Get Holiday ready with on-point insights from one of the savviest retailers operating today regarding consumer trends. Samir Kulkarni, CEO of Showcase, joins me on the podcast live from the RCC Retail Holiday Shopping Forum for an in-depth discussion on what makes Showcase different. We talk about their international expansion and how they see around corners to get social media trends onto the shelf in record time.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Get Holiday ready with on-point insights from one of the savviest retailers operating today regarding consumer trends.
Samir Kulkarni, CEO of Showcase, joins me on the podcast live from the RCC Retail Holiday Shopping Forum for an in-depth discussion on what makes Showcase different. We talk about their international expansion and how they see around corners to get social media trends onto the shelf in record time.
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Samir
Samir Kulkarni is CEO and owner of Showcase, a national retailer and “Home of the Hottest Trends” with 119 stores in top malls across Canada and the USA. Showcase’s combination of i) proprietary trend identification technology, ii) nimble supply chain, and iii) interactive store environment has propelled it to retail leadership of the greatest emerging trends in health, beauty, home, and toys over 25 years. Showcase’s unique model has been recognized by Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies 2021 and 2022, YPO Top 10 Global Innovators, and the ERA’s Omnichannel Retail Excellence Award in 2022. Dubbed by Inc. Magazine as “the man who turned trend hunting into retail gold”, Samir appears regularly in the media to discuss Showcase, its products, and the trend retailing industry – ranging from CBC to CTV, Global News, Retail Insider, Voice of Retail podcast, and more. Samir also serves on the Board of Directors of Retail Council of Canada. Samir holds an MBA from Yale University and lives near Toronto.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
The Voice of Retail I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:09
Get holiday ready with on-point insights from one of the savviest retailers operating today regarding consumer trends. Samir Kulkarni, CEO of Showcase joins me on the podcast live from the RCC Retail Holiday Shopping Forum for an in-depth discussion on what makes Showcase different. We talked about their international expansion and how they see around corners to get social media trends on the shelf in record time. Let's listen in now. (N)Hello, everyone. Good afternoon or I guess yeah, it's 1:36 it could still be good morning, Samir. Are you with me? How are you?
Samir Kulkarni 00:47
I am here. Can you see me and hear me?
Michael LeBlanc 00:48
I can see you and hear you perfectly. There you are. How are you?
Samir Kulkarni 00:52
I'm doing well. I think we need to cheer up this group after all of this holiday survey data. So, let's do it, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc 00:59
Well, I can't think of anybody better than you to bring some sunshine and light and insight into this topic. Now, as you know, as for the folks who've been listening, you know, we're doing a survey talking about intentions. Well, we're it's real, right? We are early November, November's go time. So, I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to hear from you directly. What's going on? How did you plan for it? And what are your key takeaways? Let's start from the beginning. So, I can't imagine many folks on this call would not know of Showcase. That being said, they may not know all the background, the scope and scale, you've had a very busy 12-18 months, you haven't been just buckling down and, and getting through the COVID here to say the least you haven't been doing that. And by the way, for anyone who wants to, we're going to martial through this fairly quickly. Everybody wants a nice background on you, Samir, you and I, you were my guest on The Voice of Retail. So, page back a couple of episodes. And you'll find you and I did a nice in-depth interview on your, on your background. But for now, give us an overview. Who are you? What do you do for a living and then talk about Showcase.
Samir Kulkarni 02:04
Thanks, Michael. So, Showcase is the Home of the Hottest Trends, a mall-based specialty retailer, and I've been leading the company since the 90s. So, it's really our baby here. And we're essentially a social media trends store in major malls, in, in, in a mall near you essentially. So, we've got emerging trends in all kinds of different categories. And that's one of the reasons it's more difficult to define us because we carry the latest trends in health,
Michael LeBlanc 02:10
Yeah.
