Retail Week magazine is the leading publication for the UK retail sector covering food, fashion, property, stores and technology. Every year, they run the Retail Week Live conference, and it’s sister Retail Week Tech, which brings together the entire retail tech ecosystem to explore what the the future holds for tech innovation and disruption in retail.
Tech. launched for the first time in September 2017, with more than 1300 attendees across two days, bringing together CIOs, CTOs and digital leaders from retailers, as well as tech providers, start-ups, consultancies, VCs and accelerators, discussing developments in IoT, AI and AR to name a few.
This year, I was honoured to kick off Day 2 on the mainstage in the daily ‘Wake Up With Retailers’ panel. Joined by execs from Charlotte Tilbury & Hugo Boss, we were invited to share our thoughts on what retailers must do to survive and thrive the year ahead.
Questions answered include how to best market and reach today’s consumers, what do consumers really want when it comes to customer experience and, of course, – is technology the answer? How do you integrate technology into your business to increase efficiency and reduce costs?
Being a digital native, working within a Finance role – this is exactly my comfort zone!
We talked about transformational tech – but remaining true to core customer values. It’s tempting to land grab and be something for everyone, but actually, in a small startup with limited resources, we have to be strategic about our choices. The same should apply even when you’re not cash poor.
One of the ongoing themes is the balance of digital and physical. I was involved in the launch of the first Depop physical space in LA and for many retailers, the balance of mobile with bricks and mortar is a very fine one. People say that the stores will become the experience focal point, but there are developments in tech which are contenders for that title too.
Finally, on innovation – it was super interesting to discuss the advancements in personalisation technology, using conversational tech to try and replicate that human connection that you get face to face in store. Can it be replicated?