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AI Price Comparison: How Zyft Helps Retailers Win on Both Price and Value | #553

• Nathan Bush • Episode 553

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Richard Stevens, CEO of Zyft, has spent his first six months steering the AI-powered shopping assistant through a period of explosive growth. With over 650,000 downloads, 100,000+ daily searches, and $7.5 million in fresh funding, Zyft is reshaping how Australians shop, and how retailers compete.

Today, we’re discussing:

  • Zyft’s origins and growth: from Damien Waller’s vision in 2019 to 650,000 downloads and $7.5M raised in 2025.
  • How the app works: Chrome and Safari extensions, mobile apps, barcode scanning, and live retailer feeds.
  • The consumer mindset: why cost-of-living pressures have made shoppers more price-conscious and open to AI tools.
  • Retailer opportunities: using Zyft’s data and transparency to boost discoverability, credibility, and conversion.
  • The future of shopping: what AI-powered price comparison means for retailers heading into Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond.

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Speaker 1:

An empowered, confident consumer is a great thing. You're shortening that decision funnel. You're not going to be loyal to the brand, the product. They're almost interchangeable as a consumer without any consideration. So price is the key factor. Who are your competitors? Who are the other retailers that are going after that same customer, same product range and a similar pricing strategy that have that sort of equal footing as you?

Speaker 2:

Hey, it's Nathan Bush or Bushy joining you from the land of the terrible people here in Brisbane, australia. I'm not sure if you know, but there are about 100,000 Australian customers every day who are searching price comparisons, either through a browser tab or through their mobile phone, scanning products on shelf. Those 100,000 customers are using a platform called ZYFT, z-y-f-t, and today I am lucky enough to be joined by their CEO, richard Stevens, who has been in the hot seat for six months but already having a tremendous impact. They've just raised $7.5 million, taking their total valuation to $37.5 million, which is awesome as an Australian tech startup. Today, richard joins me to talk us through how Zift works, both for customers in being able to research and find the lowest price in market, but also for retailers in being able to access that data of when customers are looking for those bargains and who's coming up most often. It's a really fascinating chat.

Speaker 2:

We also dive into the psychology of pricing and, to Richard's credit, he talks about why price is so important. But it is just one lever out of the whole retail game, but it is critical to get right. So, as we come up to peak season peak discounting season and you probably want to keep a really close eye on your competitors' pricing and the drops at this time. This could be the episode that helps you stay on top of your competitors' actions and helps you price your products in the market for the right customer at the right time. All right, let's get into it. Thanks to Shopify and Klaviyo for sponsoring AdDakart. Here's Richard Stevens, ceo of Zift. Richard, welcome to AdDakart.

Speaker 1:

Thank you very much. Great to be here.

Speaker 2:

Awesome to have you here Six months in the role as CEO of Zift. What brought you on? What got you excited about this opportunity?

Speaker 1:

Well, how much time do we have?

Speaker 2:

Not a whole hour.

Speaker 1:

Okay, well, let's take the time then, but I think there's a few things that really stood out and when I think about where my career has come from. But, first and foremost, the business is an exciting one. It's in a space that's all topical, it's delivering solutions which are at leading edge and, equally, there's an amazing team behind it. So to join a great bunch of people makes it fun to work each day. So I think there's a few things, but knowing that we're delivering a solution that's designed to add value and make the shopping experience easier, it's just a fun space to be Well.

Speaker 2:

we shouldn't keep our listeners waiting. Can you give us the elevator pitch on what Zift does and the role it plays in market? Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Something I have had a bit of practice out of the last six months.

Speaker 1:

So Zift has been around for a few years now, so actually just over five years.

Speaker 1:

Its purpose for being is to make the shopping process easier, more confident for the consumer, make that process of knowing that you're buying a product at the right time from the right retailer at the right price just easy. And building out the tech platform behind that is obviously harder to do than it is to say, but that's what the team have been toiling away at over the several years. It's just building out a class-leading solution. So it's a shopping assistant for consumers who know that when they're ready to shop whether that be on their couch in their living room at home or in store making sure Zift has a solution that they can use, whether it be app or browser extension, to make that purchase with confidence. Equally, it's a retailer-focused solution as well. We want to make this a level playing field. We want to make sure that the right retailer at the right time can get that sale, and it is not favouring one over the other based on marketing stand, capabilities or capacity, so just genuinely adding that value to both sides.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, that makes sense. So it exists as a Chrome plugin, which I was playing around with before as a price comparison when you're shopping online, and it exists as a standalone app as well, so you can use it in-store, is that right?

Speaker 1:

That's right. So it's a Chrome extension plugin and also Safari. So it does work for those Apple users out there the one or two that there are. But then we also have apps for both Android and Apple. So, exactly as you said, consumers can be naturally searching for their product when they're at home to work out what they're going to buy, what they think they're willing to pay for it, doing that normal research, and Zift will be there by their side to help them navigate that path of where they could, should, might go to get the right deal, but equally in-store. So the app has barcode scanner and other things so that when you're at the point of making that purchase in-store, you can still do so with confidence.

