The 2020 Programme

Chair's welcome and opening comments

Andrew Warren, Vice President, Cognizant

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Future shopper and technology trends that are driving the retail revolution 

Our retail futurist will try and gaze into their crystal ball to try and answer some of the key questions below.

• Are robots about to take over the retail industry?
• Is offering consumers ‘experiences’ the future of shopping?
• What is the future of online retail?
• How are the roles of brands, retailers and media changing?
• Technology of the future - will shopping deliveries be carried out by drones?

Elena Cochero, Futurist, Unruly

RETAIL CASE STUDY: Buster + Punch - from garage to global in two years

With a B2C ecommerce website, showroom in London, retail store in Stockholm and over 71 stockists selling their select products across 74 countries, Buster + Punch was ready for its next move to build a physical presence in the United States. In this session, our speaker will discuss:

• How Buster + Punch went from a garage to selling unique items to customers across 74 countries in two years
• How a back-end system revamp was essential to manage this growth and continue delivering the premium service and products their customers expected
• How to get products to customers faster and at a lower cost, all while maintaining the quality and service that have shaped their success to date
• How visibility across their entire global operation has enabled Buster + Punch to precisely forecast product demand and consequently scale its manufacturing and delivery processes to prevent supply bottlenecks

Martin Preen, CEO, Buster + Punch

RETAIL CASE STUDY: AI personalisation - delivering intelligent customer experiences

Certona, a global leader in personalisation solutions, will discuss the evolution of personalised customer experiences with tangible results. In this session, learn how a retailer partnered with Certona, were able to leverage AI to align their new personalisation strategy with business objectives.

Ed Whatmore, eCommerce Director, Mountain Warehouse
Elias Moubayed, General Manager EMEA, Certona

RETAILER CASE STUDY: Why consumers want retail staff to be brand ambassadors 

Effectively target customers online and offer more personalised products and services, we examine why the human touch is just as important as technology. The omnichannel key is consistency across channels with seamless interaction and handoff between channels.

• Why and how your brand must provide omnichannel customer service
• Your store colleagues are customers and consumers too - they know your customers more than your do
• Examining how hard is it for store colleagues to adapt to new omnichannel strategies
• Ensuring a successful brand and introducing new skill sets to your workforce
• Recruitment and retention - finding great people

Lalit Suryawanshi, Enterprise Architect, Wilko

RETAILER MEGA PANEL: The store of the future - merging the physical, digital and human experience 

These days, with etailers offering free delivery, endless choice, very competitive pricing, and painless returns policies - all from the comfort of the living room sofa - what’s the point of going to the shops? Stores have to turn themselves into destinations and will have to get much, much smarter at figuring out what customers want.

• How will the role of the physical store change?
• How can brands and retailers partner together to deliver great omnichannel shopper experiences?
• Bringing the brand to life - bridging the gap between what the customers sees online and the overall experience created in store
• Making technology part of the personalised digitally-enhanced store experience
• How to create a personal omnichannel shopping experience which drives customer engagement and loyalty

Gracia Amico, Non-Executive Director, Ruroc 
Melanie Goldsmith, Managing Director, Smith & Sinclair 
Sayed Gaffar, Director of Digital & eCommerce, Velcro  
Bunty Stokes, Managing Director, Sunuva 
Trevor Gordon, Senior Director Global Omnichannel Retail, Sodexo 
Kathryn Malloch, Head of Customer Experience, Hammerson

RETAILER PANEL: Digital transformation - are retailers making the most of their channels? 

Thanks to the digital age, connecting with your customers has never been easier but most retailers’ have not actually embraced digital transformation, generally because they are traditionally technology laggards. This panel debate will examine how to launch a new digital proposition within both new and established retail organisations.

• Innovate or die - how will retailers find a way to win in the digital age?
• Why digital transformation must be holistic
• Customer centricity in the digital revolution - how you can meet your customers and help them self-serve at every step in their journey?
• Retail’s engagement with consumers via social technology platforms
• Digital technology investment - how to obtain better alignment with consumers’ demands
• Digital Transformation Officer - does every retailer need one?

