Five questions for Seb Robert, Gophr CEO and Founder — Retail Technology Innovation Hub

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 time around, our five questions go to Seb Robert, CEO and Founder at same day and last mile delivery specialist Gophr.

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?

SR: I once sat next to a guy on a flight who was one of the early investors in Ethereum. He was working with retailers and brands who were looking to bring out their own “cryptocurrencies”.

For example, a Starbucks coin that could be used across their operations, both behind the scenes and with the consumer.

One idea being that as a business you could reconcile your balance sheets, across borders (and therefore across local currencies) and make decisions much faster - that was immediately really interesting to me.

Moving this on, you could easily see retailers like Tesco and its Clubcard infrastructure transitioning to check-out free stores supported by the blockchain.

It’s all part of creating one ecosystem, with its own currency and therefore hopefully a better experience for the customer.

If done correctly, you’re moving away from the idea that you are locking customers into the system, to them actually wanting to stay. You don’t want to be holding them against their will.

Just kicking the tyres on our new @urbanarrowcom cargo bikes.

Keep an eye out for these ones around London very soon... #BTS #cargobike #newwhip #nationalbicycleday pic.twitter.com/vvwO7auoOo
— Gophr (@gophr) April 19, 2022

RTIH: Which retail technology trend is overrated in your opinion?

SR: Drone delivery. It’s not going to be mainstream anytime soon and there are a lot of challenges.

The tech has been heralded as the answer to making delivery cheaper and faster but think about it; how many parcels can a drone deliver at once? One? Two? Three at a push.

Meanwhile, the average delivery driver can complete anything between 60 to 350 on their route. By my very rough maths, that’s around 20 drones to do what one van can do. That’s a very busy airspace.

And a lot of money will be spent on equipment, upkeep etc. The figures don’t add up for me, and that’s before you start looking at the environment that drones would be operating in, and the challenges that brings - both logistical and safety.

I used to be very sceptical about the metaverse, like a lot of people, but a talk by the CEO at Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, changed my mind. Hearing his enthusiasm about the potential of these platforms got me thinking. I’m not saying it's the future, but it could be really exciting.

RTIH: What are the top five retail tech Twitter/LinkedIn accounts you can’t do without, and why?

SR: @ValidifyUK. My go-to for the latest tools and trends.

Jason Goldberg of Retail Geek - and the name fits! And I mean that in a positive way. Jason, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, shares some of the best data insight and macro tends around. Well worth a follow.

Ana Andjelic - author of the sociology of business - not so much retail tech but more around how a brand can impact retail effectiveness.

Jason Del Rey - the authority when it comes to Amazon.

Product Hunt - another great resource for useful tools and emerging sector niches.

RTIH: If you could have a dinner party with any five retail pioneers, dead or alive, who would they be and why?

SR: Jeff Bezos: probably not a popular one but frankly what Amazon has achieved from a capital allocation perspective is astonishing.

Coco Chanel: born in a charity hospital, raised in an orphanage. Changed how women dressed forever.

Phil Knight: founder of Nike. Not a lot more to say, highly recommend you read his autobiography Shoe Dog.

Gabe Newell: founder of Valve software who created Steam, the largest webstore for PC games. I’m pretty fascinated by how they run their business

Anita Roddick: was into product led growth, social activism, environmental sustainability and how it intersects with retail before anyone had a name for it.

Hard to believe The Body Shop was founded 50 years ago with all of those ideas in place.

RTIH: Which movie character would you want to be and why?

SR: I’ve got a bit of a dark sense of humour so I’m going with Deadpool.

I toyed with the idea of saying Thor, especially from Thor: Ragnorak, but comparing myself to an actual god is probably not the best look. I’d have to get down the gym more for starters.

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