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.

Lunch & Learn

Understand how you can make more informed business decisions with the use of customer and industry payment data. Join Sean McCormick, Data Expert at Moneris, for our Canadian Consumer Behaviour presentation. Discover the untapped potential of your business and make more informed decisions by learning how to use customer and industry data to your advantage.

Top rated speaker Kostya Polyakov, National Industry Leader for Consumer & Retail with KPMG Canada, returns to the STORE stage with insights on innovations in thinking and operations that are shaping how to win in consumer commerce. Watch for session details coming soon!

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 media habits have enabled retailers to consider 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, online and store traffic plus loyalty data to close the loop for their media partners. Loblaw Media’s Alfredo Tan discusses Retail Media Networks and what it takes to be successful, what clients are looking for, and the opportunity ahead for the industry to work together for strong client experiences.

Artificial intelligence is changing everything – including retail. This profoundly powerful technology is unleashing creative thinking on a massive scale that was almost unthinkable just a few months ago. Eric Morris, Managing Director and Head of Retail with Google Canada shares how retailers can use AI to succeed in an ever-changing, highly competitive, and dynamic industry to unlock new game-changing potential in their businesses. Discover how you can use AI to uniquely understand what your consumers want, forecast demand, simplify the supply chain, improve marketing effectiveness, and provide a more personalized customer experience.

Lunch & Learn

The pandemic and inflation have driven shoppers to plan more than ever before. 83% of Canadians are now checking prices online before they go to the store, with half saying this is a new behavior. How can retailers win at this crucial decision point by moving beyond ads to shopper-preferred digital experiences? In this session, Flipp’s SVP of Technology & Partnerships, Matthew Cheung, will share some of the principles behind creating digital shopping experiences that provide shoppers utility and create engagement, while also helping retailers drive baskets, trade leverage & measurable ROI.

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 drive new shopping behaviours can only be achieved by working with today’s 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.