Dr Geraint Evans, former Head of Digital, Odeon Cinemas Group 
Charles-Henri Duclos, Digital & Store Concept Coordinator, Decathlon 
Martin Francis, former Interim Managing Director, Watches of Switzerland Group  
Hilary Large, Sales & Marketing Director, Chill Factore 
Eduard Lazar, Head of Client Partnerships, On the dot

RETAIL STRATEGY FIRESIDE CHAT

In this session - Alan Holcroft, Sales Director - Retail Technology, Cegid - chats to two very different retailers' about their transition from retail of the past, to how the future of omnichannel will impact upon them.

Case Study 1: Brick-and-mortar stores and eCommerce working better together to enhance customer engagement

• Launching a new ecommerce platform - cementing its commitment to providing customers with a truly omnichannel experience
• Testing new small retail formats to be closer to shoppers - meeting shopping patterns that combine online and physical stores interactions to offer a true omnichannel experience
• Competing more effectively with mobile and online channels - improving in-store conversion rates to create a seamless shopping experience for the customer
• The need to offer brand consistency at each touchpoint / all delivery channels

Anouk de Lange, eCommerce & Marketing Director, National Lighting

Case Study 2: Pureplays - should they focus their energy on eCommerce vs not complicating strategies with physical stores 
More pureplay etailers are emerging as clicks-and-bricks style retailers, but do we think this will become the new norm?

• Why the maturing of mCommerce is helping etailers super-charge sales?
• Why some brands, who started life as online-only businesses, have now made the leap from clicks to bricks

Chris O'Reilly, CEO, Presto Classical

EXPERT OPINION: The role of kiosk solutions in the retail evolution

• The art of the possible - how kiosks can help revolutionise retail experience
• Delivering superior customer journeys by combining the best of digital and physical solutions
• Empowering staff by embedding digital automation into the heart of your business

Adrian Thompson, CEO, ImageHolders

EXPERT RETAIL OPINION: Technology evolution at the BBC - how to embed digital into the fabric of the business

For the BBC the digital transformation is the migration from linear (broadcast) to on-demand consumption - which is growing at 18% year on year and with 92% of the UK adult population using the BBC every week this change has significant considerations for scale, reliability, performance and cost. Sam will be talking about:

• New ways of working, ideas and technologies being used in supporting this change
• The launch of BBC Sounds, Voice, scaling for the World Cup and Strictly Come Dancing How consumers behaviours change when people switch to watching content digitally on-demand
• Lessons to be shared and techniques to pick up from those industries that apply into retailers

Sam Hill, Head of Software Engineering, BBC

EXPERT OPINION: Omnichannel retail  - dispelling the myth

With the ever increasing adoption of eCommerce and mCommerce by consumers, can the traditional high street survive? We believe so, but only with the recognition that what it is to be a retailer is changing. Our speaker will be discussing what problems the industry is facing and how retailers both online and offline need to respond to the demands of a different generations of users. Retailers can adapt, but also thrive, both online and on the high street by adopting a service based culture in order to deliver retail growth.

Ben Stagg, Head of Client Management, Barclaycard

RETAIL FIRESIDE CHAT: Footasylum's journey to becoming AI driven - driving real commercial results

Footasylum and Peak talk about the journey towards becoming AI driven and how it has positively impacted performance.

Mylo Portas, Customer Success Manager - Retail, Peak
Tom Summerfield, eCommerce & Marketing, Footasylum

RETAILER CASE STUDY: There’s no ‘omnichannel’ it’s just fulfillment -the ability to offer the customer cross-channel visibility and ordering options 

While the retail community continues to think of the various paths to purchase as omnichannel, customers have moved on. It is no longer a novelty to be able to browse online and purchase in-store, customers expect a seamless transition. To offer this, retailers must reframe the way they think about fulfillment. Forward-thinking retailers are eliminating the headaches of internal order fulfillment by combining drop ship vendors with a third-party logistics network.

• Value and convenience - the catalysts for customer adoption of omnichannel services
• Why do omnichannel programmess often lack operational efficiencies and customer focus
• Omnichannel optimisation - departments need to start to coordinate and collaborate
• Technological advancements in improving the efficiency of internal processes, sales and stock handling
• Operating with a single view of its inventory - the ability to manage stock across channels and surface reliable data throughout the organisation

Tim Stevens, Operations & Logistics Manager, Findmeagift.com

Chair's summary and closing remarks