The Retail Journey
Welcome to the Retail Journey where we will cover important topics, interview industry stakeholders, and address emerging trends as we journey through our mission of helping our listeners thrive in retail. Your hosts for this show are CEO James Harris and CGO Charles Greathouse.
The Retail Journey
Beauty Industry Insights and Retail Growth Strategies with Walmart's VP Creighton Kiper
Prepare to be mesmerized by Creighton Kiper, Vice President of Merchandising at Walmart for Beauty as he shares expert insights into the beauty industry's seismic shifts and strategies. This episode is an invitation to peek behind the curtain of Walmart's innovative approach to beauty in 2024, from cutting-edge cosmetics and hair care to the digital transformation propelled by the pandemic. You'll hear firsthand how agility and online engagement have reshaped consumer behavior, fostering a culture where learning from tests and failures is as valuable as the pursuit of personalization.
As we unravel the complexity of customer relationships in retail, Creighton illuminates the delicate dance between rapid innovation and the patience to grow sustainably. We explore the core of Walmart's pricing strategy and its intersection with product availability, ensuring customers are never disappointed. The journey of brands at Walmart emerges as a masterclass in starting small and scaling with precision, while the Walmart Start accelerator is spotlighted as a beacon of support for burgeoning businesses aiming to carve out their market space.
Closing the conversation, we reflect on the unpredictability of change and its ripple effect on supplier partnerships. Creighton shares invaluable advice for suppliers eager to navigate the Walmart waters, revealing the significance of tenacity and the power of clear communication. We wrap up with a dash of humanity, sharing our latest literary explorations into our complex relationship with time and technology, and a chuckle-worthy anecdote from the front lines of Walmart's retail adventures. Join us for a journey through the transformative world of retail beauty and beyond.
Hello and welcome to the retail journey podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm James Harris and I'm Charles Greathouse. Today we have with us a very special guest, Mr Creighton Kuiper Creighton, welcome.
Speaker 3:Good afternoon, or is it morning time? Yeah, it's afternoon. We're here. You know, we don't have windows there are no windows.
Speaker 2:It's afternoon, morning, it's a new year and a new you. Which used to be your role. Creighton is the vice president of merchandising at Walmart for Beauty. Before that was VP DMM of the wellness section at Walmart. Before that was in digital product. Before that was having a lot of fun Making me sound old right now as a merchant A couple of different roles over at Walmart, but Creighton, yeah, welcome.
Speaker 3:Hey, thanks for having me Excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, glad you're here. Welcome to the retail journey that's right which it sounds like you've been on not too long. A healthy amount of time on the retail journey, that's right.
Speaker 1:So what's the most exciting thing for 2024 in Beauty?
Speaker 3:You know I would tell you we're. You know I'm super excited about what we're getting ready to do. We've had a lot of brands and strategies that are kind of, I would say, not peak but culminate in 2024. So excited about that. Now there'll be a cross anywhere from cosmetics to hair care and a few categories in between, but I think I'm most excited about what I'm gonna see in team.
Speaker 3:It's been a young team and getting those reps and everyone kind of getting comfortable with the way we operate and moving on the same direction. And then all of that's gonna be aided by a lot of the technology and innovation that the team has been working on, which I'm sure we'll get more into.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, let's go. It's always fun when you lay down some work. You know those initial stages. You got a vision, something that's gonna come to fruition. You're working with your partners, You're starting to grow the team and it seems like 24 is the year we're like all right, some of these things are hitting the road. You've been in that beauty business now for how long?
Speaker 3:A year and a half. Hmm, Longer than that. I think it'll be two years in March. Two years in March. So new guy card is well past.
Speaker 2:Can't laminate that guy.
Speaker 3:So 100% post-COVID 100% post-COVID, which has been an interesting dynamic. To learn a little bit about the business prior and obviously I was in health and wellness during the pandemic, so you have that view and then you move post when everyone's kind of getting back out to living their quote unquote normal life. Right, how do you run the business in that area is really interesting.