Samir Kulkarni 02:11
Or beauty, but also home, toys, tech, food. And we have 109 stores across Canada. These are permanent in-line stores and malls. So, for example, Toronto Eaton Centre flagship, we opened last year, we have Chinook in Calgary, Metropolis in Vancouver, so coast-to-coast. And then it has been a busy 12 months because we're now expanding rapidly into the US. We opened 10 pilot stores in the Northeast, just prior to the pandemic, which was great timing. But the, the, the pandemic threw some curveballs at us. But we did successfully complete the pilot. And now we're expanding in the US. So, we're opening 31,
Michael LeBlanc 03:16
Wow,
Samir Kulkarni 03:17
This year, so we should have 41 in total in the US in the Northeast and Midwest. And that's supported by our Distribution Center just outside of Buffalo. So, in total that brings us to 150 mall stores coast-to-coast.
Michael LeBlanc 03:29
Yeah, you're, you're a big player and now you're a North American player. So, I can't think of anybody better to give us some insights on what's happening both, on both sides of the border just because you know, we look to the US to get some trends. I want to talk to you about that by the way of learning there that doesn't apply here and vice-versa. So, describe the kind of mall, you, you described your flagship and the, in the Eaton Centre. Do you have any standalone stores? I don't think you do you're, you're exclusively mall-based course you have a big eCommerce offering. But are you, you're exclusively mall based, right?
Samir Kulkarni 03:58
We're exclusively in, in A and B malls, that's right.
Michael LeBlanc 04:01
Right. And, when you think about your eCommerce talk about that because you know you, you, you're a social media trend. But before that when I knew you back when I was a The Shopping Channel, Today's Shopping Choice, we were both in the same space. We were both still a lot of our business was trendy. So, you, you know you came to that naturally right with the evolution of social media?
Samir Kulkarni 04:21
Oh, absolutely. Social media has changed the game entirely. We used to rely on television advertised products. That concept still exists today but in various different forms. Kickstarter is the new infomercial and so on. And now social media is the new television channel. And so essentially, Michael, we're, we're a data company at heart and, and the trend business is a tricky business.
Michael LeBlanc 04:37
Yeah, yeah.
Samir Kulkarni 04:39
Because it's hard to predict, obviously, and it changes quickly. And so, we've essentially become a data business in our back end. In the old days, we used to go to a trade show or listen to a vendor about the latest, greatest, newest thing. It's become much more of an analytical business today, and it has been for the last 10 years or so. And so I'm more of a statistician than a retailer if you want to think of it that way. And our data really splits out into the product side and the consumer side. So, I can speak to that a little bit.
Samir Kulkarni 05:02
And so on the product side, you know, how do you identify the trend, right? And so we've developed proprietary algorithms over time that help us identify the emerging trends. So, we're looking at dozens of, of data sources, it might be search, it might be social, it might be consumer behavior in-store, on our website, and in other places. And then we can glean some insights from, from that not as well as Luke can at Leger, but we, we do our best. And then we can, we can overlay 25 years of trend data, right, so we can look back at our library of trends over, over the last quarter century and say, all right, is this like, like a Tae Bo videotapes from 1998? And what are the similarities or differences that there might be? Or, or, you know, more, more recent examples, of course, so. So, that data helps us really triangulate in, on what the key trend is. And so that's why we can be first and fast. So, we were, you know, the first retailer to launch the no!no! Hair Removal System, you know, back in 2011. Or (crossover talk),
Michael LeBlanc 06:18
I remember the no!no!, I remember, (crossover talk), very hot, it came out from Australia, didn't it?
Samir Kulkarni 06:22
That's right, that's right. Something like that, exactly. And, and then, of course, you know, Disney Frozen, we were the home of Disney Frozen back when the movie came out in 2014, you know, the first retailer to launch weighted blankets in 2016. And then, you know, a recent example from 2020 is really Fidget Toys. So, and, and, and we'll talk to that when we, when we think about holiday. But if you look at how the consumer tastes changes, you know, people were tired of being locked down, tired of being, having that, that screen time nonstop for their kids. And so the market shifted quickly to Fidget Toys. So, being able to identify those trends early, and then become the home of those trends, that's really the key on the product side. And then of course, a nimble supply chain, so we can actually get it onto the shelf quickly.
