Curated | Guided by Experts | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Curated is an e-commerce marketplace that connects consumers with knowledgeable experts who provide unbiased advice on purchases, with a focus on outdoor sports and other high consideration goods.

Key Insights

• 🏪 Retail is undergoing significant transformation, and Curated leverages the shift towards e-commerce by offering personalized expert advice to bridge the gap between online shopping and the in-store experience.
• 😌 Curated's success lies in attracting and retaining top experts who provide unbiased advice, as well as partnering with brands seeking to enhance their direct-to-consumer strategies.
• 👀 The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital solutions in retail, making Curated's model even more relevant for brands looking to adapt and provide exceptional customer experiences.
• 👻 Conversational commerce plays a vital role in Curated's platform, allowing for real-time communication between experts and consumers, enhancing the personalized shopping experience.
• 🛄 Curated's emphasis on leveraging AI technology is aimed at improving the efficiency of experts, not replacing human interaction, fostering better connections and customer satisfaction.
• 👋 The future of Curated involves expanding into new categories of high consideration goods where expert advice is crucial, providing an opportunity to disrupt traditional online shopping experiences.
• 💁 The success of Curated's tipping feature, where customers voluntarily tip their experts, demonstrates strong product-market fit and builds trust and loyalty within the platform.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: How did Curated attract experts to their platform?

Curated initially sought experts from retail stores but found success in directly recruiting experts by offering them the opportunity to get paid for sharing their knowledge and passion. A network effect of attracting top talent was created, leading to a strong community of experts.

Q: Why are brands partnering with Curated?

Brands are partnering with Curated because it provides a unique channel for them to offer expert advice to consumers. With the rise of e-commerce and the need for personalized assistance, Curated fills the gap by connecting brands with knowledgeable experts who can enhance the customer experience.

Q: What role does AI play in Curated's platform?

Curated views AI as a tool to enhance the expertise and efficiency of their experts, not to replace them. AI technology is used to assist experts in areas such as connecting them with customers who share similar interests, providing data on recommended products, and improving overall efficiency.

Q: What is Curated's long-term vision?

Curated aims to become a platform where consumers can buy everything that matters, with a focus on expert-driven advice. They envision a community of experts who have increasing influence and control over the platform, sharing their knowledge through articles, reviews, and personalized recommendations.

Summary

In this episode of the Gray Matter Podcast, Eddie Vivas, the CEO and founder of Curated.com, discusses the journey of his e-commerce marketplace startup. He talks about his background, the founding of the company, the vision behind Curated, and the challenges and opportunities in the retail industry. Eddie also explains the importance of experts in providing unbiased advice to consumers, the role of AI in enhancing the user experience, and the future plans for Curated to expand into different categories.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Eddie end up in Silicon Valley?

Eddie dropped out of high school and started his first company in the ad tech industry. After selling that business, he founded a company called Bright, which used AI to help companies in hiring. LinkedIn acquired his company, and he became part of the team there.

Q: What is Curated and how does it work?

Curated is an e-commerce marketplace startup that connects consumers to experts who provide unbiased advice for purchasing decisions. Consumers answer a set of questions, and based on their responses, Curated matches them with the right expert. The expert then sends recommendations to the consumer, who can make purchases directly on the Curated website.

Q: How has the retail industry changed, especially with the impact of the pandemic?

The retail industry has undergone significant transformation, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Brands that traditionally relied on brick-and-mortar stores have had to rethink their strategy and embrace digital channels. Curated saw an opportunity to work with these brands that were looking to incorporate digital into their sales strategy.

Q: What were the early challenges in building Curated?

One of the challenges was finding experts to work with on the platform. Initially, Curated planned to partner with experts in retail stores, but it turned out that many stores were understaffed or had a variable quality of expertise. Curated decided to find experts themselves and attract them with the value proposition of getting paid to share their passion. The challenge then became identifying the best experts among the large pool of applicants.

Q: How did Curated attract brands to work with them?

Curated became an attractive partner for brands because it offered a unique model of providing expert advice to consumers. Many brands had tried their own direct-to-consumer strategies, but they were not achieving the desired sales results because consumers still needed expert guidance for high consideration purchases. Curated filled that gap by connecting consumers with experts, thus making it possible for brands to offer a more personalized shopping experience online.

Q: How does Curated leverage AI in improving the user experience?

Curated views AI as a tool to enhance the expertise of the human experts on the platform. Their goal is not to replace experts with AI chatbots but to use AI to make experts more efficient and effective. AI is used to improve expert-to-expert collaboration, provide data and insights to experts, and streamline processes.

Q: How does Curated fit into the concept of conversational commerce?

Curated can be considered a conversational commerce company as their experts communicate with customers through messaging platforms, primarily SMS. Conversational commerce is valuable for purchases that require more context and back-and-forth communication with an expert. For simpler purchases, other factors like customer reviews may be more important.

Q: How does Curated know that their model is working?

Curated knew their model was working when they saw early demand from consumers who willingly provided their information and expressed interest in receiving advice. They also had a flood of applications from experts who were intrigued by the value proposition of getting paid to share their knowledge. The tipping behavior of customers, where they voluntarily tip the experts, confirmed that Curated had achieved real product-market fit.

Q: What are the future plans for Curated?

Over the next 12 to 18 months, Curated aims to expand into more categories beyond outdoor sports. They want to help people make the right purchasing decisions in various high consideration goods categories. Their long-term vision is to become a platform where consumers can buy everything that matters with the help of unbiased expert advice.

Q: How does Eddie see the retail industry changing post-pandemic?

Eddie believes that brands will continue to invest more in their online strategies, with the lines blurring between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. He sees more innovative and unique experiences emerging in the e-commerce space. Drawing inspiration from the advancements in e-commerce seen in China, Eddie envisions a future where e-commerce offers even more interesting innovations and opportunities.

Takeaways

Curated is an e-commerce startup that connects consumers with experts for unbiased advice on purchasing high consideration goods. By leveraging AI and technology, Curated provides a personalized and efficient shopping experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the retail industry, making digital strategies more essential for brands. Curated aims to continue expanding into new categories and become a platform where consumers can find expert advice for all their important purchases.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Curated is a three-sided marketplace that connects consumers, experts, and brands, providing a platform for consumers to receive expert advice on their purchases.

• The platform works by consumers answering a series of questions, which helps determine the right expert for their needs, who then provides tailored recommendations.

• Curated saw early signs of success through customer demand for expert advice, a surge in applications from experts, and the introduction of a tipping feature, indicating strong product-market fit.