Discussing the Microsoft for Startups program for Retail - interview with ShiSh Sridhar
Learn about the Microsoft for Startups program for Retail - interview with ShiSh Sridhar
Darius 0:00 Welcome to the retail tech podcast. This interview is being recorded and will be published on retail tech podcast.com. And after the first set of questions, we will be answering some audience questions. Today I'm speaking with Sridhar global lead of Microsoft for startups specializing in retail teach works with startups that are focused on retail tech. And we're going to learn a lot more about how that program works and how you can get a hold of sheesh to potentially get into the program. Welcome, ShiShh.
ShiSh 0:33 Thank you Darius. And thank you for having me. I'm absolutely excited about having this conversation, especially because there are two favorite areas mine retail, which have spent a lot of time in and startups really looking at innovative solutions that help retailers address some of the biggest challenges. Fantastic.
Darius 0:52 So let's start by asking how did you get to where you are in, in, in the retail space and also at Microsoft?
ShiSh 1:02 Sure. So I've spent a fair amount of time in Microsoft, I'd say about half my life in Microsoft, it's been 24 years, I began, really, as a developer evangelist working with ISVs, and evangelizing our developer technologies and API's and all that build applications, eventually, the the biggest part of you know, of my background, and that that's relevant to what I'm doing now, is that spent 15 years in the retail industry team within Microsoft. And this was a time when Microsoft has just moved into a focus on industry verticals. So I help the the team shape the strategy for retail, and how to work with retailers, what's Microsoft's value proposition for retailers. And that really enabled me to to work very extensively very closely, but retailers around the world really understand the retail space, work with the retail partner ecosystem and understand what the biggest business challenges retailers were facing. This also exposed me to the retail standards associations, and, and and also the cxos, what their pain points are. And once I did that, for 15 years, you know, absolutely loved retail, like I love solving the challenges they had using technology. I spent about two years after that working in engineering focus to geospatial and IoT. But then when the startups opportunity came up, two months ago, I thought this was perfect. It was way which I could combine everything down in Microsoft that really help retailers innovate through the innovative ecosystem that the the startups provide. And that was really the impetus
Darius 2:59 life of a startup founder has many turns and twists. And as you try to figure out who to work with, I mean, so that's one of the key things for all founders, is really picking the right partners. I personally have a long history with Microsoft in the 90s. We had a company in Seattle, actually, that was Microsoft's solution provider. I know, Microsoft is very strong on community and developer relations. So I always had this feeling that there would be like a good, good partnership when we started our new company. I guess, you know, we're just in the process of making the announcement that, you know, we're so excited to have been accepted into the program. But yeah, this is really interesting. I mean, the fact that you also so just to get a better idea, the Microsoft for startups is a pretty large program, I'm assuming, and it probably has different verticals, correct.
ShiSh 3:59 That's correct. Yep. And, and, you know, historically will be really there because the Microsoft has kind of program has been around for a while. But the big change, and also the reason why I joined the organization was really the focus on vertical. So we are transforming in a big way. In the past, we didn't really have a vertical industry vertical focus, we pretty much work the same with all startups, no matter what industry that we're in. And now we have industry political leads of which are one so I'm kind of focusing on retail, in particular, and trying to figure out how can we help retail tech startups? What are the things that retail tech startups really need? And that we could differentiate with? In general, when you join the Microsoft status program, there is benefits that startups get across the board and this is pretty much the state added that every cloud provider really provides and this includes things like Azure credits, which all of the startups need. In addition to that, we also provide Visual Studio enterprise GitHub dynamics, office 365. platform. We also have technical support available for the tech startups and then access to the marketplace so that the solution can be listed at the marketplace can be discovered by our customers. But in addition to that, we felt this was again, you know, nothing differentiating. And we wanted to really differentiate and figure out how do we now really address the challenges that that startups have in specific political. So what I'm doing right now is I'm doing a lot of interviews with startups with startup founders, at various stages. startups in the idea stage startups that are at every P and product market fit really looking at is there. And there is differences between what startups at these different stages want. We're trying to figure out, how do we now provide some of the things that Ivy estate startups are looking for? One of the examples is, you know, I was talking to a lot of the early stage startups, many of them are Gen Z founders. They're looking for mentors. They're looking for advisors in the retail industry, people that can validate their business ideas. They're also looking for advice from technical architects from within Microsoft to validate the architecture and their roadmap and all of that. So putting together all these resources that will help startups is is part of what what I'm focused on really building out based on the stage that a startup in is in, what are the things that are looking for a big ask as being you know, Microsoft works with, as I mentioned, some time ago to you, nine for over 94% of all retailers out there are using Azure, these are fortune 500 retailers. And as a result, many of the startups that I work with want to be able to work with the same retailers. They are looking for channels with which they can get that exposure and building up those channels as well. And this includes social media, it includes marketing channels, blog, posts, webinars, all those things that we can give the right level of exposure to to the startup that we'll be working with to our customer base. And that's again, another aspect as well.
