Full Transcript for How Integrated Technologies and a Startup Mentality are Delivering on the Promise of Omnichannel Retail: A Conversation with Seemantini Godbole

led by technology, and I felt like this happens very very rarely, where the company of scale who wants to transform, a CEO who's empathetic and really invested in transformation, and then a domain that is so problem rich. All these things don't come together often enough. And I was really excited after listening to everybody, and I didn't want to pass up that chance. So I'm really lucky I got this job and I love it every day. 00:06:29 Speaker 1: It sounds like the perfect convergence. It does sound like the engineer's dream come true of we're going to give you the support you need to be the change that we need in order to move into the next era of our organization's history. Out of curiosity, when you first meet someone, how do you actually describe what your job is to them? 00:06:50 Speaker 3: Absolutely, and Jonathan, that's a really good question. All of us want to describe our jobs in a way that everybody understands. And here is what I do really on an everyday basis. My job is to make sure that our customers are able to buy everything they want. However, whenever wherever they want to buy. So whether they want to go to lows dot com, they want to call our contact center, they want to come into our stores, they should get a really connected and a seamless experience. On the other side of a coin, what we are doing is for our associates, whether you're working in a store behind a register, or you're receiving a truck in our receiving doc or you're a supply chain associate moving the product through our warehouse, or you're sitting in our what we call it as store support center, which is basically a headquarter where you're sitting here doing some financial analysis. I really want to make sure that our associates are able to have the best experience so that they can serve our customers. So it really is about all the experiences and technology we design for our customers and associates. This is how I describe my job, and we are on a journey to become the most customer centric omni channel retailer, and I feel like technology plays a really important role in that. 00:08:07 Speaker 1: I like that description. Being able to do this to provide this experience both to the customers, for Low's Lows as partners as well as the associates who work at Lows. It requires a bedrock that we love to talk about on this show, which is, of course connectivity. It is my firm belief that connectivity is the technology that enables so much more innovation. And while we can focus on the innovation and we will talk about it, it never escapes me that that connectivity piece is what makes it all possible, so that we don't just have silos of data that do no good because they're all independent, little islands that never have any connection with anything else. So can you tell me a bit about what it means to build a connected workforce at Low's. 00:08:57 Speaker 3: Absolutely, And Jonathan, when we said home improvement is a problem rich space, that this field is right for omni channel experiences, I'll tell you what we mean, and that goes back to the connectivity you just brought up. So, for example, you want to change floors in your house, what you generally would do is and there are some decisions which are almost like family decisions, because these are big decisions you're making not just for yourself, but you're making it for the entire family. This is the floor you're going to live in every day. This is something you're going to wake up every morning and take a look. You want to be proud of it, you want to feel happy about it. When you invite people over, you want them to feel really good about what you've done. So there is a lot of pride in this project. So what you do generally is what we have seen with our customers. You start your journey online and you may order samples, you may look at different floors. Now we have introduced lots of features where you take a picture of your home, upload it. Then you try out different floors online from our catalog and you may narrow down your choices and you may see, these are the three or four things I like. But then generally what we have seen is customers then go to the store, or they'll go with their contractor we have this huge advantage of just really experienced associates, and so when you go to the stores, you get tremendous amount of additional information. And then what we have seen is generally then people sort of complete their transaction. They either complete their right there in the stores or they come back and do that back online. So that's why it needs to be very connected because if it was disconnected, like if you zero in on three floors online, but you go to the store and then nobody knows what you're talking about, it won't work. So there is just a tremendous amount of information and connectedness that needs to go back and forth between the different channels. For our appliances. For example, we started a two way communication where we keep you completely updated that Hey, reminding you, Jonathan, your deliveries tomorrow, are you still ready for it? Because plans change, And then even throughout the day. 00:11:01 Speaker 2: We would keep you updated. 