Catherine van der Meulen is a veritable know-it-all when it comes to all-things-retail. After working for her father’s company, Australia’s famous fast-fashion retailer Supré, Catherine charted a different course and founded THiNK Business Services, a business development agency dedicated to helping Australian businesses and organizations of all kinds grow while creating positive impacts for the communities and customers they serve.
When Catherine isn’t helping businesses define their core values and purpose, she works as the retail relations and academy manager at Inside Retail, Australia’s leading authority on retail industry news and trends for over 45 years. Catherine steps away from her role of co-organizer of StartmeupHK Festival’s Retail’s Cutting Edge forum to discuss the current state of the retail industry in Hong Kong with Jay.
Today, you’ll hear about:
- How brands can use technology to foster relationships with customers
- How to deliver exceptional brand experiences in the retail space
- Why your business needs a greater purpose and meaning than profit, especially in the retail world
- Why you can’t afford to miss the Retail’s Cutting Edge forum
Don’t forget to tweet your questions and comments to @jaykimmer.
Links from Today’s Episode
- Read the full transcript of Catherine’s interview
- Catherine’s LinkedIn profile
- Get to know THiNK Business Services and Inside Retail
- Buy tickets or check out the highlights from Retail’s Cutting Edge at the StartmeupHK Festival 2017
Detailed Show Notes
- (2:20) The inside scoop on Inside Retail
- (3:17) Catherine’s family ties to the retail industry, and how a chance encounter led her to Inside Retail
- (4:32) The value of formal education
- (8:06) What does tantara have to do with brands and building brand relationships?
- (8:41) On getting ahead of emerging trends and using technology in the retail sphere
- (11:20) How THiNK Business Services is helping businesses to become more sustainable, and why meaning and purpose are just as important as your revenue model
- (17:08) Best practices for companies struggling to find a greater social purpose
- (19:02) The big event: why you don’t want to miss Retail’s Cutting Edge forum at StartmeupHK Festival 2017
- (22:00) Technology’s role in the retail sphere
- (23:50) Upcoming trends in the world of retail
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