Darius 7:45 Okay, great. Yeah, I mean, that that's a pretty comprehensive set of, I guess, benefits. And I know that, as we've discussed before, the website is being updated, correct?
ShiSh 7:59 That's correct. Yeah. So today, if you go to startups.microsoft.com, it is an updated website. So we are actually doing a complete revamp, we are rebuilding the website, we defining all of the benefits. So beyond the standard benefits, we're going to be adding all those additional things, and also creating a bit of a self service aspect to it, a place where startups can go to and find all the information they need. And that is what we are trying to gather today. What is it that that startups need? And we're building those out as well.
Darius 8:37 Okay, the, the comments he made about the idea stage startups is very interesting, because a lot of, you know, a lot of people that, you know, give feedback to founders are really not doing a lot to help people in the idea stage. So I think that's very valuable and the mentorship that you can provide in that let you know. So I would assume that that's going to be a pretty popular part of your, your, you know, your benefits and your value add.
ShiSh 9:14 It is and for the large part, what I'm doing is also really focusing on the early stage startups. So a bulk of the startups that are looking at our retail tech b2b startups that are working on very innovative retail ideas, and not necessarily the mature ones, because within Microsoft, we have partner organizations that that manage and work with the more mature partners. And my focus really got to be early stage and for the early stage, yes, the the mentor network is an important element. The community is an important element. So part of what I'm also building is community sites with Which, you know, the founders can get together can even help each other and engage and interact with each other, including with VCs with other incubators, and, and community at large. So I think that aspect is something that I heard many of the founders talk about and say we want to be able to, to engage and connect with the founder of community. And as well as have access to mentors, and one of the things that I'm building out is a board of advisors of people that are experienced in the retail industry, or have our former founders. So actually welcome anyone in the audience, including your areas, if you would like to be part of that board of advisors.
Darius 10:55 Yeah, that sounds pretty exciting. Sure, I would love to help out anywhere, any any possible way.
ShiSh 11:03 Super, that would be totally awesome. And I open up that to the audience as well. So feel free to, to reach out to me and I will make the right connections.
Darius 11:15 So So sheesh, what is the process for a startup to get started connecting with the Microsoft for startups program.
