commerce or digital topics from what they mean, why they are important, and where to prioritize them in your own digital commerce journey with special guests. Our guests typically include real Spryker Commerce OS customers, international experts in the industry at large, and many more thought leaders within the digital transactional space that will be sure to entertain and inspire how your business approaches the growing industry that is digital commerce. Email us for any questions on the podcast: hello@spryker.com
Finnish company KONE moves more than one billion people every day across its global portfolio of elevators and escalators. But it’s so much more than that, as Alex found out in the latest edition of Commerce Talks, where he spoke with Johannes Rastas, KONE’s SVP of R&D.
Johannes regards KONE as a tech firm, focused on improving the flow of urban life. He explains KONE’s approach to innovation and how it is ensuring the buildings of the future are nice places to live and work.
With just a few weeks until the Seamless KSA event in Riyadh, Alex caught up with ‘godmother of the metaverse’ Cathy Hackl to talk about the latest emerging tech and how it is being used by leading brands.
The discussion covered the metaverse (of course), the most advanced piece of consumer technology ever created, and Cathy’s upcoming keynote at Seamless KSA.
At Seamless Middle East, we spoke with Adam Docrat, Head of IT at Aster Pharmacy and Aster Retail. Aster is a hugely significant player in the pharmaceutical market in the Middle East, and it is now setting its sights on expansion into the health and well-being sectors.
Adam discusses how they are approaching that sector while also explaining the world of pharmaceuticals and the future of medicine delivery and revealing how Aster uses e-commerce.
This latest edition of the podcast from Seamless Middle East sees Alex joined by Adnaan Jassat, the CEO and founder of Thriller, the online marketplace for sneakers that sees buyers and sellers come together to exchange sneakers and trainers.
The sneaker sector is massive – estimated to reach $40 billion by 2025, according to Adnaan – and he explains how Thriller is establishing itself in that market, including working with some of the biggest and best-known influencers on the planet and potentially expanding to become a marketplace for other collectibles, such as clothing and figures.
Ahead of the upcoming (September 4th and 5th) Seamless KSA event in Riyadh, Alex caught up with renowned tech and Artificial Intelligence consultant Karl Lillrud to discuss how retailers and e-commerce firms could use AI and even newer emerging technologies.
The wide-ranging conversation focused on innovation in the Middle East, the role of GenAI, the importance of testing, the difficulties that can arise when implanting new technologies, and Karl’s focus at Seamless in a few months.
E-commerce within the fuel industry comes with its own particular challenges, so Alex’s guest for this podcast - Suryaveer Singh, Head of Loyalty at ENOC Retail – was hugely insightful about those challenges and how ENOC was addressing them.
They discussed how ENOC had embraced the digital change required to keep pace with changing customer expectations, its innovative loyalty program and use of customer data and the differences in consumer fuel habits between UAE and the US / Europe.
Welcome to another podcast from Seamless Middle East, with Alex accompanied by Lina Gallagher as co-host. They are joined in this episode by Rajiv Warrier, CEO at Choithrams, which opened its first store in 1944 and is now regarded as one of the leading supermarket and department stores in the GCC.
For a retailer so established and successful in brick and mortar, Choithrams has been a true early adopter when it comes to digital commerce. Rajiv explains why that was so important, how the company approached it, and how they have balanced the differing challenges of online and offline.
B2B and B2C digital commerce can be vastly different, so it was illuminating to welcome a guest - Anton Nehaenko, COO at Yalla Market and Yalla!Hub – that is making a success of both sectors.
Yalla Market is a rapid grocery delivery service, while Yalla!Hub helps other businesses to sell products in Dubai. Anton joined Alex and co-host Lina Gallagher at Seamless Middle East to explain the dual approach and how its quick commerce model has become such a highly effective way for businesses outside the region to establish themselves in GCC.
Transitioning from brick and mortar to multichannel is a challenge all retailers are facing. Our latest guest, Kartik Bhatt of Sharaf Retail – operational in nine countries, 100+ outlets, 2,000+ employees - is someone that has made an enormous success of it in the Middle East.
It’s the latest podcast from Seamless Middle East, with Alex joined again as co-host by Lina Gallagher. Kartik explains to Alex and Lina how Sharaf’s digitization, omnichannel strategies, and geographical expansion reflects its commitment to adapting to changing consumer demands and driving profitability.
With 400 branches, 400m visitors, and ¼ market share, Panda Retail has a perspective on how to win the KSA grocery game.
The grocery market in KSA has one of the steepest growth curves in the world, and Alex was lucky to catch up with of the sector’s leading figures – Panda Retail CIO, Piyush Chowhan - at the recent Seamless Middle East event.
The conversation delved deep into the dynamic landscape of the Saudi Arabian grocery market, and Piyush was a truly insightful guest. He shared his expertise on the current and future state of the industry, shed light on the tremendous growth potential in the Saudi Arabian grocery sector, and revealed some of the reasons behind Panda Retail’s success.
At Seamless Middle East, Alex spoke to some of the region’s leading e-commerce figures. He is joined here as co-host by Lina Gallagher, and they interview Saad Tounzi, the Digital Projects Department Manager for ADNOC.
