Partner Perspective

João Blümel, the Metaverse Mentalist, promises to read your mind at his one-of-a-kind show.

Come witness the world’s first show to fuse VR, AR and Mind-Reading into a single performance.

Mindy Scheier is the CEO of GAMUT Management & Founder of the Runway of Dreams Foundation. Since founding Runway of Dreams in 2014 and GAMUT in 2019, Mindy has been leading a fashion revolution, promoting people with disabilities (PWDs), and advancing the future of Adaptive design.

Retailers have dealt with large changes over the past 2.5 years and the need to pivot and adapt shows no signs of slowing down – unlike the economy. Between inflation, labor shortages, possible economic downturns, and ever changing macro- and micro-economic factors - there’s no shortage of elements that impact consumer spending and a retailer’s bottom line. In this session, you'll hear about the importance of connected commerce which enables the most successful retailers to build an exceptional customer experience through a fully digitized stack of technology and rich data.

You may know it as smart speaker, or the voice that tells jokes to your kids. You may think it’s a marketing channel, or only available through Big Tech.

Think again. A number of leading retailers know conversational artificial intelligence – voice assistance -- as a technology that is creating operational efficiencies (from warehouse to store), aiding employee retention, and lifting brand affinity. A technology that’s not only on the roadmap, but in implementation. (And in ways you may not expect.)

Holt Renfrew is considered Canada’s leading fashion and lifestyle retailer. Founded in Quebec City in 1837, Holt Renfrew is renowned for unparalleled retail experiences, and is Canada’s hub for the world’s best fashion and beauty brands. In 2021, Holts announced bold sustainability initiatives that reinforce its commitment to creating a better future for people and the planet. Holt Renfrew believes that retail can be a force for good and an organization should enable customers to make trusted, responsible purchases.

How Ulta Beauty and Belk are making more commerce connections.  

Adding small improvements onto legacy ecommerce platforms is not a sustainable way to make a big impact.  By adopting a composable commerce mindset, Belk and Ulta recognized immediate, astounding and game-changing results.  They’re now able to make more connections while cutting costs. Attend this session to gain insight into the dangers of remaining on the outdated side of the Commerce Technology Chasm and how you can apply the strategy to your own organization.

As one the newest marketing tools to hit the retail space, digital platforms can be utilized by companies of all sizes to engage and interact with their consumers. An online presence now opens new avenues for customer acquisition, allowing companies to reach an even larger audience than ever before, just through the technology in their hands. Join top fashion executives as they deep-dive into the world of influencer marketing, social media advertising, and discuss the ins and outs of various digital platforms, as it interacts with the ever changing retail landscape.

Restaurants are using AI and Metaverse technologies to help restaurants measure and improve speed & quality of service. Retailers are adopting some of these same technologies to enhance their customer experience and reduce shrink. As retailers begin to adopt new technologies to transform the customer experience, many see new challenges with this transformation. Atif Kureishy, founder of Vistry.ai and Robert Daigle, Global AI Lead of Lenovo share insights on how AI and the Metaverse allow retailers to do more to bring the retail experience to the customer and making retail more.

The barrage of digital screens that inhabit our “always connected” world today have forever transformed the way we communicate, bringing us closer together in many ways but also marginalizing some who feel isolated, unseen, or unheard. At the end of the day, humans need humans to feel human.