The Internet Retailing Conference 2016 (IRC2016) is, of course, focusing on mobile and its growing role in retailing and there are already some interesting retailers lined up to talk about the trails they are blazing.
The key theme within the mobile track – much more aptly titled ‘Engage’ – showcases how today mobile is the key to what all retailers want: engagement and personalisation with their customers.
Opening the debate with his engaging keynote, Jack Smith, Group Digital Director, New Look tackles the vital issue of joining the dots between mobile, customer experience and business performance.
“10 years ago mobile was nowhere, now it’s EVERYWHERE – connecting consumers to products and driving e-commerce forward at a seemingly explosive rate,” he says. “The past few years have seen a radical transformation in how consumers are discovering, connecting and engaging with the world. How can retailers and brands use mobile to reach the connected, on the go consumer? How can the latest technologies be harnessed to deliver winning experiences? What is the impact on the bottom line?”
These are the vital question that will drive the debate for the rest of the day.
Showing how this is working in practice is Leif Bode Nielsen, Head of Omni-Channel EMEA, LEGO . The toy maker is going to offer a detailed view of how to reach customers in a world where everyone is bombarded with marketing and social messaging.
“Reaching audiences needs to become smarter to cut through the other clutter fighting for attention,” says Nielsen. “Understanding the series of interactions customers have with brands are helping retailers to reap significant benefits. Why is it necessary for brands to manage the entire customer experience? What are the biggest stumbling blocks to potential success?”
But how do you make this happen? The afternoon sessions kick off with a panel debate Multichannel Integration – Enhancing Customer Experience, Fulfillment and Delivery, featuring Neil Sansom, CEO, Woolovers, Craig Wheeler, Operations Director, feelunique.com , Tony Rivenell, Chief Digital Officer, Halfords , the panel will help you uncover how to actually make this all happen within your business – and on a budget.
Giving the audience something to take away and think about will be Kit Glover, Director of EU Seller Experience, eBay . Mobile has radically changed the way that customers shop and interact with products and services. Gain insight from one of the pioneers of online shopping; how to use mobile to engage your customer and grow your business at home and abroad.
Also on the speaker roster is Joel Freeman, Co-Founder, Grabble, who will be talking about creating rich, user friendly, mobile experiences and how Grabble, in its own words, became “the Tinder for fashionistas”. And there will be interesting presentations from the sessions two sponsors SDL Fredhopper and Monetate.
IRC16 is the 11th conference, and as the event moves into its second decade it focuses on changes in both the way that shoppers buy, and that retailers sell that are likely to come in future.
As well as mobile and customer engagement, the role of marketplaces and international in the future of retail will also come under scrutiny. Speakers hail from retailers and service providers as diverse as Home Retail Group, Urban Outfitters, River Island and Vente Privée, as well as AirBnB.
“Ecommerce professionals, for over a decade at the vanguard of innovation and radical change, are themselves now having to adapt and change as ecommerce is no longer a channel but an equal partner with stores,” said Ian Jindal, editor-in-chief of InternetRetailing.
“For 2016 we’re looking to new horizons that the modern digitally-enabled retailer can scan as we seek to satisfy the demands of the connected, savvy customer.”
The event, to be held at the Novotel, Hammersmith, London, follows directly on from sister event the eDelivery Conference, to be held the previous day, October 11, at the same venue. This event, for retail logistics professionals, focuses on Practicalities, a theme explored through the twin tracks of availability and experience.
“Creating options and providing robust solutions could be the mantra of the multichannel professionals responsible for S-O-L-D – supply chain, operations, logistics and delivery,” said InternetRetailing’s Jindal. “The infrastructural aspects of multichanne retail are creating new capabilities to be turned into customer promises. Our theme for the second annual eDelivery Conference is practicality. Our two tracks, availability and experience, will analyse those much needed practical approaches to fulfil the multichannel promise.”
Speakers from Tesco and feelunique.com are already confirmed at EDC 2016.
For more information about the InternetRetailing and eDelivery conferences click here.