ADNOC Distribution is the UAE's largest fuel and convenience retailer, and the leading marketer and distributor of fuels and lubricants to commercial, government and military customers. Saad discusses how he is using e-commerce, the importance of a diverse product portfolio, the focus on customer experience and how the EV market is taking shape in MENA.
Mina Salman is the brilliant mind behind the renowned Pakistani fashion and beauty brand, Bagallery. Mina is an accomplished entrepreneur, trendsetter, and a true trailblazer in the industry. Bagallery has disrupted the traditional retail landscape, embracing technology and social media to create an immersive customer shopping experience. We explore her strategies for staying ahead in a rapidly evolving industry and her insights on building a brand that resonates with a diverse audience.
Regular listeners will be aware of Alex’s ongoing interest in B2B marketplaces and this week’s episode features one of MENA’s biggest and most dynamic – Marius Ciavola, the CEO of Tradeling.
Marius talks through the reasons behind Tradeling’s success, focusing on its business model, how it facilitates cross-border trade, and how it connects sellers of specialized products with buyers.
He also discusses the dynamic market conditions in Dubai and the rest of MENA and explains his vision for digital channels in the B2B space.
This week’s guest used to work at a company whose products we have probably all used at one time in our life – Colgate-Palmolive. Josue Munoz is the former Vice President Global ECommerce | Global Supply Chain and in this episode, he explains how Colgate embraced digital commerce and started moving towards being a more D2C focused company.
He attributes the company’s success as the world’s number one toothpaste brand to its constant innovation, understanding of consumer needs, and global reach. Even facing increasing competition from private label brands, it is still the dominant player in the toothpaste market with strong brand recognition globally. The growing direct-to-consumer business is key to this, allowing Colgate to bypass retailers and build direct relationships with customers.
Ahead of Alex’s presence at Seamless Middle East, this episode sees him catch up with The Toufic Kreidieh, founding partner and CEO of Brands for Less Group. BFL Group is a company that dominates the off-price business in the Middle East and will be present at Seamless in May.
BFL Group is the parent company of several retail chains, headquartered in Dubai, but present across the GCC with 100+ stores. It sells branded goods at discount prices and Toufic explains to Alex how challenging it was to introduce the off-price business concept to a region where consumers were not familiar with the idea, describes how his company balances online and offline commerce and reveals the importance of creating the right working environment.
In this episode, Alex catches up with Mexican e-commerce pioneer Jose Esparza, the Head of Digital Commerce at Mercardo Mayco and CEO of Dupplo, the digital business unit of Mercardo Mayco. Jose explains how he launched Dupplo – Mexico’s first digital CPG wholesaler – from a company that until then had been 100% bricks and mortar.
He explores the unique grocery shopping culture in Mexico, including how small shops make up around 70% of the market share for food and beverage spending in the country, and represent around 50% of Mexicans' primary supply option. Jose goes on to discuss how Dupplo differentiates itself from other digital players in the market by being born from the traditional channel of wholesaling and having deep knowledge about customers and their needs.
E-commerce is truly global and this episode of Commerce Talks goes further than it has done before, speaking to Australian e-commerce expert, Brian Walker, CEO of the Retail Doctor Group. Brian discussed the state of e-commerce in Australia, touching on levels of online penetration, Amazon's presence in the Australian e-commerce market, the emergence of marketplaces and direct-to-consumer models, the challenges of last-mile fulfilment, and the rise of online B2B commerce solutions due to the disintegration of classic supply channels.
Commerce Talks is proud to be the official podcast partner at the upcoming Seamless Middle East event in Dubai on 23 and 24 May. We’ll be interviewing some of the most highly regarded e-commerce leaders in the region, both at Seamless itself and in the run up to the event.
The first of those interviews is Leena Khalil, CCO at mother, child and baby online store, Mumzworld. Leena will be speaking at Seamless Middle East on 23 May, but you can hear her first here, talking about he experiences in establishing Mumzworld as the #1 store in its sector across the whole Middle East.
For this episode of Commerce Talks, Alex is joined by his co-host and Middle East e-commerce expert, Lina Gallagher. They are speaking with Ahmed Alghanim, head of e-commerce at hypermarket, City Centre Kuwait about retail business models in Kuwait, and how the country's high expat population, high internet and mobile phone penetration, and young, educated population are all attractive features for companies looking to test new products and services.
Ahmed also discusses challenges such as high warehousing costs, finding and retaining digital talent and government bureaucracy, and how the company is continually striving to improve the online grocery shopping experience in Kuwait, experimenting with new business models and technology to offer faster delivery times.
L’azurde is a Saudi-based jewellery company that manufactures and distributes gold jewellery through wholesale channels and via its own stores and franchise brands. The company has around 3,000 stores worldwide, is the fourth largest gold jewellery manufacturer globally and is the only listed jewellery company in the MENA region. I caught up with Artem Avdeev, brand director at L’azurde to discuss how the company has applied digital commerce to the luxury jewellery market and how it plans to expand with a range of new retail concepts.
In this episode, I spoke with Nils Radsak, an expert in the automotive world who has led digitization for major car brands such as Volkswagen and Porsche. We talked about what dealers of the future will look like, connected services, and tensions between dealers and OEMs. We even discussed the Chinese Tesla competitor, BYD, and why they are putting customer centricity first.
