Company

The State of Black Friday and eCommerce

December 15, 2022

Our CEO, Keith George, sat down in studio with Bloomberg to discuss Black Friday, Holiday Sales, and how eCommerce growth is changing the landscape.

Watch the full video at: 

Video Transcript: 

SCARLET: 

LET'S CONSIDER -- CONTINUE THE

RETAIL CONVERSATION WITH KEITH GEORGE.

HE'S THE COFOUNDER OF CORTINA, A PLATFORM THAT ALLOWS BRANDS

AND RETAILERS TO SELL OTHER VENDORS PRODUCTS.

WHAT'S TALK ON BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY.

ROMAINE MENTIONED BUDGET CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS.

WHAT DO THE DEALS LOOK LIKE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON? 

KEITH:

LET'S LOOK AT BLACK FRIDAY IN GENERAL.

IT'S FROM WHEN RETAILERS GO FROM BEING IN THE RED TO BEING

IN THE BLACK. THE CHALLENGES PEOPLE NEED TO

START PLANNING THAT IN APRIL OR MAY.

A TYPICAL RETAILER, THEY START PLANNING.

THEY THINK THAT WHAT THEY WANT TO BUY THIS YEAR AND PLACING

THOSE ORDERS AND OFTEN TIME THOSE ORDERS ARE MADE OVERSEAS.

THERE'S SO MUCH THAT HAPPENS BETWEEN WHEN THEY ACTUALLY PLAN

IT AND WHEN IT ARRIVES AND WE AS CONSUMERS SEE IT IN THE

STORES. FORGET THE WAR IN UKRAINE AND

RISING INFLATION, WHEN A RETAILER ACTUALLY GOES LIVE ON

BLACK FRIDAY LIKE THEY DID THIS PAST WEEKEND, THERE'S SO MUCH

THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT FROM AN INVENTORY PERSPECTIVE AND

INVENTORIES ARE REALLY HIGH. AS CONSUMERS, WE SEE DISCOUNTS

BEING PULLED FORWARD, BEING MUCH DEEPER THAN THEY HAVE

BEEN TRADITIONALLY.

WE ARE WINNING, BUT RETAILERS ARE LOSING. 

ROMAINE:

LET'S BREAK THE RETAILERS INTO DIFFERENT GROUPS.

I CAN SEE HOW TARGET OR MACY'S COULD NAVIGATE THIS, BUT IF YOU

ARE A MIDSIZE OR SMALL BUSINESS, HOW ARE YOU PLANNING

WHAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BUY IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER AND DO IT

IN A WAY THAT IS ACCURATE? 

KEITH: 

IT IS DIFFICULT AND MOST

RETAILERS ARE USING THE SAME PROCESSES THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN

USING. I WAS AT GAP DURING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN THE

PROCESSES WE USED TO BUY, USING TREND FORECASTING, VERY INEXACT

SCIENCE. IT STILL BEING USED TODAY BY

SMALL RETAILERS AND LARGE RETAILERS. 

SCARLET:

HOW DO YOU GET AROUND THAT? LET'S SAY YOU ARE A SMALLER OR

MIDSIZE RETAILER, THE IDEA FORECASTING WHAT YOUR NEEDS ARE

GOING TO BE BACK IN APRIL HASN'T WORKED OUT FOR YOU.

KEITH: 

IT DOESN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE

AT ALL. THINGS ARE SO FLUID IN OUR

WORLD, YOU ARE TYING YOURSELF TO THAT ROCK BACK IN APRIL

OR MAY. ALL THE PEOPLE ARE MOVING TO

THE MARKETPLACE MODEL. AS AMAZON AND TARGET PROVED

EARLIER, BEING TO HAVE THE -- IT HAS BEEN CHALLENGING FOR

SMALL AND MEDIUM RETAILERS TO DO THAT.

ENTER MARKETPLACE TECHNOLOGIES LIKE CORTINA.

