Ahead of this year’s InternetRetailing Expo (IRX 2016) (April 27-8) we’re running a series of previews focusing on event highlights, from the conferences to interviews with key retail speakers, and beyond. Today our focus is on the Insight & Experience Conference.
The way customers want and expect to buy is changing rapidly. Ensuring that their expectations are met is now a key task for ecommerce and multichannel retailers. An line-up of expert retailers speaking in the Insight & Experience Conference will share their own experiences, while offering advice to others, of working out what the customer wants, and how to deliver it.
Conference director Lisa Ploude said: “The digital revolution has precipitated a massive shift in retail. In-store traffic has decreased, online shopping is up and tablets/smartphones have become in-store shopping assistants of choice. Traditional brick and mortar retail is far from dead, but it’s undergoing a change in which the customer experience starts at home with a phone, laptop or tablet. This conference is all about how retail trailblazers are bridging the gap the between physical and digital worlds to deliver a seamless and memorable customer experience while avoiding discounting and give always as a means of combating stagnating growth.”
The conference takes place on April 27 in theatre 3 of IRX 2016. It opens at 10.35am with a presentation from stream sponsor SAP Anywhere.
Gertin Schraa, global lead for ecommerce at Philips, will then discuss how brands keen to compete should be thinking more like tech companies, asking questons around what brands need to know about bridging the gap between mobile and the store, and how to drive loyalty in a fickle market. Schraa’s presentation, Ecommerce as a growth driver and brand builder, is at 11.10am.
Then, Levi Young and Diana Zingher, founders of Enclothed will take the stage to discuss ways of using personalisation technology to gain new insights into customers, and how to use those insights to improve the customer experience. Their presentation, Using the latest technology to connect the dots between customer experience and conversion, is at 11.45am.
A panel that includes Katrina Jamieson, digital director at Halfords, will discuss why, and how, retailers can best offer customers a streamlined experience that crosses multiple touchpoints and channels. The discussion, Thinking beyond channels to deepen brand connections, is at 1pm.
Paul Kendrick, multichannel director, Bonmarché will consider in his presentation how merchants best approach the sheer clutter of a competitive market – and how journey mapping can help. Single customer view demystified – beyond the technology, do customers behave in a consistent and measurable way? is at 2.45pm.
The conferences comes to a close with a closing keynote address from James Coughlan, managing director of HMV Digital. He’ll tell the story of how the entertainment retailer has used the latest technologies to exceed customer expectations, while winning a return on that investment. Digital to harmonise bricks and clicks and transform business and customer experience is at 3.25pm.
