Marco Zanardi

Marco has 35 years of experience in the retail and manufacturing industry with a focus on business management, strategy, marketing, and operations. He has worked for major multinational companies throughout his professional career.

A citizen of the world, he regularly attends 16 international trade fairs each year, allowing him to monitor retail dynamics in individual countries and cities. Curious and a researcher by nature, he explores the evolution of retail at every opportunity (workshops, trade fairs, experts, professionals, teachers, start-ups/scale ups, innovation centers, managers, academics, think tanks, companies, retailers, etc.). This allows him to produce an International Retail Observatory in various areas of managerial expertise and retail safari. This gives him a broader vision, allowing him to understand the growing complexity that encompasses the industry by exploring areas that can influence business management, corporate strategy, and innovation.

A lover of lifelong learning: four master's degrees (Economics, Law, Psychology, Philosophy), one PhD in Economics with a focus on Strategic Foresight (which allowed him to conduct an international study on 40 retailers in various product categories in order to understand the perspective of business management and strategy in the short, medium, and long term). He also holds an MBA and a MIM (Master in Management). He follows think tanks on Strategic Foresight and Future Studies. Adjunct Professor of Retail Management and Marketing at the University of Milan-Bicocca.

Marco is President of Retail Institute Italy, Italy's leading retail association, an industry think tank embedded in the EHI Retail Institute and NRF. He regularly speaks at conferences, universities, and business schools of national and international importance, contributing his vision and his global and local approach to the industry.