00:11:03 Speaker 3: So I feel like Jonathan, our customers are demanding it more and more that it doesn't matter how they buy something, but they want it all connected. They want similar and consistent experience, and they want it to be really a hassle free, fun type of experience when they are doing something so exciting in their life. 00:11:24 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've personally had very many of the experiences that you've just mentioned, and I think that the connectivity that we've seen over the last several years, which enables this where you have this real time inventory management system that can be reflected on the customer facing side, that's transformative. It removes so many pain points and frustrations as someone who's actually tackling a DIY project, which can, as I'm sure you're

aware, Samontane, it can sometimes be a little stressful. So to me, those are those connective points that are absolutely critical to having a good experience, and it's the one that keeps bringing you back to a specific business when that sort of representation of making use of data in a constructive way has a huge impact on the customer. 00:12:13 Speaker 2: Absolutely. 00:12:14 Speaker 3: And the other thing we have also seen is our customers and even associates want our experiences to be very context aware. 00:12:22 Speaker 2: So exactly like you said, what is available. 00:12:25 Speaker 3: In the store near you, what is right for you if you're living in Miami as opposed to let's say Denver, Right, the climate and the requirement of these places are very different. If you're living in a very tight urban location, no point in showing you an elaborate, big patio set. Maybe you're looking for a bistrow table with a couple of chairs, and maybe that's what we should show you, whether you come online or whether you're coming inside a store. And these are the context rich experiences. 00:13:03 Speaker 1: Well, one of the other things we love to talk about on this show specifically would be the use of wireless technologies like five G and Wi Fi six. So I'm very curious, Samontoni, do you see places where the retail sector in particular can really leverage these connectivity solutions, ones that have the high throughput and the low latency that we're seeing developed through these new wireless technologies. 00:13:31 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:13:31 Speaker 3: Of course, we are tremendous consumers of cloud, and we do have our own data centers just given the complexity and the reach of LOWS. But then what we have done is across our more than seventeen hundred stores, we have really created mini are a micro data center in each of the stores, so that way we are closest to the customer wherever the customer is. So if you are online, you're connecting to the cloud. If you walk into the store, you're connecting to a cert which is in the store itself. And then if you are sitting at one of our store support centers, which is like a headquarter, and you're let's say a merchandising analyst, you're connecting to our data center. So we are trying to connect you to the closest location, and then everything you mentioned comes into picture in a big way. For example, if you're in a store and you are an associate or a customer, you're connected to the Wi Fi, you're connected to the server which is very close. And what we are doing is with our caching strategy and APIs, we are making sure that the data is staged closest to where you are, and we are trying to reduce communication across sites. So, for example, if you are in the store, you're trying to keep your communication within the stores as much as we can. 00:14:43 Speaker 2: Now there are. 00:14:44 Speaker 3: Times when you are leaving the store, your bits and bytes are leaving the stores, going someplace else,

collecting answers and coming back, and you're absolutely right in those times. What we do is use technologies such as five G. If you're a customer and there are some calls yours which are going outside of the store, or you're an associate and you're using a Zebra device, which is basically a smartphone device that we issue to all our associates to whether find induventor relocations, place an order, get something replenished, and so we are making use of wireless technology. Sometimes we are using connectivity for tethered servers, but we are making sure that the data and the answers are placed closest to where the customer is well. 00:15:32 Speaker 1: I imagine that also plays a huge part in logistics and things like supply chain as well when you're looking at it from the back end. And we've had a lot of conversations on this show about supply chain because obviously during the pandemic that was first and foremost in everyone's minds as we saw all the choke points, and people suddenly realized what engineers had known for ages, that the supply chain is a delicate system, and that realization, paired with our new capacity to collect and analyze information, means that the generation of leaders are far more aware of the power of data and how you can use that information to have as little interruption in business as possible. 