Five questions for Nikki Baird, VP of Strategy, Aptos
RTIH asks major players in the retail technology space for their thoughts on the industry, and throws in a random question to keep them on their toes. This week, our five questions go to Nikki Baird, VP of Strategy at Aptos.
RTIH: Looking at the hottest retail technologies right now, check-out free stores, rapid delivery services, the metaverse and NFTs, automation and robotics, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which ones stand out to you, and for what reason?
NB: Automation and robotics. Given the labour shortages and increased labour costs, we already see retailers seriously re-evaluating the business case for increased automation across the business.
Automation in the supply chain, but also renewed interest in investing in technology in the store to support and enable a fewer number of store associates to be more productive.
RTIH: Which retail technology trend is overrated in your opinion?
NB: The metaverse. Yes, it’ll probably be the next big thing since the internet, but the claims of what it can be are 20 years away from what it can actually do.
Interoperability is a big challenge, and the trolls are so much more up close and personal – with not nearly enough tools for people to protect themselves from harassment – or, heck, having feet in the metaverse would be a big plus.
RTIH: What are the top five retail tech Twitter/LinkedIn accounts you can’t do without, and why?
NB: I’ll be honest, I’m not a big follower. I try to be more organic and discovery-based in both places.
I always check to see what Sucharita Kodali, Jason Goldberg, Deborah Weinswig, Vala Afshar and Scott Galloway have to say.
They’re not all retail, or tech, or retail tech, but I also think it’s important not to get too hung up on that – retail tech can get way too insulating, if you’re not careful.
RTIH: If you could have a dinner party with any five retail pioneers, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
NB: I gravitate towards the ones that had the big decisions.
Like, Ron Johnson with J.C. Penney, Terry Lundgren with Macy’s, Sam Walton with Walmart, Robert May, who was the Montgomery Ward copywriter who invented Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and MacKenzie Scott, author and one of the founders of Amazon.
I know for a fact that I’ve probably missed mentioning so many people around the world who had to face even tougher, more existential decisions than this set of people.
But I don’t know their names – and I would love to meet them and hear their stories, probably even more.
RTIH: Do you remember when you first logged onto the internet, and if so, what was the first website you visited?
NB: Oh no. I’m not going to be your typical answer here at all.
My family was totally a tech family. My mom made computer chips and my dad repaired mainframes. So I remember dialling into bulletin boards as a kid.
I remember getting this new-fangled thing called an email address from right before I graduated university in 1994. I couldn’t figure out how to change my default password, so I memorised it and it became my password for way too many things for far too long.
And the first actual website I visited was probably AOL’s walled garden back in the day.
