Featured Session

The 2023 NYC virtual store tour features the year’s most beautiful, captivating and innovative store openings. This presentation from Accenture and the Retail Design Institute will guide us through the city’s not-to-be-missed new stores--sparking creativity and fresh ideas. Join us as we see the latest retail design trends, technology and innovation in fashion, home, food and more.

Physical stores will stay relevant and become more strategic for retail organizations if they are no longer managed as points of sale. Stores are the most effective tool to acquire and engage customers. They have also been transformed into logistics, service, and experience hubs. Retail organizations need to shift from a product & operations focus into truly customer-centric business models, that will demand new KPIs, and new ways to measure the contribution of the stores in attracting, retaining, and engaging more customers, increasing their lifetime value.

LEGO recently celebrated its 90th anniversary, an extraordinary achievement for a brand that remains firmly at the forefront of innovation. Martin Urrutia leads the Global Retail Experience & Innovation team out of the Headquarters in Denmark with the responsibility to develop, pilot and rollout new experiences and platforms that engage with shoppers and consumers across different touch points in retail.

Retailers are being pummeled by many disruptors–climate change, cost of living, crypto, Web3 and viral outbreaks which challenge existing business models in different ways. Varying circumstances can call for different responses, so where do you begin? Kate Ancketill, CEO of GDR, will contextualize what’s coming and assist in prioritizing assorted strategies, so businesses are able to adapt fluidly in response to various forms of disruption.

Retailers are reinventing how they recruit, train, motivate, and empower staff as new retail models emerge and staff roles change from being purely transactional to becoming relationship builders and brand ambassadors. In this session we speak to Levi Strauss and Nordstrom about their approach to building and sustaining a dynamic frontline workforce. 

Early metaverse platforms are already transforming how people interact and share experiences, offering new ways and immersive virtual spaces for engagement. Brands are embracing these digital spaces as a way to build communities and connect. In this session speakers from Tommy Hilfiger & NARS join Roblox, to discuss how they are driving brand poisoning by investing in virtual stores, building ground-breaking immersive virtual experiences on the platform and co-creating with its community.

What is the future of physical stores in an omnichannel age? It’s not about growth for growth’s sake. The retailers who are adding stores to their portfolio are focused on enhanced services, smart partnerships, and delivering on what’s trending in the media zeitgeist. In-store experiences in 2023 need to be engaging, entertaining and community centric. We’ll chat with a few retailers who are making bold moves and winning shopper loyalty.  

Just when you think you know this complex demographic, they pivot - and so must you. Come along on a journey of research and relevance as a panel of experts explores Gen Z’s sentiments and discusses what drives their purchasing decisions. And, no discussion of Gen Z would be complete without delving into their take on the hot topics du jour - including the Metaverse, sustainability and luxury.

Over the past two years, grocery retailers have had to reassess and adapt nearly every facet of their operations. Changes to the grocery landscape will continue, shaped by both macroeconomic factors (such as supply chain challenges and inflation) and mercurial customer preferences. The emergence of new challenges will force grocery retailers to adapt their strategies and operations.

Newly released, Future Drivers 2025 is fresh research identifying six of the most important global driving forces that will shape the macroeconomic and business landscape in 2025. Join us as WGSN’s Andrea Bell provides key information and strategies that you can implement today to help secure your success in the near future.

The luxury resale economy is booming; growth is reported to be 11X faster than traditional retail and many retailers are angling for a share of the pie. Still, exciting opportunities come with great responsibility. Sourcing can be clunky and authenticity is imperative. Choosing partners that know the ropes is critical to success. We’ll talk with the wizards behind the curtain of luxury resale and learn the ins and outs of building a successful marketplace.  

A leading authority on the Metaverse, Adipat shares how retail can benefit from  the emergence of the Metaverse and immersive strategy through cutting edge examples that are generating buzz, and the subsequent learnings you should embrace. Hear the importance of why retailers should take this seriously now, and what you can do today to pivot towards becoming metaverse-ready.