ShiSh 11:27 So you mentioned a while ago that the website today is is outdated and is in the process of getting redesigned to and that's going to happen in a few days. So the the actual process would be there is a nomination link on the website, which is startups.microsoft.com. And that is how most out of would would submit a nomination that would go through an approval process. And, and it's typically pretty quick. And once it goes through the approval process, they'll get the notification that you know, they're getting all the credits and the benefits and all of that. And once you're in, and once the program is fully up and running, the blacks have access to the website, which will give them access to all the resources and mentors and all those things that I'm putting together. So that is going to happen over the next few weeks. But till then, while the website is not yet up and running, if if you reach out to me, I have a link that I can I can provide that you can actually do the nomination. And then also, you know, I'm open to doing a review of the startup of the technology and the solution and doing an approval pretty quick. So the process is actually very, very quick. The turnaround is probably like 24 hours, and you'll be in the program within 24 hours. So it isn't too too lengthy. What I'm looking for essentially is, as I mentioned, retail tech b2b. So it is not b2c startups, but b2b retail tech startups, preferably early stage. And that's essentially the the high level criteria that we're looking for. And it overall, there are a few that I will probably be working personally where that these are essentially tied to some of the retail trends that I'm seeing out there primarily to do with some of the trends that got accelerated by by COVID. Last year. So we've seen retailers have long term plans for us some of the capabilities, and these long term plans got accelerated. And it's become mainstream now. And this includes things like pick and pack robotics became one of the big spikes last year and I'm working with a few startups that that are in that space. There is experienced that, that kind of process physical and digital companies like yours areas where you know, shopping has, you know, the combination of physical and digital, there's multiple technologies in that space, including live streaming and virtual fitting rooms. All of those and, and curbside pickup. So all of those technologies, there is a surge of investments and a surge of startups in that space. And I'm seeing a lot of startups doing innovative things, really tried to address some of the challenges that retailers are trying to solve. And these are, these are interesting innovations and Those who wanted I will probably also work personally with at trying to create this portfolio that represents the innovations to be seen in retail.
Darius 15:13 Yeah, that's a, that's a very interesting concept is really some some products, you know, although COVID is like one of the worst things that has happened to humanity in the last 100 years, there is almost this thing called a COVID boost that some products got, and I think that's a, that's an interesting thing that we were all learning is how to take advantage of the COVID boost in your business.
ShiSh 15:43 Exactly. For a lot of retailers, you know, the whole COVID thing was by the Chief transformation officer in a way where all the long term plans, they had, you know, things that we're planning to do three, four years down happens in three to four months instead. And then we're forced to do it. The, you know, grocery online was sort of a long term for many, many grocers. But COVID really accelerated that whole thing where online purchases of grocery, which is sort of a nice to have, and it's going to happen in a couple of years. did happen in a couple of months.
Darius 16:23 Okay, so to review the the, I guess, these process, probably the best way, for anybody who's interested, is to contact you directly. Right now, for now, I think you have, you're pretty open on on Twitter, and LinkedIn, as I experienced myself, so if anybody's interested, make sure you follow up with shisha and you know, you know, let him know that you're interested. And he is. He's very open and receptive. I'm just speaking from my experience.
ShiSh 17:04 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. In my, in my profile, I've got my Twitter account in there, and you can pretty easily find me on LinkedIn as well. So feel free to reach out and either platforms will certainly respond and set up a meeting and would love to have a look at the technology that you have. The solution that he has, and I'm always eager to, to work with innovative disruptive startups out there and, and and a lot of times merging technology and and the new ways of doing things absolutely excites me. So looking forward to it.
Darius 17:46 Okay, just to reset for the room. I'm speaking with Sridhar lead for startups, a global lead for Microsoft for startups for the retail industry. And this interview is being recorded. We're going to start bringing, I see one hand is raised shortly, we'll bring up Audience Question one one more question before we do that, Sheesh. What about customers? How you mentioned that, you know, 94% of Fortune 500, retailers are using Azure. What benefits as far as intros to customers do startups that join the program get from Microsoft.