Speaker 1:One of the things I took away from COVID was how I think we realized we can change faster than we used to. That's right, and so you saw a lot of technologies really sped up for online grocery pickup, things of that nature, a lot of digital. First, what are some things in your space that maybe that's been a benefit to that? You've been able to change faster than you thought possible.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, you know. I just want to make a quick comment on something you said. There's a fundamental belief that some of us walk through and it just basically says that constraints create innovation. And I think that's a bit of what we saw is, when a sex amount of options are taken off the table, but you still need to deliver and exceed an expectation, what do you do? And it was kind of that ability to adapt very rapidly and have that singular focus from Walmart, just as a whole, that really has carried forward into 2023 and 2024.
Speaker 3:But, james, I would say a few things. I would say a few things that you would kind of shake your head and say, okay, we knew that was happening and that's anything that's like digitally enabled move forward. I think the customer became a lot more comfortable. Browsing, searching, social has played a large part, specifically in beauty, because you move quickly from inspiration to a transaction and really it's about how fast you close that gap. So just one click and then we've just seen other things.
Speaker 3:Customers, because there's so much information out there I would argue sometimes way too much. They are so informed about what products are, what they're made of and then, more importantly, their skin or their hair or their needs, that like, and the option of just giving them average is like not accepting anymore. And then you layer technology on that, and it's not the fact that a customer would drive somewhere and have to drive 10 miles or 20 minutes, whatever. It's literally like the difference between do I click on this app or this app? Right, so that's right. So I would say there's a lot of things that have come through that has moved forward. And then I would just say the mindset. You know, it's a bit more agile. I think there's a little bit more grace to test something because you have a really good consumer insight and even if it doesn't turn out exactly the way you wanted it to, as long as you learn something along the way, you can build on that to have an even better solution than you thought you were going to have to begin with.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah, I can recall. You know, back in the early consumables days, you know era of Scott Huff. You know the fail. Fast learn, that's right. And I remember people you know, not maybe hitting a number, but learning a lot. And early on wondering like that doesn't walk the dog. You got to hit the numbers and then over time you learn like, no, there's so much value, and understanding a little bit more about where the customer is going and the ways that you're going to serve them. Next, some of these changes are forced upon us. Some of them were kind of driving you want to talk a little bit about. Okay, when it comes to change, covid, the, you know, the mother of forced change, necessity all over the place, acceleration of tech, and then there's some where it's like, hey, we want to intentionally move the business in a direction that it should go. Yeah, and how you navigate those changes, how you, when you decide, okay, we're going to respond, you know, quickly, or we're going to start driving here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think there were, I'd say, kind of like three things that I would really zero in. I think the first thing is a vision with a plan and getting everyone aligned to that. Without a plan, it's just a hallucination.
Speaker 3:And so you say I want to go, do this, and then you don't make any progress towards that. I know at least that is number one. I would say good people, good people that are experienced, curious, motivated to make a difference. And then I say you want to make sure that you have some type of process or structure in place that allows you to be nimble where you need to be and resource where you need to continue to manage to the core. And when we think through transformation, you've got to have all three. You've got to have a psychological safety night, you've got to have a charter that says here are the five big things and updates around that, because you are still running the core business but you're trying to move it in this direction. That's more digital, that's more personalized, that's more relevant to the customer, and those are just sometimes muscles that we have never used and don't use too often.
Speaker 3:And it's an and if the trees were sitting here it's never an or it's an, and for our business and for the customer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so vision without a plan, that's a hallucination, that is.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's good.
