Agenda

8.30am-9.30am

Breakfast and networking 

9.30am-9.35am

Retail Week welcome: Lisa Byfield-Green,
Data and Insights Director

9.35am-9.45am

Welcome address: Guest speaker to be announced

9.45am-10.05am

The innovation landscape  

Keynote

If the past year has been indicative of change to come, then we are balanced on the cusp of technological innovation becoming mainstream. From frictionless checkouts and robot-powered deliveries to AI’s influence on personalisation and supply chain efficiency, a heavier reliance on innovative tech is increasingly being accepted as the norm. 

But where does that leave retailers looking to remain ahead of the innovation curve?  

Join Retail Week’s Senior Retail Analyst Beth Bloomfield and Data Analyst Hanna Hua as they run through the year’s innovation round-up, highlighting areas of success and recommended focus for the coming six months to ensure your strategy is geared up for success.  

Speakers:  

• Hanna Hua, Data Analyst, Retail Week 
• Beth Bloomfield, Senior Retail Analyst, Retail Week  

10.05am-10.35am 

Innovation crossroads: lessons from legacy brands and disruptors  

Panel

Start-ups are known for failing fast yet succeeding faster. Legacy brands benefit from decades of experience with strong proof of concept. But when it comes to the adoption of innovation, do the approaches of the newest players to market really differ all that much from longstanding legacy retailers? And, if so, what can they learn from each other to best leverage time, budgets and resources to win in the age of innovation? 

From high street stalwarts to emerging pureplays, it’s clear that every retailer must be proactive in adapting and innovating to keep up with the changing needs of today’s consumer. Just look at M&S, which has unveiled its first “bigger, better” tech-focused store, and Asda, which is pursuing efficiency with driverless deliveries. Meanwhile, frozen food specialist Cook is rolling out smart vending machines, while fitness brand Gymshark sees its future in immersive, experience-led physical stores. 

To kick off our Innovation Summit, join us as we bring together experts from UK retail behemoths and young disruptor brands to discuss the future of retail innovation, what’s coming next and how to best leverage innovation for growth in 2024. 

10.35am-11.05am  

Navigating the future: Building a tech-enabled workforce in the age of AI  

Fireside chat

It turns out the water-cooler gossip that AI might steal your job isn’t all true, but it might not be so far from the truth either. Seemingly overnight advancements in technology have brought with them incredible efficiencies, data insights, and improved personalisation and brand experiences, all alongside operational cost savings. But what impact will these improvements have on job market disruption?  

As Web 3.0, AI and the metaverse rise up the agenda, the brands coming out on top are those who are leveraging new technologies while getting buy-in from their teams along the way.  

In this dynamic fireside chat, we discuss what the workforce of the future looks like with a leading retailer, which jobs may fall by the wayside and what kind of new jobs will be created on the back of technological advancements. We’ll also look at what all this means for retail strategies going forward, from CX advancements to employee engagement, retention and training.  

11.05am-11.30am

Coffee and networking 

11.30am-12pm

AI unlocked: the key to reshaping your retail strategy 

Panel

From seamless integration of adaptive pricing models and improved data management to enhancing customer experiences and navigating supply chain volatility, artificial intelligence holds the key to unlocking the solutions to retailers’ biggest challenges.  

The applications, both front of stage and behind the scenes, are wide-ranging and the insights uncovered are more accurate and timely than ever before. But concerns surrounding job displacement, increasing implementation costs and high barriers to adoption for the most innovative of consumer tech raise questions for retailers planning their next steps.  

Join us as we reveal why AI must form an essential part of your strategy in 2024, and how to reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls, as leading retailers and industry experts discuss the big questions.  

Speakers:

• Arca Blanca

12pm-12.30pm

Long-term trend or flash in the pan? Creating meaningful consumer-centric retail experiences 

In conversation

The line between enhanced in-store experiences and personalised ecommerce shopping is beginning to blur – and that’s how consumers like it. 

Digital experiences facilitated in store are growing in popularity, from Selfridges’ circular repair and resale pop-up The Stock Market and Zara’s click-and-collect robot to Ikea’s augmented reality games educating about marine conservation. 

And there’s a place for solely digital experiences too. See Zalando’s virtual fitting rooms, H&M’s experimental metaverse experience and Estée Lauder’s virtual Clinique lab for just a handful of examples.  

But how do consumers really want to engage with brands, which formats actually delight and inspire beyond being a gimmick, and which technologies are going to show real ROI?  

Join us for this masterclass as we explore what drives shopping behaviour and how retailers can maximise on innovative experiences to meet changing consumer desires.  

Led by a leading retailer and a consumer psychologist, we explore expectations on the year ahead including:  

• Stores vs ecommerce: striking the balance for tomorrow’s consumer  
• The role of AI in revolutionising customer experience, both on- and offline  
• Customer adaptation and embracing novel concepts  
• Going beyond transactions to create memorable brand moments  
• The role of personalisation and exclusivity in cultivating customer loyalty  

12.30pm-1.30pm

Lunch

1.30pm-2.30pm

Roundtables

Choice of roundtable sessions

2.30pm-2.50pm
Coffee and networking 

2.50pm-3.20pm

The next wave: where to invest to capture young spend 

Panel 

Gen Z demands a new era of tech-enabled, values-based shopping experiences. As the first digital natives, with sky-high expectations for personalisation, impeccable customer service and authentic, sustainable business practices, they make up the most informed and discerning consumer sector retail has ever seen.  

This presents challenges, but opportunities too, for those retailers willing to listen to this influential cohort.  

In this panel session, we hear from three retail leaders on where they think you should invest to attract this important demographic, sharing their routes to success and lessons they’ve learned by developing innovative, customer-centric and future-proof brands.  

3.20pm-3.50pm   

The sustainability shapeshifters: Can innovation really reshape your business model?  

Fireside chat

Circular fashion models built on foundations of repair, resale or recycle. Sports equipment rental schemes to reduce waste. ‘Green’ coffee shops focused on energy efficiency. Electric vehicles adopted for deliveries. Retailers are starting to clean up their act – and not before time.   

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has delivered a final warning on climate, with a narrow window to act by 2030, and both government and businesses have set net-zero targets. But what impact will technological innovation have on the speed of progress? 

Join us for this fireside chat with an influential retail brand as we explore the role of retailers, consumers and innovation in addressing retail’s climate crisis and look at what initiatives will drive real ROI in this space.  

Speaker:

• Ruth Andrade, Earth Care Strategy Lead, Lush

3.50pm-4.20pm

Innovation or illusion: decoding the future of supply chain transformation  

Panel 

As the middle of the 2020s approaches, talk of advanced technology is rife as retailers look to digitally transform their supply chain from the first to the final mile. Warehouse automation, driverless and drone deliveries, and the use of AI to analyse returns data, predict demand and track inventory are all technologies implemented with the aim of simplifying processes, removing potential human error and cutting costs.  

But how close is the retail sector to implementing this streamlined and automated future across the board? Which of these innovations will become the norm and which just another passing and expensive fad?  

Join us for this panel session as we unravel the future of supply chain innovation and explore how retail leaders can revolutionise across the board from first to final mile.  

4.20pm-4.30pm

Retail Week closing remarks 

4.30pm-5.30pm

Drinks reception