ShiSh 18:30 So one of the programs that is part of the Microsoft startups is called the corporate Access Program, or CPAP. And what we do with the CPAP is it is sort of a innovation partnership that we have with the tier one retailers. So I meet with many of the retailers on a regular basis. We have part as part of the you know, the the meetings that customers have with Microsoft. One of the meetings of sessions that we do with them, is the innovation discovery session where they meet with Microsoft startups. We talk about how we can generally help a retailer innovate through a startup ecosystem. One of the biggest challenges that retailers have today is you know, they're trying to innovate, they have their own innovation programs in house, and they're meeting with innovative startups on a regular basis. There's literally 1000s of startups out there. And one of the things that many of the retailers tell me is that they're overwhelmed with the number of startups that they have to work with. And one of the partnerships that we have with many of the retailers is really helping them to rate that, you know, what startups they should be looking at. So, we have our ecosystem, our portfolio. And they generally bring up, you know, here are the business challenges that we're trying to solve. Here, the top three, we have them match startups in our portfolio to those business challenges, we organize something called a demo pitch day, where the founders of the startups really pitch via solutions. It's sort of like a five minute pitch that they do to the retailer, this generally results in a PLC. So we do a lot of these corporate Access Program pitches with with retailers on a regular basis. So that's, again, one of those things, ways that actually work directly with retailers. So I would meet with retailers on a weekly basis. And we have also have innovation partnerships with some of the large retailers, but we do an update with them on a quarterly basis of new solutions out there in our ecosystem.
Darius 21:01 That's awesome. I mean, that's that demo day. Sounds very interesting. Are those. So those are internal, private, or are they public,
ShiSh 21:11 they're private, they're sort of a one on one with a single retailer at a time. So it is not a sort of a broad pitch that we do. We have broader pitches, they're sort of a webinar style. Well, we will, you know, on a quarterly basis, we'll have these sessions and sometimes in association with NRF, we'll have sessions at NRF, where we will bring in a handful of startups and have a session but the startups do a pitch. But in addition to that, we have these one on one sessions with retailers. So it is a single retailer, typically edit is private. We organize the meetings with the retailers through our account teams and, and depending on what the retailer wants to see. So typically, this is driven by, you know, the retailer telling us, we want to solve our last mile delivery problem, or we want to solve our in store inventory problem or something like that, then we do a match to what kind of startups do we have in our portfolio that helps solve those problems. And then we organize the pitch day based on that, and we get a lot of retailers telling us, you know, these are solutions we want to see. And typically retailers will, for the mainstream problems like inventory and dynamic pricing, there is market leaders out that that they will resort to, but a lot of times they'll say we want a differentiated innovative solution, or a solution that doesn't exist in the mainstream catalogs. And that's where the you know, the startups really come in.
Darius 22:52 Okay, that sounds very interesting. I mean, that's one of the first things every startup really is and should be looking at is for finding those early customers, and even just validating the idea. So that's very valid.
ShiSh 23:11 And a lot of times, you know, there are chances that this kind of solution may not exactly fit what the retailers are looking for. And there are instances where there is a co innovation that's happened where because startups are generally very agile. And the retailer was looking for a product solving a particular business challenge. Two or three of the startups kind of came close, not quite a fit for what they're looking for. And but at the same time, that was a collaboration that happened between the retailer and the startup. And and the startup actually tailored for the retailer's solution. And that was, you know, getting closer to product market fit as well.
Darius 23:56 Awesome. Thank you so much. So I am going to start bringing up some audience members and see if we can answer any questions for them. Hi, Ozzie.
Unknown Speaker 24:14 Hi, guys, Hi there, use Hi. Sheesh. Thanks a lot for having me. And it was really a pleasure. I was just kind of browsing down clubhouse for like, five seconds. I had a break between a meeting and I saw the room and I was like, my this is this is the room scribe.
Darius 24:30 This this is the room you need to get into. She should.
Unknown Speaker 24:35 Yeah. And I was like, because, I mean, you guys will understand why as I as I introduce myself, but I just wanted to say how valuable the talk that you guys are holding now and I really, really appreciate the time you guys are putting aside to, you know, share those things with us. So, very briefly. Call me Ozzy. I'm a product manager slash product owner here in Portugal. I work as a consultant to a Portuguese retailer called so nice, which is by the junos.
ShiSh 25:08 I noticed the nice happy in Portugal a lot of times and yeah, I yeah, mytho tonight a lot.
Unknown Speaker 25:15 Oh, wow, interesting.
ShiSh 25:17 Overall is still there?
Unknown Speaker 25:21 is he working for the fmcg? Part of so nice?