WE ENABLE ANYONE THAT HAS AN AUDIENCE, I BRAND A RETAILER TO

CONNECT MERCHANDISE AND PRODUCTS TO MANUFACTURERS AND

BRING IN THAT PRODUCT ON THEIR SITE WITHOUT BUYING THE

INVENTORY SO THEY ARE NOT TAKING ON THE INVENTORY RISK

THAT ALLOWS THEM -- 

ROMAINE: 

ARE YOU TAKING ON THE INVENTORY

RISK? 

KEITH: 

WE ARE THE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM

THAT PROVIDES THAT. 

ROMAINE: 

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE

INVENTORY LOAD OR RISK COME A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE

IDEA THAT INVENTORIES MADE IN CHINA, INDIA, OR SOMEWHERE

OVERSEAS. THE TIME IT TAKES TO GET FROM

THERE TO HERE, IS THERE A WAY THAT CLOSING THAT DISTANCE CAP,

IS IT POSSIBLE? 

KEITH: IT IS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY.

AT THE MAIN THING WE ARE SEEING IS ABOUT HAVING THE AUDIENCE.

RETAILERS COULD NOT EXIST IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEY DID

BECAUSE ACQUISITION COSTS HAVE GONE UP SO MUCH.

THEY ARE ABLE TO BUY A PRODUCT, WHETHER THEY ARE BUYING IT

THROUGH THE MARKETPLACE WITHOUT TAKING ON THE RISK. 

SCARLET:

LET'S GO BACK TO THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO EXIST

TODAY. IF YOU ARE A DIRECT TO CONSUMER

BRAND, HOW DO YOU GET THAT INFLUENCE THAT THE OLDER

COMPANIES WERE ABLE TO AMASS? 

KEITH:

I HAVE A VERY CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ON THIS WHICH IS DIRECT

TO CONSUMER NEVER REALLY EXISTED IN THE WAY PEOPLE TALK

ABOUT. THEY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF INEFFICIENT MARKETING

OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE MANY YEARS

AGO AS WELL AS JUST BEING ABLE TO BUILD THEIR BRAND WITHOUT

BEING ABLE TO PAY FOR IT IN THE WAY THEY DO NOW.

ACQUISITION COSTS ARE UP 60% IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS BECAUSE

AMAZON, FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE DOMINATE MOST OF THE MARKETING

SPACE. SO YOU CANNOT ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS

AND HAVE A PROFITABLE BUSINESS IN THE WAY YOU USED TO BE ABLE

TO. 

ROMAINE: SO IT'S THE IDEA THAT THESE

PLATFORMS HAVE CAUGHT UP. HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THE COST

STRUCTURE RELATIVE TO A MORE TRADITIONAL MODEL?

IS IT MORE -- PARTICULAR IF YOU ARE RELYING ON THOSE FORMS?

KEITH: 

EVERYTHING IN E-COMMERCE IS

ABOUT TRAFFIC AND CONVERSION. HOW YOU'RE GETTING PEOPLE TO

THE SIDE AND HOW THEY ARE CONVERTED.

DO YOU HAVE THE ORGANIC AUDIENCE?

KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN HAS 200 MILLION FOLLOWERS.

WHAT SHE DOES NOT HAVE IS A LEGACY INFRASTRUCTURE.

SHE TAKES NO INVENTORY RISK, DOESN'T HAVE TO WAREHOUSE

ANYTHING OR EVEN PAY THE BRANDS UNTIL AFTER THE CUSTOMER HAS

BOUGHT IT. SO WHAT DID SHE DO? SHE FOCUSES ON BUILDING HER

AUDIENCE. THERE IS A REASON THE

KARDASHIANS ARE SO WEALTHY, THAT'S BECAUSE THEY FOCUS ON

MONEY AND NOT RETAIL PRACTICES. 

SCARLET:

GREAT TO HAVE SOME TIME FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON BEGINS.

EVERYONE ON MY CHRISTMAS LIST IS GETTING PRESENTS FROM THERE.

 –
END

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