Solving The Pace Of Innovation, One Innovation At A Time

It all starts with a simple realization summarized in these words from Starbucks TRYER Innovation Center Director: “None of us are shopping the same way we were three years ago”. He then continues, “What we’re really trying to solve is the ‘pace of innovation’.” And that is what we are also going to try to solve during this session by understanding how retail is evolving and how you can continue to thrive in all the many ways customers want to do business with you.

Need some examples? For one, we are seeing more acquisitions of physical stores by digital companies and vice versa (think of Amazon acquiring Whole Foods to ensure a physical presence). Then, we are seeing growth in showrooming and retailers’ right-sizing their brick and mortar and focusing on services rather than hard selling (e.g., Target, Sephora, Kohl’s, etc.). IoT will continue to expand, with more and more devices coming online every single day. The retail and industrial/supply chain industries are likely going to see the greatest growth in this area. Augmented reality (AR) is also continuing to grow as retailers leverage the technology to engage shoppers more deeply. Then you have certainly heard of Conversational Commerce (think Alexa or Google Home) which makes it convenient, fast and efficient for the customer to shop – and for the seller to learn about their customers’ preferences and develop powerful personalized marketing strategies. Partnerships and collaboration are also becoming more popular amongst businesses.

As you can see, there is plenty of innovation to get excited about in this session and to help you address your biggest challenge moving forward which is “solving the pace of innovation”.

After the session, join James Dion from 10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. for the Discussion Hub in Booth 2241 in the Retailer section. This is your chance to network, meet and greet, and to discuss the industry’s most pressing hot topics, challenges, and opportunities.