IRX 2013 THE INDEPTH VIEW The SoLoMo Conference

As IRX 2013 approaches, we are taking an in-depth look at each of the six conferences. Today the focus is on the SoLoMo conference, to be held in the Customer Theatre on March 20.

In the SoLoMo Conference, we’ll be looking in detail at mobile commerce, and its role in bringing together not only mobile but also social and local technologies.

For as the smartphone, and increasingly the tablet computer, become must-have devices that travel with their owners, they become local to wherever they are, at any given point, and they are more often used for social media than desk-bound PCs or laptops.

These facts have enormous implications for retailers, explored during the course of the SoLoMo Conference.

Paul Skeldon, conference director, will chair the day’s proceedings. He said: “Mobile has been touted as the glue that binds channels together, but it is now becoming the foundation on which retailers have to build omni-channel offerings. And omni-channel is the only way they can go – its more than a trend, its a business imperative.

“SoLoMo brings together all facets of how consumers are using mobile and social when in the on and offline retail environment. With input from leading analysts, cutting edge retailers and the vendors that are making it happen, this conference track shows how m-commerce has moved on significantly from being just a new e-commerce channel, to the way to develop personal shopping relationships with your customers. It’s also going to save the high street.”


The conference will open at 10.30am on March 20, with Skeldon’s introduction, before keynote speaker Mike Davies of PayPal takes to the floor. During the course of his address, Davies, who is sales director for UK and Ireland at PayPal, will be considering What do consumers actually want of mobile? – and how the industry can deliver that.

Our next speaker is Martin Gill, principal analyst of ecommerce and channel strategy at Forrester Research. In his 11am presentation, Starting the Mobile Journey, he’ll take the audience through a range of approaches to advertising and marketing using location, social and mobile technologies.

At 11.30am, Mark Inskip, UK managing director, Group FMG, focuses on tablet computers, in Time to take tablets. He’ll take a look at how consumers are using them, and how retailers can make the most of that use.

Pizza Hut IT director Steve Ash and Phillip Clement of Bemoko follow at 12 noon, in Delivering mobile with all the toppings. Together the two look at how and why Pizza Hut has gone mobile – talking the audience through both the benefits and the challenges.

The final speaker of the morning is Robert Moss, CMO at SecretSales, who will share how the private members’ site’s has used mobile and social technology to engage with customers in Dedicated mobile social followers of fashion.

At 1.30pm, the afternoon keynote will look at How to win in a mobile first world, a discussion of how the shopping experience needs to change in order to deliver the convergent way that customers now want to buy.

A panel of experts gathers at 2pm for an On the money discussion, which looks at the evolution of mobile payments and how they can be integrated both into shopping and into loyalty schemes. Speakers here include David Warr, of Cooper & Co, Matthew Robins of Webreality, Chris Newell, of ImpulsePay and Mike Davies of Paypal.

At 2.30pm, in Fighting showrooming with show rooming, Glen Richardon of justbought.it assesses the scourge of showrooming, and how retailers can turn shoppers’ tendency to view in store before ordering online or checking prices on a mobile phone to their own advantage.

Finally, the closing keynote, Tying it all together, is from Nick Darby, multichannel retail manager at Clarks Shoes, together with Neil Marshall of technology provider NearMe. Paul Skeldon says this presentation will look at “how to make So, Lo and Mo all work together for your business in the real world and online.”

To find out more about the SoLoMo Conference, click here.

And click here to find out more about IRX, what it has to offer, and to register to attend for free.

IRX 2013 features an exhibition of more than 150 suppliers, 12 practical, hands-on workshops, six conferences. Follow our regular previews to find out more about what’s happening at the two-day, free to attend event.