Automobile marketplaces are very established in Western Europe, and SellAnyCar.com is setting about proving that the model works in the Middle East too. It’s the region’s first car buying service, which offers free and instant online car valuation, free car inspection, and a guarantee to purchase any car within 30 minutes. I recently spoke with Anuvrat Gaurav, regional country manager at SellAnyCar.com, and we discussed the importance of a hassle-free customer experience, why the company’s model means everyone wins, and changing attitudes to e-commerce in the Middle East.
B2B marketplaces are a fascinating concept – more complex than their B2C counterparts but potentially hugely transformative. Ekuep is such a marketplace, supplying restaurants across the Middle East with kitchen equipment, and known for its quality products, large stock (10,000+ products), and capability to ship fast. I spoke with Shafi Baig, at Ekuep (and also consumer coffee marketplace Qavashop) about how he has helped establish a B2B marketplace and what it takes to be successful.
justclean is a cleaning and laundry services marketplace that covers the Middle East. It’s a great business with vast potential – the market value has been assessed as 3.5BN per year - and I recently caught up with Athbi Al-Enezi, the founder and CEO of justclean. We discussed the challenges in bringing an online business model to a sector that was almost exclusively offline, learning from your mistakes, marketplace best practice and how justclean can expand its services across the region.
In Europe and the US, the online grocery market is very well-established. But in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, e-commerce in the grocery sector is very much an emerging trend. How can supermarkets in the region tap into this growing market? I talk about this with Frederic Levy-Perrault, the CEO of Alraya, an established player with 52 stores in the west of KSA and which is looking to address changing consumer needs and habits. Frederic discusses the challenges in building a sustainable online grocery business.
Franchise operators are fascinating businesses, and Alshaya Group is one of the biggest and most prominent in the Middle East. It operates more than 80 brands, including Starbucks, H&M, and Boots, on behalf of their owners, leveraging their brand assets to create omnichannel experiences for customers. I caught up with Rob Silsbury, VP of E-Commerce at Alshaya Group, to discuss the company's transformation into a leading digital retailer in the Middle East (and beyond) and learn more about how the pandemic accelerated the company's shift towards e-commerce.
What is a marketplace? What are the top trends we expect to see in the near future as companies invest more and more in a fully-digitized customer journey? And most importantly, is it true that you could buy human organs on eBay in the “early days”? Spoiler alert: it’s not. I explore all this and more with industry veteran Tom McFadyen, founder of McFadyen Digital. Tom talks about best practices, drivers of marketplace initiatives, and why the ‘90s were the wild west of commerce.
Gen Z is taking over the consumer population and with that, social commerce is finding its way into the discussion for all commerce leaders. We spoke with Kapil Sethi at GMG about how they have evolved over decades to operate a global omnichannel experience for a number of brands. Listen in to learn about their bet on the growing health and wellness industry, how their logistics cater to both a B2B and B2C audience, and how e-commerce is changing with the next generation.
Lals Group is a GCC retail brand that operates a diverse portfolio of home-grown and franchise brands. With co-host Lina Gallagher, I spoke with Dharmendra Mehta who leads the e-commerce business, and offers his insight on the current market and the key learnings from helping to grow the e-commerce channels for both furniture and children’s clothing brands. Listen in to learn about their journey from offline to omnichannel, why businesses in that region have always had a goal of profitability, and his thoughts on the so-called addiction to discounting so many consumers have.
Niel Kuschinsky is focused on the future of refrigeration. And what does the future look like?
In addition to moving to an outcome driven business model, we discussed the future of sensors in both a store and home setting as well as the challenge between sustainability and ease of use for the consumer. Listen to learn more about the hurdles and learnings from an industry that touches all types of consumers every single day.
Sanjay Aggarwal saw an opportunity for a business when his mom, while trying to busy herself during retirement, started selling spices she mixed herself in the local community. What started as a hobby has grown into an internationally recognized brand with a strong focus on quality product and excellent customer service.
Table of contents
History of modern spice purchasing 3:30
Where did the specialty spice demand come from? 7:30
Getting and retaining customers 13:20
Selling on Amazon and other platforms 19:50
Growth and plans for the future 24:40
The promise of robots has been around for decades and while the home helper robot is an idea consumers are more familiar with, incorporating robots into more B2B and B2C situations is something that we have yet to see truly unfold. In this episode, we chatted with Julian Bröcheler at ABB Robotics about how robots can help to fill labor shortages, the benefits of robots in our daily lives, and what we can expect from them in the future.
Table of contents
Robots in our everyday lives - 2:44
B2B robotics - 9:28
Working with robots vs humans - 20:45
Looking to automation - 25:11
Business model of robots - 32:27
The future of robots for consumers - 37:33
Steve Dennis is the author of Remarkable Retail and is the president and founder of Sageberry Consulting. Having previously worked with brands such as Neiman Marcus.
Steve's two decades of work in the commerce industry has made him an expert on the evolving industry and those who have succeeded in digital transformation as well as those who have lost. We spoke to Steve to learn more about the current trend taking ecommerce by storm, the marketplace. Is investing in a marketplace the right move for every brand?
