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Mark Michalek is director of product strategy, at retail software company Jumpmind, working with retailers like American Eagle, Petco, and The Vitamin Shoppe.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? My job is to build a product that provides the best store experience for retail associates and customers alike, while making checkout and returns more efficient for retailers. Everyone knows it can be frustrating to go through the checkout or to make a return, so my goal is to make everything as smooth as possible.
One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? Even though I’m a product director, I still write code all the time. If we have a new concept, sometimes I’ll engineer it and develop a proof of concept. Jumpmind is an engineering company first, so there’s a lot of overlap between the product vision and engineering.
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? I love helping retailers create their point-of-sale experience in store because it’s such an important one. A recent project that stands out to me was when Jumpmind began work with the Landmark Group, one of the biggest retailers in the Middle East, in 2023. Many large retailers are understandably wary of adopting new technology. Because while it might seem great in concept, there are often implementation or systems integration issues that can cause project costs and timelines to spiral and ultimately add more complexity. With the Landmark Group, we offered a no-strings-attached proof of concept so they could understand how our platform would work with their hardware, backend systems, and data—a project “sandbox” if you will…It was very rewarding when Landmark Group ultimately decided to deploy Jumpmind across their more than 770 stores.
Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? I’m really excited about the concept of technology powering the entire physical retail experience, from the moment you enter a store through to checkout. I think in the future, we’ll see more retailers being able to identify customers when they walk in, and immediately remind them about loyalty points or coupons they have on their account. Associates will be able to offer more personalized support and it will overall be a very high-touch experience. For most retailers, this is a highly experimental concept right now that doesn’t work at scale, but it’s something the industry is marching toward.
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What’s your go-to coffee order? Black or an Americano.
Worst piece of advice you’ve received? The worst piece of advice I ever got was that it was “no big deal” to hike in and out of the Grand Canyon in a single day. I acted on this advice and completed the hike, but wound up in an ambulance when it was all said and done.
What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? I wasn’t a huge retail aficionado as a 15-year-old; I actually preferred to shop at thrift stores and spend my time at the bowling alley playing games like Mortal Kombat 2. My entire teenage existence was finally validated when Macklemore dropped “Thrift Shop” in 2012 and secondhand stores became cool (for a minute). Today, I am definitely into building things and working on things at home so my favorite retailer is Harbor Freight Tools, and you’ll regularly find me there buying tools. Most recently, I bought a welder. I work on all my own cars—I have a classic car and an antique car—and my 13-year-old son and I are building a small roller coaster in our backyard. That’s one project that has required a lot of tools!