13 | How eCommerce Neglects 40% of Society with Janis Thomas

Statements of Intent

In this episode, host David Mannheim sits down with Janis Thomas, Managing Director of Look Fabulous Forever.

Janis has 25 years experience in delivering multi-million pound marketing and eCommerce projects in high-growth businesses. She has grown diverse brands from The Times Educational Supplement to Playboy.

Janis discusses how eCommerce often neglects a significant portion of society—those over 50 years old, who make up 40% of the population. Janis shares her perspective on the importance of truly understanding and catering to customers, regardless of their age or demographic.

Topics Covered:

• Janis' diverse career journey, from marketing at Playboy to building eCommerce brands
• Her statement: eCommerce neglects 40% of society.
• The need for diversity in organisations to better represent and understand customers
• Why we shouldn’t assume customer preferences and behaviours
• Look Fabulous Forever's approach to building long-term relationships and trust with customers

Key Quotes:

• "If we concentrate our organisations with people in that 25 to 39 age group, how can we possibly ever hope to understand and fully represent the remaining 80% of the population?"
• "We can't just put a picture of our blusher on Google search. You are never gonna buy our product. You need to understand about it and why we exist."
• “Over time, we'll build a relationship, we'll build trust.”

Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:02 Guest Introduction: Janis Thomas
05:18 Janis' Statement: eCommerce Neglects 40% of Society
12:00 Get to Know Your Customers
18:19 The Long Journey to Purchase: Building Trust and Engagement
21:47 Janis' Final Advice
22:22 Outro

Social Media

• Janis' LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/janisthomas/
• Made With Intent LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/madewithintent/?viewAsMember=true
• YouTube → www.youtube.com/@madewithintent