It may be in its seventh year, but there’s plenty that’s new at this year’s InternetRetailing Expo (IRX 2017) and sister event eDelivery Expo (EDX 2017).
From the new opening plenary session and the Innovation Hub to the Omnichannel Experience Theatre and, perhaps most exciting, a new Official After Show Party, exclusively for retailers, there’s lots to surprise even the most veteran delegate. For the first time, delegates who bring team members along to help them cover all the events and technologies on show will be entered into a draw to win tech prizes including the Apple Watch, Amazon Echo, and the Fitbit.
Alongside this novelty, successful features from previous years also return: the Jiangsu Pavilion is designed around the needs of those considering trading in the Chinese market, while a range of senior retailers and industry experts will be taking part in the eight conferences of the event.
The event is drawing close: in just under a month visitors to IRX 2017 will be gathering at the seventh annual InternetRetailing Expo (IRX 2017), the free-to-attend industry event to which around 5,000 delegates from around the world are expected.
For the first time the event features an Opening Plenary session, this year to be led by Alan Wizemann, business guru and VP for digital product and guest experience at Lululemon . Wizemann, who has years of experience working on product strategy and business transformation with top retailers such as Target, Amazon, Nike, Levi’s, Sony, Saatchi & Saatchi and multi-million dollar start-ups, will be addressing how digital can drive global growth and customer satisfaction. He will focus on sharing knowledge, strategy and advice on how organisations can use digital transformation to work smarter and faster, generating significant gains in revenue while retaining millions of dollars in the process.
Lululemon will be sharing the stage with other digital and ecommerce trailblazers that are changing the way we see digital commerce and fulfilment.
Neil Ellul, customer journey manager at Next , will be discussing how digital disruption is redefining customer expectations and retail trends and what retailers should and shouldn’t do to reimagine customer experience accordingly and to better respond to customers’ demands.
Also analysing new digital trends, Dion Magee, head of UK fashion at Facebook , will concentrate on the impact video has had on the mobile world and the possibilities this can bring for fashion retailers. In addition, David Lloyd, business development director of Alibaba Group , will be addressing how UK brands can use marketplaces to successfully penetrate highly competitive regions like China.
Focusing on the fulfilment side of internet retailing, “a growing number of retailers are turning to their supply chain for competitive differentiation”, says Simon Finch, distribution director at Harrods . In his keynote, Simon will be addressing how customer-facing supply chain is benefiting consumers and retailers alike, and how logistical challenges can be converted into commercial opportunities.
These speakers are among scores of retailers and other industry leaders who are taking part in the IRX and EDX educational programmes, with 20 workshops for hands-on, practical, training and exclusive one-on-one 30-minute clinics, where attendees can focus on their own ecommerce questions.
IRX, co-located with eDelivery Expo (EDX), and billed as the UK’s biggest multichannel and fulfilment event, will take place on April 5 and 6 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. For the two days of the show this will become the meeting place for the retail community with more than 90 key influencers and members of the IRUK Top500, InternetRetailing’s performance-based listing of the 500 most significant retailers in the UK and Europe, set to attend.
The show will have special networking events and dedicated spaces within the Expos where leading retailers, entrepreneurs and suppliers will gather, connect and conduct meetings in a professional but relaxed atmosphere. They include the Top500 Lounge, and the IMRG Lounge, where the UK’s Online Retail Association will be sharing their insights and statistics on the UK market and the performance of the multichannel industry there.
Sam North, portfolio director, said: “IRX and EDX has established as the must-attend event in the multichannel calendar. Not only because they bring together the most ambitious retailers and the leading suppliers, but because they provide a platform for attendees and multichannel retail innovators to connect, interact, experience and learn, all under one roof. We’re looking forward to host record numbers of visitors this year, all wanting to learn how best to sell online.
“Ecommerce is one of the few industries which has seen sustained growth in double-digits in 2016 and it is expected for that acceleration in online sales growth will continue in 2017. For the industry to continue progressing, innovation, collaboration and knowledge sharing is key, and this is the success behind our Expos.”
To learn more about the InternetRetailing and eDelivery Expo and to register for free, visit www.internetretailingexpo.com and www.edeliveryexpo.com
Attendees can also get a 25% discount on their train fare to the NEC when they book through the IRX or EDX Visitor Info website.