ShiSh 25:26 Probably not. The retail part of it. Yeah. Okay. Let's
Unknown Speaker 25:30 see. Yeah. Because like, the group's got like, 40,000. Yeah.
ShiSh 25:37 It's pretty big. It is massive.
Unknown Speaker 25:38 Yeah. That is one Bruno in my division though, bro. No foul, but I'm not sure it's the same guy. But anyway, I mean, is good synergy. You know, you've been to Portugal. And also, and I know web summit has moved down from Dublin to Lisbon A number of years ago. And because of that many in all these startups seeing is they have paid more attention to what's happening. Portugal, I myself was living in Dublin, Ireland for almost seven years. That's how I got into retail. I was working for a retailer in Ireland called cost quarters. And Are you guys familiar with Yes, Yep. Yep. Okay, cool. Interesting. So I'm synergy there's, and then there was a very operation opposition, right. And I never imagined working retail myself before. Before going to Ireland, I'm originally from Brazil, was working in completely different industries, and just came to happen. I said, opportunity came through and I say, Yes, I'll definitely take it. And after two, six years in a retailer, you know, it was enough like Nutella had got me now, you know, all about in my last nine years, to everything that's retail related. So, after finishing my contract with a retail in Ireland, I came to Portugal g pursue a master's degree in the Faculty of Engineering University of Portugal. And there was a problem management technology innovation, which brought me in, that develops mobile payment solutions, small, very small startup called shopware. And out of that start up, I came up with my own idea. And I submitted some USPTO patent requirements for an idea that we came with came up with. So To cut a long story short, now I'm working as a consultant for tonight, in the broadening with the sole, focus and purpose of introducing mobile payment matters in all of these stores. There's nothing nothing new about it. We've known scanning go and grabbing go apps for the past 10 years or so. Some big global leaders in that area, many started doing that we have which approval tale in New York, we got revision in Holland and Mitch pay here also in Europe. They're playing good names, right. But the good game changer here. And these were, you know, my startup, which is on stealth mode, that moment is devoting their time is we want to use that mobile payments just as a as a tool inside an autonomous store scenario, very similar to what Amazon is doing. But we have a very, very lightweight solution, which enables small independent retailers to adopt this a solution that before it was only available to people with very deep pockets like Jeff Bezos in the lights. So right now, I was in another room a couple of weeks ago with Ashish Sharma, the CEO of instacart. And one thing that she was painting was that now with delivery apps, you know, sort of taking control of the last mile and starting to collect a huge amount of data from the user and user behavior. What CPG brands have forever in revisers is probably you know, it is becoming more factual is more feasible. And what I mean here is that we are seeing a scenario in which within five to 10 years, CPG brands could be direct reading to customers. We were touching on points like dark stores and the way you know, those delivery apps are using empty warehouses, empty shopping centers that are now all over the place in claim to be available is immense. So you exactly as a fulfillment center, and it takes only one CPG brand, to try or in to run a pilot with one of those delivery options. direct to consumer delivery for the Pandora box to be open, you know, like, I can only imagine the amount of, you know, run up and down, that will be in retail when that happens. So what I'm trying to sell here to Sanai to this one retailers to whom the consultant is
Unknown Speaker 30:21 they have the opportunity to give the first shot. Designing the solution for them, I have a technology that allows them to have pop up stores in Spain is the main target now. Those pop up stores will be completely autonomous. They will work both as an autonomous stores for loyalty customers only only people I like very much what Amazon is doing. And it will also work as guard stores for the e commerce in Spain. So now used to have 50 stores in Spain, they face fierce, fierce, fierce competition spending could not stand it. They had to sell 80% of their operation to another retailer. Now they only have one store in Madrid and another few in the cannery islands. So they are still present on e commerce online basis. And one thing that I have noticed is that everywhere where they close the physical store, they're online traffic went down dramatically. Right. So heavier physical presence is, you know, paramount for them. So guys, this is pretty much it. Like I don't take much of more of your guys time. I just wanted to kind of paint a picture here introduce myself, I did reach out for you. Ashish, in your LinkedIn.
