Retail is changing rapidly, make sure your company is well-equipped to change with it by attending Retail Week Live next month.
The year has just begun and the industry has already witnessed dramatic change.
Sainsbury’s and Argos, two of the UK’s biggest retailers, have agreed a merger hinged on their combined multichannel prowess, while elsewhere we’ve seen mass store closures and stagnant sales growth.
The sector is changing faster than ever before and retailers simply cannot afford to stand still. That makes this year’s Retail Week Live more important than ever before as we debate the sector’s big challenges and share insight from leaders and innovators.
Productivity pressures
Retailers are under more pressure than ever. Overheads are rising, yet sales have flatlined, so much focus is centred on improving productivity.
The introduction of the living wage in April will undoubtedly have a big impact on retail. Debenhams’ new chairman Sir Ian Cheshire will lead a debate at Retail Week Live on how retailers can tackle this substantial rise in wage bills.
The headwinds faced by Dave Lewis, chief executive of the UK’s largest retailer Tesco, are greater than most.
The grocer is trying to recover from the worst crisis in its history and is doing so in a tumultuous grocery market where discounters continue to steal share and food prices are in free fall.
At Retail Week Live, Lewis will discuss how he’s creating the right business culture to meet these challenges.
One man who knows how to get the most out of his team is former England Rugby coach Sir Clive Woodwood.
Woodward will take the stage at Retail Week Live to discuss the principles he introduced to transform his team into a world leader.
The customer experience
Customer experience has risen to the top of many retailers’ agendas. Consumers now expect a slick, seamless experience regardless of how and where they shop.
Coca Cola vice president and general manager of Great Britain Leendert Den Hollander will reveal how the global superbrand’s new approach to customer engagement has kept the fizz in the company.
Meanwhile Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger will discuss how the airline’s obsessive focus on the customer has earned it the reputation as one of the most consumer-focused brands in the world.
The online customer experience has become increasingly important as shoppers now expect retailers to do more than just get the basics right.
No place is this more prescient than the luxury sector.
Harrods managing director Michael Ward will discuss the department store’s attempt to replicate its iconic Knightsbridge store online.
How should your business be structured?
Shifting customer behaviour has led to many retailers to question whether they are set up for the modern-day consumer. Over the past couple of years, there has been a rise in the role of the customer director or chief customer officer, often a board-level position designed to ensure all decisions are made with the customer in mind.
Multichannel pioneer House of Fraser chief executive Nigel Oddy and its chief customer officer Andy Harding will discuss how the retailer’s business has changed to accelerate its digital transformation.
Meanwhile Jet.com chief customer officer Liza Landsman will reveal how a disruptor sets itself up to benefit from shifting consumer behaviour. The bosses of Ao.com, Brighthouse, and Maplin will discuss how they have created customer-centric workforces in a panel session.
With a raft of merger and acquisition activity predicted in the year ahead, Poundland boss Jim McCarthy’s talk should prove timely, as he reveals how his business will be structured following its purchase of 99p Stores last year.
Innovation: the lifeblood of success
Innovation is crucial to thrive in this rapidly changing sector and Retail Week Live will provide inspiration and fresh thinking by the bucket load.
Some of the world’s most exciting companies will take to the stage over the two days. Digital innovators from across the globe from Alibaba to Etsy to Notonthehighstreet will be revealing the secrets of their success.
Starbucks EMEA president Kris Engskov will reveal how the chain brews up new ideas that help give it an edge in the highly competitive coffee shop market. The business is listed by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s most innovative companies.
And if you want to see some of the most impressive new tech in action, Retail Week Live’s Launch Pad will host product launches and pitches throughout the event.
Putting women in retail in the spotlight
Despite women outnumbering men across retail, when it comes to the upper echelons of the industry, men still dominate.
However, this is slowly changing. Retail Week is committed to stimulating this change and will launch its #BeInspired campaign at Retail Week Live.
The campaign aims to bring together and inspire the sector’s future leaders and will begin with the screening of Retail Week’s documentary which follows five inspirational women: Ann Summers chief executive Jacqueline Gold, N Brown boss Angela Spindler, ex M&S and Coast clothing guru Kate Bostock, Dixons Carphone UK and Ireland boss Katie Bickerstaffe and Hallett Retail owner Wendy Hallett.
The documentary will follow their journey to the top and impart invaluable advice to the sector’s future female leaders.
Retail Week’s #BeInspired campaign will run throughout 2016 with a series of content and networking events aimed at inspiring women in retail.
The economy
Words such as “recession” and “downturn” finally appeared to be banished in 2015 as shoppers’ disposable income rose for the first time in years.
However, the economy still balances on a knife-edge. Shoppers’ spending power grew at its slowest rate for 14 months in December, according to Asda’s Income Tracker, following a drop in wage growth and increased inflation.
Business secretary Sajid Javid will take to the stage at Retail Week Live to share what the Government will do to create the right environment for retail to thrive in the UK.
However, the global landscape looks equally precarious. China’s seemingly unstoppable growth has slowed substantially and oil prices hit a 13-year low earlier this year.
Roger Bootle, managing director of Capital Economics delves into the global economy and discusses why, despite the headwinds, he’s feeling optimistic.
New features and formats
This year Retail Week Live debuts new features, formats and settings to help delegates to get the most of retail’s pre-eminent event, such as:
The Board Room
Retail Week Live brings together some of the biggest names in retail with no fewer than 85 retail chief executive in attendance last year. By invitation-only, The Board Room is an exclusive lounge for C-suite retailers to connect, debate and bounce ideas off each other.
Launch Pad
The Retail Week Live Launch Pad programme is designed to connect retailers with innovative start-ups to help generate new ideas and shape the retail experience. See how your business could benefit from the tech scene’s brightest minds at Launch Pad’s pitching sessions and new product launches.
Learning Live Sessions
For some, 30-minute conference sessions don’t go deep enough into the issues that impact their business. This year Retail Week Live has introduced Learning Live pods for like-minded delegates to delve deeper into these subjects through a series of interactive discussions, think tanks and problem-solving sessions.
Champagne bar
Of course, Retail Week Live is not all about learning – it’s also about networking and what better way to do so than with a glass of champagne in hand! The Champagne Bar is a relaxed yet upmarket place to have business meetings or catch up with colleagues. Cheers to that!
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