Speaker 2:I mean we're in the it's. It's January now we're recording this. It'll come out sometime, maybe after January, but it's the annual planning. You know we talk a lot in our business of an investment in good people. That's an investment that's probably going to pay back. Yeah, it feels like an easy thing to invest in. When you start having to invest in other things, it gets harder, but good people tend to always get a strong return. Love the plan. Love the idea of a process that's coming from the context of the world's largest retailer in a position of leading one of the most dynamic businesses and I think about so many businesses that exact framework applies to as well. I think about our suppliers, or your suppliers, and you know our supplier partners. Like that matters. You've got a vision. That's super neat. Do you have a plan? Yeah, so us a little bit about the plan and navigating change. If you've got those three, you're going to be nimble and make progress in the direction that matters. That's right.
Speaker 1:You pointed out good people, and good people come with different personalities, right? And so I've discovered there are some really good people that love change and embrace it and others that you know it almost is frightening. Yep, as you know, within leading your team, how do you set, kind of, the stage? For change to be able to take place with those different.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, the reality is, most of us are change-adverse. We like our patterns and our way of doing things. But we talk a lot about ASychological Safety Net. I love that, so being comfortable, being uncomfortable and recognizing what that is and being okay with raising your hand. So we prioritize curiosity over like judgment. Yeah, so those are really important.
Speaker 3:And then the reality is you just you kind of have to go through a few reps Like do you know? Like when you're like, if you haven't been running, and you're like, okay, I'm going to do this 10k, and you go and run like your first mind. You're like this, this is terrible, like what? But it's kind of like you have to dig into this reservoir of doing it a few more times and then you start realizing, oh, I can do this. Or, more importantly, this is what it feels like to kind of start undergoing a different process or different change. And when you start to do that a number of times whether it's reading books or riding a bike or running or swimming or whatever what it's really interesting, you watch people become more adaptable and learning what it feels like when change is happening and that there's kind of this normal process they go through but they can see the end of the light sooner than others, and then that's how we move.
Speaker 3:The other thing I would say is like diverse perspectives help as well. It almost kind of guards or preps us for change. And in a business where we're literally trying to serve different types of hair types and skin types and expressions and and ages and you know man and women and stuff like that, we have to have a diverse perspective because all of us have some blind spots somewhere. And so when you can cover that because literally the products you're trying to sell cover something that is different from another individual we get more prepped on. Oh, like, how do we stay in the curious zone versus we've got it figured out?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that curiosity over judgment. You know we work with a lot of new suppliers to Walmart and talk to quite a few that aren't even in Walmart but would like to be one day. What's some advice you could give for new brands approaching Walmart? It's a very it's a shifting landscape. You know, some things are certain EDLC, edlp, but the systems Walmart, luminate, now Digital First, what's some good kind of advice for new suppliers?
Speaker 3:I mean at the root of it. I would say just basically, like we want to do the very best for our customer possible and if you share in that same idealism with your products, your brand, we're probably going to be off to a really good start. And if I give one more bullet about customer, just knowing your customer more than anybody else knows them is really important as well. Digital is obviously important so, you know, don't kind of just get married into the store side of the business. We are the largest Omni retailer and we are encountering different types of change intentions that no one else, frankly, in the world is probably facing and we're trying to solve those problems. But digital is really important because so much of how you're triggered or inspired or the way you want to shop is going to come through and at right now, even if the final purchase is in a store.
Speaker 3:So understanding how that funnel works is important and having already had practice and there is really important, it's actually a really unique place that direct to consumer brands sit because they kind of have a digitally native audience to begin with and so they've learned kind of how to not only cultivate their brand but cultivate the relationship with those customers ahead of time and learn how to kind of manage that data so that they can continuously get better in real time. And then there's the basics right EDLC, edlp they're congruent, they're not separable, and availability and all the basics around making sure the product is there, so when the customer orders it or picks it up or goes into a store that there's no disappointment there. So I would just say those are the few things.
Speaker 3:Retail is a fast game. It's also a patient one. You know people want to move fast. I like to move fast. Sometimes things don't turn out as fast as we like, but to have kind of the grit and the patience to keep hammering away. You know, if you've had your first meeting with a merchant at Walmart and you know you're not in 4,000 doors out the gate, recognize that being in 400 stores is a lot and it's an opportunity to actually help you go from not focusing on zero to 60, but the 60 to 100 miles an hour and you know, a small number versus a small number stays a small number right.