Samir Kulkarni 06:46
But then there's the consu-, the consumer data side, and it's really being able to identify consumers and then engage with them. So, we have a amassed loyalty club, which we call our Insider Program of 2 million members. And it's not a point system or anything too complicated. It really just helps us identify the customer. So, we know who they are, where they bought, when they bought and what they bought. So, we get a better idea of, of what bucket they might go in. And then we can cater to them in the way that they'd prefer. So, what happens at the point of sale is that 80% of our transactions are happening to identified customers. So, we're not really selling to the (inaudible) public.
Michael LeBlanc 07:18
Wow.
Samir Kulkarni 07:19
And so we know who they are. And then of course, what we can do, you know, going back to the marketing slide we saw earlier, is, of course, email. So, we, we send out 200 million emails a year, but we can now target those emails and personalize them,
Michael LeBlanc 07;51
Say that number, gets 200 million?
Samir Kulkarni 07:57
200 million. That's right, over 4 mil-, 4 million a week,
Michael LeBlanc 08:04
Would you, would you, would you describe because you have a lot of different levers that you pull obviously is, is email at the top of that list or close, still close to the top of the list.
Samir Kulkarni 08:13
It is still close to the top of the list simply because of the size of the database. But a close second would be social media advertising. So, we're one of the largest social media advertisers in Canada. And the great thing about identifying our customers is we know who they are. And so we can then target them and people like them through targeted personalized ads on social media. And so, and then if you think about how it comes full circle, you then can see whether they responded to an ad and came to a store and purchased something at the table because they identify themselves when they come in as well. And so that creates that marketing loop to make sure our marketing dollars are productive. So, so there's a, there's a data aspect on the product side, then and then again, on the consumer side.
Michael LeBlanc 08:57
Yeah, it's so fascinating. And I'm going to take you off, not script so to speak. But, you know, there's been a lot of changes in privacy on the platforms, which for some would have really inhibited their ability to use the platforms in the way you're describing. But it sounds like you're an OG in terms of having that first, what we now call what you probably have always called first party data. So, you are able to connect those dots without even within the context of the modern, you know, constraints, I guess we could say that privacy and as put on to some of the big platforms, right?
Samir Kulkarni 09:29
Absolutely. So, privacy restrictions have increased dramatically. Basically, the, the large tech players aren't playing friendly with each other these days. And so, a social media platform can't trace the journey of a consumer through the purchase funnel. And so, the social media platform doesn't know that the consumer actually did respond to the ad and buy something.
Michael LeBlanc 09:39
Right.
Samir Kulkarni 09:40
The same thing is happening with email. Email service providers are now having a harder time identifying which consumers actually open their email. And so, the old days of having different buckets of your engaged email audience and you're disengaged, you know, those are blurring.
Michael LeBlanc 09:58
Oh, that's interesting.
Samir Kulkarni 10:01
And so absolutely, Michael, you've hit the nail on the head with first party data. It's, it's the absolute key. And we started, we started on that a few years ago. But, but even then we look to the, the titans of retail that had built their loyalty programs, and their points programs over the years. And we just, we, we took a bit of a page from their book.
Michael LeBlanc 10:22
Interesting. Now, one last thing on the business, because I find that business so interesting, and I'm sure the listeners do too. You know, it used to be in the whether it's the, the you know, the trend business as the As Seen On TV business, or even in the shopping channel business, you would have a one in or two in 10 likelihood of a hit, you know, what you'd see you and I would go down to conferences, and we see 10 items, and we, you know, we kind of make our decision based on what was happening in the States. But it wasn't 10 out of 10, right, some would be, you thought they'd be great. But you know, this art and science you're describing, have both experience and data, just generally have as that percentage gone up for you in the business. As you triangulate this data, and you, you find the very responsive social media?
Samir Kulkarni 11:08
Definitely, the accuracy has gone up for sure. I think that your percentage is right in terms of new product introductions, most new products don't, don't work don't, don't become massive, it's, of course,
Michael LeBlanc 11:18
Yeah.
