The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years, with Julia Fowler, Co-founder and COO of EDITED and Aaron Weiner
I had the pleasure of interviewing Julia Fowler the Co-founder and COO of EDITED, a retail technology company that gives retailers the data they need to make better business decisions for what products to make, how to price them, when to discount and more. As a previous fashion designer, Julia co-founded EDITED through the realization that the industry lacked the deep analytical insights needed to make everyday decisions.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
As a former fashion designer, I was frustrated with the way the industry made most decisions on gut and instinct. I wanted something to make my job easier and make products that were going to sell. With the boom in e-commerce and insights from my co-founder about applying data science to retail, we created EDITED to allow retailers to make better decisions based on data and insight. Based on the UK’s more competitive midsize players, we eventually launched the company in London. Within twelve months we were able to get Seedcamp support, which helped us form early connections and get the business off the ground.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
We cheaped out on buying a water dispenser and paying the landlord for a sink in our first office. It seemed like a clever economic decision at the time, especially because there were only three of us. We quickly got to 10 or so people, and that meant we were driving to the shops every couple of days to buy water. The worst part was carrying the heavy water bottles up three flights of stairs, which got old pretty fast!
We learned to not be cheap, but to stay economical.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
For a technology company, we’re made up of 70% females which is extremely rare. We’ve attracted a really diverse team because we’ve been able to fuse the worlds of data science and fashion. In particular, our rigorous interview process allows us to really screen everyone who comes through our doors because we know how important the work culture is to maintain.
We host an annual company retreat that everyone from our offices in San Francisco, New York and London to a random location for a week. The location is a secret until the very last minute, but it’s company funded trip that allows our teams to bond. Last year we went to Lisbon where the team did off-roading, surf lessons and cookery lessons. We’ve also been to Greece and Slovenia.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
The important thing is to find a role you enjoy so you stay motivated and excited. That way you’re not constantly chasing for work-life balance, it feels more organic.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Not particularly one person, but the whole team including those who work at EDITED now and those in the past. They’ve all contributed to the various stages of the company’s growth and success.
There’s lots of people who contribute a little bit to help you get where you are, but the major one is a family friend who helped shape my attitude. From childhood, she helped me understand there are no limits and you shouldn’t settle.
Are you working on any exciting projects now?
We’re constantly working on new projects across the company, including growing the team globally across all three locations! We’ve got some exciting new features in the pipeline and we know that we’ve got a tool that’ll become a requirement for all retailers and brands.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
It’s been great to just hire and promote people within the company and being a part of their success. We’ve had many cases where people started as interns and climbed up to VP status.
Externally, we’ve implemented an education program that allows current fashion students to use EDITED for free. It’s a three-part certification program that teaches and tests potential users to understand how merchandising and buying teams can use the tool. The students are given free access for the next few months following graduation so they can have a competitive edge when they step into their retail career.
I’m also involved in a few start-up groups, where I’ve connected with newer founders. I’ve been able to share my mistakes and learnings with them.
Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to shop?
Within the next five years, we’ll see retail driven predominantly by Gen Z . That will mean retail’s product offering, imagery and marketing will start to look more like the world within which it exists. Expect to see retailers embracing inclusive sizing, seeking out fresh messages to appeal to demographics more acutely and representing a fuller spectrum of consumers’ attitudes and beliefs.
Retail will also become seamless with enhanced payment options, more transparent product origin, ultra-convenient delivery or pick-up options, more knowledgeable retail specialists to support purchasing and enhanced technology to make recommendations and edits more reliable.
Shopping experiences will mimic a theatre-like environment to be fine tuned to enthral shoppers and to create destinations centered around food, drink and experience. Overall, it will sit closer to the other touch-points of our lives including our work, education, exercise and entertainment.
Brands and retailers will become leaders in AI and machine learning — they’ll harness technologies to better understand what their customers want and deliver it to them in a timely manner. This will in turn allow the industry to be more, rather than less, creative.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I’d start a whole new political movement focused away from personalities and toward longer-term ambitious outcomes that are inclusive.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
https://www.linkedin.com/company/edited/
https://www.instagram.com/edited_hq/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/GETEDITD/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
