The IADS attended the first “Re-Retail” summit, a closed-door event organized by the Camera Buyer Italia, which gathers all fashion multi-brand stores nationwide. The purpose was to review the current situation, as market conditions are worsening a structural change, with leading luxury brands increasingly going direct and leaving their historic partners.

This event, which was organized in collaboration with the Lombardy region and featured political figures such as the President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, and Senator Armando Sieri, was the first of its kind in nearly 25 years. It underscored the importance of collaboration and resilience in an industry navigating significant market fluctuations.

Re-Retail: Camera Buyers Summit 2024

What: The IGDS’ annual department store summit focused on the experience economy and how it can help department stores reinvent themselves.

Why it is important: Speakers dived into the deep-changing consumer needs and what department stores are doing to answer them, with many real-life examples. Reviving department store names was an important topic, highlighting the necessary shift to building a community and creating experiences. However, in most cases and due to the public nature of the event, this conference was less about sharing truly edgy new initiatives and was more about the opportunity to listen to participating companies' general strategies presentations.

The summit focused on four key areas: The Renaissance of the Tangible, exploring the shift toward experiences; Legacy and Innovation, balancing tradition with innovation; Department Stores as Theaters, highlighting stores as social spaces; and Running a Department Store Business, emphasising technology and empowered teams. Marc Schumacher stressed community-building in the experience economy, while Olivier Bron, Scott Fyfe, and Timo Weber discussed how Bloomingdale's, David Jones and KaDeWe are innovating through enhanced in-store experiences. Eren Camurdan, Kavindra Mishra, and Gemma Lionello highlighted the role of technology and frontline teams. The future of retail lies in blending tradition with personalised experiences and integrating new technologies that can't be replicated online.

IGDS World Department Store Summit

Authors: Bernhard Franken and Alina Cymera

What: An encyclopedia of basic knowledge centred on food retail, and some pre-pandemic ideas for the future.

Why it is important: The book explores the future of food retail with a historical perspective and uses pre-pandemic examples. Although the examples are relatively centred on the German markets, and things have evolved quite significantly since the pandemic, the book is good reading for anyone looking for a refresher on fundamental principles in food retail.

Hybrid Food Retail

What: Parent to Shoptalk Las Vegas, Shoptalk Europe is a retail conference dedicated to innovation and digital transformation. The conference brought together 4,000 attendees (1,000 more than last year) from the world's retailers and brands, startups, technology companies, investors, media and analysts to reimagine and build tomorrow's digital transformation.

Why it is important: Generative Al and data were at the centre of all conversations.

Shoptalk Europe Barcelona 2024

What: The IADS attending the 2024 edition of the Retail Summit, held in Dubai on 22, 23 and 24 April, which gathered 790 participants from 35 different countries and 57 different nationalities. The purpose of the conference was to gather brands, retailers and industry leaders to discuss current challenges such as physical retail in the omnichannel business, growth, AI, Gen Z and sustainability. While it addressed pivotal themes, the event was also an interesting opportunity for networking.

Why it is important: The discussions at The Retail Summit 2024 underscored a transformative era in retail, characterised by digital innovation, omnichannel operations, sustainability, and the pivotal role of Gen Z. AI was part of almost all discussions, but the future role of this technology is not clearly defined yet. The insights shared reflect a retail landscape that is increasingly becoming customer-centric, where data strategies are not just supportive elements but central to business operations. Moreover, the summit highlighted the critical role of physical stores in creating immersive consumer experiences. This report is a selection of the most relevant insights gathered for our members.

The Retail Summit 2024 IADS report

What: In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, consumer desires have become more complex, demanding both individual attention and a sense of community, leading to an evolved marketplace where brands must craft unique, immersive experiences. These changing preferences, underpinned by various factors including culture, technology, and nature, push for a shift from traditional transactional interactions to creating deep emotional connections, leveraging hospitality, social media, and cultural trends to foster loyalty and define new standards for consumer engagement.

Why it is important: This shift towards immersive and emotionally resonant brand experiences addresses the modern consumer's craving for authenticity, belonging, and fulfilment, setting a new benchmark in customer engagement and loyalty. By integrating these evolved expectations into their strategies, brands can significantly enhance their competitive edge and foster long-term relationships in a rapidly changing market landscape.