Table of contents
Sears as an e-commerce early adopter 2:43
The mail order catalog model - 5:40
The first wave of commerce - 11:40
US success cases and what they have in common - 17:00
Marketplaces and the difference between being a buying or shopping brand - 30:10
Amazon and what's next for commerce - 44:25
Lior Suchard, the world famous mentalist, sat down with us to talk about the business of mentalism. Whether it’s the impact of COVID, customer loyalty, or the various channels he explores, Lior offers a behind the scenes look at his brand and the brains behind the business of what he does. Listen to learn more as well as witness some mental tricks throughout the episode Table of contents
The business of mentalism - 5:00
Impact of COVID-19 - 8:00
Why word of mouth still matters - 16:00
Training the next generation of mentalists - 21:30
Customer loyalty and channel exploration - 28:27
Fully utilizing social media - 34:20
Online classes for mentalism - 41:25
Learn more about Lior:
Lior's Website https://liorsuchard.com/
Follow us: Twitter/sprysys
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In this interview, we spoke with Richard Corbridge, the Chief Information Officer at Boots, a staple UK health and beauty retailer, about their plans to build a digital e-commerce experience for the future. As a brand with strong roots in brick and mortar, read on to see how they are tackling the challenges of merging both experiences for their customers.
Table of contents
The Boots business - 1:20
Boots and the beauty market - 5:30
Business challenges of owned vs third party products - 8:00
Personalizing the healthcare journey - 15:00
Creating a trusted marketplace - 16:50
Implementing the right process for new products - 19:00
Impact of COVID-19 - 21:03
Importance of speed of adaptation - 24:35
Omni-channel approach - 28:34
Learn more about Richard:
Richard's Linkedin
Follow us: Twitter/sprysys
Like what you heard? Leave us a review!
In this interview, we dive into one of today’s most interesting topics in the commerce space - food delivery. Currently taking Munich by storm, and with plans to expand throughout Germany, Knuspr is one of the most anticipated services in the country. We spoke to CEO Erich Comor about what makes them different.
Eric talked about two main things when it comes to Knuspr standing out against other food delivery services including traditional supermarkets like Rewe and Edeka as well as quick delivery services like Flink and Gorillaz.
One is the assortment of items they have. In addition to everything you would find at a traditional supermarket, Knuspr also offers specialty items often sourced from local providers. This could include a specialty cheese from Italy, fresh fish, bread from a local bakery, or sustainably sourced meat from a regional butcher.
The second is the person delivering the food and Eric says this is their true differentiator and why he is so confident they will continue to grow and retain their client base. Knuspr is highly focused on providing outstanding customer service and thinks of its delivery drivers as their brand ambassadors.
Learn more about Erich:
Erich's Linkedin
Knuspr website
Follow us: Twitter/sprysys
Like what you heard? Leave us a review!
Ocado Group is a UK-based grocery solutions and logistics business that licenses its technology to grocery retailers around the world. It started as grocery delivery business, which is still a strong pillar, but now powers a dozen ambitious grocery delivery projects worldwide.
I discuss with Richard the future of grocery delivery, the challenges of most brick and mortar retailers and many more.
Learn more about Richard:
Richard's Linkedin
Ocado website
Follow us: Twitter/sprysys
Like what you heard? Leave us a review!
One of the biggest growth bottlenecks in the e-commerce industry is availability of logistics services. On top of the availability topic comes the trackability topic, which is one of the challenges FarEye tries to solve with a very innovative platform approach.
Where is my delivery might sound like a simple question, but is hard to solve with the outdated tracking approaches in the market. Learn what the future of logistics looks like by listening to Kushal’s insights.
https://www.getfareye.com/
Lands’ End is a more than fascinating case, as this company was able to transform itself from a brick and mortar business towards a modern ecommerce company - something that I have never seen before.
That leads to the question: How was that possible? Why is Lands’ End now looking again into brick and mortar options? Could others maybe learn from this case? European Managing Director Constanze Freienstein answers to all this questions.
https://www.landsend.de/
Nobody would have expected another "fight" for the food delivery customers in Berlin after the super expansive "the winner takes it all '' competition only some years ago. But here they are - Wolt - a unicorn from Helsinki, operating in over 20 countries with a verticalized delivery approach. They are winning market share with a superior customer experience. How are they able to do it? Will it be profitable? What will be the future of the “inner” city? Find all the answers in the podcast
http://wolt.com
http://spryker.com
Jon Reed has been building enterprise communities since 1995. These days, Jon is a roving blogger/analyst. He also advises vendors and startups on reaching today's informed enterprise buyer, now that the sales funnel is discredited. He is a diginomica co-founder, Enterprise Irregular, and purveyor of multi-media content.
We try to identify successfull US Retail transformation cases. (very hard to find any) and discuss the false promises of personalization, microservices and more.
About Jon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonerp/
About Spryker: https://spryker.com/en/commerce/
Thomas Prommer is a global digital native technology leader with 20+ years of experience in planning, building and running best-in-class, highly scalable, omni-channel marketing and commercial platforms, in partnership with world-class product, user experience, data science and analytics teams.