ShiSh 31:51 Super, I will look forward to connecting with you. And it sounds very fascinating. I assume you're also building the backend platform for that ecosystem that you described. Our big time.
Unknown Speaker 32:03 My CTO only a couple of weeks ago, mentioned me How are we going to need to upgrade our GitHub, you know, account and it cetera in?
Unknown Speaker 32:15 Yeah, definitely.
Unknown Speaker 32:16 I mean, we are not we're, we're self funded. We are trying to bootstrap the whole operation. And you guys know how hard and difficult that is. So getting to a program like what Microsoft is, you know, making available to people you know, that would be excellent. Super.
Darius 32:35 Yeah, it sounds like it sounds like the right program for you.
Unknown Speaker 32:42 Oh, yeah, big time I outside when I saw the room and you know, when I was reading this was all man, I can't believe exactly why
ShiSh 32:52 you are an exciting space in an exciting space. So yeah, I look forward to knowing more and looking forward to collect connect with you as well and reconnect with some awesome,
Unknown Speaker 33:04 thanks so much fish in there is really appreciate guys really, really appreciate. Thank
Darius 33:08 you. Awesome. Yeah, let us know how your startup progresses. Okay. Oh, yeah, definitely.
Thank you, Michael.
ShiSh 33:16 Thank you. Awesome.
Unknown Speaker 33:19 Hi, Darrius face. Sheesh. Yes, I to just like Ozzy I connected with you on LinkedIn and Twitter. And my name is Michael wiser and the strategic planner for commuter cars. And if you look at the profile picture, I changed it. That's our product. It's the 39 inch wide road and weather protected highway capable, Tango, thin electric car. And it has definitely It's amazing. You guys, it's it's built in Washington State, like where Microsoft is.
ShiSh 33:53 You know, it's based around right now. Super cool.
Unknown Speaker 33:56 It's It's the perfect kind of startup that Microsoft could get behind because it offers so many different solutions in retail, but even even better. And I know, everybody's concerned with traffic congestion, we think it's the best way to resolve traffic congestion, because it offers a way to, to solve it in a way that's environmentally friendly since it's 100%. Electric. So anyway, there's there's so many wonderful things about it. We have we have investors, we have 12 working prototypes, they work wonderfully and then just to quickly connect it to retail. A while back you may have seen this sheet there was a funny commercial that got actually one advertising words about Burger King delivering meals to people stuck in traffic. Well, believe it or not, we could actually do that. I mean, we we like a motorcycle we lane split and that sort of you know the idea Driving on thin lanes and parking in dense space. So that's basically what the solution what our solution offers for God allows us to deliver food and, and product like medicine and, and other things to people. Wow, believe it or not while they're traveling. So we really have a beyond first and last mile solution for so many different things. So it's a pleasure to be here and share this information.
ShiSh 35:27 Thank you for sharing it. This is brilliant, because last month delivery is that other big area that I was talking about, and retail that is piking. And, and I'm certainly looking for partners in that space. So I look forward to connecting with you. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 35:40 My pleasure.
Darius 35:41 Thank you, Michael. So she's actually this brings up another question. If you have a few more minutes. Are you okay with time? Okay, great. Absolutely.
Awesome. What about? So are you looking only at software products or hardware as well?
ShiSh 36:01 Primarily, software only. So essentially, what we're looking at is, you know, the capabilities and services that we have in our clouds and startups that use those innovative base hardware in general, the answer's yes, if there is some sort of a integration with with that cloud platform. And there are cases where we have a combination of, you know, startups that are building solutions, like edge AI based solutions. So those are certainly
Darius 36:39 like IoT, what I'm looking at IoT type products, for example, correct. Okay.
ShiSh 36:45 That's correct. And, you know, like, autonomous cars can be because they have a big element in the cloud. So, certainly, yes.
Darius 36:58 Okay, so that's actually just something else that came to my mind. I know, like, there's, there are a lot of like, literally large companies working on autonomous automobiles. Is does Microsoft has in general, that anything like that, that you know, or now that you can share publicly?