Speaker 2:

Awesome, okay, and I had a good play around with it and I've got some questions around the functionality from both the customer's perspective but also from a retailer's side. But obviously you guys are just on a tear at the moment just raised $7.5 million, taking the valuation to $37.5 million, which is amazing for an Australian tech company. We always love seeing those stories out in market, so congratulations there. And I saw that you've got now 100,000 products being searched every day from over 50,000 retailers. You've got indexed. You're building up quite the web there.

Speaker 1:

It has been a great story of growth and great to be enjoying in the last six months to then start to enjoy the ride in front of us. But, yeah, it's come from a lot of hard work by the team, I think, at the outset. The founder, damian Waller, is without doubt one of the leading tech entrepreneurs in this country. He was responsible for the launch of iSelect and other businesses along the way as well. So I think having that pedigree in terms of the founder and a lot of that sort of thought ideation takes you a long way into that success path. And then it's just that clarity and focus of where the business has been going. So, as you said, and then it's just that clarity and focus of where the business has been going. So, as you said, there's 650,000 downloads of the Zift apps and assets and that means there's over 100,000 product searches every day In fact, well over that. So it adds value, it's resonating with consumers and it works for retailers as well.

Speaker 2:

So it's a great journey to this point and probably exciting for what comes next. I can imagine that, with cost of living that term thrown around willy-nilly over the last couple of years, that could only be good news for you guys, as you're helping customers find the best prices.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think the pressures that have existed, I suppose, over the last several years, whether that be because of interest rates or just the rising cost of products in the grocery aisles, it's felt by the everyday Australian, I think, in every aspect. We're more price value conscious than we have ever been, so there is absolutely that need to solve that. For consumers, but equally for retailers, it's a challenging marketplace, and dynamic as well, where rising cost of acquisition and the uncertainty of what the future customer looks like and how to get in front of them, that's just a thrill yeah, and so I was having a look around and trying to firstly compare you to others in the space.

Speaker 2:

So, honey, is it camel, camel, camel, which I haven't come across before, but it came up a bit. Not that we want to drop your competitors in here, but I was just going. Well, where are we different in market? And it seems like you pride yourself a lot on having such a huge range of retailers to compare to, and you're not limited there. How have you established that range? Are you pulling in retailers? Do they have to agree to it, or are you just pulling in whatever data you can get?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's one of the real, I think, exciting parts of the ZIFT proposition and where the business has come from. The starting point was one of intended transparency and level playing field. So not viewing from the outside of how can there be a quick win game here or a way to exploit a fear or uncertainty. It was genuinely and consistently with the view of how can we actually make the process better. When you take that lens, you start to and then, with it being focused firstly on the Australian marketplace so it is an Australian-built, designed, intended solution that has obviously future scale, but with this market in mind you start to then make the right decisions as to how you solve things.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, the business has been running for over five years, but the real growth has come in the last 12 months. And that's not because of being slow at delivering things. It's actually the opposite Make sure the solutions in place add real value. They're authentic, they're scalable, they can deliver on what they say they do. That takes time, so the team have been incredible at building out that capability, leveraging all the latest AI and machine learning models that can be built around things to give that efficiency of scale and capacity. But it all comes back to building things out in a way that's going to add value today and into the future, for consumers and retailers alike.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so are the team pulling in all that data? Do you have relationships with all the 50,000 retailers? We don't.

Speaker 1:

We don't no, and the consumer is not impacted by where we have a relationship or not. The product we'll put forward, through either a big app or an extension, is genuinely the product which we can see in market across those 140 million plus products in the 50,000 retailers where we can see there is the right fit, right match for the consumer. So it's intended to be transparent and where we have a relationship and that works great. But it's not going to be a limiting factor in the experience delivered.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Okay. So bill for consumer first in mind. Obviously, I did a few tests in there. I did what did I do? I did the Donkey Kong game on Nintendo Switch 2 because my son just got the Switch 2. I was like, let's have a look at this. It was really interesting because it came up with a whole bunch of retailers all the ones you would expect, but also some that I didn't know. Obviously, in a product like that, there's not a huge price differentiation between all the. Obviously, in a product like that, there's not a huge price differentiation between all the retailers. Where I can imagine it gets tricky is, like the first one that came up was Costco, which is a slightly different retail model where you need a membership. How do you get around all those intricacies with pricing where Costco might be the cheapest but I need a paid membership to buy it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a really good question, and it's an illustrative one of that. This is a task and a process that's always evolving. How can it be sharper, better, and it's the challenge of AI and any business in that space to continue to find ways to be delivering the most relevant, most effective. Ultimately, what we're showing the consumer, though, is the information that's available, so it's not intended to take all decision-making power away from them. In fact, it's to do the opposite. It's to give them information to make them feel confident in the decision they are making. It's their wallet, it's their send. They should feel as if they're in control of which is the right choice for them. So if they're a Costco member, great, that's the option for them. If they're not, then they have the other retailers and options available to them as well.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and pulling in things like shipping costs. I noticed that we're not doing that yet. Is that on the roadmap?