As a technology executive on the agency side, he has partnered with progressive clients and CXOs across industries including Google, Apple, Nike, Hulu, McDonalds, Toyota, Carnival Cruises as well as nimble digital-native D2C and start-up companies to define and realize future-proof platform strategies. Thomas has also held in-house executive roles for companies such as Adidas, Bain Capital and Sweetgreen in the same capacity. As an early web entrepreneur and hands-on engineer at heart he has single-handed built, grown and commercialized digital properties that have a reach of over 10M visitors a month. Nice!
About Thomas: https://promptresults.com/
About Spryker: www.spryker.com
On his website futurecommerce.fm Phillip writes: "We are a collective of eCommerce operators who have helped to build digital commerce channels for some of the world's most recognizable brands." After reading and listening to some of his content it became clear that he is a "must have" guest for commerce talks. His experience with Magento, his views as a developer and his operational insights in some of the biggest US commerce projects create a very cool base for our conversation.
About Spryker: https://www.spryker.com
FutureCommerce: https://futurecommerce.fm/
Claret is part of the new e-com super business merama.io in Mexico, trying to partner up with Amazon brands in order to make them even more successful. Claret gives very interesting insights into the recent e commerce boom in Mexico, the role that Amazon plays there and the chances of former brick and mortar retailers.
About Spryker: www.spryker.com
Spryker Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/SprykerSystemsGmbH42
Alexander Graf:
www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergraf/
twitter.com/supergraf
Host Alex Graf talked with Pavel Orlov from the Russian grocery giant Magnit (USD 20b revenue) about how 3-hour delivery is now considered slow. Orlov gets honest about building the e-commerce operations and provides his unique perspective on the Russian market for e-food. This talk includes questions like, how the ozon IPO changed the e-commerce dilemma, what fast delivery means in Russia, and how fast everyone is expanding?
About Spryker: https://www.spryker.com
Spryker Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SprykerSystemsGmbH42
Alexander Graf:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergraf/
https://twitter.com/supergraf
Join us to talk about the role of industry analysts, their ability to help customers with complex e-commerce decision-making, and the new rise of review platforms. Will review platforms like Trustradius and g2 replace the analyst as booking.com replaced the travel agent? Take a listen in for our thoughts and tell us yours in the reviews!
“The center of gravity has changed from monolithic systems to flexible, cloud-based commerce.” Andy Hoar, the founder of Paradigm B2B and commerce expert, has a fascinating discussion with Alex Graf on the vast opportunities for B2B companies in digital commerce. From Amazon lessons learned to the two key-value points all B2B enterprises focus on when selecting a commerce ecosystem, take a deep dive into the identity of a B2B customer, how the industry has changed, and the technology that will be needed to not just survive these changing times but thrive.
The podcast formerly known as Wimlex, has a new and exciting life as Commerce Talks. Let's kick things off with commerce veterans Andrej Maihorn and Alex Graf as they breakdown commerce tech, vendors, and the whole ecosystem on a weekly basis.
In this episode, we cover:
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The US Intershop journey
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Andrejs view on the different software vendors
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Is there an "EDV Leiter" persona in the US
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the Seeking Alpha article about Shopify as Commerce OS: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4413931-shopify-best-operating-system-for-commerce
Alexander Graf:
www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergraf/
twitter.com/supergraf
Andrej Maihorn:
www.linkedin.com/in/amaihorn/
Feedback: press@spryker.com
Spryker: https://spryker.com/en/
Welcome to the first Spryker podcast of 2021 where we talk with Robert Meshew the Chief Information Officer of Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply, and Spryker customer. Meshew shares his story along with how he chooses companies to invest in. Tune into this informative and fun podcast, and stay tuned for future conversations with Spryker.
Alexander Graf (Spryker Systems GmbH) sits down with VP of E-Commerce of DELL Technologies Harsh Acharya to talk about everything from his experience in switching from monoliths to microservices, managing large developer teams, and much, much more. This informative and honest talk will give you an inside look at how the powerhouse DELL Technologies approaches new ideas, tech, and the future of computing.
Global Venture Capitalist, Bay McLaughlin (Brinc.io), sits down with fellow entrepreneurial spirit Alex Graf (Spryker Systems GmbH) to share his very inspiring story about how he became the influencer that he is today, providing our Le WimLex listeners with valuable insights and learnings that may help you inspire your own entrepreneurial journey.
B2B commerce expert, Brian Beck, returns to talk through actual case studies with Alex Graf. In this informative and educational conversation, you will learn what actually happens when a B2B commerce company makes the leap into the digital world, and what successful long-term transformation looks like right from the expert himself. Enjoy this chat and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
CEO, advisor, and author of the recently published book 'Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce' joins Spryker CEO Alexander Graf to talk about the key differences in the US market when compared to the European market and how to utilize that knowledge towards success. Beck shares his 20+ years of experience in e-commerce in this insightful and entertaining conversation.
Philippe de Chanville, one of the two Founders of ManoMano, talks openly and honestly about the DIY and e-commerce landscape in this revealing and enjoyable episode of LeWimLex. Get a detailed view of what it’s really like to grow a business that’s traditionally brick-and-mortar focused, and how his team has calculated success based on the current market. Enjoy!