Samir Kulkarni 11:19
But our accuracy rate has improved simply because we're applying more data, there's less intuition going into it, although there's always human judgment in everything, but it's less about what vendors are pushing necessarily. And it's more about what consumers are pulling us towards. And then we take a very agnostic approach to trends. And so, we don't limit ourselves to a specific category or a specific price point, we basically listen carefully to where the consumer is going, and then try to keep up with them. And that's increased the accuracy quite a bit.
Michael LeBlanc 11:51
That's fascinating. I mean, listen, I could, I'm glad we have two or three hours to talk today. Because I just want to say, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, everyone, I'm kidding. Let's, let's, let's move on to holiday. And, and let's talk about holiday in the context of your business, because your business is a 365 plus, you know, plus or minus business, because there's always trends happening. There's always hot items happening, you know, that are evolving now, how in your format, how important is the holiday season as, as we would describe it, you know, now through Christmas, and maybe even the Boxing Day. Is it as big, is gifting as important as it used to be? Is it still important to talk about when, talk about that, and when the preparations for you and the team begin to get, to get ready for the holiday?
Samir Kulkarni 12:34
Absolutely. So, holiday, of course, are critical for us, we're the consummate gift store. And if you think about a small format store where you can, you know, get something for anyone on your list of any age, you know, gender, interests, and so on. That's a, it's a shorter list. And so we're on that list, we're happy to be there. And so, November-December is critical. It's about 40% of our year.
Michael LeBlanc 12:56
Wow.
Samir Kulkarni 12:57
And, and so we're gearing up now for, for a big season. In terms of preparation, obviously, that starts well in advance. Even though we're a real time trend retailer, we are buying lots of our products earlier in the year, based on data that we may already have from, from the past or seeing trends that are emerging. And I may not have mentioned that 50% of our inventory is actually a private label. So, we've developed, designed the product, in-house product developers, graphic designers, logistics and so on. And so that cycle obviously starts early in the year as early as April. But we're still buying to this day, I touched base with my team this morning. And I said quick guys, what, what hot new trend can I talk about this afternoon. So, it is something that happens in a very real time,
Michael LeBlanc 13:37
Wow.
Samir Kulkarni 13:38
Basis, even going into Christmas. Just by way of example, last year, Squid Game had come out on Netflix and became the number one show by October 3. And, and so the Dalgona cookies, which is the traditional Korean cookie from that show, became super popular. So, all of our month of October and November was spent trying to commercialize that trend. So, these things really do come out of nowhere. But, but it really moves through the departments over the year. So buying is busy earlier, logistics obviously has been crazy with supply chain challenges, you know, August to now. And then now the marketing ramps up and the store hiring, and you know, the store craziness begins as well. So, it's, it's a year in the making, but we're, we're hoping for a good season.
Michael LeBlanc 14:27
Well, let me pull on a bunch of threads out of that. So, let's talk about the immediacy of the trends. So, as you said, Netflix and the streaming services, I mean, it's not the, it's not the, you know, when you and I were growing up in the business, it was big releases for the holidays for movies, you knew six months in advance. You know, these, these streaming services, they're just pounding out new things, kinda like our business. You never know which ones are going to hit which you know, Squid Game who knows, who knew a game about, you know, death games would be so popular. So, does that make it more complicated or does it have, actually kind of, again, just fuel this social media because once that comes out Netflix or wherever, then it fuels the social media, right? Do you get some, some view of that? Or is it that, do you guys spend a lot of time watching Netflix and trying to figure that out as well.
Samir Kulkarni 15:14
We do spend a lot of time watching Netflix and consuming pop culture in general. But I would say for showcase, the volatility in the market, or the unpredictability of the market is actually a big plus. Because I would say that if a movie is coming out with a global release date, you know, one year from now, we offer very little, we have very little edge over anyone else in that game. And there are other retailers who are, you know, set up to handle that type of thing and do a great job of executing on a, on a global launch. We are focused more on the emerging trends, right. So, new things that come out of nowhere that most of the sector cannot pivot quickly enough to, to capitalize on our, our specialty. So, we actually like the volatility in a way because it, it provides more opportunity.
