Kendra Scott on How to Unwrap Shopper Intent During the Holidays | Reimagining Retail

Suzy Davidkhanian (0:00)

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Hi everyone, today is Wednesday, October 21st. Welcome to EMARKETER's weekly retail show, Reimagining Retail, an EMARKETER podcast made possible by Atmosphere TV. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives, and I'm your host, Suzy Davidkhanian. On today's episode, we're talking about how retailers figure out what shoppers we really want, especially when they're buying for someone else, and how data and technology can help make that experience better. Joining me are EMARKETER analyst and podcast regular, Rachel Wolff. Hey, Rachel.

Rachel Wolff (0:56)

Hey, happy to be here.

Suzy Davidkhanian (0:57)

We're so happy to have you. And we have a special guest with us, Kristi Carlson, Vice President of Digital Technology at Kendra Scott. Hey, Kristi.

Kristi Carlson (1:05)

Hey, thanks so much for having me.

Suzy Davidkhanian (1:07)

We are so excited to have you too. But before we even get started, let's do a very, very quick introduction. In 30 seconds or less, Kristi, tell us, what do you do in a sentence? And I don't think everybody needs to know what Kendra Scott is, but maybe just in case.

Kristi Carlson (1:22)

Let me start with Kendra Scott. We are a national affordable luxury jewelry brand founded in Austin, Texas, by Kendra Scott herself. I am the Vice President of Digital Technology here. I've been here for about five years, and I oversee anything technical in the digital space. So that means marketing tech, e-commerce tech, business intelligence, AI, and some other things.

Suzy Davidkhanian (1:50)

I mean, that's a really big job, not just cool. Like, wow, that's a lot. So you have to worry about and connecting the dots between online and in-store. Tell us what is your, and you pick which one you want to talk about, your favorite current book, podcast, TV show, movie.

Kristi Carlson (2:04)

I love fashion and I love music. And so right now I'm rewatching a show called Painted Ladies, which is a three-part series, I think, about Vivian Westwood. It was done about 14 years ago, but it's really well done. I highly recommend. And then I'm also reading Truly, which is Lionel Richie's biography.

Suzy Davidkhanian (2:25)

I didn't realize you were a biography person. I love that.

Kristi Carlson (2:28)

Yeah, big time.

Suzy Davidkhanian (2:29)

That's very cool. I am not. I might watch them though.

Kristi Carlson (2:33)

That's fair. That's fair.

Suzy Davidkhanian (2:35)

Rachel, are you into biographies?

Rachel Wolff (2:37)

Not exactly. It's not my preferred material, I suppose, but I do like a good biopic. So I recently watched the one about Michael Jackson on a plane, and that was, I would say, worth seeing if you haven't.

Kristi Carlson (2:49)

I've heard that's very good.

Suzy Davidkhanian (2:50)

I'm going to add all of this to my very long list of things that I have to read and watch. In your free time. Yeah.

Always so much free time. Well, you guys, jeweler is one of those purchases that can be deeply personal. We spend a lot of our time thinking about it. Well, we do.

We on the show do. We buy it for ourselves, we buy it to celebrate a milestone, or we give it to someone who's special to us. But what makes it meaningful can also make it super tricky to shop for, especially when you're buying for someone else. Now that the holiday season is just around the corner, it's hard to believe retailers are trying to make sense of all kinds of signals where shoppers are coming from, what they're browsing, what they've bought before. But those clues don't always tell the whole story. Sometimes a shopper knows exactly what she wants, but other times she's looking for inspiration and she may even be looking for something she didn't know she wanted.

Today, we're talking about how retailers can better understand what shoppers are looking for, connect the dots between online and in-store experiences, and know when technology can help and when the human touch makes all the difference. But before we get started, I want you both to think about the last piece of jewelry you bought. Whether it's fashion or fine, because I know it's different price points mean different sort of inspiration journeys. How did you first discover it? I'm going to start. I am now in love with this fashion jewelry brand that I can't even tell you what it's called, that I bought. I first discovered in a department store in France and now keep going back because it's the right price point for me to buy things that are not my usual. So it's a little bit more funky than I would normally wear. And the first time I saw it, I was like, oh, I wonder if I could pull that off. And then I bought a pair. And then everybody tells me how nice they are. So I keep buying them every time I go.