Main Day 3 - August 24th, 2023
Embracing Change To Succeed In Retail’s New Era
7:45 am - 8:15 am
Grab & Go Breakfast
8:15 am - 8:40 am
Keynote Fireside Chat: Understanding Your Core Principals to Drive Customer Strategy
Gabrielle Fonrouge -
Retail Reporter,
CNBC
Tom Nolan -
CEO,
Kendra Scott
8:40 am - 8:55 am
Chairperson’s Remarks
Shelley E. Kohan -
Associate Professor FIT/Senior Contributor,
Forbes.com
8:55 am - 9:25 am
Keynote Panel Discussion: Thriving In The New Age Of Retail: Perspectives From The C-Suite
Shelley E. Kohan -
Associate Professor FIT/Senior Contributor,
Forbes.com
Michael Challinger -
CEO,
Houzer Sink
Ed Barrett -
Chief Revenue Officer,
ChannelEngine
Jim Cover -
Principal,
Cover Digital
Investing in innovative technology, prioritizing personalization, focusing on sustainability, doubling down on the customer experience and convenience....These are just some of the ways that retailers are finding their footing in an uncertain environment. Hear how a group of industry leaders are looking to the future and positioning themselves for success in the new era of retail.
9:25 am - 9:50 am
Keynote Fireside Chat: Navigating DTC, Post the DTC Era
Cheryl Kaplan -
CEO,
M.Gemi
Jason Goldberg -
Host,
The Jason & Scot Show
9:50 am - 10:25 am
Keynote Panel Discussion: Blurred Lines: Embracing The Future of Hybrid Retail
Shelley E. Kohan -
Associate Professor FIT/Senior Contributor,
Forbes.com
Manas Vijh -
Senior Director, eCommerce Strategy & Omni Integration,
Walmart Canada
Zach Dennett -
VP, Loyalty & Omnichannel,
CVS Health
Mary Beth Findlay Sisti -
Director, Product Management,
Lowe's
- Defining hybrid retail and discussing what it looks like for various brands
- Adding convenient options for customers throughout the customer journey
- Examining the role of stores in this new environment from ecommerce fulfillment options to high tech enhancements
- Ensuring that customers and employees are supplied with seamless data to inform promotions and insights/analytics
- Overcoming internal barriers to the hybrid model from siloed org structures to legacy tech and infrastructure
Mary Beth Findlay Sisti
Director, Product ManagementLowe's
10:25 am - 11:10 am
Networking and Refreshment Break
Grab some breakfast treats, a cup of coffee and meet with fellow eTailers
11:10 am - 11:35 am
Keynote Fireside Chat: The New Age of Retail: Prioritizing Sustainability and Transparency to Align with Evolving Consumer Behavior
Jason Goldberg -
Host,
The Jason & Scot Show
Jim Davis -
CRO,
Goodwillfinds.com
The resale category has been around for over 100 years – starting with the Salvation Army and Goodwill, adding stores like Buffalo Exchange and Arizona Trading Co., and eventually coming online – first with eBay, then marketplaces like Poshmark and The Real Real. Now, every brand is looking to own their resale experience in-house.
This clear and present boom in resale is being bolstered by several factors. To start, inflation’s up by 5% and there’s the threat of a looming recession. With Americans feeling the weight of the current economy, an uncertain future has caused shoppers to sharply alter their behaviors to protect their purse strings. As a result, shoppers care more than ever before about how they spend their dollars – backing brands whose values align with their own. In fact, a Harris Poll survey found that 82% of U.S. consumers want to shop from a brand that aligns with their values.
With Gen Z making up 40% of the consumer population, reaching a spending power of $360 billion, their shopping habits are propelling brands to address the issues they care most about: driving the circular economy and confronting the retail industry’s impact on a looming climate crisis. More consumers are recognizing the negative impacts of buying all new clothes from fast fashion retailers, ushering in a spike in desire for more second hand and sustainable shopping options.
In 2022 alone we saw brands of all kinds – ranging from luxury like Gucci, Burberry and Balenciaga to fast fashion like Shien – quickly move into the resale space, indicating a pivotal moment in the industry that should be examined among retailers as we enter 2023 - when the resale industry is projected to reach $53 billion - and beyond.
In this fireside chat, GoodwillFinds CRO will address how brands can evolve to stay relevant and align their values and business practices with their target demographic, as well as discuss the importance of transparency surrounding brands’ sustainability efforts as shoppers become more selective about where they spend their dollars.
11:35 am - 12:05 pm
Disruptor Diaries Keynote Panel: Success Stories from The D2C Darlings of 2023
Shelley E. Kohan -
Associate Professor FIT/Senior Contributor,
Forbes.com
Clinton Suh -
Head of eCommerce,
On Running
Bruce Smith -
CEO & Founder,
Hydrow
Donna Quinlan -
Head of Product,
Vivrelle
The direct-to-consumer market is becoming more and more challenging to navigate. Along with the increase in the number of D2C brands in the market, customer expectations are also at an all-time high, so competition amongst those brands is fierce. During this panel, a group of executives from several powerhouse D2C brands will discuss how they are approaching their plans for 2023, how they intend to scale, tackling physical retail space and more. Expect to hear discussion around:
- Exploring strategies unique to DTC brands for acquisition, retention and loyalty
- Scaling up and replicating your targeting capabilities to a broader audience
- Moving from one type of environment to a broad market
- Pulling learnings from an affinity audience and applying them to a broader audience
- Building on your strategy of finding affinity groups