NellyRodi - Hospitality Everywhere presentation

NellyRodi - Hospitality Everywhere Takeaways

Author: Adam Werbach

What: After being elected at age 23 as the national president of the Sierra Club, Werbach left the Sierra Club to start the technology and strategy company Act Now Productions, which was best known for helping Walmart launch its sustainability efforts. Werbach sold Act Now to the Publicis Groupe in 2008 and became the global CEO for Saatchi & Saatchi S, where he helped launch products from the Toyota Prius to wind turbines. He later co-founded the venture-backed online re-use platform Yerdle, which powers the re-use programs for companies including Patagonia, REI, and Eileen Fisher. Today he advises companies on strategies to grow their businesses sustainably and outlines such strategies and frameworks in his book, ‘Strategy for Sustainability.’

Why it is important:  Werbach shares a dialogue around sustainability as a true competitive strategic corporate advantage, and believes that building sustainability into the core of a business is the only means to ensure that a company will survive.

Developing and crafting a company’s strategy that takes into account all aspects of sustainability is key to survival. Included in this belief involves employees and the community in every part of the process. In today’s rapidly changing world, with more changes to be expected tomorrow, developing and executing a strategy for sustainability is critical for business survival. A successful strategy must take into account every dimension of the environment in which the business impacts including social, economic, and cultural, as well as natural.

Strategy for Sustainability

Authors: John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldrige

What: A review of Western government actions early on in the pandemic and the reason for their failure, as well as a set of proposed solutions for the West as a whole.

Why it is important: Department stores leaders should retain 2 key aspects from this book: strong and agile

governance is key to making sure their companies are able to navigate the uncertain times we live in (this means

planification and scenario-making) and, to achieve such a strong governance, should prioritize attracting the best

talents possible. Does this suggest that they should return to the paternalistic approach their founders had at the

inception of their companies?

The Wake Up Call

Authors: Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, Daniel Huttenlocher

What: A trio of well-respected experts gave their take as early as 2021 about AI, well before it became a mainstream topic.

Why it is important:  The book offers a compelling read for those seeking a broad (and non-retail-specific) understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) at the macro level, particularly for grasping the strategic implications and rising above the prevalent media buzz surrounding this fashionable subject.

The Age of AI 

What: The IADS attended for the first time the Global Peter Drucker Forum, an annual event organized in Vienna, Austria, since 2009.

Why it is important: This event is an international management conference dedicated to the management philosophy of Peter Drucker, a management professor, writer, and consultant, often referred to as a “management guru”.

This Forum gathers a rather varied crowd, from CEOs to top executives being incentivized by receiving a ticket from their hierarchy, students, coaches, and researchers, who represent the largest number of attendants. The conferences aim at making a reconciliation between pure research (systematically based on Peter Drucker’s findings) and practice, by having on-stage academics and executives.

The event was rather interesting for our thinking process, as well as for a selection of conferences that we found compelling.

15th Global Peter Drucker Forum

What: The IGDS organised its annual set of conferences in Dubai, with the support of Al Tayer, last October.

Why it is important: The CEO of Ounass and Managing Director of Al Tayer, Khalid Al Tayer, made an introduction speech insisting on the fact that the only truth about the future we can know, is that we will collectively have to step out of our comfort zone.

This is the reason why, in addition to the usual corporate presentations of IGDS members, some guest speakers were invited to come to the stage and share their experiences of disruption or transformation. They all offered a different point of view, including sometimes conflicting with each other, and therefore brought an interesting variety of points of views.

IGDS World Department Store Summit

What: GDI held the 73rd International Retail Summit to discuss the decisions retailers should make in uncertain times when costs rise and margins shrink.

Why it is important: Money is now becoming scarce. The pandemic destroyed supply chains, and the war in Ukraine is causing energy shortages and high inflation. Consumers are becoming more price-sensitive. And while some companies are downsizing their workforce, others are desperately looking for employees.

GDI 73rd International Retail Summit

What: The Financial Times welcomed an audience to London and online with all panels and speakers focusing on the subject of AI, VR/AR, supply chain, and the employees and consumers of tomorrow.

Why it is important: The point of the conference was to examine how the retail industry is responding to AI advancements and how this has impacted business overall from retail jobs to consumer relationships to operations.

Financial Times Future of Retail: Delivering a more sustainable & seamless retail experience

What: Vogue Business invited fashion and retail leaders to discuss how innovative technologies of today and tomorrow are converging with the fashion industry, and how brands and retailers can best utilize them.

