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Matthew Smolin is co-founder and CEO of Hang, which offers an omnichannel loyalty program solution, working with brands like Ulta, Asics, and Budweiser.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? When you’re shopping and making a purchase, the brand may have asked if you want to join their loyalty program. They’ll usually offer you some kind of discount or reward if you do this, in an attempt to make it worth your while. The thing is, most of these programs don’t work. We’re rethinking brand loyalty from the bottom up and adding in new levels of personalization and gamification. We think loyalty should be fun and engaging—and most of the time, it is not. This isn’t only a good thing for consumers, but also for the major retailers we work with who are able to better understand their customers and see them return more often!
One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? Because loyalty is such a large part of the restaurant industry, and many of our most successful customers are restaurants, we try a lot of new restaurants and do a lot of our meetings with restaurant customers in person in New York City. Since the beginning of time, the best connections have been made over a meal.
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? I think of all of the customers we work with at Hang like children, so they are all my favorite. But if I had to pick one that is super exciting, it’s probably Ulta Beauty because loyalty and customer engagement are at the core of their business and have enabled them to grow to one of the largest retailers in the US. We’re excited by the opportunity to grow with them, especially with their younger audience.
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Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? The opportunity for brands to offer hyper-personalized customer experiences. You’d be surprised to learn that some of the most advanced brands today still don’t offer personalized experiences for their shoppers. With recent advancements in machine learning combined with the larger customer datasets that brands now have access to, the way we shop is about to radically change for the better. We’re going to see a major shift away from the sea of meaningless, never-ending discounts that most brands call their “loyalty program.”
What’s your go-to coffee order? Large iced oat milk latte. Basic, I know.
Worst piece of advice you’ve received? To build exactly what the customer says that they want. When you’re creating something radically different or new, just building to the customer’s needs will only get you so far. If they knew exactly what they wanted, it would’ve already been built. It’s our job to figure it out.
What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? When I was 15, it was the Xbox. Today, it’s my iPhone and AirPods—obvious, I know. I will say, kitchen scissors are also a very underutilized product that I appreciate. Restaurants don’t chop salads like they used to.