Five retail technology questions for Late Space’s Tom Griswood
RTIH asks major players in the retail technology space for their thoughts on the sector, and throws in a random question to keep them on their toes. This time around, our five questions go to Tom Griswood, Founder and CEO at Late Space.
RTIH: Looking at the hottest retail technologies right now, checkout 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?
TG: For me, having witnessed the recent transition to a fully online and virtual way of work throughout the pandemic, I’d have to say that the prospect of a high quality and immersive metaverse seems like an extremely enticing idea.
The idea of being able to visit stores virtually, conduct meetings in online spaces as opposed to the default Zoom/Teams call just sounds far more interesting to me.
I’m sure it’s got a long way to go before we’re all jumping onboard but I look forward to seeing it become a bigger aspect of the retail industry as well as daily life.
RTIH: Which retail technology trend is overrated in your opinion?
TG: As it stands, I would say non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Perhaps it's something I’ve not done enough research on just yet, but whilst there was (and still is) scepticism around cryptocurrency, I feel like NFTs go that step further and in their current format they pose a huge risk to the consumer.
At a time when the cost of living is such a serious crisis, I worry that consumers can fall prey to these ploys in order to ‘get rich quick’ for something that could be easily fraudulent or duplicated.
It’s tricky but it’s definitely something i’m keeping my eye on.
RTIH: What are the top five retail tech Twitter/LinkedIn accounts you can’t do without, and why?
TG: Well, it goes without saying that RTIH is one of top choices to get my latest retail tech news.
Here are a few other places that I go for my news at the moment:
Harry Wallop - I don’t think I'd be doing my job, working within the retail space and not being an avid reader of Harry Wallop and his insights on Twitter.
Someone that has their finger on the pulse of British retail that manages to condense a lot of information into clear to read tweets. Similarly, Simon English’s newsletter is a fantastically condensed daily briefing of London’s business news.
Essex media (Essex Live, BBC Essex, etc.) - This is mandatory for Late Space, we’ve just launched and we decided to launch in the places we know best, Chelmsford and the surrounding area.
We wanted to test our how the Late Space proposition sat with the local businesses in this area that I know so well, and then expand out into greater Essex.
WIth that mind, I like to digest all the goings on in our area, hear about the success stories and businesses in my locality that are changing up the way people go about their day.
As the founder of a startup that aims to help both consumer and business, I’m always looking out for new ways to connect with an ever growing list of retailers and customers to help make Late Space better.
As well as these retail experts, I like to get insights from an array of other sources including all the major trades like Retail Week, Retail Gazette and Internet Retailing.
I’m also in contact with the Chelmsford ‘business improvement district’ that is an extremely useful resource for information where relevant articles and press is shared for startups and scaleups, helping to build up my knowledge as a founder.
RTIH: If you could have a dinner party with any five retail pioneers, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
Always a great question! I’m going to stray away from being specifically ‘retail’ because I like to take my inspiration from lots of different industries and areas of business.
Some of the people that I would like to have turn up at the dinner party would have to be
Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk: Not particularly unique but innovators nonetheless.
To have them around the table, talking about how they perceive business, what success means to them, what their biggest regrets are, would be a fantastic conversation to listen to.
Additionally, I’d like to invite some of the local business owners from my area to hear from them and give them the opportunity to vent their thoughts on modern retail, what could be done better and hear what the titans of industry have to say in response.
RTIH: If you could un-invent one thing, what would it be?
TG: This will sound a bit crazy given how much a business like Late Space will rely on it in the future, but I do wonder where we would be without social media sometimes.
Whilst it’s a fantastic tool and benefits millions being able to share and express themselves and interact with the whole community, the addictive nature of it all can be a bit consuming at times. I for one wonder how much more productive I’d be without it around.
However, starting Late Space and getting to focus on how the business is perceived online and by its users gives a whole new spin to social media for me and I look forward to learning all the tricks of the trade in the coming weeks and months.
