Agenda

Retailers have had to make immense changes, at incredible speed, to their business practices and operations as a result of exceptional economic pressures and uncertainties. In an environment of contradicting narratives, having a fact-based, Canadian, economic framework on which to consider what we know will impact Canadian retail and what we also need to be watchful on will help every retailer both better navigate around the potential pitfalls and push toward the opportunities ahead.

Technology has undeniably changed how we shop – but has it changed why we buy? How have consumers’ needs for novelty, connection, escape, and magic been satisfied? And is there more they need? World-renowned retail futurist Doug Stephens, explores how the world’s most inspiring retailers are delighting customers through sensory experience differentiation – the art of retail – in a world where hyper-technologized consumerism is ubiquitous. Re-discover how design, creativity, and content are once-again breathing magic into retail – and driving bottom-line profitability.

The pandemic, hybrid workplaces, immigration, and inflation have triggered staggering global changes in consumer behaviors and buying habits which have redefined how consumers spend their discretionary dollars. The NPD Group, a leading international market information company, will provide a “real time” snapshot on how these issues are impacting consumers’ buying behaviors in Canada, and will explore the opportunities, based on this data, that retailers should consider to capture discretionary spending trends over the next 6 months.

This session is an exclusive opportunity for STORE attendees to get the latest and most actionable insights for charting a strategic and competitive future in the Canadian retail landscape. Watch for guest speaker announcements.

The increasingly diverse ways in which consumers seek information have also evolved the best ways to keep your company at the top of search engine results. Unfortunately, most organizations are still working with the “old rules” of SEO. DAC’s Jenna Watson, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, will help you identify the top 3 SEO practices that are no longer effective and why retailers must look at new approaches get to the top.

In an era where digital interfaces are increasingly being used to help humanize interactions and where people are at the same time yearning for deeper, genuine, connections, how can employers embrace hearable, feelable and wearable technology – powered by data, intelligence, sensors and more – to help people in the workplace to relate to one another? Shingy, the Digital Profit, will enthrall with his digital forecast that looks at how new technologies will impact the employee experience in the blended physical and virtual work world – that will continue to stretch the definition of “hybrid”- and shares what trends retailers might consider to renew and elevate these work relationships.

Purpose is quickly becoming the intangible but incredibly powerful driver motivating today’s most successful CEO’s and companies. In this session, Afdhel Aziz, Chief Purpose Officer with Conspiracy of Love, and author of Good is the New Cool: The Principles of Purpose, shares how leaders can identify their authentic, personal “north star” and empower their teams to action a shared purpose. Learn how you and your organization can be a part of this tectonic leadership shift that is not just changing people and businesses but also and creating meaningful, world-wide transformation.

Changes in technology and consumer shopping habits have enabled retailers with scale to develop new data-driven media businesses that have the potential to generate incremental, high-margin revenue. First-party data is an increasing priority for retailers looking to leverage customer relationships and loyalty data to close the loop for their advertising partners.

Watch for session details to be announced!

Mountain Equipment Company’s (MEC) steadfast commitment to its people, product excellence, and maintaining strong community-based relationships with its consumers, eased its rocky transition from a cooperative to a private company with expanded operations. MEC’s Vice President Marketing Michele Guimond shares how this iconic Canadian retailer’s remarkable revival, that was rooted in its foundational business philosophy, continues to put MEC at the at the top of the trusted brands list and on a strong and sustainable growth trajectory.

Effectively building and maintaining consumers’ loyalty and trust as changing demographics, values, and lifestyles continue to drive new shopping behaviours can only be achieved by working with today’s the most relevant data. To truly understand evolving sensitivities and how retailers can more effectively reach their target audiences when and where they want to shop – all while considering the emerging importance of ESG best practices – needs a new perspective on how to leverage data. Jan Kestle, President of Environics Analytics, sits down with leading Canadian retailers to discuss how these trends continue to evolve and how these retailers are addressing the nuances in news ways through more innovative consumer segmentation.

While leading DEI at Nike Inc, Jarvis Sam saw an incredible opportunity in how to improve and incorporate its DEI strategies. Learn how, through his novel, multi-phased approach, he was able to successfully turnaround and operationalize Nike’s vision – ahead of plan- by focusing on engaging frontline teams who, in turn, organically and enthusiastically participated in transforming their workplace’s culture of inclusivity.