t gives a disadvantaged child a new pair of shoes for every pair that is sold to customers. This One-for-One model is also extended to eyewear, bags and clothing. The company was founded by Blake Mycoskie in 2006 when he was travelling around Argentina and noticed many of the local children running through the streets barefoot. IR: Do you think there’s been a rise in consumers wanting to engage with socially-conscious brands? JE: “I think it’s fair to say there’s always been an interest, but it’s accelerated over the last couple of years. The latest research that I got from Cone Communications in the US shows that 88 per cent of millennials want to work for a company or buy a product from a company which has a positive social impact, so I think the pendulum has swung quite significantly over the last couple of years. Now, it’s something that businesses can only ignore at their peril. Millennials represent 60 per cent of the workforce, so from a staff retention viewpoint, being socially conscious and offering positive social outcomes is imperative to business. I think that people are inherently good and if you give them a vehicle to engage with a brand that has a positive social outcome, they will do that. I think the difference now is they’re looking to businesses for that, whereas before, they may have been looking to our politicians or others. Now we recognise that businesses can help change the world for positive reasons.” IR: Tell us about the unique position that retailers are in when it comes to supporting social causes. JE: “It’s an interesting dynamic for retailers to talk about positive social outcomes, as opposed to just a product. Traditionally, if you had the best product at the best price, you’d be pretty successful. Now it’s about offering a good product that’s competitively priced, but also has a purpose that overrides that and is well-communicated to consumers by the retailer.” “Traditionally, we’ve been very product focussed. We can’t pretend that the product’s not important or people won’t buy it. If it’s faulty or doesn’t live up to expectations, people won’t buy it. However, the buying trigger is really about the social outcome. If you tell people about the goodness they can do through your business, they’re more likely to engage again when they make their second and third purchases – they’re buying the product because of the positive outcomes. That’s not a dynamic that was around before.” IR: How should companies choose what social outcomes to align with? JE: “As you know, Toms started with our One-for-One model – customers buying a pair and then us giving a pair. It started when founder Blake Mycoskie was involved in distributing shoes to 250 kids in Argentina. He now gives to 70 countries around the world and we’ve given over 70 million pairs of shoes. If companies are going to incorporate a purpose in their business, it has to be based on legitimacy. It has to be something the company identifies with. For us, it’s important that the give is about the outcome and not a financial contribution. When you buy a pair of Toms, we’ll give a pair of shoes away. When you buy sunglasses, we’ll restore someone’s eyesight.” “The consumer doesn’t care how profitable how anyone is, but they care that the outcome is needed and legitimate, so a lot of effort needs to be put into giving correctly. Ultimately, every business has a responsibility to provide positive outcomes, but you have to look within yourself and ask what’s an authentic ‘give’ for your company. It’ll differ for each retailer and then involve all the stakeholders, including staff, in the decision making. Basically, the entire company has to embrace it. Not only will that resonate with the consumer, it’ll also resonate for the people who work with you. IR: Toms has been doing pop-up stores since 2012. How have pop-ups helped your business and what have they provided your customers? JE: When we opened our office in Melbourne in 2012, we saw the importance of going direct to the consumer to tell our amazing story. The first pop-up was in Manchester Lane in Melbourne and we did that in partnership with the Wise Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Adidem Group that used to own The Body Shop. They gave us the site for free, there were lots of volunteers from the Body Shop and in six weeks, we gave away 1,300 pairs of shoes and restored about 90 people’s sight. We also gave the Wise Foundation about $38,000.   There’s a certain energy that pop-ups can provide customers because they’re short-lived. I think when you’re making a positive social impact and it’s the reason consumers are engaging with your brand, you have to allow them to be part of it, so we do events like Style Your Sole, where customers buy a pair of shoes and we get artists to paint the shoes free of charge, so people can walk away with a unique pair of shoes. It also reinforces to customers the fact that without them buying into what Toms does, we can’t give [to others around the world]. Our customers are the most important cog in the wheel. We have now done more than 10 pop-ups in the last four years. It is a great way to reach new people and tell them the Toms story in a new and fun environment. The last couple we’ve done have been in conjunction with Westfield which, because of their commitment to elevate purpose in business, lets us not only to do the Toms giving, but to also give back to the local community through Westfield’s local charity that they support. The six-week pop-up at Westfield Bondi Junction enabled us to give 657 new shoes to children in need, restore 44 people’s sight, provide 29 birthing kits and education to women in developing countries so they are more likely to have a successful birth. We also donated $16,500 back to the local community through the Holdsworth Community that Westfield has supported since 2008. IR: What advice would you give other retailers about launching their own pop-up stores? JE: Pop-ups should have a six to eight week life only, as it creates an urgency for customers to check it out while it is there. Provide some energy that’s hard to provide in a long-term lease, like entertainment and music. Allow the customer to have fun as well as engage in purchasing, and to add some energy to the pop-up. For a short time frame of six weeks, you need to get your stock right and the costs involved. Ultimately, we try to run our pop-ups as efficiently as we can, so predominantly, we’ll only sell what we know definitely sells. We try to take as much risk out of it as possible. I know that sounds obvious, but for a festival pop-up, we are far more likely to sell eyewear rather than footwear – you have to ensure you are catering to the correct audience. I look at our pop-ups from both a sales transaction and awareness viewpoint. We’re usually in a high-profile position in a centre to engage customers in our story, so even if they don’t buy Toms themselves, they’ll think about it when they make their next purchase. It helps tremendously when our partner is a landlord that gives us rent. IR: Are you looking into launching a bricks-and-mortar store? JE: Definitely. I think that’s the next stage of the evolution of our storytelling. There’s no doubt that the story of Toms and the impact that we can have is compelling, so I think going into bricks-and-mortar will be a natural progression for us – to enhance our retail partners’ businesses, rather than being in competition to them. We’re far better off selling the Toms story in a stand-alone story than the retailers are, because they’ve got many stories to tell, all of which are important to their business. There’s no doubt we’re very open to opening bricks-and-mortar stores and certainly we’ll be having conversations in the short to medium-term about what that looks like. We’ll make sure to work with our landlord partner and Westfield. IR: What other plans do you have for Toms in 2017? JE: Our online store is currently being managed by Toms in America. This allows the Australian consumer to have exactly the same choices as our American shoppers do. We are currently exploring moving this to an Australian site to increase efficiencies without compromising the range that we offer.    Our other plans are to continue to provide positive outcomes to people in need and use business as a force for good. The biggest responsibility I have is to ensure the business continues to gain momentum. Ultimately, it’s the commitment we make to the people we help that’s the most important thing. I don’t think we should grow too quickly. We have to grow sustainably and with partners that are truly engaged in the give. I’m happy to be a giving brand that people find fashionable, as opposed to a fashion brand that gives. While it may sound just like words, the reason Toms is successful is because we do provide positive outcomes through business. John Elliot will be speaking at Inside Retail Live. 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