Michael LeBlanc 16:01
So, fascinating. Now, let's, let's talk about supply chain. So, when I speak to retailers, like yourself, most of them have said it's simmered down quite a bit. I mean, you can see the container rates, if you take one in, one indicator that has gone down there almost, if not lower than 2019 levels, is that your experience now that supply chain isn't the craziness it has been during the COVID era?
Samir Kulkarni 16:23
It's certainly better than it, it has been to your point freight rates are, are down there, we're not seeing them quite at the pre-pandemic level, but pretty close. Compared to 600%, above pre-pandemic level that we saw it peak, we're, we're, we're quite thankful, thankful for that. But so, so I would say that, in that sense, the supply chain is improving, but we still have significant issues. You know, Shanghai was locked down just earlier this month, we have challenges at ports and, and rail terminals. So, there are still issues in getting goods to market. And so, we're hoping to (crossover talk) be settled down.
Michael LeBlanc 17:03
We're not back to nor-, like Van-, I hear there are still challenges and delays in the Vancouver Airport, even domestically, right moving goods from coast-to-coast. And,
Samir Kulkarni 17:10
Precisely I think, you know, just to take a simple example you know, all of our goods come through, through the Vancouver port typically, and then that was getting backlogged. And so we moved everything, we heard, well, Prince Rupert port down, down the coast, there is free,
Michael LeBlanc 17:20
Right.
Samir Kulkarni 17:21
And so, we moved everything to Prince Rupert. But of course, we weren't the only ones who heard that message. And so, everyone moved everything to Prince Rupert. So,
Michael LeBlanc 17:31
Like a trend, (crossover talk) somebody starts it, then everybody,
Samir Kulkarni 17:34
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 17:35
Everybody else starts watching it.
Samir Kulkarni 17:38
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 17:39
And let's talk about people. So, you know, again, I as you know, I'm, I'm co-author, as the members would know, as well, I'm co-author of The Retail Conditions Report. And last time I spoke to members, they were saying, you know, people are now kind of more of a higher profile around the boardroom table, than it always has been but more than supply chain now. So, you've got to, you've got lots of new stores, you've got lots of stores to, to fill, you've got lots of technology people that you need, you know, when such a data, a data savvy organization. Talk about people, are you finding it easier, better, harder, more difficult, and you got lots of experience at this. So, give us your take on, on finding people both in the warehouse and in technology, and then on the front lines.
Samir Kulkarni 18:21
So, certainly the labor market has been a big challenge this year and has been very, very difficult. Retention has been challenging, there's just generally been a frenzy in the market. But I would say that things are settling down quickly. So, we, we saw peak turnover in, in the retail stores this summer. But it is, it'll, it has settled down really well. And that's in part due to some internal retention policy changes and other things to help reduce turn-, But also because I think things are a little bit of an influx for people, people may not be wanting to take a risk as much and may want to just sort of ride things out. And so, we found that the labor market has stabilized somewhat. And we're, we're seeing signs of that at least.
Samir Kulkarni 19:23
But for this Christmas, we're hiring 500 people, you know, both seasonal staff and for the new stores. But I do think that the labor market continues to be a struggle. Just a couple of weeks ago, (inaudible) and the RCC Board, went to Ottawa to, to, to talk more about this with the Deputy Prime Minister Freeland and other important ministers. And really, that was our message to them advocating for the retail sector that we said, look, we need help to fill vacancies and anything the government can do to, to help would be much appreciated. At the same time, we're starting to see that slowdown. And, and largely the ministers acknowledge that and that, that there that we should all be prepared for a significant slowdown now.
Michael LeBlanc 19:51
Well, it's and I don't want to dwell on this because everybody's dwelling on it a little bit what's going on at Twitter. I mean, you see even some of the folks in the Canadian office let go of. I mean this has a yin and yang effect. It's not great to be on that side, the receiving side of being let go from these tech companies. But on the other hand, there's 1000s and 1000s of great retail technology jobs that go unfilled, right? So, maybe there's a bit of a yin and yang for us here in retail, right?
