What do you think about first: technology or your product?
On the latest episode of The eCommerce Toolbox: Expert Perspectives podcast, host Kailin Noivo is joined by Rigel St. Pierre, Director of Engineering at Mejuri. Together, they discuss fitting emerging technologies into a business roadmap, whether to outsource engineering, and how to protect consumer data in the age of AI.
Where Does Technology Sit?
There’s a trend within the DTC and eCommerce industry for companies to try to brand themselves as technology companies, even though their value comes from their core product. With Rigel’s engineering background, he’s incredibly interested in all of the emerging technologies of today, but he still keeps the product front and center.
Mejuri is, at its core, a jewelry brand, and so any technology the business incorporates needs to enhance that offering. This could be to help power the retail side or to support the product supply team and the personalization of customer experiences.
Further, Rigel emphasizes that you need to make sure the technology will still be relevant further down your roadmap. If it’s only going to work for now and will be redundant in five years, it’s probably not worth the investment.
Buy VS. Build
The build versus buy debate often refers to product solutions, but it can somewhat apply to engineering. Specifically, eCommerce companies need to decide whether they want to build an engineering team or work with an agency.
Rigel advises brands to begin by bringing in a product person. That way, they can ensure that everything is thought of from a product perspective and all of the existing team are aligned on KPIs. From there, you can decide whether to outsource or build an internal team, knowing it will power your product offering at its core.
That being said, even if you do build your own team, Rigel advises never building your own error software.
Data Privacy and AI
It is very clear today that AI is here to stay. However, many people still, rightly so, have concerns over its use.
For Mejuri, the main concern has surrounded data privacy. With Open AI, any data would be fed back into the model, so they have been very mindful about playing with it, protecting both themselves and their customers. Instead, they have mostly utilized it for internal operational efficiency, assisting with writing documents and taking meeting notes.
Rigel believes that both the brand and the wider world are still early in the AI journey, and its use cases can only expand from here. Ultimately, Mejuri’s focus is on keeping their customers protected at all times.
Collaboration and Authenticity
Rigel advocates for brands to be more open with each other, especially if they are solving the same problems in different spaces.
Not too long ago, many brands would hold their strategies very close to their chest, but everything has recently been opening up. For example, Mejuri have recently been evaluating different eCommerce platforms and building relationships with brands who are further ahead in their journey so they can learn what their experience was like. In turn, they have been able to feedback their experience with certain warehousing softwares, creating a collaborative relationship between the brands.
Really, being open is a win-win for everyone.
Listen to the Full Episode Below:
Tune in to this episode of The eCommerce Toolbox: Expert Perspectives with Rigel St. Pierre to learn more about fitting technology into your roadmap.
👉 Apple: https://apple.co/3u5trch
👉 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/48ZrAVp
Rigel St. Pierre is a Toronto-based developer and software engineer with an impressive list of clients under his belt. Today, he is the Director of Engineering at Mejuri, a jewelry brand redefining luxury. Prior to this, he was the Engineering Manager at Half Helix.