Speaker 1:

It is, and I think having the ability to sort of weave in and include additional information, because that's a real consideration for consumers in today's online shopping world. But shipping costs can vary from one retailer to another, so that's absolutely as we continue to build out. Bringing those features which differentiate retailers from each other is a factor as well, because price is just one element. It's an important element as we talk about the cost of living. Pressures make it very real. But when consumers make a choice about where they wish to purchase, there are other factors and service differentiators like free shipping or shipping plus can also feed into that decision-making process.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I can imagine you'd have a lot of data coming through too around what is really price, competitive, whether it be categories or products. Do you do anything with that data in terms of publishing it or sharing it with retailers on the platform?

Speaker 1:

Increasingly so. There are conversations we've, in recent times actually started to engage with and the response has been very strong. Without question the asset that we've built out over many years. And I keep saying we obviously I've been here six months, but we have built out. Just claim it. I keep saying we obviously I've been here six months, but we have built out.

Speaker 2:

Just claim it. Just claim it.

Speaker 1:

Look, that's the role of CEO. Right is to do so, but what has been built out? There is no question. The asset that exists there is hugely powerful and valuable, because it's not just the pricing information that we have sight of, it's the consumer interaction with categories and where they're going, what they might be doing and how price plays a part in that. But there are categories and products where brands will outperform what their price should suggest they would, because that brand alignment means something to consumers still in today's day and age. But price is just one of those variables which ultimately shapes it.

Speaker 2:

What's your gut feel? You might not have data on this, but in terms of, obviously you go and you serve up a product and if you're a retailer selling the same product as other retailers take my donkey kong game, for example how it's served up on jb hi-fi might be totally different to how it's served up on, say, kmart. So j JB Hi-Fi might have staff reviews and go to the extra effort of video content and things like that, whereas Kmart might just go here's the product, here's the description, here's the price. Do you feel that those layers, when you've got products that are competing on price, actually make a difference to the decision-making process?

Speaker 1:

Really good question and I think it really does vary between consumer to consumer. And the fascinating part can be even the same consumer if they're purchasing one item that might be a $20 sort of low consideration product in the one moment, 10 minutes later, they could be looking at something that's 10 times that value and their whole shopping process and how they assess one retailer to the other and what's suddenly important can vary dramatically. I think that's part of the fun part for us is to make sure we have a solution experience that they can mold to that. So if you're standing in the middle of your grocery aisle in a supermarket, you'll need and one of the most commonly searched products we see is olive oil. Really it is, and it's well as interesting that when you step back from anything, why would that be the case? And you think if you go into the supermarket in any given way, you're guaranteed olive oil is one of those items that at full price can be expensive. Yes, the average Aussie consumer in their cooking and mine would certainly be true of this is not going to be ruined or amazing because of the olive oil you've used. That is not going to be the deciding factor. I know personally, but it's something you use in almost everyday cooking all the time.

Speaker 1:

So if you're saying that you want to make sure, well, hang on. Which product am I going to buy at a given moment? And you're not going to be loyal to the brand, the product. They're almost interchangeable as a consumer without any consideration. So price is the key factor. Similarly, though, you might be looking at a product that's still in a similar price range or a bit more, but suddenly the things that you want to compare against, is it a brand that I care about? Is it a retailer I've purchased with before? Because if it's a product you're unsure about, you may be thinking about what's the returns policy? What's the ability to go and actually physically see and touch the product? So I think the reality is that a consumer will be ever-changing in the moment, based on the product category, things that are important to them at that time. You need to make sure that you provide that information to consumers so that the process of discriminating between what they're wanting to do or not do is made as easy and frictionless as possible.

Speaker 2:

I really like your olive oil example. I think that's a really great one, because I think, one, yes, it's an expensive purchase at the supermarket, it's a necessity, you're always replenishing it. And two, it is price elastic. Sometimes, if you're buying olive oil and you get there, I don't know when you go to the aisle and you go, oh, there's usually one that's half price, there's always one model that's half price. And if you get there and there's none, you're like, oh, now I've got a decision to make. Yeah, exactly, do you find that there is, if we talk about grocery, for instance, and you don't need to name names, no-transcript.

Speaker 1:

I think from a grocery category specifically. I think that's probably where we feel these price cost pressures the most, because it's an everyday or every week journey that it just feels expensive and whether it's increasing or not, it's what the consumer feels and that's the combination of all the other cost pressures that the household's been hit with, pressures that the household's been hit with. So I think, when it comes to pricing strategies and discounting, I think the consumer is increasingly aware that there is a bouncing round of prices, whether it be groceries or other sectors of retail, where the discounting is almost an ongoing, endless cycle where there's got to be someone who got this on sale. Where could it be, yeah? So I think that's increasingly known, and I think part of Zip's existence is probably making it easier for the consumer to be price value savvy. But that's then down to the retailers to adapt to what consumer expectations are and how they can apply a pricing strategy that demonstrates value.

Speaker 2:

I noticed on Zift that you don't do the historical pricing, the ups and downs. Has that been a decision that you made in the early days not to demonstrate that?

Speaker 1:

No, within the extension and the app, there is a feature which can show price history. Okay, I think, as we're ever changing the user interface design hierarchy, trying to make sure that the most valued elements are easier to find, so we continue to optimize and tweak that. That is the way which we present to consumers, and increasingly to retailers as well, so they can understand how their performance aligns with what their pricing decisions may have been.

