When Greggs teamed up with Primark on a limited-edition clothing range in 2022, it raised a few eyebrows – but the range sold out within two days. Many of the items were swiftly resold at higher values on second-hand platforms. The collaboration was a huge success for both parties – and it demonstrates that retail growth is increasingly coming from borrowing ideas from other industries, partnering with unexpected brands, or redefining competitors altogether.
That shift is the thinking behind CustomerX, the Cross-Sector Commerce Summit, which takes place at Olympia London on 14-15 October 2026. Bringing together more than 3,000 commerce leaders, the event is built around three simple but powerful pillars: copy, collaborate and compete. The idea is that growth doesn’t have to come from taking market share from rivals. It can come from learning from different sectors, finding new partners and entering entirely new markets.
How the pillars work
Copy is about taking a proven model from another industry and adapting it for your own business. Tesco’s move into financial services remains one of the strongest examples. By launching Tesco Bank, the retailer applied the trust, loyalty and recurring-customer principles of the banking sector to its existing customer base. Instead of simply selling more groceries, Tesco created an entirely new revenue stream by recognising that the relationship it had built with shoppers could extend far beyond the checkout.
Collaborate focuses on combining strengths to create something neither partner could achieve alone. Nike and Apple set the benchmark in 2006 when they blended Nike’s athletic gear with Apple’s digital fitness tracking technology with Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which allowed runners to sync their shoe sensor data directly to an iPod. The partnership has since gone from strength to strength, helping both brands reach new audiences while creating additional value for existing customers – and proving that the right collaboration can be far more powerful than traditional marketing.
Compete challenges businesses to rethink who their competitors really are. Amazon is perhaps the ultimate example. What began as an online bookseller now competes with retailers, entertainment companies, cloud providers, logistics operators and healthcare providers. Its success stems from recognising that customers don’t think in sectors – they just want convenience, value and a positive experience.
A change in approach
For retailers looking for their next growth opportunity, that’s perhaps the biggest lesson of all. The most valuable ideas may not come from the business across the street/digital aisle. They may come from a business in a completely different industry. And that’s exactly the conversation CustomerX is designed to ignite.
Find out more about CustomerX and book tickets here.
