On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.
David Weissman is co-founder and CEO of Humankind, a conversational commerce SaaS platform used by brands like Olaplex, Murad, and Love Wellness.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? As a CEO, it’s up to me to lead the vision and operations of the Humankind business, but my North Star is the end customer. If we start with them in mind, it becomes easier to work backward to make sure our platform delivers amazing experiences with ease and scale. E-commerce is innately do-it-yourself shopping, and it can be challenging and overwhelming for shoppers to make purchase decisions with so many options in front of them. You’d never build a store without salespeople to help your customers, but we do it online without batting an eye. So at Humankind, we allow brands to connect customers 1:1 with expert brand associates to provide a personal shopping experience via text, allowing those experts to help curate, educate, and ultimately drive sales.
One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I’m customer obsessed. So often retailers fall into the trap of thinking customer centricity is accomplished with a lenient return policy, but I’ve always wanted to go much further. In my view, loyalty is driven by exceptional experiences, and that usually means over-the-top service. I’m a fan of over the top, because it’s memorable.
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? When I was at Target, I was tapped to come up with new and exciting user experiences powered by technology. My journey started with my first exposure to telemedicine and I thought, “Why can’t this be used for other online purchases?” And that was the seed that would ultimately become Humankind.
Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? Like most, I’m eagerly watching the progress of generative AI, but for me that interest is less about cost-cutting potential, and more about unlocking new ways to deliver customer delight.
What’s your go-to coffee order? A dirty chai, but I’m going to go broke drinking them. After the upcharge for the espresso shot, and the upcharge to be dairy free, sometimes they cost me $10!
Worst piece of advice you’ve received? Interestingly enough, I think it was more the advice I didn’t get early in my career that might have made a big difference. My impatience and hyperactivity drove my determination to be an entrepreneur from Day 1. Luckily, I found my way working for Michael Rubin and GSI Commerce for 10 years, and that was great to help set me on the right course. I think it’s important to work for larger companies out of college to get your sea legs and to build an understanding of how things work.
What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? Maybe not 15, but right out of college I thrifted this amazing suede rocker jacket. It was cool, and slightly tattered—I called it my Eddie Vedder jacket and got compliments on it all the time. It didn’t last long and I’ve been in search of the same one for years with no luck. These days, I’ve been having a lot of fun with these temporary tattoos from Inkbox. I ordered some with the Humankind logo and wore one during a recent team offsite to prank my leadership team. It took a day and a half for anyone to say anything—they thought I was maybe having a midlife crisis!