Speaker 2:

But some retailers wouldn't like you showing that.

Speaker 1:

It's interesting. It's interesting because I think the idea of the consumer understanding price is kind of yes, I understand there could be a fear to it, but an empowered, confident consumer is a great thing. Right, you're shortening that decision, funnel. I mean, one of the things that all these are notorious for is being great procrastinators, or I'll leave that till tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes there are important decisions that you should be making today. Again, I look at myself on this one, but when you think about it, look, consumers are using tools nowadays. I mean I think there's in the last year alone, I think, the use of AI in the shopping experience has increased in Australia by 45%. So it's happening. So it's then about the retailer what do you do to leverage that? And if you embrace it and lean forward and say, well, actually, if the consumer is more confident, it may actually mitigate some of that procrastination or that tendency of leaving things to tomorrow. If I am in store and know that there's a product I want to buy and it's actually price competitive and it's right in front of me, a transaction could be happening there, and then, because of that knowledge and confidence, rather than it be left for another day and that customer just walks out the door, no matter what the salesperson may try or hope to do. So I think it's about accepting what consumers are looking to do. How can you use that as a retailer to your advantage?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and how do you not just be price competitive all the time? There's other ways to be competitive, there's other levers to pull.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and that service differentiation and the features which, as a retailer, differentiate you from your competitor. It's a real thing. Consumers aren't just clicking things randomly. They're far more engaged with what they're doing, so differentiation matters. That's how you just surface that.

Speaker 2:

It's an interesting space that you're in because you've got the homemade solutions down one side. So if I take the I think he's called the price check guy. He's big on TikTok and has his little Chrome plug-in and I use it. I think it's kind of cool what he does, because he can call out anyone he wants. He doesn't care, he's very independent. And then you've obviously got the Googles of the world, who have their Google shopping and price comparison in that, which is at the next level. Am I right in saying that your differentiator is obviously the network of retailers and the historical data that you've got there, but also that it's embedded into the shopping experience, that customers don't have to leave the page they're on to get that comparison?

Speaker 1:

I think that is definitely a big part, and I think we're in a space now where building out tech solutions has never been easier but also incredibly difficult.

Speaker 1:

I think, to do things at a service level it can appear to do a lot of all the cool stuff, but as soon as you actually put up the task you quickly work out there could be limitations.

Speaker 1:

I think the differentiator as I was saying a bit earlier, I think for Zift is the starting point of what it was seeking out to do and how it's been built out over time, and not rushing that to a commercial outcome of how can it be monetized to the greatest effect tomorrow. It's been built it out so it actually delivers value and it actually makes that task and it solves those problems for consumers and retailers. So, yeah, absolutely, as probably you said it you were saying before, when you're searching online and if it's the browser extension version of Zip that's helping you, it's just there. It's that shopping assistant that's always got your back. It's always just beside you. It can be immediately closed if it's not relevant to you in that moment, but it strikes that balance between valuable but not irritating. It just is there to help you make those decisions, and then it continues forward without any friction.

Speaker 2:

Makes sense. How do you ensure that your data is up to date and in a timely manner, because we know retailers, especially coming up to Black Friday, are changing prices pretty quickly. How close can you get?

Speaker 1:

I would say very good, I mean, I'm a completely impartial judge on this one, naturally.

Speaker 1:

But no, I think it's really hard to do and that's again why it took the amount of time to build out the platform that it has, because it's the consumer expectation. If we were talking about this sort of thing five years ago, consumers would say, if it was that price within the last few days, that's amazing. Expectations move so quickly that suddenly consumers will expect hang on, if that's three seconds out of date, then it's not helpful. So we've built out that combination of things that we have. That the ability to be standing and indexing and getting real-time pricing and stock information in real-time is part of how the tech works. So when the consumer's online, it's able to index and find that information.

Speaker 1:

We also have the benefit of thousands. As we were saying before, it's over 130,000 product searches every day With that network of consumers that are using the service. That is also continually updating the price information. And then the other aspect is we have a lot of retailers now working with us where they'll be having their feed of data. Products pricing come directly through into the zift platform because there's the benefit. They know this is a highly relevant, highly targeted and engaged audience. They want to make sure their products are actually displayed with the most up-to-date, reliable, complete information possible.

Speaker 2:

So that is an option. Is to directly link in with you, and is that paid partnership? How does that work for retailers?

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, we have partners and that part of our relationship is purely pay on success, so it's just part of the affiliate relationship with that retailer or brand we might have. It doesn't change how the consumer sees that product. There's no changing in the order. So it's part of Really Nope, so it's really and this is where again a business can easily get distracted into the commercial outcome things that this is held true to what that proposition from the outset was designed to be and that's a level playing field authentic, reliable, genuine information that makes easier for consumer and make their journey far less challenging, difficult or inefficient and for the retailer, it's never at the cost of the retailers to trying to make sure that the right product from the right retailer at the right time is the decision for the consumer.

Speaker 2:

Who are the types of retailers that you think Zift is perfect for? Like, if you go of the 100,000 queries a day, we're getting a lot in this area, we can see. I love the olive oil example, groceries, obviously a great one, but are there any other types of retailers that you, like your customers are ultra price sensitive?

