Retail Week Live: John Lewis, Blinkbox and Google - the star speakers at next year’s event

From John Lewis’ Andy Street to Tesco’s, Philip Clarke and The Co-operative’s Euan Sutherland, Retail Week Live will play host to the most important people in retail in March next year.

As John Lewis boss Andy Street says, 2014 will be rife with changes for retailers to deal with. He says: “2014 will see no respite in the break-neck pace of retail change we’ve experienced in recent years, with customers continuing to demand more than ever from their shopping experience.” Which makes hearing from the very best, most innovative retailers more important than ever.

But it doesn’t stop there. Retail has been changed irrevocably over the past few years by innovators who think about things differently, and Retail Week Live will reflect that.

From Dan Cobley, the managing director of Google in the UK and Ireland, to Adrian Letts, chief operating officer of Blinkbox, those attending will hear from people at the coal face of innovation in retail.

Shingo Murakami, global general manager at Rakuten’s Play.com, is speaking on a panel about creative disruption - one of the most important trends to hit retail in the past half-decade.

He says: “The retail sector will continue to be a hotbed for digital innovation. Physical retailers are waking up to the fact that people are shopping differently, and realising that they will need to offer something special to stand out in 2014 - with digital at its core.”

There are several ways to keep up with the changes going on in retail - and the changes required in every business - and perhaps the best is listening to peers who are facing the same opportunities and challenges. Retailers are coming up with ever more creative business models, ideas and services in response to the changing trends in the sector, and at Retail Week Live attendees will hear about them all.

Co-founder and chief executive of Notonthehighstreet.com Holly Tucker, who is also speaking on the panel, says innovation is now more important than ever (see box, below). She adds: “The relationship between retailers and their customers is now at such an advanced stage thanks to the latest technologies there’s no excuse for not innovating.”

Murakami maintains personalisation will be a key theme for retail next year. “2014 should be about making shopping more entertaining and personalisation will be absolutely central to providing an improved experience for shoppers,” he says.

On top of that, retailers’ approach to ecommerce will change. “Customers are no longer satisfied by the vending machine-style of ecommerce; they want to be delighted as they browse and buy, with recommended products based on their preferences and highly targeted marketing offers. This level of personalisation should become easier as retailers access and interpret more information on customer shopping habits than ever before,” says Murakami.

What all of this means for retailers is that 2014 will be as challenging as ever. Dixons boss Seb James says there is constant change at the electricals retailer. “I will be talking about the exciting, exhilarating, exhausting and downright terrifying business of stepping into a chief executive role, driving change and building a fantastic future for a large, international company in the midst of profound structural and cultural change.”

There will, of course, be many other topics discussed at Retail Week Live - not least the issues raised about the supply chain in the past year by the Bangladesh tragedy and the horse meat saga.

Peter McAllister, executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, says the return of some manufacturing to the UK and the clarity of international supply chains will continue to be crucial.

“Recent Bangladesh garment factory disasters have shone the spotlight on chronic health and safety concerns in this sector. They have galvanised the international community, with agreements such as the landmark Bangladesh Accord now signed by more than 100 brands and retailers,” he says. 2013 has brought huge change for retail. Retail Week Live will provide the opportunity for the industry to discuss the way forward in 2014.