Speaker 3:Small number times a big number can be a big number and that can be really good or that can be really bad. So I think those are just some things that I would share, and we go through this a lot in the beauty business because of the customer's appetite for new and trend in the industry. We sit in and we have to make sure that we're keeping it as exciting. But make no mistake and you know, probably just close here with this idea that we're a retailer and we need vendors you know like it's a key ingredient last summer check.
Speaker 3:We make very little of the products that we have so we want to make sure that we're really good stewards and that we're respectful and honor the brands and also represent our customers really well.
Speaker 1:I mean it's great advice, though I can think of three or four very large brands that at one point or another we've worked with, and they started in three or four hundred stores. Now they're 100 to 250 million in sales just to Walmart. So better to learn on 400 stores than to learn on 4,000. This is much cheaper lessons at the smaller the scale.
Speaker 2:At the same time, it's yeah, small number times a big number. That's that math will add up every time. So, talking about transformation and change and where you've seen that play out, so we've talked through the, the retail side. What about brands that have gone through as they listen to customers and see the need to reinvent themselves? Any ingredients come to mind that you've seen where, like, yeah, that's worked really well or no, you've not evolved or you've not transformed and you probably needed to, and why perhaps someone might take their eye off the ball. So if there's a brand listening to this and they think they have an idea who their customer is, what are the? Either best practices to make sure you're staying with them or the warning signs that you might have lost sight?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I never thought I'd quote Tom Brady in this, so I like it I like the podcast here, but there's this phrase and I might misquote it, but he says something like winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners. And I think the point of it kind of just the economy of it is like if you're focused on the other brand in your competitive set, you're missing the point. If you're focused on the customer value proposition, the customers that buy your products day in and day out, maybe the customers that only kind of visit you every now and then and you're asking yourself, well, why is that? And you keep dialing in on how do I make my product better? Or maybe it is the best product and it's just more relevant is the awareness and consideration set of things.
Speaker 3:That's where I've seen the most success, and so, whether it's a, you know, it's a brand that's been around and they're transforming themselves. A lot of times they have like I'm gonna joke say like they're really good juice, but what they're doing is they've reconnected data first and foremost. You know that. So they're making investments in technology from a customer data side, and then they're making investments in the digital arm of their business so that it can be more nimble and more personalized and more direct with their customer, and then they kind of they just work that together and then they're real transparent with the retailer, because we want the same things, just to grow business and grow loyalty and trust, and it's usually a pretty, you know, winning formula. And you know we've seen several brands that that learn proactively, and then we, and then sometimes you can learn the hard way, but one way or another you're gonna learn something and then have to make a choice so that you stay relevant for the customer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so kind of on the same subject, but shifting gears a little bit. This is something I've been looking forward to talking to you about, because I'm not super familiar with it. But Walmart, you've helped launch Walmart's accelerator, walmart's start. Can you talk?
Speaker 3:to us a little bit about that. Yeah, I think kind of just tapping into the the idea of how fast can we learn, recognizing at the point when we were reading data that the majority of the growth in the industry was actually coming in the fringes, it wasn't coming from the core of the business. And when you think about the power of what social does, what direct to consumer is like, the awareness and consideration was high, even if the volume was smaller or medium. So relevancy mattered. So we wanted to create a platform to kind of incubate this way of working and this learning.
Speaker 3:And we've and we've learned a lot. We've we've learned a lot around the actual mechanics of incubating a brand versus accelerating a brand, and we've learned all the things that Walmart is good and not good at, because we love productivity and that's still going to be the core of the business, but in kind of this new economy of relevance. And then how do you move something from $6 million in one year to 100 by year two, which has happened like it takes patience, learning, refining and growing. And so Walmart start has kind of been that platform year one. We're really excited about year two and what it brings in the 2024. So when I mentioned these areas that we're really excited about, quite a few of them are coming out of this program called Walmart start and we hope to leverage those learnings and share them across, because it's not per se. It is a beauty accelerator, but it was never meant to be something that we hold to ourselves.