Speaker 1:

I think it is probably a different I may frame that slightly differently the price is. It's absolutely a factor, because price is a determining factor of value. Right, it's the easiest thing we can attribute. I want to buy this based on this price. So I think that's good value today and that's the easiest thing we can attribute. I want to buy this based on this price. Well, I think that's good value today and that's often sort of the starting point.

Speaker 1:

But when so many consumers are already using online research, this isn't a new sort of direction of consumers. They've been using, whether it be Google or other search engines to research their product, to try and do it. All Zift is essentially doing is just making that process easier and faster. So it's again shortening that decision cycle from. I know I want to buy the next Apple Watch, garmin Watch or it could be olive oil what's going to be a blocker or a point of friction for that consumer. And that research piece is significant.

Speaker 1:

I think there was something published just recently saying that there was 82% of shoppers are wanting AI to help them with making that process of shopping easier, with just reducing that burden and that bottleneck of it's just too hard. So this is a trend. That's not just the five minutes. Anything that has traction in this space, lifting good, is because we've solved the problem of making that shopping experience easier. Yeah, it's not about one retailer over another, I think. When you think about it from that perspective, if consumers are using tools like Zift, that's what they're doing, so then it's the case for the retailer where they're big, small boutique or sort of a wide mainstream variety of products. If they want in front of an audience that's ready to purchase, then it's applicable to them. If they want in front of an audience that's ready to purchase, then it's applicable to them.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 2:

To explore how Klaviyo can grow your e-commerce business and to see more case studies like this, visit klaviyocom. Forward slash au. It's obviously a huge opportunity at the moment because the way customers are discovering and comparing products is essentially up for grabs with AI, right Like we can see what's happened with Google in terms of the last 12 months with their AI overviews and how they're changing their offering pretty quickly, like pretty amazing how quickly that's moving. It's showing that there's a whole new path to purchase for customers is showing that there's a whole new path to purchase for customers. We spoke recently with Heather from Nutrition Warehouse and she was talking about the amount of traffic they're now getting from LLMs and how qualified that traffic was From an AI perspective. That must be pretty interesting for you to think about, as you're kind of redesigning what that product discovery process looks like.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's phenomenally exciting, I think, to see that the rate of change and innovation, whether it be big players or otherwise.

Speaker 1:

It's an amazing space to be in, because to provide just rethinking ways in which consumers and users in general can approach everyday tasks is phenomenal. But with that does come a sort of a safety warning that many AI tools out there do a good job, but when they're wrong they're confidently wrong. So it's about making sure that the tools being used are actually purpose-built for the task at hand. A lot of tools out there again, big providers or otherwise, that will give a good generalized view on something but stand down to the consumer to determine whether that's actually reliable and accurate. So I think again from a Zip perspective, that's where a lot of the time has been spent to make sure it's designed for the Australian market, consumer and retailer that is delivering consistent, reliable information back and it does what it says it's going to do. So I think that's where, in this space, it is exciting because you can build out, but to do it well it takes time and that's what the team have done.

Speaker 2:

I bet you feel that pressure of time too. When you've got investors now and AI is moving so fast and there's lots of big headlines out there, how do you feel around that balance of doing things right for the customer and the speed of change and obviously having a lot of stakeholders to keep on board? How do you manage all that?

Speaker 1:

apart from aging prematurely. No, I think whenever there's something that's in focus, like this, and there's the rate of change, absolutely there is, there's always expectation with that, but the other way to view that is, it means that it's in mainstream consideration. So I've had the benefit of a lot of conversations with retailers and brands, even just the last couple of weeks, and seeing there's this absolute want and need for this problem to be solved. It's this disruption to retailers in terms of how AI plays a part and technology and the data which can come from it and who to trust and how that can actually drive cost of acquisition increases. It's real. So, just like the consumer facing cost pressures, it's no different from a retail perspective.

Speaker 1:

So I think for us yes, of course, I wouldn't imagine there's a business in this country where the board are not talking about what's our AI strategy and what's machine learning doing this month. That's just true. But I suppose it then comes down to which businesses have built their capabilities around leveraging and executing and doing something with and that's again I talked about the team here phenomenal Just the way in which they are passionate and want to solve problems, but using AI for the right reasons. When you're in a business like this. That's when you do see it's just, you take the tailwind, you take the fact that it's in focus and you back the team and the group to actually just execute it.

Speaker 2:

And are you developing all internally, all skills in-house?

Speaker 1:

We are, we are. I mean, there's always the balance between scarcity of resource versus the IP you're building. But to have a team that can meet face-to-face and solving problems and that crossover between an AI engineer is not just doing tasks A, B and C. They can be immersed in the ideation and the conversations around what we're looking to do. The impact and value of that here and what I've seen previously is just phenomenal and that's what we're seeing.

Speaker 2:

I could imagine that, as you have that team and that tight-knit team internally, there must be no shortage of ideas, of all the different octopus arms that this thing could go out into. How do you keep the team engaged in wanting to think about new ideas but also staying really focused on the task at hand?