Rose Bikes is one of the most desirable bike brands in Europe. Their USP is to sell the most affordable premium bikes possible, which generated a huge fan base. In the Podcast the Spryker COO Chris Rauch discusses with Sebastian about what digitization and UX means for the leading bike brand and how Spryker changed the role of IT at Rose Bikes.
Volvo has proven to be as customer-centric as possible when it comes to the retailing model of the car. The Care by Volvo initiative, driven by Patrik Illerstig ís only one example of many. But what about the retailers? How will car manufactures like Volvo handle the infotainment systems in a world where Tesla is now setting the standard. Will the "normal" customer will even buy cars in the future? Learn more about these questions in the podcast.
Care by Volvo: https://www.volvocars.com/de/care-by-volvo/
Haglöf is a very impressive brand from Sweden which is now expanding into more and more markets through advanced digital strategies. Moritz Kuhn, the Head of Digital Sales at Haglöfs, provides some exciting insights into those strategies and also shares the digital challenges of a DTC brand.
Shop Haglöfs: https://www.haglofs.com/de/de-de/
20% Discount Code: wimlex20
Recorded live in the superstore of Kamera Express, LeWimLex host Alex Graf interviews Ben Cornelisse, Founder and CEO of Kamera Express.
How did the retailers for photo and video equipment online and offline become a market leader in the Netherlands? What does the future hold for video and photo retailers? And who masters omnichannel right now...? This and much more in episode 37. Tune in!
LeWimLex host Willem interviews Michiel de Gooijer, Founder of one of the largest video publishers worldwide, Brightvibes. The content platform has set on amplifying the good in the world and reached 200 million views in the past 12 months. LeWimLex dives into Michiel's track record in media and the three goals that the platform pursues in influencing 20+ million weekly users.
LeWimLex episode 35 dips into the making of the leading Swedish premium umbrella brand Carl Dagg. Lena & Alex had the pleasure of interviewing Co-Founder and Partner Markus Fougstedt.
Listen in to find out how Carl Dagg takes a different approach to branding and online customer experience that have resulted in astonishing customer loyalty and above-average re-order rates.
Lena Hackelöer & Alex Graf interview August Bard Bringéus, Co-Founder of Asket. The Swedish fashion brand takes a different approach to business success: they ultimately want everyone to buy less - and invest more into quality essentials...by Asket. August talks about their very beginnings and explains why wholesale doesn't work for them and what they use as their key differentiators to disrupt the wasteful fashion industry.
In this Le WimLex episode, Lena & Alex had the pleasure of getting Pierce CEO Henrik Zadig in front of a microphone and got some exclusive insights. The self-named Petrolheads of E-Commerce are one of the most successful Swedish online retailers of all time and the European market leader in digitally selling motorcycle parts. Insights on the strong community of the brand, which has helped them to above-average organic traffic, and the 'how' behind their solid profitability core, make this an absolute must-listen.
In this Le WimLex episode, Alex & Willem interview Thijs Verheul, Founder at United Wardrobe. Listen in to find out what made the Dutch-founded second-hand marketplace that sells brands like Nike & G-Star Raw, so successful in the Netherlands and gets them closer to leveling up with competitor marketplace Vinted. High return rates have become a big problem, especially in the fashion industry. United Wardrobe might have found a solution that would even help brands like Zalando.
BONUS: our new Le WimLex closing question!
What's United Wardrobe's biggest project at the moment?
Adding a new product for young parents & expanding the marketplace to France. Exciting stuff!
Lena Hackelöer interviews Martin Malmström, the former CEO of Bikroy, the leading Bangladeshi second-hand marketplace.
Martin shares his journey at Bikroy, building the company from the ground up to becoming the number one classified site and a category leader after only one year of operations.
In spite of tough competition, political uprising and a corruptive market environment, Bikroy has become a pioneer in not only being one of the most googled businesses in Bangladesh, but also as a role model in corporate culture and a highly profitable trajectory.
Listen in for some first-class entrepreneurial insights.
The episode Lena and Martin talk about in this session, can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/wimlex-show/18-georgi-ganev-ceo-kinnevik
Interviewing Ron Simpson, Founder at The Avocado Show in this Le WimLex episode. How could an avocado revolutionize the hospitality industry? Ron talks about how founding a creative agency was the perfect foundation for launching a new generation of restaurant brand.
Interviewing Ynzo van Zanten, Chief Evangelist at Tony's Chocolonely in this Le WimLex episode. Insights into the life of a chocolate Evangelist and Tony's Chocolonely's journey to not only revolutionize the way they produce chocolate but to improve standards of an entire industry.
This episode takes the discussion outside of e-commerce. Interviewing Wessel van Eeden, Global Marketing Director at Justdiggit in this Le WimLex episode. "Beside Trump, the whole world is now aware that we are facing serious issues when it comes to climate change." What to do against it?
Interviewing Nils Zünddorf, Managing Director at Factor A in this Le WimLex episode. From optimizing product data on Amazon to gaining marketshare, Nils shares his experience of working with Amazon vendors for over 10 years.