00:16:13 Speaker 3: Absolutely, and Jonathan, I mean some of these things came to surface during COVID, when suddenly the demand for everything outstripped. Supply data, to your point, is really powerful and one of the biggest things the customers wanted to know is what is available near me in my store. So we had by that time actually modernized some of our technology around inventory and inventory positioning, so we were able to expose that even before COVID hit us, So that was good, but we unleashed a lot of different experiences and what we did was we literally, you know, curbside experience through our app. We rolled that out within six weeks. Inventory we started making it more prominent as to what is available next to you. But throughout COVID, and even before COVID, we continued our transformation and we actually doubled down. It was great for our customers because they were relying on lows to find the things they needed to keep their homes working. And I think it truly showed that our team was super resilient in really difficult times. 00:17:18 Speaker 1: And this segue is really well into our next section where we were going to talk specifically about e commerce. I mean, obviously e commerce became the dominant form of the way that customers interacted with businesses, particularly during the times of lockdown. What can leaders in the retail sector do to sort of anticipate enormous shifts as what we've seen with e commerce. What lessons have you learned that I think are valuable to your peers. 00:17:45 Speaker 3: I have always looked at e commerce as a really important part of total retail equation, and everybody

at Loosed US so I don't think that was a big surprise. I think what Covid did was it just accelerated trend which was already in motion, which is, you know, lots of people who had never done online grocery shopping started doing that, Lots of people who had never thought they could get something delivered, you know, restaurant orders. Overall, digitization just reached epic proportions. And I think some of those changes are permanent. And what I mean by that is just your level of comfort. And what we did was we looked at it and we said what does it mean to our customers and what would be most helpful. So, for example, we observed that virtual appointments people are getting really comfortable just this new way of conversing with each other through cameras and through this new technology. People are really good with that. And so what we did was for some of our categories like kitchen design, you know, countertops and cabinets, what we do is we have a centralized selling team and you could go ahead and book an appointment virtually and start talking to them. 00:19:03 Speaker 2: You'll still have people from lows. 00:19:05 Speaker 3: Come to your house and take some measurements, but because of their virtual appointment. That is happening even before people at Low's come into your house, you have done a lot of homework. We can actually do our own homework before we come to your house, and then that way we can get everything done in one appointment, and we're giving you all the information and we can always answer your questions later through a follow up virtual appointment. So these are some of the things we are noticing. People are much more comfortable. So what we have done is actually we have taken advantage of these accelerating trends and brought even more innovative experiences to our customers and associates. 00:19:45 Speaker 1: Well, next up, I've got an interesting question because I think of Lows as a truly enormous company, and often we can have a prejudice on enormous companies and think of them as being unable to be nimble or dexterous when conditions change. So what do you think is the secret to leaders to being ready to respond to the next big thing? 00:20:08 Speaker 3: Jonathan? I think, first of all, irrespective of your size, we all need to operate as if we are startup and at loads in technology and otherwise, we are always thinking about ourselves as a small company really and not as this mega corporation that we are, And I think that fosters a sense of entrepreneurship and creativity and scrappiness that's really needed to solve even the biggest problems. And we totally believe in what we call it as MVP minimum viable products. We believe in iterative approach. So we would kind of publish something in the market Watch, how it goes, keep iterating and perfecting it till it comes to a stage where it is ready for prime time and a national launch. And all these are signs of creatively thinking in small teams and taking risks and