ShiSh 37:24 Yeah, what we're mainly focusing on is really enabling our partners to build those. So we have all the underlying technology and capabilities and research and all of that. So we're mainly working with the partner ecosystem for that, and not building around. And also, to go back to that question of, you know, hardware, one of the areas, especially in retail that I'm seeing a lot of is for the autonomous stores that went from having a whole bunch of sensors destroy, like Amazon go, but many retailers found that, you know, to cost prohibiting, because the amount of sensors, the cost of a single store, if suddenly goes really high. And the maintenance management, monitoring gets too complex for both traditional retailers. So as a result, many of them started going. The other route, one of them was really having cards, cards with which you can sense what what you're picking up what you're shopping for, and then doing automated checkout and all that. So that element of it is the hardware based partners that I'm working with. So there's a few partners that are in a waiting around cars and innovating with cameras in the store for driving autonomous. That's very interesting.
Darius 38:46 The, of course, you know, you can't have hardware without software. Right. So so I think that's pretty much includes everything, but I was I was wondering if there's like various, you know, companies that their main product is hardware. So and I think this last mile, I've seen quite a few last mile hardware solutions like robots, drones, and this is like one of the one of the big questions that I have myself as a as a resident, is that in five years, What's life going to be like with all these autonomous beings around us and flying around us doing deliveries? Is that is that going to be an interesting life or
ShiSh 39:34 in fact, in I've seen a lot of, you know, startups coming up with all kinds of options I mean, for in store robots is definitely a paying I've been working with a few partners that are doing pick and pack robotics in the store. And as as, as you mentioned, Doc stores are becoming a thing and doc stores now translate to micro warehouses, and hyper warehouses are being automated. There's a lot of install robotics popping up. And companies and startups that are building these install robotics. Last Mile delivery is a big aspect of it. And we're kind of seeing, you know, one of the really innovative things that I'm seeing is the end to end automation of grocery retail grocery retail is kind of going towards that autonomous aspect where you know, even your pantry in your refrigerator, having sensors at auto replenishing. So when you when you run out of something in your pantry, it automatically kicks up in order. And that audit gets goes to your nearest dark store, a pick and pack robot picks up the items prepared for you hands it off to a autonomous robot drone that actually delivers it to your home. And that whole process is something that's completely automated. And in retail, we're really going towards that extreme. If you know there is experiential retail things that you would really like to shop for. And on the other hand, you have the grocery retailer, the experts retail, which will, over time, get automated more and more.
Darius 41:17 Right? Can you Okay, so we talked about dark store, just for anybody that doesn't know what that is? Can you give me your definition of what is a dark store?
ShiSh 41:28 Yeah, so my definition and what I'm seeing out there in retail is, you know, online retail typically was the lower aspect of most retailers where they found more sales happening in store in the physical stores, and online being a smaller percentage. But over the last few years, what's happened is the online sales have spiked up and the brick and mortar sales are have started dropping. And as a result, many retailers are realizing you know, they need to Kate up more for the online. But the brick and mortar is still an important element because it caters to a few things. One is it enables instant gratification. So that is the huge advantage they have with online only against online only retailers because anyone with a brick and mortar store is able to deliver quicker they can do same day delivery and all of that they are able to handle returns and exchanges and all of that much better because of the physical store that's in close proximity to to the customer. And as a result, what they're doing is the converting and what's really happening is for many stores, part of the store is becoming a warehouse now, retailers with brick and mortar stores are ending up with much bigger warehouse networks that are much closer to their customers. And these are generally referred to as the dark stores, stores that completely become a warehouse and micro warehouse. The inventory in those micro warehouses is informed by AI models that's based on predicted purchase patterns of that are AI data that becomes a big element of these micro warehouses, automation becomes a big element of it, because when an order comes, then it will determine which is the closest micro warehouse to the micro warehouses, the doc store, a store that was formerly an actual physical store and became a warehouse. For most retailers, though it is not a full dark store that they're going towards. They're kind of partially having a brick and mortar store. Part of it is becoming a warehouse. And that's kind of the model that many retailers are going with.