Interviewing Hans Scheffer, Founder Helloprint in this Le WimLex episode. The platform economy has arrived in the printing industry. Deep diving into the success of Helloprint, Hans gives detailed insights into the multi-million-euro player.
Interviewing Paul Kemp Robertson, Contagious in this Le WimLex episode. Why does creativity kick the living crap out of non-creative work? What are best & worst bractices of branding today - and why should brand awareness even matter for B2B companies?
Interviewing Huub Vermeulen, CEO at Bol.com in this Le WimLex episode. Bol.com is the Amazon of the Netherlands and has even managen to achieve the concept of a fair marketplace. How will they secure their growth in future, especially once Amazon enters the Dutch market?
Interviewing Dirk Ramhorst, CIO at Wacker and Axel Schmidt, CDO Customers at Wacker in this Le WimLex episode. The €5bn B2B chemistry business has managed to drive organizational change in a pioneering fashion. How did they manage to leverage the knowledge, motivation and spirit of each individual in the company?
Recommended follow up:
https://www.takingchancestogether.com/de/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/axelschmidt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirk-ramhorst-0b9399/
Lena Hackeloer is a German-born, Stockholm-based fintech entrepreneur. Prior to starting the Brite Payment Group she served as CEO for Qliro and Director of Marketing at Klarna. She is a thought leader on digital developments in the Nordics and the fintech ecosystem.
Lena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenahackeloeer/
Dekbed Discounter is disrupting the Benelux Home & Living market with a super smart business model. Founder and CEO Niels Verwij opens up to WimLex Show hosts Alexander Graf, CEO at Spryker and Willem Blom, Director Data & Intelligence at Dept Agency.
Dekbed Discounter: https://www.dekbed-discounter.nl/
Willem at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willemblom/
Alex at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergraf/
Join Mathias Hedlund, CEO Etraveli Group & Alexander Graf, CEO Spryker as they discuss the future of the online travel industry.
Who will win the Online Fashion Race: Zalando vs. Asos vs. About You? In this episode, taped live at the Digital Commerce Summit in Stockholm, Georgi Ganev, CEO of Kinnevik opens up to WimLex Show hosts Alexander Graf, CEO at Spryker and Willem Blom, Director Data & Intelligence at Dept Agency.
How to build a new underwear brand for men? Christian Larson, founder and Creative Director of Swedish underwear disruptor CDLP opens up to WimLex Show hosts Alexander Graf, CEO at Spryker and Willem Blom, Director Data & Intelligence at Dept Agency.
Son Of A Tailor is a Copenhagen start-up which offers made-to-measure t-shirts online.
Alex and Willem speak to its founder and CEO, Jess Fleischer, about his innovative supply chain and how he ensures customers remain loyal following their first purchase. Not content to be only on the receiving end, Jess has a few questions of his own for the presenters, turning the tables on Alex and Willem towards the end of the podcast and making the interviewers into interviewees. The two take it in good humour, though, and are happy to offer answers – and their opinions about Son Of A Tailor’s chances in the market.
Beijing-born Yu grew up in Sweden, obtaining two masters before returning to China in 2007 to start his first business P1, a fashion community. The serial entrepreneur later went into other areas, most recently dating, where he founded “the Tinder of China”, Tantan, now the Middle Kingdom’s biggest dating app. Here, Yu takes Alex and Willem through the dating scene in China, talks about how TanTan managed to establish itself in the space, and gives some indications of where the 200-million-user platform is headed.
With his background in mobile and audio-visual technology and easy on-screen manner, James was a successful presenter for consumer electronics on television shopping channel QVC – which is where he met Sharon, now his business partner, who fronted interior design segments at the time. After Sharon came across augmented reality technology as applied in mobile decorating applications, the two decided to create a business in this area, using AR technology to create a play product for children, Mardles, and using their home shopping experience to sell it on television.
Asi Sharabi is co-founder of Wonderbly, a start-up that offers highly personalised children’s books. Wonderbly started life with a single title, “I Lost My Name”, but now boasts 15 titles. Asi describes Wonderbly as a “full-stack publisher” that handles every aspect of the process of creating books and serving customers through its zero inventory, direct-to-consumer model. Wonderbly’s infrastructure, he says, give it the potential to become a scalable platform for all manner of customised publishing products.
The Trouva mission statement is to “champion independents”. Started as a way to help small owner-run shops manage their inventory in real time and make it available online, the marketplace aims to extend their reach beyond the limited potential number of customers in-store and on their websites. Trouva sees itself as a platform linking discerning customers with the very best of small-scale bricks-and-mortar stores. Shop-owners can not only upload their inventory, make it available on the worldwide marketplace, and then rely on Trouva to take care of logistics and payment, but also create a profile about their values and in-store experience.
bunq Founder & CEO Ali Niknam shares how bunq is aiming to replace bank branches, what makes online banking secure and what challenges bunq is tackling right now.
MediaMarktSaturn has become Europe’s largest consumer electronics retail group, running around 1,000 stores in 14 countries (mostly as the market leader or number two) and employs 65,000 people. The company's CTO Atul Bhardwaj talks about their transformational journey in technology and why stores are sexy again.