giving license for people do not get it perfectly right the first time. I think that's really a key Jonathan, excellent. 00:21:11 Speaker 1: I'm also curious are there any emerging technologies that you are particularly interested in exploring. I mean, obviously, right now the technology that's all a buzz across multiple sectors is artificial intelligence, though I often find that people reduce that to specific applications of AI as opposed to artificial intelligence as a whole. But are there any that you're particularly excited about? 00:21:34 Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, and we are looking at couple of different technologies and We'll absolutely talk about AI before we go in there. We are looking at a combination of can we use RFID for anti theft? So for example, underston, until you pay for your tool, it's not going to work. We call it Project Unlock. We are exploring that with lots of our vendor partners. We feel that that technology and Loso was the first one to come up with that is really promising. We are looking at a lot of these connected technologies. Is what happens in the stores and online and how do we connect it. Lastly, I'll also talk about AI. Jonathan, you know before that data remains extremely important to us and how can we unlock more and more insights for our associates and our customers in order to make sure that their shopping experience is really enjoyable. The goal is to put all the fun in the home improvement in and take all the friction out and that has been really important guiding principle for us. And then lastly AI. We are absolutely looking at AI for example when it comes to predicting demand at a chain level and store level, but then also predicting demand for how many salespeople are we going to need on the floor in certain hours on certain days. We are doing all these predictions with AI by looking at store by store sales on an hour by our basis and kind of predicting us to when are the electricians needing most help, pro plumbers coming into the stores asking for help. 00:23:03 Speaker 2: When is the right time to deploy all. 00:23:05 Speaker 3: These associates so that we can give the best customer service to our customers. I think all this buzz about AI recently which has started is all because of chat, GPT and generative AI. And we are looking at generative AI, and we want to make sure that we come up with a use case that is really helpful either for associate and customers. And we have some ideas about how to upload items really quickly. Can we help in a way so that some of the manual work that is very repetitious and very tedious can be taken out? So I think we are again applying the same principles. How do we make sure there is a benefit for associates and customers and how do we make sure we keep the fun in the home improvement in and take all the friction out. 00:23:56 Speaker 1: Before we could let her go, I had to ask smontany one more thing, What does being a restless one mean to you. 00:24:08 Speaker 3: You know, it is funny you ask, and when we are talking about this podcast, I was really curious because I love the name, and I tell you what. 00:24:15 Speaker 2: We practice this at lows every day. 00:24:17 Speaker 3: It seems like because we are on this tech transformation journey. Like I said, we are on this journey to become the most customer centric omni channel retailer. And Jonathan, sometimes you feel like this is a tall mountain you're climbing, and when you reach the summit, you're going to feel this just tremendous happiness. But then we see another mountain and we feel like, well, I wonder what is it and what's there in that mountain? And we start walking again, and then we reach another place and we are like, okay, but I can see something else from here, And it just feels like a continuous journey as opposed to one glorious day when we feel tremendously all done and all buttoned up, and frankly, I haven't had that day. And I'm quite happy that I haven't had that day, because the journey continues, and I think restlessness is a really good thing in my mind. You want to feel like there is more to learn, more to do. Leadership itself is a restless journey. You're never going to come to work and say I know everything there is to leadership. I think I got it. In fact, every day there is a little bit of like, well I know some things, but there are so many more things I don't know, and hence I feel the name of your podcast is really how business is and how technology is, and that is how everybody at LOWS feel. 00:25:39 Speaker 2: So the name resonates with us totally. 00:25:42 Speaker 1: Well, Samontani, I could not ask for a better answer to that question. Thank you so much for joining our show and sharing your perspective. It has been a delightful conversation. 00:25:55 Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Jonathan, and it was great to talk to you. 00:26:03 Speaker 1: Thanks again to Somontany Goldbolet for joining us on the Restless Ones. I greatly enjoyed our conversation and getting to know Smontani's approach to leadership. The fact that she maintains her appreciation for each team at the company really shines through, and using that paired with a dedication to exceeding customer expectations, clearly guides her leadership style. And once again we see through connectivity that businesses can achieve real results, whether it is to better anticipate and meet customer needs, keep an eye on the ever changing conditions and supply chains, or to streamline workplace operations for associates, connectivity is the glue that holds it all together, and I can't wait to see how Lows incorporates innovative technologies in the not too distant future. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Restless Ones. Be sure to return to hear more conversations with pioneers who are at the intersection of technology and business, and check out our past episodes for some incredible interviews with leaders across the spectrum of business, from startups to Fortune five hundred companies. Until next time, I'm Jonathan Strickland.