Why it is important: The webinar aimed to cover how web3 technologies will impact the next generation of design talent; new approaches to virtual clienteling; how founders and investors are building the next stage of the internet; and how brands and retailers’ strategies around NFTs have shifted to better suit fashion business models and customer demand.

Vogue Business tech forum 2023

What: Parent to Shoptalk Las Vegas, Shoptalk Europe is a retail show dedicated to innovation and digital transformation. The show brought together 3000+ attendees from the world’s biggest and rising retailers and brands, startups, technology companies, investors, media and analysts to reimagine and build tomorrow’s digital transformation.

Why it is important: Clear directions were made visible during the conferences. The retail organisation has been shaken and is changing to become omnichannel which implies the transformation of the workforce. Stores have made a comeback as a critical part of the omnichannel customer journey. Whether it’s in-store or online, retailers are building outstanding, curated, tech-enhanced experiences to attract the coveted Gen Z. New opportunities are to be seized by retailers: retail media, convenience, quick commerce, sustainability and more, with AI already a game-changer.

Shoptalk Europe 2023

What: With their expertise in China, CXG introduced their latest insights about how Chinese luxury consumption is changing.

Why it is important: Their insights help to understand the Chinese Gen Z, the digital ecosystem and the impact of the new travel landscape. CGX also warned the audience about the rapid and powerful rise of Chinese premium and luxury brands

CXG: decoding china

The IADS attended the 2023 mid-year meeting of the FIRA, as the Federation of International Retail Associations has been a crucial and powerful tool during this past year to establish contacts with retailers and gather insights about markets.

19 delegates from 12 federations attended the event organized in Athens and hosted by Institute ESEE, the Greek federation of retail.

Read the full report below.

FIRA 23 MID-YEAR MEETING REPORT

FIRA MID-YEAR Meeting 2023 AGENDA

Fira mAY 23 meeting participant list

SPEAKER BIOS

AI, Forced Labor and Complications for the Retail Industry by David French, NRF

The future of retail is now by Dominique Michiel, Comeos

Altex Overview by Konstantinos Alexiou

Plaisio Overview by Konstantinos Gerardos

Commerce Trends in Greece 2022 by Valia Aranitou

e-fresh overview by zina mavroeidi

photo album

What: WIDE Agency supports brands that are committed to the digital transformation of their marketing. They hosted an event to share an exclusive selection of startups that are impacting the retail space.

Why it is important: Advanced technology such as Web 3 and AI are impacting retail businesses and customer experiences as we know them. WIDE Agency presented cutting-edge solutions that could help brands and retailers take on these new trends.

Wide agency: the 20 society

What: Following recent study trips to China, NellyRodi offers the latest trends and insights observed in the country.

Why it is important: The conference helps to understand post-Covid societal impacts and new Chinese consumer trends, in China and abroad.

Nelly Rodi: what's up china?

What: WIDE Agency supports brands that are committed to the digital transformation of their marketing. They hosted an event to share an exclusive selection of startups that are impacting the retail space.

Why it is important: Advanced technology such as Web 3 and AI are impacting retail businesses and customer experiences as we know them. WIDE Agency presented cutting-edge solutions that could help brands and retailers take on these new trends.

Wide agency: the 20 society

What: Vogue Business invited fashion and retail leaders to address covers how brands can future-proof their business models and what the future of sustainability will look like for the fashion industry.

Why it is important: The webinar aimed to uncover fashion’s steps to circularity; explore the challenges facing those on the frontline of garment production; envision a future where fashion approaches sustainability in novel ways; and hear from fashion and sustainability’s biggest players to map out what comes next.

Vogue Business sustainability forum 2023

What: The World Congress Report has identified six questions that are challenging retail leaders around the world.

Why it is important: Retail CEOs across the globe concur that there has never been a more challenging time to be a leader in the industry during the past three turbulent years.

The past three years have been a disruptive international stormfront for the retail industry. From Covid-19 and its collateral damage to the invasion of Ukraine, retailers have dealt with a multitude of disruptions to their operations.

CEOs have had to deal with supply chain bottlenecks, “the great resignation” employment crisis, and inflation while figuring out how to serve their stakeholders and move the business forward in unprecedented times.

The World Retail Congress has sat with its Advisory Board and spoken to multiple senior retailers to identify the biggest issues that retailers are facing. The core business issues that drive success or failure are consistent and similar across sectors and countries.

