Join Gordon and Ger and they take flight with Bobby Healy of Manna Air Delivery, the Irish drone delivery company that's posing a serious threat to Amazon's dominance of the ecommerce space. Has the saviour of independent retailers literally been heaven sent?
Drones promise much. Delivery within minutes from local retailers that bypasses clogged roads and is kinder on the environment. But will it catch on in the West? Will people complain? (Yes, they will.) Will regulators want a say? (Of course, they will. But that turns out to be a good thing.)
And the biggest question of all: can a small Irish start-up beat the likes of Amazon and Google at the drone delivery game? Be shocked. Be amazed. Because you may not have heard of Manna Air Delivery, but with 200,000 delivery flights already flown, they aren't the underdogs in this fight. Amazon is.
Find out how skydelivery could revolutionise your retail business in this special episode, recorded live at StudioForty9's Excellence in Ecommerce conference earlier this month.
Warning: this episode contains pirates.
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58:16
S3 E1: Travis Hess - Big Fish, New Pond
Can this be right? A vendor as a guest? Yes, it is true. And a Big one too. Ger and Gordon are joined by Travis Hess, CEO of BigCommerce, to review the e-commerce platform landscape and discuss what the future holds. Frankly, is there life beyond Shopify? (Spoiler: Of course there is.)
Developments are coming thick and fast in e-commerce and commerce platforms are going to have to move quickly and nimbly to keep their business models relevant. Ger even uses the word 'disintermediation'. Travis gives his no-holds-barred views on the state of play and how he sees the way forward.
As a former agency head, Travis also contrasts his previous life with that of the CEO of a software company. And he offers some plain truths about the pickle many agencies find themselves in today.
It's fast, it's lively, it's open, it's honest. Welcome to Season 3 of Functional and Fabulous.
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S2 E10: Ger Keohane & Gordon Newman - The Black Box Is Not a Silver Bullet
In this season finale, Ger and Gordon look back on Season 2 and discuss the highlights and key learnings.
Together they explore the wealth of knowledge that was so generously given by our guests over the past nine episodes.
No stone is left unturned. Proposition, branding, storytelling, product launch, entering new markets, marketing, customer experience, customer trust, customer loyalty, the democratisation of e-commerce tech... it's all here.
In short, this episode is a formidable exploration of successful e-commerce, drawing on the thinking of some of the keenest practitioners today — and Ger and Gordon.
If you only ever listen to one episode of Functional & Fabulous, make sure it's this one.
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1:15:14
S2 E9: Rick Watson, CEO & Founder, RMW Commerce Consulting - Smooth Operations
Our guest this time round is the 'notorious' Rick Watson. If e-commerce platforms were restaurants, Rick would be the food critic who would make them tremble most.
Rick, Ger and Gordon talk about the big things that get in the way of online retail success. Overindulgence in bespoke technology solutions. Not even knowing what customer problem the business solves in the first place. Rick has seen it all.
And the boys spend time discussing why Temu will open its jacket wide and invite you to go on a treasure hunt, while Amazon most definitely will not.
In short, this episode is about earning customer trust, creating a customer experience and managing customer data.
But the most important question of all goes unanswered. Where is sound engineer Elaine?
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56:36
S2 E8: Ntola Obazee, Ecommerce Specialist - Innovation and Change
In this episode, omnichannel specialist Ntola Obazee talks about the reality of going where no brand (or at least your brand) has gone before.
Ntola speaks with Ger and Gordon about entering new markets successfully, inspiring your team to give their best, segmenting your market and curating your collections. She also gives first-hand insight into a successful entry into China.
Thinking of breaking into the Chinese market? Or any new market, for that matter? This episode is for you.
Want to bring about effective, and above all smooth, change? This episode is also for you.
Wondering where to concentrate your retail efforts? Guess what, this episode is for you too.
Join Ntola, Ger and Gordon in a conversation grounded in change and innovation.
Ireland