Samir Kulkarni 20:15
Exactly, I would say there's a balancing out for sure. I think the challenges of the last couple of years have been primarily supply-side problems. And the demand was there, if we could just fill the shelf, if we could just get a product, everything would be great. And really, that has switched from a supply side problem, I think, to a demand side problem where people may, you know, retailers may have inventory, but people may not be as willing to purchase or may need more motivation to purchase. And so I think the nature of the problem is changing. And it's, it's moving to a situation where we need to drive demand again, and that's where, you know, having the right product on the shelf, driving the advertising, engaging with customers is, is probably the, the, the key for, for the future.
Michael LeBlanc 20:57
Let's talk for a few minutes about eCommerce versus store traffic. Because, you know, during the COVID era, we saw this ginormous increase in eCommerce sales. Every day was a peak kind of day. But then we also, you know, in the post quasi post-COVID world, we've seen a lot of return to the malls, you're in so many malls, give us your sense of eCommerce versus stores. I mean, I even hate to say it versus because the two are, are so synchronous, both for your organization and for the business, but talk about eCommerce and then talk about store traffic and stores and people coming back to the store. What do you, you know, we're in as I said, we're holiday, right? So, what happened?
Samir Kulkarni 21:34
Sure, so, eCommerce definitely spiked during the pandemic and has come back down to reality for, for us and, and for most retailers that we talked to. It's certainly down this year versus 2020, or 2021. Now, in Showcases' case, we have pivoted to become a retailer of PPE. And so our eCommerce had, had risen dramatically to 35% of the business that has come back down to more historical levels around 10%. So, it's certainly slowing down. From a system standpoint, it was a great baptism by fire, because we were able to put in place all kinds of systems and technology, middleware to handle essentially what was essentially a Black Friday or Cyber Monday, every day,
Michael LeBlanc 21:55
Right.
Samir Kulkarni 21:56
During the, the first few days of the pandemic so, so in that sense, it was for the best in the, in the sense that the systems are better, but the volume definitely is down. And frankly, I'm not complaining about that, because eCommerce orders are very difficult. You know, it's, it's very hard to make money on eCommerce. I am still on the lookout for a pure play eCommerce retailer that actually makes money. Because the, the freight rates are high, especially with gas prices, the courier costs have gone up dramatically, and you've got return rate issues, people can't you know, they're not sure exactly what they bought, they can't try it before they buy it. And so if that traffic and sales have gone back to the stores, we're thankful for that, because the rent and labor in stores is a fixed cost that's already paid for. And so the cost of that sale actually drops quite a bit. And so we appreciate that.
Samir Kulkarni 22:22
The other aspect of, of eComm is same day delivery. So, we did invest heavily in last mile delivery, we did a national partnership with DoorDash to be able to deliver directly from store to customer within a couple of hours, which is pretty neat. That's a, that's a better service level than, than some globally eComm providers. But, but you know, the reality is that's not a massive part of the sales people tend to want to go to the mall and shop,
Michael LeBlanc 23:33
Kind of niche, right. It's kind of a niche demand. Yeah, I mean, I could see it on the 23rd of December kind of niche demand kind of thing, right?
Samir Kulkarni 23:40
Exactly. So yeah, on those key days, it'll be, it'll be important for those who want to avoid the crowds. But thankfully, this Black Friday will be the first real Black Friday retailers have had in Canada for, for some time. So, hopefully we see that the store is busy.
Michael LeBlanc 23:54
Yeah, no kidding. And you know, as I think about, about the two, do you do, by the way, in-store pickup for shop online, in-store pickup, do you enable that? I mean,
Samir Kulkarni 24:03
No, we don't, we don't really need to. Our stores are small, it's relatively straightforward to, you know, to take a product off the shelf, and we can't do curbside because we're inside the mall.
Michael LeBlanc 24:12
Right.
Samir Kulkarni 24:13
But same day is the, is the best thing we can offer right now.
Michael LeBlanc 24:16
Okay, all right. Well, let's, let's, let's talk about (inaudible). And before we get to some advice, I think, I think the listeners would love to hear a bit of advice as, as they kind of themselves are, are figuring out the rest of the holiday. But you know, how are, how's the season going so far? You're on both sides of the border, you're of course you're newer in the US. So, you would expect a different pace and uptake. You know, on the one hand, you're fresh and new, on the other hand less experienced in the market, but give us your sense of, of how the season is? Are people shopping earlier? Is November going to be a big month? And what's your what's your vibe, so far, you know, harkening back to this, I loved when Luke said, you know, even though we did the, the survey in August, it's, it's sentiment and intent which tends to change less. Did, did, did the survey resonate with If you and, and what's your, what's your vibe for how it's going so far?
