The Future of Retail Over The Next Five Years, with Mark Adams, GM and VP of Europe at BigCommerce and Aaron Weiner

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

In 2005, I joined a small company called Portaltech that specialised in integrating ecommerce technologies for large retailers. The company’s skill base was heavily focused around deep technical knowledge of a new high-growth ecommerce platform and was run by two university friends. I was brought on to help them grow the business. Seven years later we sold it to a large European systems integrator and spent a couple of years further growing the business internationally.

What really excites me is that I now get to work for a company (BigCommerce) that is disrupting the market and lowering the cost and complexity of technology for all retailers on a global scale.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

My first proper sales role was working for a tech startup called Scoot — a business directory service for the digital age back in the late 90s. It was set up right in the middle of the dotcom boom. We used to travel around visiting small and medium-sized businesses, selling directory listings and what was then pretty basic digital solutions (web pages, search engine registrations, etc.). My mobile phone bills were bigger than my petrol bills because in between meetings I’d be on the phone to other reps up and down the country.

The funniest visit I made was to a clairvoyant in Wolverhampton. It was really freaky how she knew so much about me and told me more or less how my life would pan out. She told me I would marry a blonde girl, which I did, but at the time my girlfriend was a brunette. Tricky!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake that you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I remember having to do a presentation in 1998 using an overhead projector like the ones used in classrooms when I grew up. Having to manually replace each page on the projector while doing a 30-minute presentation and ensure it sat nicely when projected on the board was the stuff of nightmares. You could actually burn your fingers. This taught me early on that you need to be able to articulate a presentation or speak without using any materials.

In fact, today this remains my preferred method as slide-ware mostly bores the hell out of people. To do that well though, you need to have an in-depth understanding of what you are talking about in order to clearly articulate it. Today people rely too heavily on presentation materials to shortcut their learning and often present information they don’t fully understand. The audience always notices this, and it results in a significant credibility gap.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

The culture, 100 percent. I went to the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, to interview for my new role and had about nine interviews and meetings with various members of the executive management team over the course of two days. The interview I was dreading the most was with the company’s chief financial officer, Robert Alvarez. Prior to the interview, I swotted up on SaaS metrics and business KPIs so I could answer questions on business acronyms I’d vaguely heard before, such as monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and annual contract value (ACV). The terms didn’t come up once.

We spent the whole hour talking about culture — how to build high-performing teams, how to lead well and what leadership actually means to me and what it means to Robert. This mindset is what really defines BigCommerce’s success. Yes, the company has a great product, but our people are what truly differentiates us. I have never experienced a culture like it in my entire working career.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

This is a tough question. My best advice here is do what you love. Don’t waste time in your career doing things that make you unhappy or that you are not passionate about. If you are in that job, leave. Life is far too short.

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?

This one is easy: my mum. My mum was a nurse who, while raising three kids, went to college and then to university to receive her nursing degree. She rose to become a very senior manager at the hospital where she worked. I grew up watching somebody who had total determination to succeed despite coming from an underprivileged background and having a poor education initially. She proved nothing is impossible if you have the determination to succeed, and it is this same grit and mentality that I try and instill in my kids today.

Are you working on any exciting projects now?

The exciting thing about joining such a fast-growing company is that there are constantly new areas of opportunity that need my attention. My current focus is building out the team here in the UK and getting the local business off the ground. While more than 20 percent of BigCommerce merchants are located outside of the US, there’s still a lot of brand awareness that needs to be done on a global level. Part of my initial focus is working to build that awareness among retailers and partners in the UK.

In terms of customer projects, we are working for a well-known restaurant chain in the UK helping it to roll out a new digital commerce strategy. It will use BigCommerce’s platform with a WordPress front end, welding the best of our commerce experience with WordPress’ industry-leading content experience. This is the future of how brands will leverage technology to drive better digital experiences for their customers. BigCommerce is making it incredibly easy for merchants to implement.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I truly believe that children are our future, and in that vein, I work hard to ensure that my children are exposed to the proper experiences, role models and education so that they have all the tools they need to grow up to be determined, grateful, respectful, curious and well-rounded individuals. I fully expect that their generation will change the world.

On a professional level, I love being part of BigCommerce, in part because of the impact that we are able to have on aspiring entrepreneurs on a daily basis. While our sweet spot is mid-market brands (those selling between $1M and $50M in annual online sales), we also have thousands of independent, family-owned businesses using our platform to grow their business. It is an incredible feeling to know that our platform makes it easy for all types of entrepreneurs to build a successful business, and to see first-hand the impact that has on someone’s life.

Can you share 5 examples of how retail companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new way consumers shop?

Service- and experience-led innovations that support the shopping experience

Despite the rise of ecommerce, consumers still crave many of the characteristics that define the in-store shopping experience, namely personalised services and the ability to touch or try items prior to purchase. I expect we’ll see more innovations that help translate these capabilities into an online setting, but more than that, we’ll see more brick-and-mortar stores adding actual experiences within their walls to help make retail stores destinations in themselves. This is something that’s been done particularly well by the likes of Selfridges with its Body Studio, which included two beauty rooms, a hair salon and a healthy-eating café. Similarly, Topshop regularly hosts events and pop-ups in addition to the in-store beauty services and eating options it offers.

Amazon-style last mile delivery convenience provided by most retailers

Amazon’s fast and free delivery has completely changed the way that consumers view the online shopping experience, and in order to compete effectively, multi-channel and online retailers must identify ways to bring this same level of convenience to customers.

This is already happening with retailers such as ASOS and Argos, both of which have adopted a similar delivery model offering consumers a ‘same day delivery’ option. What really sets ASOS apart in this context is the free and easy returns process it also offers. While returns are a particular pain point for ecommerce fashion brands, it’s not something that can be easily avoided in today’s climate of disposable fashion. Over the next five years, more retailers will be adjusting to this reality.

Engaging consumers in a multi-screen world

We will see further investment in technology infrastructure that engages consumers on the screen and devices in which they want to engage. This will include internet of things (IoT) devices in the home as well as on mobile, and in all modes of transit (cars, planes, etc.).

The rise of the subscription-based business model

We’ll see additional focus placed on the importance of creating new business models that can be scaled profitably — think subscription-based services and paid-for content experiences. For example, US brand Harry’s Razors launched in the UK in 2017 and now sends 140,000 UK customers regular supplies of blades, shaving cream and face wash in the post. There are also similar businesses operating with socks subscriptions, beauty subscriptions and food subscriptions, all of which are incredibly well-received due to consumers’ increased desire for convenience.

Artificial Intelligence boost

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become more mainstream and help retailers lower costs and provide better service and experience to consumers. This could have a huge impact on margins from lowering cost to serve (cost of delivery, supply chain efficiency, etc.) and increasing revenue per customer by better profiling and segmentation. Today, the problem with technology is that it requires big teams of data analysts and expensive tools to do these things — too much manual interaction, which then makes it cost ineffective. AI will change this.

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?

As a pragmatist, I prefer to focus on the reality of what I can currently influence. That said, if I could snap my fingers, I would like to create a truly world-class travel infrastructure in the UK. Connecting the north to the south using super high-speed travel, making commuter distances for workers less than 15 minutes into London and under 30 minutes even if you are on the south coast.

If we could make the commuting experience better and connect people who live in other parts of the country, we would not only bring real value to people’s lives but also create more opportunities, both economically and socially. I really hope to see this in my lifetime, but we’d need to spend much more time and money to make this happen.

Thank you so much for joining us, this was very inspiring!