Speaker 1:

Without there being a tyrant CEO just saying yes or no. That's right. It's my natural demeanor anyway to be that role the opposite of. In many ways, I think it comes back to not understanding what the purpose is. What are you trying to do and this is true today as much as it was five years ago for the business what are we seeking to do? What is the problem we're solving? What do we see success of being and what are the things that make this different from other businesses? And leaning to those things? Yes, there's always a temptation, particularly in any tech business. And lean into those things.

Speaker 1:

Yes, there's always a temptation, particularly in any tech business. There's so many things you could always do. Wouldn't it be cool if, or what if? But if you step back and say, okay, what are the things that matter most to our customers, what are the things that are still those pain points that we could do better at solving, you start to bring those focus areas back and, rather than trying to do 200 things, ultimately you can bring it back to you know what the next three months, there's probably five or six things we just need to know, and then you do that and the team can get their heads around that as well and they lean into it and you have this perpetual cycle of just getting so much stuff done, but it's laser focused on the right stuff rather than just being busy.

Speaker 2:

What do you think is most important to a customer at the moment? If I gave you a list of three things for you to nail, what would be that?

Speaker 1:

list of three that you'd want to deliver for a customer. Great question, I think it might be one or two things, but that confidence in terms of it's the consumer's wallet. So if they can feel confident about making purchase decisions and we can see with the cycle of end-of-fine-to-year sales, consumers are willing to open up their wallet. But the change was targeted. It wasn't a global sort of every sort of category across the retail sector saw a boost. Consumers were very targeted with where they whether it be online retail or department stores, where they increase their spend in that period. So sales still matter.

Speaker 1:

So there's the balance between confidence and value. First of all, most of the two most important things that the consumer ultimately feels as if they're making decisions, but they're able to make decisions confidently. And then the third element would be around efficiency. Everything could just be in life if everything was just that 5% easier. Everything just becomes that sort of multiplying effect of so just deliver solutions that make life easier for consumer but, as I said, the retailer just as much, to give that confidence. And you can apply those three things to the retailer in terms of that confidence about their own control, about what their strategy is and how they're reaching out to their customers, and they do it in a way that's just more efficient or easier.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that's what I was really pleased to see that you're pulling in inventory as well as price, because so often there's a focus on being the cheapest or being the most competitive and actually not getting stock distribution right, so it's really important to put them side by side, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 1:

Without a shadow of a doubt. You can see it is, and I think that's true of retail in general. Consumers have quickly become conditioned for this sales period. Right that it's almost a bigger event than Christmas in some ways, that people are realizing that that's when value is to be had and how that shapes their spending throughout the rest of the year. I think there's probably an impact on that as well. But it's a research piece, the execution and I think for consumers with Zipf and one of the most heavily used things as I talk to, is even things like the barcode scanner. So there's the online shopping, which is obviously seen as a key focus during that period, but consumers are still going into department stores. They're still going into their shopping malls to shop. The fact that they can use the app to scan a barcode to take awesome. I can buy this and I know it's at a fair price right, they can get on and purchase their early Christmas presents or their own presents if they wish. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

What's your gut feeling around peak season this year for retail? Obviously you see a lot of data out there around the fluctuations of customer intent. Do you feel like we're going to go earlier? Do you think it's going to be more aggressive than last year Last year was pretty aggressive or do you feel like retail is in a more confident spot to hold margins a little bit tighter? I think it comes back to value.

Speaker 1:

So I think it's about knowing the customer and what they're prepared to pay. So it's not about discounting for the sake of it. It's understanding where, as a retailer, your product sits in market and who your real competitors are, versus not, and being confident about how you position. That. And that's again. A lot of conversations we've had with retailers recently has been around providing some insight to help them with that process. But I think what we saw through Interfinancial Year and then when there's been other sales whether it be Amazon's Prime Day you can see the consumers are ready, they know what they're looking to buy and when it's the right time, they lean in and, whether it be walk or click, engage immediately. So I think there is an increasing sense of buoyancy and optimism in the market. But I think the last several years have pretty conditioned or hardened the consumers slightly. But they know what value looks like and that's what they stick to yeah.

Speaker 2:

Is there a temptation to go down the wishlist path? So for those customers that are in between sale periods, they might be researching something and go oh, it's a bit out of my range at the moment. I wouldn't mind keeping an eye on where that goes. Is that a consideration?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and it's actually a feature we released recently to have that price drop notification.

Speaker 1:

So it's that view of the always on shopping system again, that if you're looking to buy a product and it's still slightly higher than what you're able to pay, you put the notification in. As soon as Lyft detects the price has reached that threshold, we ping a notification. The consumer can go through and click or walk into store and complete that transaction. So it's a win for the retailer. So they drop the price, they get that immediate reconnection and they're not having to pay for that marketing outreach. And for the consumer, it gives them the confidence that if there's only a certain price point they're able or prepared to pay, that they can set that and they'll know when it's available.

Speaker 2:

Brilliant. Richard, I'm going to ask you for tips. So assume you're talking to retailers out here around their pricing strategy and they're setting it up for 2026 and they're thinking how do we be more competitive in the market? Maybe cost of living isn't such on the tip of the tongue of customers as interest rates come down. We're kind of loosening up a little bit and we're feeling a little bit better about ourselves. What would be your advice to retailers in the Australian market around setting pricing strategy into the coming year?