11 Atul Bhardwaj - MediaMarkt/Saturn: consumer electronics by The WimLex Show is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Norman Nielsen is an expert in Performance Marketing who heads up the Global Content Marketing team at German online-fashion retailer Zalando. He has been working in the field of online marketing for over twelve years in a career that has taken him as far as New Delhi and put him at the helm of large digital-marketing teams at Axel Springer. Alex and Willem took the opportunity to speak to him on the fringes of the Emerce Update event in Amsterdam.
Having worked on the world’s first cell-cultured burger back in 2013, Daan was no stranger to lab-grown alternative meats before moving to the USA as a research strategist for New Harvest, a not-
for-profit foundation to further cell-based agriculture. Having come up with a road-map for cultured meat, he has joined forces with Cambridge neurosurgery clinician Mark Kotter and founded Meatable
with Krijn De Nood as CEO. In this podcast, he takes Alex and Willem through the scientific process behind lab-grown meat and answers questions about how he intends to turn it into a business.
In this episode, Bart from Dept answers Alex’ questions about the making of Dept Agency. Bart's background in digital goes back to the mid-90s when, while he was studying physics at the University of Delft, his brother suggested they go into business to make money off of ‘this new internet thing’. And the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, Bart has taken care of technology while his brother has been the entrepreneurial frontman. They built up an agency called TamTam, and programming autodidact Bart moved from hands-on
development into technical sales. TamTam has since evolved into Dept, a worldwide leading digital marketing agency network.
While he was studying for a degree in robotics engineering at the University of Delft, Julian‘s mother was suffering from sleep deprivation: and so he made it his mission to create robots to help people sleep better. The result is Somnox, a ‘sleep robot’ set to launch in late 2019. In this podcast, Alex and Willem ask Julian about biomedical data, hardware development, and the reasons why so many people are not getting enough sleep. Julian also shares his own personal tips for better nocturnal rest.
Picnic is currently one of the most exciting investment models in Europe (not only in the food sector). In an interview, founder Michiel Muller explains what distinguishes Picnic from other food delivery services and how, on the basis of these differences, a market share of 5% could be gained in the Netherlands in just three years and whether an international roll-out of the model can be expected in the short term.
Becoming a viral sensation overnight. Jordan flys all the way from Auckland to Amsterdam to tell you everything about his inspiring story. In 2015, he created his first comical parenting video, and since then, the ‘How to DAD’ videos have amassed over 220 million video views. Today, he can also add two “instructional” books to his portfolio and is followed by over two million people on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. How awesome is dad?
Listen on iTunes: https://apple.co/2MRXMPK
on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2I66lpa
direct via RSS: https://bit.ly/2xvZnGe
The secondary sneaker market has gone from an underground aficionado scene to a billion dollar industry. Lifelong sneakerhead and CEO of StockX Josh Luber saw an opportunity and created Campless, the Kelley Blue Book for sneakers, using data to determine the true market price of sneakers. StockX is a revolutionary live marketplace for buying and selling sneakers, streetwear, watches, and handbags. So if you’re curious whether reselling sneakers is more The Wire or Wolf of Wall Street, listen to our newest episode.
Listen on iTunes: https://apple.co/2MRXMPK
on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2I66lpa
direct via RSS: https://bit.ly/2xvZnGe
Willem is the founder of Physee Technologies - a truly innovative company. Right after his physics degree from the Delft University of Technology, he came up with a groundbreaking idea for sustainability: At Physee, he invented "solar windows" - smart, electricity producing windows, which are likely to become the next standard of windows in the next few years. They don't just produce electricity but they also collect data in a smart way, by constantly measuring temperature, air pressure, and humidity.
In the podcast, Willem talks about his vision for the company, the current market entry strategy and why he would definitely sell his products via platforms like Amazon.
At the age of 13, Ben founded his first online startup - a price comparison page for mobile services. Today his company Bencom Group compares nearly everything - from insurances to energy providers or travel deals. He also owns the biggest metasearch engine in the Netherlands, which is available in many other European countries.
In the podcast, Ben tells us all about his journey as an entrepreneur and how business changed since the '90s. Join for a journey on how SEO worked in the good old days, how Ben's biggest mistake turned out to be an ultimate push for his business and how it feels like to be one of the first Google AdWords clients ever. Plus, he shares priceless tips for all internet entrepreneurs among you.ul.
The Pros & Cons to Multi-Channel, Prisoner's Dilemma and a lot of Controversy!
The WimLex Show podcast starts with a retrospect on the Dutch e-commerce market back in 2008 - blended into the podcast's first controversial discussion.
While Willem believes that the classic brick-and-mortar retailers can still be successful following a multi-channel strategy based on successful transformation cases in the Dutch market, Alex clearly comes out as an opponent of multi-channel concepts, and the attempt to digitize old legacy structures.
Both agree on how different German e-commerce is in comparison to the Dutch one. Since Amazon hasn't entered the Dutch market, consequently, the "fear of Amazon" hasn't reached the county yet.
Meanwhile, the "prisoner's dilemma" has trapped German retailers. Deep market insights on what the Dutch market has coming during the next years, provide you with a few tricks off the hook.