Darius 43:55 Okay, thank you for that. Yeah, that's, that's really an interesting evolution of the retail store itself, that it's it's becoming more than, you know, just just like, you know, a place where you go to shop it. And it's almost like, you know, you've heard of the concept of cloud kitchens right? exact so this is like almost something similar where a location as in general is like, you know, you can lease a location, right? And then what are the services that you offer to other people that want to use your location without having to lease themselves?
ShiSh 44:38 Exactly, and in a mall so kind of going that direction as well. You probably saw a lot of announcements happening with Amazon converting dead malls to micro warehouses and warehouse locations. So that's another aspect and, and and I was in a panel the other day on clubhouse where we talk about the future at the mall, and what we're really seeing is the mall not really becoming purely a microwave house or a dark store kind of thing. But a combination of things. One of those is on the apparel fashion side, the experiential becomes even more important, so many of the fashion apparel retailers will continue having a location where you can experience things, and at the same time have a combination of, you know, a doc store or warehouse in those locations. So there'll be a combination of experience and warehouse.
Darius 45:39 Yeah, I think I was in that room. I was listening in that room. And I heard somebody say malls are done. And I almost like jumped out of my seat and into the speaker menu. To to give him the counter arguments, because I definitely don't think malls are done. I think malls are evolving just like retail.
ShiSh 45:59 Exactly. And I think it is it is, it is the end of you know, the the weight things have been done in the past. So the the models of the past are dad. Sure. And it's, as you say, evolution is we'll be seeing it's not the end, but the evolution of the mall, the evolution of the store.
Darius 46:20 Yeah, I mean, I'm like, so we work with, with, with our company, we work with balls, as also as well as retailers. And I'm learning and I'm finding some amazing shopping mall experiences, especially so like, I'm in Southern California, and I'm starting to see like what's around here. And there are some really amazing experiences of mixed use, you know, shopping experiences, that there is no way they can be matched by anything online. And exactly it is. It's almost like an adventure. You know, for customers to go there. It's It's a family time. It used to be the same, but it's like changing. So interestingly, that it just gives me a lot of hope for the future of the malls actually.
ShiSh 47:16 Exactly. And what I'm seeing now from a startup innovation perspective is, you know, technologies that are coming up, and that includes your areas that that will convert retail into theater and experiential things rather than you know, what would you use to in the past? So there's that combination, as I mentioned, of digital, physical and, and digital experiences in the store AR VR capabilities in the store virtual fitting capabilities in store in your mobile. So that combination, those kinds of things that really what's what's driving that innovation, that evolution of the stores at the mall?
Darius 48:01 Fantastic. So one last question. Do you actually work with any malls? Are you talking to any malls owners or operators?
ShiSh 48:13 Currently? Not yet? I know, in the past, I've worked extensively with Westfield before the acquisition. But at the moment,
Darius 48:22 No, I'm not. We need to change that.
ShiSh 48:26 We need to change that. Absolutely. So there are there are a few miles that I am targeting trying to figure out because the the needs of malls are very different from what store needs, mainly because the multi store aspect of it and the use cases there are a lot lot different. So absolutely. Looking forward to that.
Darius 48:47 Yeah. Awesome. Well, this is an amazing conversation. I can't get enough of hearing from your experience and your your your insights. So thank you so much. Sheesh. And yeah, again, as as a reminder for everybody, definitely check out startups@microsoft.com connect with change on a, you know, his profile. And if you are a startup in retail tech, definitely, you know, find out what options are available for Microsoft. There's a lot that they're doing and it's actually improving. It's growing. So thank you so much. She's, and you know, we will see you in other rooms shortly, I think.
ShiSh 49:39 Thank you, Doris. And thank you for having me on the show. And thank you for the audience for spending your time with us. Have a wonderful day.
Darius 49:47 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 49:49 Thank you