Speaker 3:And those teams are learning and asking questions and we're all getting better.
Speaker 2:So who is?
Speaker 1:oh, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we're going on the same path. Like who is it for? Like how would you know? Like, yeah, walmart start might be for for me. And then how do you find Walmart start?
Speaker 3:Well, hopefully you can find it on the website corporate page. You might even see some you know tiles inside of a product listing page that that alludes to it, so hopefully it's not too hard to find. We've had plenty of press around it, but really it's, it's. It's not so much. Who is it target to? I mean, it's small and medium business for sure, but it's it's obviously brands that have a meaningful value proposition and we don't do business today and we want to get past zero, the 50 miles hour, and we want to hit the road running starts let's go an hour, and so that's what we're doing, and so you always see brands that have a digital aperture, strong customer community or, at a very minimum, like a very targeted like problem that they're going to solve.
Speaker 3:That we know is underserved within the business and we learned a lot in freshman year on what worked and what doesn't a lot of what worked, but learning on the one of a and that's actually helped us like I'm really bullish on this second class because of what we see and the quality of leadership underneath those brands and suppliers that we'll be bringing forth is pretty phenomenal as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. What's an example? You said the growth was coming from the fringe, not the core. I think I understand what you mean by that, but I don't want to assume what. What's an example?
Speaker 3:You know, core businesses are things that you see down the aisle. You know, all the time the big brands that have been there for a long time personal care, beauty, but the the fringe are kind of these direct to consumer skincare brands and cosmetic brands or just things that haven't been solved before, and so that's where we were seeing and that's stuff that's actually not recorded in nilson.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 3:You got to go run a different type of data set or even just maybe look at visits and impressions to try and equate it back to really see what was going. But but that's what the challenge, that's what we saw in the data, and it was a trend. Sephora has been, you know, fantastic at kind of thinking through how the incubate and grow that space, but we saw it becoming more and more common and there has been, you know, some acceleration on the core. I think it's gotten those brands to take notice and get better. And so now you see it's good for the industry as a whole because you know, Mr Sam, you say all the time competition is just better for the business and better for the customer. So it's had a two way impact. That's positive.
Speaker 1:But that's what I mean when I say that, yeah, yeah, it's helpful Really solving new problems, yeah, identifying new opportunities for the customer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we talked about a lot of change, starting something brand new within Walmart Walmart Start. So last year was the freshman class. You've got the. The next class coming any a council to anybody you know at a large company thinking about starting a big program that's never existed before.
Speaker 3:Good people have a plan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, vision without a plan is hallucination. Ok, yeah.
Speaker 3:And have buy-in from leadership. Yeah, Quite candidly, I mean, this was not a one man or even one team deal. There are lots of supporting teams that hope to bring this, bring life, breathe life into this program and get it moving forward. Yeah, you know, I just it's been really exciting to see what you know kind of the power of a total team looks like when it comes to trying to get something pushed across and done to deliver for the customer.