Speaker 1:

Again love the question. I think there's probably two things I would say to begin with, and the first is know your customer when is your customer? And knowing your customer as to what their segmentation might be Great, but what's their behavior? What is your customer today? What are they doing, what are their pain points, what are they considering when it comes to that purchase decision and what may change their view of when to purchase because of that. If you can have an understanding of that and how that then relates to price is an important connection to work with.

Speaker 1:

The second part is then who are your competitors, who are the other retailers that are going after that same customer, same product range and a similar pricing strategy, that have that sort of equal footing as you? Then you can combine those things and say, well, what do I need to do as the retailer to win that customer, win that business? And the answer to that will vary by category or vary by retailer. But to do that, it's about getting access and understanding the data, and who do you trust with that insight? And that's why more and more retailers are approaching us to say can we get access, can we have help with understanding our sector, our consumers or the competitors better, and that's allowed us to have those really interesting and deep conversations and presents opportunities. But if you can understand those elements and then work out what data you need to fill in the gaps, then as a retailer you can at least go into the next chapter with confidence, saying, well, all these things will likely play out to the successful outcome that you'd hoped for.

Speaker 2:

Well, I could imagine, even as a retailer, if you're signing up to Zift and you've got that active as you're working on your own site being able to see at a click of a button where every other retailer's at price-wise.

Speaker 1:

That's pretty powerful to have there and the consumer intel on top of that, and that's again one of the things that we had to benefit as part of this asset. To look at that, for many retailers, being the cheapest isn't necessary.

Speaker 1:

So you don't need to give away excess margin just to be in the pursuit of cheapest, because consumers are more savvy than that. They're making decisions. If you're buying I don't know if I'm buying a Garmin watch or an Apple watch or anything that for me is a bigger expense. Personally, I wouldn't necessarily go with a retailer I've never heard of just because it's cheapest. I'll look for price and then say I actually know that retailer. I can actually walk into that store. Great, I want to see the product.

Speaker 2:

So understanding a set piece versus the consumer behavior is important, because price is a lever, but you don't need to necessarily be cheapest to win that business and knowing which competitors you're actually competing with, because you'll give a beautiful, big, long list of all the prices and all the retailers. But there are some in there so say you're an omnichannel retailer, like actually. Well, that's, our strength is that customers can choose to pop in their car and be here in 10 minutes and get it, whereas some obscure retailer that's dropshipping it. That's a different proposition. We don't have to compete on that.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And the beauty for us is we can see what the behavior of consumers is, so we can see that sort of tracking of price history over time for that product. What have the consumers actually done? Which retailers did they click on and go to as a result of that? So it's that balance of not just the pricing information, but what did the consumer do? What was their thought process? Because ultimately that's the heart and mind you're trying to win.

Speaker 2:

Really powerful From a data perspective. You mentioned it before. You're sitting on a goldmine there of data that retailers would love to have access to. Do you also have first-party data from your users, because I was obviously able to install the Chrome app without signing up to Zift or creating an account. Is that the same on the app?

Speaker 1:

That's right In today's space. There hasn't been a need, so we've kept the bar as low as possible for consumers to use the asset. The idea of having a sign-in process is something we've toyed with, but it would be done only if there was a value exchange. So by having a profile suddenly that makes it possible to deliver features or additional things that are genuinely of importance to consumers. So again, going in positions always make the process for the retail and shopping easier and frictionless for consumers and gives the retailers the best chance of winning that transaction today. So that is always sort of the bar has to clear. If we were to put a feature like profiling, it has to clear that bar. But how does that benefit both sides to do so? So it's been a conscious decision to keep it that way. But as we continue to build out the features and solutions, then things like that are likely to evolve. But it would only be with there being genuine value in return.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I like that idea. I like the idea that you're adding to the shopping experience, not adding another barrier. Yep, absolutely, yeah, all right, next 12 months, then, what's on your radar for yourself and the ziff team? What are the top priorities?

Speaker 1:

lots, Lots of exciting, fun times, as I will keep telling you yes, it's fun, it's really fun, You're going to enjoy this. It's just this mantra. You should keep saying it long enough, but it is. I mean, I was saying this to the team just the other morning At this stage of growth in the business and I've had the benefit and I've felt that through my career I've sort of been very fortunate to ride the evolution and growth of digital product and digital market of places. So I've felt that my career has always had this moment of serendipity in terms of just in the right place at the right time and to have been involved in a lot of really interesting sort of high growth, exciting businesses.

