Five questions for Mark Lister, CCO, OnBuy
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 Mark Lister, CCO at UK-based online marketplace OnBuy.
RTIH: Which retail technology trend is overrated in your opinion?
ML: That’s quite the loaded question. The way people consume information and consume items for daily life events is a continuous evolution and one that is almost impossible to predict.
In essence you don’t know what you don’t know. So, predicting that something is going to flop is risky business. There have been many instances of innovation founders that have even managed to get things wrong.
Take Robert Metcalfe, founder of 3Com, for example, who in 1995 said: “Almost all the many predictions now being made about 1996 hinge on the Internet’s continuing exponential growth. But I predict the internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse.”
And he would "eat his words" if it did not.
Two years later, in 1997, he blended a printed copy of that speech with liquid and drank the mixture. I doubt he made any bold claims/predictions again.
RTIH: What are the top five retail tech Twitter/LinkedIn accounts you can’t do without, and why?
ML: Bob Phibbs - Also known as the retail doctor, is a professional speaker on retail sales, training, and marketing.
Author, blogger, business makeover specialist, and online thought leader. Following him on social media is inspirational. His talks usually focus on the damages within the retail industry and how retailers can fix them.
Anil D. Aggarwal - Founder, Chairman and CEO at Shoptalk. He is a tech entrepreneur with exits to Google, TSYS, Ascential and Informal.
His interests are similar to mine as his feed is focused on retail technology, digital disruption, and the future of the industry.
Jason Del Rey - Jason covers news around Amazon/Walmart. He reports on the future of retail and e-commerce and is well-known for his analysis on the disruption within retail markets and technology.
Neil Saunders - Managing Director and Retail Analyst at Globaldata Retail, a retail research agency and consulting firm.
He specialises in areas such as consumer behaviour, brand preferences, competitive strategies, channel dynamics, stores and locations, and market forecasts.
Being in the same industry, his content provides great insight into consumer behaviour from a retail perspective and helps me be on top of everything retail.
Michael Schiemer - Owner of online media company Bootstrap Business, he is known for its best blogger outreach and link building.
Digital marketing, social selling, search engine optimization (SEO), and content development are all areas in which he excels. His content is helpful to be on top of social media and content marketing tactics.
RTIH: If you could have a dinner party with any five retail pioneers, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
ML: Richard Branson – he has the ability to inspire so many as he leads with a purpose which makes it easy for many to get behind.
Persuasive by nature, with the ability to captivate people and lead them on the most difficult but generally successful business journeys. His personal ideals of loyalty are mirrored in his business.
Josef Schwarz – he managed to turn the fruit selling business into a grocery wholesaler with the simplest of ideas, selling products at a low price, less choice concept.
I would love to find out from Josef more about this laser focus concept which enabled Lidl and Kaufland to become household names in a crowded market.
Steve Jobs – He taught the world the rules of marketing. While competitors were focusing on the technicalities, Apple focussed on brand presentation, customer experience / immersion and marketing.
Other products are arguably as good, but Apple is considered the gold standard. This perception is because Steve Jobs has created Apple as a whole experience.
James Dyson – I love the way that he looks at the mundane everyday chores that we do and breaks down the solutions already in place and just says I can do better.
He has then managed to create a brand that people seek out. Who’d have thought that you could have a premium cherished brand in such a segment of the market.
Kylie Jenner – A truly smart individual who has created a business from nothing by adopting the tools and media trends in the new world we live in. Utilising her family’s fame and the power of social media to do business has made her one of the youngest billionaires in the world.
RTIH: Which fictional character would you most like to be friends with?
ML: Wouldn’t it be great to be friends with Willy Wonka, an eccentric business owner who sees no boundaries?
He’s quick, sharp and isn’t afraid to do things differently. I also imagine a chocolate making genius who relishes nonsense would be a lot of fun on a night out.