Speaker 2:That's. I mean, it's super innovative. It's kind of like having a problem you haven't. It wasn't solved, so you went and found a way to solve it and that's with the team, and that's that feels more cultural than an instant in time. That's right. What's it look like to create a culture of innovation?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you write on the fact that it's cultural and that you know, I'm actually not surprised that we were able to kind of pull that together because you know since the beginning, what I've understood about Walmart, that's always been permission to operate. When you see something, that's an opportunity. But you know culture of innovation, you know internally, you know, again, it's about curiosity. It's about getting out in the market, looking at getting out on the internet apps, social, seeing what's trending, and then asking yourself, you know, how do we do this? And then, once you kind of have an idea of how do we do this, is there a better way?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think, from a supplier perspective, you want to find people and brands that kind of have a similar DNA and maybe more so, even to the higher extreme, and there's things that you're asking them and learning from, as you guys are both going down the journey. So I would say that it's good people have a plan and a vision. Make sure that you create a space where it's curiosity and not judgment and you can move. So it's a lot of what I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I know, I love that. And when I think about where you started, when we first asked the question, it all started with the customer, that's right. And then your last comment on giving yourself permission, I feel like there's a lot of people that need to hear that of give yourself permission to go after the customer, to understand them deeper, to make the changes necessary to solve their problems. I feel like early on in my merchandising career probably yours as well, no-transcript, pretty sure yours as well they would look at like the audacity to do something so different than how things have been done. And that's exactly how Walmart came about. You know. Audacity for the customer, for reasons beyond yourself, or something bigger than yourself. Love that. Love seeing it in the beauty team, where change is so rapid.
Speaker 1:So I have a question. We've talked a lot about change. I was reading a quote that we're probably all familiar with Sam Walton. He said you can't just do the same thing every time. You know change is all around you. To succeed, you got to stay in front of it. But he also put in you know, certain core values to create a culture, much of which hasn't changed. Some of it has. You know, things evolve. What's the? What are the parts of Walmart that aren't negotiable, that aren't changing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think as a leadership group, whether it's on the beauty team or consumables under Sylvia or even up to Doug like it's been really clear that you know our four basic beliefs, like they are anchors and are operating the way we operate.
Speaker 3:So you think about respect for the individual, you know, strive for excellent service to our customers and act with integrity, like those aren't going anywhere and, more than anything, like a culture is like a set of behaviors that sit on those principles, right.
Speaker 3:So, if I throw another word in there, virtues, like you have to act these things out, you have to model these things out, and so those things will not change and if you think about them, they're good, they have no expiration date, they're good in any climate.
Speaker 3:I think what changes is when we talk about being in a retail business, you know different products will come, technologies will create different conveniences or access points and you know in the beauty business we have to be able to move towards that, but always under the understanding of like those principles that, like we're in a people business, we happen to sell stuff and you know we're going to make sure that we stick to how we respect customers, associates, you know our operators in the field and serve merchandise the right way. So I think those are things that stay, things that change. I mean you know everything else, everything else, and discussions will happen Like well, you know, do we do that or not? But like everything else is actually open for discussion, right, like how the business evolves and obviously in the last four years, the amount of changes I've been able to witness within the company. I mean it's just, it's a lot right, but that's what the customer is demanding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do you see a cultural fit as new potential suppliers are trying to come into Walmart? There's almost like a we're learning that. Yeah, I don't think we're culturally aligned. Or does that show up while you're choosing suppliers and brands that are going to succeed well at Walmart? I mean?
Speaker 3:it can. And maybe you, you kind of know this something. But I think when you're very transparent on what your intent is, I think those same brands can kind of ask themselves that same question and maybe they might either change their tune or have to rethink what it looks like to work with Walmart. But most of the time most brands know what the program of Walmart is, what our intent is, what our operating model is, what our core values are, and so they come in, or at least you know. If someone is astray, they at least understand and for that meeting they behave appropriately. But we typically don't have issues there, so that's good.
Speaker 2:All right. So if you're thinking about a merchant who's struggling with either change feeling like it's needed or struggling through the process, what advice would you give to a merchant today, in today's Walmart? As they, you know, think about their year ahead.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it's. It's going back to first principles, which is kind of the things that I've mentioned, which is, you know, this company supports you, acting in the best interests of the customer. Change is a bit of like a place we live in. That's not something that kind of comes and surprises you. We live inside of that and so it's just that curious mindset and the realization that we're an ongoing change, and so this is a bit of what it feels like.
