Soko District Founders, Ricardo Rocha & Hanre Truter
The brands that do well, the companies that do well have the ability to tell their story and have other people retell it for them, that’s what makes us human at our core. 
Ricardo Rocha
Topics Covered In This Episode
00:00 Welcome
01:43 Merging Skillsets
03:56 Enabling Brands To Tell Their Story
06:46 What’s Broken In Retail?
12:18 Danger of Commoditisation
16:07 The Soko Solution
19:38 Personalised & Scalable System
25:53 Online Sales Soar
30:07 Platforms Of The Future
33:10 Start With A Cause
36:06 Launch Day Baby
37:30 Hold True To Guiding Principles
38:48 Putting The Small Guy On The Map
42:37 Build Belief Through Narrative
44:48 Solve A Global Problem
45:41 Education In Districts
47:48 Test your Market
49:21 Connecting Communities
50:40 Let’s Be A Better Species
Ricardo Rocha – BIO
Founder and CEO of SOKO District and founder and CEO of Oktria, an artificial intelligence business guidance system. Ricardo was named as one of the Top 200 young South African’s in 2011 by Mail & Guardian. Ricardo is also previously the founder of Etiket Brand Design. In 2010 Etiket received its first Loerie and Pendoring awards and in 2017 received an international Midas Award.
Hanre Truter – BIO
Founder and Head of Space of SOKO District, Hanré is also the founder and creative director of Next Level Concepts, a platform based interior construction company. Hanre a multiple international property award winner, believes that true value is greater than the sum of its parts.
Episode Description
SOKO District is revolutionising retail through a dual digital presence & dynamic space solution, propelling online brands and sales to new heights. Founders Ricardo Rocha & Hanre Truter have set out to fix what’s broken and dramatically lift the future face of retail. They explain how commoditising products and making it about product and price removes customer connection, which is why so many brands are moving off large platforms like Amazon to stand out from the crowd. SOKO District is elevating online brands that started out on websites like Shopify and Wix. This is a fresh format for retail that is transformative and scalable.
The concept is well aligned with the new challenges retailers face with intermittent lockdowns. Moving into the SOKO District allows retailers to curb lockdown blues and continue to remain connected with their communities and having a physical space has proven to boost online sales. SOKO is putting the “small guy” on the map, with a turnkey solution that provides exposure and benefits of the “big boys” without the hassle factor and costs and empowers retailers to compete on a global stage alongside the big conglomerate.
Ricardo shares the magic behind what they do and what keeps business buoyant when unusual circumstances threaten to derail you. Hanre and Ricardo believe that we have to elevate the quality of products we are selling with more consideration to the environmental impacts they have on the earth, and that we can become a better species. The SOKO District is out to solve a global problem and they need partners to help them. They’ve already positively impacted the retail sector, fasten your retail belts, the journeys only just begun!
Connect with Ricardo Rocha & Hanre Truter
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