Speaker 1:

When you get to the point of moving on to your next chapter, next role, you look back at sort of moments and think what was the best part of that journey? And it's right now. It's right now when you get to that period of there is almost infinite possibility, scale in the Australian market before you even think about anywhere else. But you start thinking, well, that is what everyone would seek to be If you have this ambition to be part of a scale up and in the tech phase and sort of the evolving opportunities of AI. Then all the ingredients with the product fit the work that's gone into, make sure it's relevant, the team that is here, and then the third part is having confidence that the group are going to be capable of executing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And then you say, well, the next 12 months, well, it's kind of what opportunity doesn't feel real or the potential for, but it's going to be, without doubt, fast-paced and it's hard work for the crew. But they've been doing that and they continue to rock up each day with a smile on their face. So either they're drinking the Kool-Aid, but I genuinely believe it's because what we're doing and what we'll be doing over the coming year is hugely exciting for both consumer and retailer. And I think the retailer part has been really amazing to see, particularly in recent times, just the brands and the big retailers and small retailers that are leaning into this, actively wanting to have a conversation to say what's it doing? How can we work together? This isn't having to bang down doors and say, please speak to us. It's a welcomed lent-in to discussion that we're having, which just makes the period ahead feel so exciting and not just optimistic, but it's fun.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, it's almost the opposite of banging down doors, because I even went on your website. It's obviously a consumer website. It's brilliant for the consumer. It makes it really easy to know how to get access, how it works, et cetera. I was like, okay, if I'm a retailer wanting to partner, I'm like where do I go? There's not even a retailer section. There's one link that opens up an email address. Is that fair?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you may have tapped into a conversation we were having as a team a couple of weeks ago, so now it does make me unnerved to think about what else you know, but you're obviously going to have to do your research. No, it is true, I think, and that's where a business of this scale and size, that's where you just have to wear those things a bit in terms of and be comfortable with the imperfect. Having a section for retailers is absolutely something we will be building into the website and making it an easier thing to navigate, but the reality is there are always things when you look at it, you think that's what's missing. And it comes back to the team and how the team respond to that. Do they think, oh, we've got another thing to add to the list of things to do, yes? Or do they go? Awesome, yeah, we could do that. It wasn't a criticism.

Speaker 2:

It was more of a reflection on your theme that's come through the conversation is that you're building this to help the customer first and foremost.

Speaker 1:

I think there's always, when you have that sort of two-sided marketplace approach, there's always that question of who's your real customer, and I do think in this instance, both need to be receiving value for it to work. It is that sort of self-driving sort of relationship between the two. But first and foremost, you have to have an audience. You have to have and, as I was saying, that audience not only gives value to retailers but it also gives that sort of self-building data power for us to continue to get stronger and stronger Intel and product information. So the consumer piece absolutely has been the primary focus over a period. But yeah, retailers, they're still important to us.

Speaker 2:

Well, with over 100,000 product searches every day, this should be on most retailers' radar. So if we've got retailers listening and they want to get in touch with yourself or the team, what is the best way to do that?

Speaker 1:

Reaching out to us directly is we're always available. So, whether that's to myself or the head of our sales team, everyone on the team is always available for those discussions, so it's reaching out directly to us, whether that be through email, linkedin Curry Pigeon is probably still an option but we'll be available to have those discussions because we genuinely want to be able to unlock that value for partners. So, yeah, so there's no long list of ways you have to jump through hurdles to get to us. We're here.

Speaker 2:

Awesome, richard. Thank you so much for joining us today. Congratulations on the first six months, incredible story so far and, like you said, I think you're in that sweet spot of growth and the exciting time that's happening. So I'm really, really interested to see what happens next. Thank you for taking the time today. Appreciate the chance. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

I'm not sure if that helped or maybe created a little bit more anxiety around how price sensitive customers are and the lengths that they're going to make sure they get the best deal every time. We can't be lazy around pricing, because customers certainly aren't All right. There are three things that I took out of that conversation with Richard. Number one if you're a retailer and you haven't got Zift or something similar to Zift installed on your browser, even when you're browsing your own site to see what your competitors are selling the same product for, you're missing out. It's a really easy way to get an idea of where you're sitting in market every day. Number two the olive oil price elasticity. I love that example from Richard. I know I'm in that situation. There are certain products that you know when you're paying full price, you're just getting ripped off. You don't want your product to be that. You want your product, when it's at full price, to be seen as valuable still. So be very wary of having a product that goes up and down in price constantly, because sooner or later the down price will be where it cements in your customer's head as where it should be at. And the third thing from Richard is to be crystal clear on who you're serving.

Speaker 2:

I think one of the most difficult things around that model, and where a lot have failed before, is that you've essentially got two parties here. You've got customers and you've got retailers. Many that have come before Zift have tried to do both equally. Richard and the team have definitely gone down the path of making sure that it's helping customers and not getting in the way. It's actually adding to the experience. That's the first mission knowing that if they get that right, retailers will come. As Richard said, it's never been more important to know your customers. So start there first. I hope you got a lot out of that episode.

Speaker 2:

We are going to put the link to Zift in the show notes and the blog post here, as well as the link if you want to reach out to Richard and the team maybe to get hold of some of that very special data. Now, if you're passionate about e-commerce and your career in e-commerce, make sure you jump on over and join our Add to Cart community. You'll find the link on addtocartcomau. It is free to join and it's a space that we've created that you can come in and ask any question around e-commerce, and we have over 500 e-commerce experts in there ready to answer with you. We love discussing nerdy e-commerce stuff, so come on and join us, and we're there to help you on your e-commerce journey, as always. If the episode that you listened to today was useful for you, please hit the subscribe button, whether you're listening from Spotify or Apple. That really helps keep us in your feed and keep you up to date with the latest in e-commerce. I'll see you next time.