Speaker 3:There are times when it feels like it tempers down, which is kind of when you feel like you've kind of mastered the new thing or you understand more innately the new thing, and then but but again, when you go in there, it's almost like your mindset changes and you know a new thing's coming. And when you know a new thing's coming, you actually kind of start to maybe peek to the next page to see what you think might be coming. Yeah, and that kind of softens the blow on the next wave of change that that's typically coming. But we've got great leaders that make sure that teams are prepared for what that looks like and you thoroughly explain why we're making the change and how it benefits the customer and how it benefits the company and, again, everyone still goes through a little bit of the shock, but becoming more accepting of it is something that, again, since 2020, it's just kind of like not linearly but almost asymptotically picked up as a culture of adaptability.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then a similar but different question. So now you're I don't know a brand or, even simpler, an account manager, you know, trying to try and until win with Walmart. With, with a little bit of experience, you know what are the things that you would give counsel. What's the advice you give to someone who's wanting to win with Wal-Mart as a supplier partner to them?
Speaker 3:So we mentioned focus on the customer, be a steward of the brand. I ask the suppliers a lot of times to be stewards of our brand. Hopefully I explain what Wal-Mart represents enough that they can hold that light and carry it forward. And then communication is important, like if you don't get something or I don't get something, like we should have room to talk about that and not look at each other like we're idiots or anything like that, because words are powerful and they can move people, move mountains, whatever, and so you want to make sure everyone's on the same page. But most of the time a supplier and a merchant they're kind of experiencing the same things, because suppliers are updating their capabilities and their strategies as well. But we need to make sure we're communicating those things to each other. So that's probably the part I would add in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, double-click in a fun question If they're trying to communicate and they haven't gotten a response from a buyer like I mean, that's what would ever happen. I apologize for not responding to emails as a merchant, so I've owed lack of response. But what kind of counsel you give someone who's like I'm trying and they just keep not responding? What do you?
Speaker 3:I'm a tax link. No, I'm joking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't want to pretend like that probably doesn't happen. I'd like to say, like leadership is very in tune with like making sure that we're responsive. The open door policy exists for more than a number of things, but I would just tell you it's better for me to get feedback and make sure that my merchants are responding well. So I would just say to that supplier like don't give up after one email response. If it's been like a week or a month, we probably need to kind of like elevate the communication frame and know that it's not personal. We're just we're both trying to solve the same problem.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of like when's it too soon to text after you know the first day, like it's when's it too soon to send that follow up after the I mean we, you know at our response.
Speaker 3:It was like bad news should travel faster than good news and people need to know deeply what it is that we're doing, and so we should treat. We should treat things where, when there's gaps in that I don't know what the deadline is or when this to turn in, or you need to know this, then there's got to be a sense of urgency around that. And I would say to the merchant and I've been one of those that you know, I've missed an email and not headed in in 24. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you for letting me know that like I missed something, that if we had to let this go on for a few more days, like it would have been a really big problem or it would have been something that we couldn't have salvaged.
Speaker 2:So is it left my radar? Yeah Right, so I wouldn't see in that.
Speaker 1:Merchants are human too, right? Yeah, you're going to miss it.
Speaker 2:So it's something we haven't touched on that you want to share before we hit you with a lightning round.
Speaker 3:I'm ready for lightning Charles.
Speaker 2:All right, First one this is a zinger. What's on your reading list? Ooh, what's on?
Speaker 3:my reading list. I'm currently reading a book about time and how we like, misuse it and waste it as Americans. But the concept of it in the US it's called the secret pulse of time Ooh, so I'm reading that right now, excited about it. There's a few other books like Dopamine Nation and a few other things. I'm going to read the Inevitable, which is kind of about convergence of technology, that I have on my list to read this year, but those are just kind of a few things. I like trying to understand what makes us tick, how do we think the way we think and how that influences everything else in the realm of industry.
Speaker 1:That's fascinating. We like to ask here what's your greatest retail fail segment? I was worried about that question, the one that hurt really bad, and now is a good story.
Speaker 3:Because, as a merchant in Walmart, I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing. I guess it's good because he's retired, but there was always the example of the life size nutcracker that like.