Drones have been the outlier in retailers’ quest to solve last mile delivery. Bogged down by Federal regulations and the hurdle of shifting consumer behavior, they’ve been slow to get off the ground. Not anymore. An ever-increasing number of retailers are adding drones to their portfolio of last mile options and shoppers are on board. 

Sustainable retail requires sustainable suppliers, sustainable products and sustainable operations. Retailers and suppliers are collaborating on these initiatives through information sharing, packaging improvements and product innovation -- which in the end, provide better results for everyone, especially the consumer. Learn what kinds of collaborative initiatives generate the most impactful results, how they get started, the challenges encountered and the profitable solutions that result.

What are the rules for survival in the quick serve restaurant arena? Here’s a hint: rules are overrated! Operators are rethinking everything from menus to media and from data analytics to who’s manning the deep fryer. Expect our panel of experts to provide plenty of new ideas to chew on … pun intended.

In 2022, the world has faced significant challenges that have continued to disrupt the retail industry. We have seen inflation, war, the pandemic, climate change, supply chain challenges, changing government policies, and even increased talk about deglobalization. In this presentation, Dr. Ira Kalish, Deloitte’s Chief Global Economist, will discuss these issues as he offers his view on continued evolution and what retailers can expect in 2023 and beyond.  

More and more brands now recognise the value of going direct to consumer across borders rather than through marketplaces and other intermediaries. D2C not only cuts transaction and fulfilment costs, but enables brands to communicate directly with customers to deliver rich experiences and build relationships for long-term returns.

Superbrands are able to depend on fiercely loyal customers, even when those customers have access to competing brands. Find out how to be the dominant player in your market through research, innovation and recognition to build long-term loyalty and trust. Authentic is the platform behind a portfolio of more than 50 iconic and world-renowned brands including Reebok, Spyder, Nautica, Juicy Couture, Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers, Judith Leiber, Elvis Presley, Shaquille O’Neal, David Beckham, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Sports Illustrated.

Resale is ecologically beneficial, applies to many types of merchandise and is on-trend, but we are finding that the resale of goods online isn't as profitable as in store--think photo shoot, double ship and repackaging of items.

Consumers are not just picky about food. They’re more discriminating about the store and the shopping experience. Retailers and brands are investing in food and beverage with an eye toward better serving shoppers’ needs on multiple levels - from expanded snack offerings to elevated private label brands that are anything but generic. And, all the while, they’re prioritizing fulfillment options and technology. Join this can’t-miss discussion on reinventing grocery.     

Many retailers are collecting lightly used products from consumers, and selling them to new customers either in their own stores or on their website. These efforts can greatly reduce environmental impact, generate additional sales and attract new customers to the brand. Here you will learn various ways to accomplish this goal, different technology and approaches to help drive your efforts, expectations and outcomes to consider, and how to decide what's best for your business. 

 In a time when we are told to “go to where the consumer is”  retailers and brands are challenged to keep up with the consumer – they keep moving (and hiding!) These giants of Connecting with Consumers unequivocally know where they are and even know where they are going.
So what does that mean for brands and retailers? Well, it’s time to close the loop and connect the dots between industrie. Join us for a conversation focused on connecting to the consumer, the community the consumer demands, and where to find them today and in the future.

Get a first look at the top consumer trends with the biggest implications for retailers and brands. In this session, retail expert Michelle Evans reveals the latest insights from Euromonitor’s annual global consumer trends report. She examines the behaviors and motivations that will drive shopping habits next year so you can meet new demands.

Retailers across multiple verticals are walking away from the long-standing tenet of free online returns in an effort to recoup losses from mounting logistical costs and ever- increasing fraud. We’ll talk with the experts about how they’re handling the problem, how they’re using data analytics to tackle returns fraud and how long it’s going to take before real progress can be realized.  

Given the recent ‘macro upside down economy’ that has fundamentally shifted as well as the resetting from a pandemic, shoppers continue to show resilience while retailers are laser-focused on keeping shoppers’ loyalty. Join us to further understand how the retail landscape will unfold in 2023 and what to expect as the future of commerce evolves.