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It blows my mind that we still have digital teams in marketing. In my view, if you're a marketer and you're not digital, you're not really a marketer anymore. It's the same as ecommerce, digital, omnichannel, unified commerce [insert next buzz word here]. At the end of the day, we're all trying to create great customer experiences, whatever channel they're in. It's time to break down those barriers. Luckily, this week’s guest entertains my rant.
Paula Mitchell has been building Freedom's digital operation for five years, starting with a near-blank canvas and ending up running one of the most impressive retail setups in the country. Our amazing co-host, Rosa, joined me to dig into how Paula navigates 70,000 SKUs across 50 stores and six warehouses, why doing what you say you'll do beats speed every time in furniture, and what an independent MMM model told her about TV that she wasn't expecting.
Cheers
Bushy
EPISODE CHEAT SHEET
⏭️ SKIP TO THE GOOD BITS
How Freedom went from a bespoke platform to a world-class stack (3:36)
Why last mile accuracy beats speed in high-consideration retail (9:06)
The dropship model and why Freedom chose brand ownership over marketplace (13:06)
In-store kiosks and the AI personalisation experience coming to the website (18:04)
Running 30-plus ad variations without a bigger team (29:44)
What MMM revealed about TV that surprised the "digital girl" (38:52)
How to build a team that doesn't need a to-do list (43:04)
Is "digital" a legacy job title? Paula and Nathan on the future of retail teams (51:38)
💬 QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It's just retail. We're just buying shit and selling on multiple channels."
🧠 THE BIG LESSON
Don't let complexity become your excuse
Paula has been building Freedom's digital operation for five years. In that time, the catalogue grew from 10,000 to 70,000 SKUs, the team grew to 12 people, and the tech stack went from bespoke and manual to what Paula calls world-class. That ratio, 70,000 SKUs run by 12 people, is the result of a designed system. It's also the result of a culture that treats complexity as a condition to work within, not a reason to stand still.
Step 1: Don't avoid the foundations. They're what let you move fast.
It's tempting to skip straight to the interesting stuff - new tech, new channels, new experiences - especially when they can be spun up almost instantly. But Freedom spent five years getting the boring infrastructure right, and that investment is what makes rapid experimentation possible now. The foundations aren't the slow part before the progress. They are what make progress possible.
"We feel pretty comfy now that we've got a really solid, world-class technology stack at our fingertips. We've spent the last five years putting all those jigsaw pieces together.”
Step 2: Run slow experiments. Make fast decisions.
Freedom trialled augmented reality on its website. They moved it around the page, gave it real exposure, and waited for the data to build. When it consistently failed to convert, they cut it without getting too attached. The same discipline applies to the current kiosk trial across seven stores. They’ve got two metrics (engagement and revenue), a defined window, and a clear commitment to roll out or walk away. The experiment gets time to prove itself, but decisions don’t get postponed.
"We were able to see from the data that that particular function wasn't converting. So we made the decision to sacrifice that bit of functionality.”
Step 3: Establish a clear source of truth. Then trust it.
Freedom uses a third-party MMM platform that refreshes monthly across every channel. When it tells them TV is working, they don't spend six months debating the methodology. They decide what to do with that information. Paula walked in wanting to give digital all the budget. The data said otherwise. She adjusted. The point of good data isn't to end disagreement forever - it's to move the conversation from "are these numbers right?" to "what do we do next?"
"The data is independent. It's not done by Nine or Seven. It's an independent MMM platform. It definitely tells us that TV is not dead. And I'm the digital girl."
The underlying principle applies at any scale. Build the infrastructure before you experiment. Give experiments room to breathe, then decide quickly. And when you have a source of truth you've agreed on, use it to move forward. This applies to businesses of all sizes, not just big omnichannel businesses.
✏️ ECOMMERCE ACTION TIPS
If you're testing ad creative variations, give every variant equal budget exposure before drawing conclusions. Testing 30 creatives means nothing if the platform concentrates spend on three. (~33:45)
Attribute online revenue to your nearest physical store by postcode. Freedom found that this aligns store teams with online orders because they're their customers, which removes the "that's not my sale" friction and speeds up fulfilment. (~50:38)
Before dismissing a channel in your budget allocation, run an independent media mix model. Freedom's MMM showed TV was still driving revenue even when last-click data said otherwise. (~38:52)
If you're moving into dropship or extended catalogue, own the returns end-to-end. Customers who buy online expect to return in-store, and handing that process off erodes the brand trust that made the sale possible in the first place. (~15:48)
When hiring for a complex retail environment, tell candidates about the friction upfront. Paula's interview process covers the constraints honestly, and she looks for people who lean in rather than ask for a structured to-do list. (~44:52)
🛠️ TECH & PARTNERS MENTIONED
SAP Commerce. Freedom's ecommerce platform, since its launch in December 2020, has been the base layer that made its endless aisle possible.
Fluent Commerce. The OMS keeps real-time inventory accurate across 50 stores, 6 warehouses, and 160 third-party vendors. Paula credits it with ensuring Freedom can do what they say they'll do at delivery.
Coveo. AI-powered search and personalisation are among the last pieces added to complete Freedom's tech stack. Paula describes it as helping them move at scale and smooth out the customer experience.
Contentsquare. Used by Paula's team to analyse customer interaction page by page and element by element. Informs what stays, what moves, and what gets cut.
🎧 OTHER EPS YOU MIGHT LIKE
How The Blue Space Disrupted the Entire Bathroom Industry | #380
High-consideration categories share the same last-mile challenge: customers research for months and then have one shot at getting the delivery right. Joshua Mammoliti built The Blue Space around accuracy over speed, and his approach to bulky goods fulfilment maps directly to what this episode covers.
From Replicas to a Unique Experience: The Life Interiors Story | #72
The data showed augmented reality wasn't converting, so it got cut. Basil Karam went the other direction at Life Interiors, making AR a core part of the customer experience, and his case for why it worked in his business is worth hearing alongside the case for why it didn't work in another.
How to Implement the Right Tech for Your Business | #372
Teresa Sperti ran digital at Officeworks when it was already ahead of most Australian retailers on omnichannel thinking. She outlines why the retailers that got there first stopped treating channels as competitors in this episode.
💬 CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Do you think "digital" still belongs on your org chart? If not, what should replace it? Drop your take in the community this week.
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