Speaker 2:Eddie Tutt. That's my go to Eddie Tutt.
Speaker 3:Who's a legend, by the way? Do you know that we're at the point where now the legends have kids inside of Walmart? Yeah, it's one of them. And then I was worried because I don't have anything fantastic and if I don't bring anything else, then I'm going to look like I've never made a mistake, but I don't know if it's, whether it's a suppressed feeling.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I couldn't think of like just this big one. But what I would tell you, I know for a fact is that I make more mistakes than anyone Like.
Speaker 2:I feel more times you got the quantity game down.
Speaker 3:I felt more times than probably the normal merchant or leader inside of Walmart, and I've done that for the longest time since I've been in Walmart. What I have learned, though, is to do it quickly, learn from it and try and do it in such a speed that, like, very few realize what has happened, and I've been kind of been able to reflect on that, because that has helped me learn very rapidly. So I would just say like my career has actually been one probably more of failure than success, the failure is why I've been able to succeed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Since our audience always wants to know something that you bought that was way too big and was a terrible choice, I'll share one from pets.
Speaker 3:All right, go for it, not from Union Fight.
Speaker 2:I sent for Tim Dodge when he was the merchant I wrote the order for a feature for old Roy 50 pound bag of dog food. So if you know that you can't, you're starting to get some context. It's a big item.
Speaker 2:I sent three weeks of supply to every store because that's fine, it's a four week feature, so just three weeks, like that's not going to be a problem. And then Al Paso Texas called me yeah, yeah, yeah, because I sent them like 14 truckloads of all Roy red 50 pound bag of dog food, because they sold a pallet of dog food of that items dog food, yeah, every two and a half hours. Wow, that's how much Al Paso Texas Walmart sold of that.
Speaker 1:And so that's where you got to sort the old SSO that taught me that average doesn't walk to dog.
Speaker 3:Doesn't cut it.
Speaker 1:There's an actual cube element that you need to pay attention to.
Speaker 2:And we've, we've, oh man, yeah, that's a.
Speaker 3:It's a painful one. I've read much better features ever since. I would love to listen to that phone call.
Speaker 2:They put me on a plane to take me down there to show me in real life, like, yeah, here's, here's how bad this, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna have to text Tim, that's a real story.
Speaker 2:Didn't make that mistake, that's a mistake again.
Speaker 1:And what's your biggest learning from 2023?
Speaker 3:Um, just one. I might, I might have to, or one of the big ones.
Speaker 2:Um what 2023? Teacher.
Speaker 1:Or more than one yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's kind of funny I'm. I'm sitting here thinking. Part of the reason I'm thinking is because, like in Walmart world, like the new year hasn't started but it has, so like it's this weird trend.
Speaker 2:Haven't celebrated the fiscal new year yet.
Speaker 3:Haven't celebrated the fiscal new year, but as we're winding down 2023, I would say a few things as I think about the business. Uh, momentum is like hard to gain and it is hard to keep. Um, and there's like different behaviors to do on, and then there's different behaviors necessary to keep the other because, like, performance and success can become like this uh contentment thing that then turns into like under appreciating it. So, um, that's that's one thing I've learned. Um, I think another and I mean this with sincerity is you know the amount of stuff that the beauty team is doing, the company is doing, um, the supplier community is doing, um, the affiliated Walmart inside of Bentonville. Like Bentonville, fundamentally, it has like the power to impact and influence the world, and it came to me kind of in a very real fashion in 2023. And so, um, I've learned that, uh, outside of that, I probably say, like, raising teenagers is hard Preach.
Speaker 3:So, those are my. Those are my top learnings. I love it Awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much, Great and for coming out. This has been a great conversation All right, well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3:Hope to see y'all soon again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, appreciate you All right, and thank you all for listening. As always, you can download us um wherever you get your podcasts, or find us on our website at highimpactanalyticscom, and we hope you tune in next time. Thank you.
.png)