My brother Mitch knows a lot of creative people who love Bruce Springsteen, The Mets and great bourbon. I enjoy getting introduced to his friends, especially when they also love marketing like me and know a lot about e-commerce.
One of Mitch’s close friends is Mark Friedman, who spent seven years as President of E-Commerce for Steve Madden with full P&L responsibility for the Steve Madden US site as well as other company managed sites. Madden, who markets luxury shoes and apparel, is a billion-dollar brand. Their 100 plus stores and e-commerce has become a strategic driving element of the channel mix and the company’s success.
Mark was responsible for all traffic driven to the sites, site conversion and optimization, and the day-to-day and strategic operations of the business.
In past positions, Mark had responsibility for the management of Speedousa.com (Speedo), CKU.com (Calvin Klein Underwear), and Calvin Klein Jeans (calvinkleinjeans.com) web sites in the US with full P&L responsibility for the web channel. He also worked as CMO at Brooks Brothers and VP Marketing at Hanover Direct.
Retail and E-Commerce Guru
Mark knows retail, with a focus on digital marketing.
Today mark runs Details Interactive; a consultancy focused on both strategic and tactical marketing for direct-to-consumer brands. Mark is also the host of The Marketing Playbook podcast, a 
format where he speaks with senior marketing professionals with a focus on retail like the CEO or CMO from Levi Strauss, Pearl Vision, and Reebok, to name a few.
Mark and I discussed how he sees retail and e-commerce companies thinking about their digital footprint and strategy going forward.-
He had several counterintuitive insights about the plight of retailers in the coming years.
One fascinating stat from my conversation was that Mark believes the retailers must open up because even the best in class digital marketers only do 25% of revenue online, leaving them with an enormous gap without their physical stores. I naively thought that retailers could eventually get to a 50/50 split. That’s not Mark’s take.
Here are a few insights I took away from our conversation.
Use Data or Become Toast
Retailers have tons of data. They are drowning in it. Most talk about their need to use it better but often don’t know where to begin. Well, they better use it better or else they are toast.
Retailers need to have a complete 360 view of the customer, all the spending with that brand, across all channels and devices, and they must be able to better segment and personalize their messages to the customers.
Mark believes that you should be letting customers shop wherever they want and whenever they want. And, your brand message, creative and offers, need to be consistent across all those channels and devices.
Outstanding Customer Service is The Cost to Play
In a post-Covid world, customer service will be even more critical than ever. It has been eroding for years, and most companies aren’t investing in those people because the turnover in those jobs is so high. But, is it because of the lack of training that turnover is high?
Excellent or superb customer service is the price to play. Most retailers are at best doing an average job and miss the powerful opportunity to wow customers.
Brands will need to invest in sales techniques in product training. The only way to recoup prior sales levels will be to improve conversion rates and sales per transaction, given how the environment for retail has shifted. There will be a new level of process that the retailers will need to deal with—shopping by appointment, curbside pick-up of my shirt from Nordstrom, not just buy online and pick up in-store.
“The e-commerce/retail players who see customer service as a strategic pillar will win the future.”
Digital and Social Considerations
On the digital side, Mark thinks that social media will become a much more significant part of the shopping experience.
Social selling has grown, and it is part of a younger consumer’s retail eco-system.
It is now an important new channel. Consumers are open to swiping up to buy. He also thinks that in-home shopping might see some renewed interest.
As for me, I am not much of a shopper and hate to go to the mall. So, the post-Covid world won’t rock my world. But who wants to go to crowded stores and with unemployment that could hit 20%, what’s the future of retail?
I can see my acceleration of online shopping for food and other needs. Last week I was almost out of Woodford Reserve bourbon, a brand my brother introduced me to.
I was about to run to the State Store to get more, and I stumbled upon Caskers, who, with a click of a button, delivered what I was looking forward without the need to dress up in my face mask and gloves.
Instead of weekly trips to Whole Foods, I’m going every three weeks and filling in online through Amazon Fresh.
The Future of Retail
Watch this fascinating interview with Mark about retail. Cara Bernstein interviewed him at The Millennium Alliance in Las Vegas, March 2020.
And check out Mark’s podcast, The Marketing Playbook, if you enjoy listening to CMO’s and marketing professionals.
It is available through most of the usual places you find podcasts. You’ll take away three fundamental tips every episode help you develop strategies for digital marketing, eCommerce, and customer monetization.
Need a marketing consultant to help carve out a digital strategy?
I can help. You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conversation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com. Let’s explore working together today.
Photo by Curology on Unsplash and from Mark Friedman at Digital Interactive LLC
