JUNE 30 – JULY 2

This three day festival is full of ideas and insight that help the retail community get back to work in a more inclusive way. Topics of talks include Direct to Consumer, eCommerce and Store Experience Design.

AGENDA

Store Experience (Re)Design – Tuesday, June 30th

eCommerce & eSelling – Wednesday, July 1st

DTC Playbook for Brands – Thursday, July 2nd

SPEAKERS

Our community comes together for the Future of Retail festival to share and inspire their peers to rethink the store, brand and customer experience.

Click here for Full list of speakers

Session Spotlight

The recent pandemic has accelerated retailer interest in using Augmented Reality to amplify & enhance their customers’ shopping experience. More opportunities than ever exist to reimagine the shopping experience largely driven by AR. Sriram Thodla, former Samsung Senior Director and design strategist, will unpack examples and concepts for rethinking the in-store retail experience with technology.

From virtual try-ons to interactive 3D merchandising, there are many ways retailers can use AR technologies to enrich the store experience while enabling contactless commerce. Whether you want to bring signage and storefronts to life, or bring the storefront to the customer no matter where they are, this conversation will help you understand opportunities for AR in retail. You’ll also learn about advances in 3D scanning and WebAR that are making these technologies and experiences more accessible than ever before. 

As COVID has driven everyone indoors, gaming has exponentially increased its dominance as a social place for fun and belonging. But increasingly, it’s emerging as unique sales channel for savvy marketers looking to engage new audiences. From fashion brands like Marc Jacobs making outfits in Animal Crossing to Fortnite’s debut as a music venue and screening room, anyone looking to reach the world of gamers has more and more options.

Led by Microsoft’s B2C Marketing leader Ram Narayan Iyer, this session will focus on how we can enable retailers to re-imagine the customer journey with connected experiences to maximize the opportunity we all have with the digital storefront.

Award-winning entrepreneur Sneh Parmar, on the future of ecommerce & DTC

This session will feature Natalie Monbiot, Business lead for Hour One, the world’s first synthetic character platform.

Jonathan Foster will share insights into the development of Microsoft’s intelligent assistant Cortana and the creation of bot personalities—and how they might inform the power of conversational UX in retail experiences.

Traditional e-commerce has stayed largely stagnant for the past 20 years. Now, shoppers are turning to digital more than ever as the retail landscape is in a state of rapid change — from store closures to precautions and fears amid reopening to a shift to e-commerce. There has never been a time where innovation is more needed. The Yes is paving the way to redefine the e-commerce experience by putting the shopper at the center of the experience, working in close partnership with brands. 

About this Future of Retail event

This RIW program has been developed to provide inspiration and direction to executives working in retail, at brands and their partner companies. For-the-community by-the-community, speakers talk across three topics: eCommerce, Store Experience & Direct to Consumer Retail