Samir Kulkarni 25:04
Well, we're certainly seeing since Labor Day that there has been a slower start to the season. I think that people are waiting. That is the, the general sense I get just anecdotally. I think that people want deals and so they're waiting for those Black Friday deals to come out and, and then start shopping, I think. So, you know my sense, and, and there's, there's a few, you know, differences. In our case, we've, we've really grown very much in the, in the candy and food category. And so, Halloween does a much, you know, better year, than it was a season than traditionally for us.
Michael LeBlanc 25:36
Yeah.
Samir Kulkarni 25:37
Simply because of assortment changes. But, but generally, I think there's a slower start for sure. That said, I do think that people want to have fun. They want to experience that magic, as was mentioned earlier. And so I think that, for that little bit of cheer, that little bit of happiness, those affordable price points, you know, people do go for that.
Michael LeBlanc 26:00
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the best holiday the business has ever had, or let's call it, let's not talk about your business, let's talk about the industry. You know, one to 10, 10 is the best the industry has seen, and one is being kind of, you know, back to the lockdown COVID era-ish. Where, where do you think the industry is gonna, going to settle? Now I'm going to ask that on both sides of the border, because it seems like a dynamic in the US, at least in the media narrative is consumers are shopping earlier, because they're aflay-, afraid of price inflation versus holding off. I thought they'd hold off. And like you said, wait for the deals to keep coming and coming and coming. But do you have any sense on both sides of the border? Are consumers behaving a little differently? Or you know, again, do we care, not so much? But sometimes we hear so much media from the States, it's hard to define what might happen here. What's, what's your perspective from, from a North American operator.
Samir Kulkarni 26:52
So, I'm seeing on both sides of the border that people are waiting and, and in the US, because Black Friday is such an institution. There, they are definitely waiting for the end of November. And what we're seeing in the US is that most retailers are closing for US Thanksgiving, which is new.
Michael LeBlanc 27:02
Yeah, yeah.
Samir Kulkarni 27:04
And so, the, the real shopping starts at 5am on a Fri-, on the Friday of Black Friday. And so I think people just gear up for that. And we'll get ready for that. In Canada, I think it's more of a slower build up to Black Friday, because,
Michael LeBlanc 27:16
Yeah.
Samir Kulkarni 27:17
That it hasn't been as big traditionally. But I would say back to your ranking of one to 10, I would say it's a seven. I think that it is I think during the lockdowns, we all prayed for the time that there wouldn't be a lockdown. And we said, as long as we have that, everything else will be fine. We'll work, (crossover talk),
Michael LeBlanc 27:42
Just, just, just let me get back to normal. Let me, let me get back to complaining about the weather.
Samir Kulkarni 27:46
Right, let me open the door fully, you know, in fact that's a very simple thing. And so I think we should all be grateful for that. And, and I think, I think there can still be good numbers to hit this year.
Michael LeBlanc 27:56
All right, well, I'm going to put you in the cautiously optimistic category, which is a pretty broad, broad category. But listen, it's wonderful to hear. All right, so let's, let's close off here with some advice. You know, with your experience with, with what you're experiencing today. Twos, I'm going to frame it in two starts and one stop for the retailer's listening and how to handle the bounce of a holiday. You know, we're, we're early November. So, it's not to get ready for the holiday but how would you say, what are two things they need to do right away. And one thing they should just leave behind?
Samir Kulkarni 28:26
Sure. So, I would start with consumer data. And, and you hit on that earlier with first party data, the, the marketing ecosystem is changing. It's not as easy to plug and play with the major social media platforms, eCommerce platforms, or email service provider platforms and so on. And so first party data is, is, is the key. And so, my recommendation to anyone who's not already doing it is to engage directly with consumers.