The Congress has extracted a year of research, filed reports, and extensive conversations to identify six questions that are challenging retail leaders:

1. When can I be uncertain that uncertainty is over? 

Uncertainty makes planning and forecasting virtually impossible. The post-pandemic period has proven to be even more challenging given the economic, geopolitical, and social uncertainties. Retailers have had to accept that they can’t influence external factors and have to work around and through whatever conditions existed.

Retailers must plan and build with the anticipation that something economic, social, or geopolitical can suddenly change things. Successful retailers will build a new level of resilience to meet short- and long-term challenges while not sacrificing the needs and demands of consumers who call the shots.

2. Where should I be focused? 

Given the fast pace of change over the last three years with challenges coming from all directions, leaders shouldn’t be faulted for not knowing where to focus their time. Being stagnant isn’t an option in our digitally connected world and placing core, big investment bets on the future are critical.

The key is to focus equally on extinguishing the immediate, medium-term, and long-term issues. Building resilience through the balance sheet, investing in delivering value, and never letting up on accelerating change throughout the business are all vital and critical to the success of the business.

3. I really do believe in sustainability, but let’s get through today’s problems

Many retailers have yet to implement meaningful sustainability actions due to costs that would lead to massive operational disruption to the organization. However, starting a sustainability strategy is now expected by consumers, legislators, stakeholders, and the media, giving these retailers no choice.

Winning retailers understand that sustainability can improve the bottom line and gives a strong sense of purpose to deliver sustainable goals for the environment, their customers, employees, communities, and investors.

4. I need to understand the TikTok Generation. In fact, I’m not sure I understand my customers anymore!

Multiple senior retail leaders noted that one of their biggest worries is not understanding younger consumers who live in a digital world. They are still apt to shop and purchase products, but in ways retailers above the age of 30 can’t fully grasp. The shift goes beyond younger generations, with all consumers now having the ability to control from whom, when, how, and where they shop.

Retailers need to blend art and science to meet the demands of these digitally engaged consumers, which involves the smart use of data and personalization. Mastering how customers come into the retailer’s ecosystem is key; identifying which partnerships, products, or services can be offered to target customers to bring them closer will be beneficial.

5. E-commerce growth has slowed, so where do I place my bets for the future? 

Online business has slowed as footfall returns to stores. The key operational concept is now omnichannel, which will lead to a new wave of digital transformation with new technologies such as AI tools, the metaverse, social and voice commerce, live streaming, and short-form videos.

Future bets must include a refocus on the customer experience and investments should be made in an omnichannel future that includes tech and experiential solutions that follow the customer journey.

6. Do we have enough of the right people with the right skills?

The big focus of 2022 was the loss of millions of people in the workforce. While the employment rate has increased, retail needs to attract and retain a workforce of diverse skills and experiences to grow the industry.

The best retailers already know that this means making their business attractive, open, and forward-thinking if they are going to succeed.

While the biggest issues are shared by most retailers around the world, the difference between great retailers is that they are the ones trying to find solutions and ways to move forward. The retail industry is driven by the need to serve customers and find growth, which should be considered as the world enters a new digital landscape with changing consumer behavior.

World Retail Congress presents six major issues facing retail leadership

Authors: Peter Fader and Sarah Toms

What: This book intends to provide readers with a 360-degree analysis of all the elements that support customer-centricity in an organization.

Why it is important: The authors deep-dive into developing a customer-centric strategy, understanding the right way to think about Customer Lifetime Value, making informed investments based on the customer life cycle, and understanding CRM systems, as they are a vital underpinning for all these areas through the valuable insights they provide.

The Customer Centricity Playbook

What: Bain & Company held a conference in Paris with OpenAI to discuss the disruptions they see in the value chains of various industries, with Nicolai Skabo (EMEA go to market team, OpenAI) and Cyrille Vincey (Partner, Advanced Analytic hub and utilities, Bain).

Why it is important: Bain & Company started to closely work with OpenAI in 2022 and recently doubled-down by announcing a strategic alliance with the AI-specialized company. OpenAI is considered a leader in the field of AI, thanks to its new models, which went public and generated considerable attention at the end of 2022. Bain and OpenAI have already started to work with a number of companies in order to explore the possibilities offered by the technology and Bain has also worked on specific use cases.

OpenAI x Bain & Company: is AI the next business game-changer?