Stanwell Park locals Andy Lee and Lee Ritson started their business Humii after a conversation over the back fence. The latest start-up to grace the Illawarra, Humii has a unique proposition – to “take mystery shopping into the 21st Century.” With global e-commerce sales forecasted at 6.2 trillion dollars for 2023, getting the online shopping experience right for customers is key to retail success. 

Words Carmen Angerer

Lee and Andy saw the opportunity to provide actionable insights for retailers and went to work in Andy’s granny flat to build a solution. With their mutual backgrounds in technology and software development, they put everything into their idea, sweating it out over the 20/21 summer and Humii was born. 

Lee’s family have a background in retail, which has given him valuable insight into the key challenges facing businesses since the rise of online shopping (e-commerce), especially over the last two years. 

“Mystery shopping used to enable businesses to gain valuable feedback and insights about their bricks and mortar stores, that was our jumping off point,” Lee said. 

Traditionally, mystery shopping entails a person walking into a retail store and reporting back on their experience. It’s a process big retailers are familiar with and Humii aims to fill that gap in the online shopping experience. It’s a space Andy and Lee are clearly passionate about. 

“With the shift to online, it’s more important than ever for retail businesses to understand their customer’s experience, so they can fix what’s broken,” said Andy. “We started doing research and couldn’t find anyone else offering a service like this for retail e-commerce, that’s when we realised that this could be something.” 

So how does Humii actually work? Based on the concept of the mystery shopper, Humii’s team of retail specialists analyse the online shopping experience for businesses, providing deep insights into the minds of their customers. Since going all in on the business earlier this year, the pair haven’t looked back. Humii now employs seven staff and has an office in Wollongong.

 “We’re a very flexible workplace, but we have such a great team that we like to spend a few days a week in the office for the social aspect,” said Lee. “There are so many digital professionals who (like us) have moved here in the last few years to embrace the coastal lifestyle.”

Andy and Lee made the move a few years back and now that they both have young families, they couldn’t imagine living and working anywhere else.

 “In summer, you spend every evening and weekend at the beach with the kids – it’s why my wife and I made the move,” said Andy.

Lee grew up in Cardiff in Northern England and said “there’s no comparison, raising our kids here – we feel incredibly lucky.”

Humii’s offering has already hit the mark for big-name retailers, among them jewellery store Lovisa, and the business is forecast to see exciting growth over the coming months. They’re about to kick off another round of funding and are looking at taking Humii global. 

“We’ve got a great product and it’s scalable so we’re looking at launching in the US and Latin America,” said Lee. 

As the business goes from strength to strength, both Andy and Lee plan to stay focused on working and enjoying their family life in the Illawarra. “Just spending your weekends at nippers with the kids, that’s the best part about living and working here,” said Lee.