Michael LeBlanc 28:41
Yeah,
Samir Kulkarni 28:42
Especially at the till. Get them, (crossover talk),
Michael LeBlanc 29:00
And it's fish where the fish are right? Like it's never too late to start, because now you get a lot of customers in the store. So, if you're going to have a program, I mean, the operators are probably, you know, holding their heads and screaming when I say that, like doing something different in the stores on holiday. But,
Samir Kulkarni 29:08
Exactly,
Michael LeBlanc 29:09
People are there, right?
Samir Kulkarni 29:14
They are there and it may slow things down at the till a little bit. But then there are workarounds and there are other things that can be done but, you know, loyalty programs are a good way, discounts, contests and giveaways is another great way to get, get the identity of consumers. And the point here is that it pays off for many holidays to come, right. So, the 2 million insiders we amassed over many, many years. And so, we heard the same challenges early on about, you know, how do you operationally execute on that?
Michael LeBlanc 29:29
Sure.
Samir Kulkarni 29:30
But we're very thankful that we have that today. So, there, it's never too early to start collecting consumer data. My second start would be to reduce inventory levels. I think that that's a general statement that we're seeing a sentiment that we're seeing. Essentially the costs are dropping for replacement inventory. And so, the freight rates are dropping, the input costs are dropping for sure. plastics, metals, everything seems to be falling. And so, you may have bought inventory at a higher price, that same inventory may be much cheaper to reorder. And so, getting through that, earlier is probably better. I also think the market is changing. So, the consumer tastes will change from one category to another. So, it's better to have lower inventory levels, lower risk profile, and then you know, easier to adapt. On the stop side I have to say, we need to stop thinking that today is the new normal. I think and I'm guilty of this throughout the pandemic, you know, you get to a day, and you say, Okay, this is the new normal, and then you realize, no, that's not the new normal. Because a week later, everything's changed again, even just in, in this year to have started the year off with retail restrictions on Omicron. And then you know, all of the, the craziness and the overheating of the economy. And now suddenly inflation and recession all in the same 12 months is crazy. And so I would, I would say don't extrapolate based on today, today's just today, and instead reevaluate daily, because the market is changing very, very fast.
Michael LeBlanc 31:13
Well, I think you guys are agile to begin with. I mean, you've demonstrated that by bringing in one of the first retailers to bring in PPE and make that available during the COVID era. I think agility is built in your DNA. But it's so interesting to have you say we need to be even more agile because you were agile to begin with. So, that’s, that's a very important lesson. Now, I want to finish with advice for the vendors and suppliers listening because as you know, in our community, we don't just have fellow retailers, but we have folks who have something to offer you, have something to sell either services or, or perhaps good, what's your advice to them to those folks listening and what's the best way to approach you and do business with, with showcase?
Samir Kulkarni 31:54
Sure, we love to talk to vendors, we love to hear new ideas, we want to know what the next big thing is, for sure. Chances are, if it's a trend, we're already talking, so that's even better,
Michael LeBlanc 32:11
Right.
Samir Kulkarni 32:24
But from a showcase standpoint, you know, we have a very simple approach to our vendor relations we don't, we don't look for credit or terms packages, or complex forms or onboarding or any of that we keep things really, really simple. And all we need is evidence of a trend right. Some, some independent data that helps us understand the size of the trend the, the direction of the trend, and some, some proof of emerging popularity. So, then, and if it's a product, we can add some value in terms of demonstrations, education, engagement, exposure, then all the better. And so yeah, we're happy to, happy to speak to vendors. So, reach out to us at our website shop@showcase.com. And we'll go from there.
Michael LeBlanc 32:46
On the, on the service side, there's probably also vendors here that would love to sell or talk to you about the, the services that, would that, you would consider to make the business better and more efficient, more interesting. What's, what's their path to getting in touch with you?
Samir Kulkarni 32:59
Sure, feel free to reach out, reach out to me on LinkedIn, and I'll be happy to connect you with the right people on our team.
Michael LeBlanc 33:05
Samir, thanks so much. So, gracious of you to share. It's a very busy time of the year. Thank you so much for joining us.