Author: Peter Hinssen

Publisher: Lanoo Publishers

Comments:Peter Hinssen, entrepreneur, lecturer at several business schools, and founder of nexxworks, believes in a long-term view of business organisations. In fact he quantifies it: we should spend no more than 70% of our energies and time on today; 20% on tomorrow; and 10% on the day after tomorrow. In fact, we achieve nowhere near that and our daily work leads us to neglect the long term. In fact, we spend quite a lot of time on what he has called SOY (the shit of yesterday) that we have to clear up. He focuses on organisation culture, talent, mindset and technology which we should take on if we want to maximise our chances of survival in the future.

See a video of one of his talks 

See also The Three Box Solution: a strategy for leading innovation by Vijay Govindarajan

and Dealing with Darwin: how great companies innovate at every stage of their evolution by Geoffrey A. Moore

Authors: Carsten Linz, Guenter Mueller-Stewens, Alewander Zimmermann

Publisher: Kogan Page

Comments: Many companies are relying on a business model which is fundamentally suited to a different era. Arguably, department stores may fall into this category. New trends are putting on the pressure for companies to find radically new ways to develop business and a radically different value proposition. Two of those trends, digitisation and servitisation are transforming business. (Servitisation is the trend for product companies to offer services related to their product – sometimes described as the “as-a-service” movement.) Both of these reduce costs associated with creation and delivery, and allow businesses to be “content-heavy” but “asset-light”. They also involve two-way communication with customers leading to increased “stickiness” and brand loyalty. The authors are from St Gallen Business School and SAP.

Authors: Josh Sullivan & Angela Zutavern

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Comments:The authors Josh Sullivan and Angela Zutavern, both from Booz Allen Hamilton, challenge us to reconsider assumptions about machines “taking over”, relegating the human factor to a bygone era. Their hopeful alternative scenario for the future instead clearly shows the importance of leaders and employees who work creatively in symbiosis with machines to achieve greater productivity, better innovation and higher profits. Mathematical corporations, the organisations that according to them will master the future, will outcompete high-flying rivals by merging the best of human ingenuity with machine intelligence. While smart machines are weapon number one for organisations, leaders are still the drivers of breakthroughs. Only they can ask crucial questions to capitalise on business opportunities newly discovered in oceans of data. Leaders of mathematical corporations combine data analytics with the mathematical intelligence of machines and their own creativity to enhance the quality of current and future decisions.

Success strategies for top e-retail executive track

Managing for Today and Stewardship for Tomorrow

This track will cover the landscape on the strategic thinking retail company leaders must use in assessing opportunities and challenges. It will show how critical decisions made at top management levels pull the key levers that drive e-commerce results and company growth — increasing revenue and containing costs — at the implementation level.

Retail Chains Track

Exploit Store Assets to Fuel All Selling Channels

Physical stores represent a significant investment and retailers seek new ways to leverage these assets to support all selling channels. The store pickup option for goods ordered online has grown in popularity and many are taking the service to new levels. Others are focusing on creating interactive experiences in store using beacons and touchscreens. This track will explore initiatives that blur the lines between the physical and digital to keep customers shopping wherever they like.

Marketing Must-Have track

Find New Ways with Tried and True Tactics

The long-established vehicles that are the bedrock of online marketing today remain popular on their own merits: affiliate marketing, email, SEO and SEM can cost-effectively acquire traffic and customers and drive sales and loyalty. This track will cover new ways to use the proven workhorses of digital marketing and also remind e-marketers that sometimes, the quickest problem fixes and best opportunities may be found in a new perspective on what they already know.

Small But Mighty Track

Big Wins and Great Saves on a Shoestring

Small and mid-sized e-retailers have a competitive edge: agility. In this track, multichannel and web-only merchants will divulge initiatives that strengthen their market position and do not require huge investments. Learn how startups get off the ground, rebrand when needed, how they turned their first profit—and once humming along at a good clip — how to manage growth while keeping profits and the customer experience top priorities.

Fullfilment, Customer Service & Operation Track

The Backroom: The Hub That Keeps Customers Happy and Loyal

The real test of how good an e-retail organization is comes after the sale. How well do they handle fulfillment and delivery? Post-purchase inquiries? Returns? These sessions will dive into the hidden foundation of e-commerce success that supports everything else. Topics include managing fulfillment and shipping, handling customer service, keeping a lid on fraud and managing returns.

Day 2

Design & Merchandise Track

Clicking the Buy Button: How to Turn Shoppers into Buyers

For today’s shoppers, the website is the richest — and sometimes the only — contact point with a retailer. And so the website must make a strong initial impression and provide a quick way to buy. This track will provide guidance on effective site design, content organization, ways to test a site’s effectiveness, how to make sure a site is ready for the mobile revolution and more.

Managing Technology Track

Creating a Technology Strategy that Leads to E-Retail Success

The sessions in this track will help attendees develop a technology strategy in a fast-changing market. Experienced merchants will discuss whether to take e-commerce technology in-house or to outsource it, how to integrate legacy systems into e-commerce technology or replace it altogether, how to grow faster than your technology investments, how to make sense of data, and more.

Social Commerce & Marketing Track

Trading Cautious for Audacious

If 2015 was a year of prudent experimentation in social channels, then 2016 is shaping up to be full of bold initiatives – and an exit strategy when efforts backfire. The best social strategies ensure shoppers know their voice is heard and the content they create is handled with respect. After today’s daylong programming on social strategy, stick around Friday to learn about bold tactics to deploy once you return home.

Marketing New Frontier Track

New Tools and Tactics to Connect with Shoppers

Triggered email, content marketing strategy, native advertising and more: A new world of online marketing practices has joined established tactics, offering e-retailers more opportunities to drive sales and traffic. This track will cover the pitfalls and the possibilities, what results these new approaches are delivering to online marketers, and the important lessons they’ve learned that you need to know.

Video in e-Retailing Track

The Merchandising Tactic That Really Engages Shoppers

Video has become key to online success. Yet many e-retailers have not adopted video merchandising because they don’t understand how easy it actually is. This track will examine the parts that make up a successful video merchandising and marketing program. Experts will discuss what makes great video, video production, how to measure success, how to scale up a video program, best means for distribution and more.

Delighting Global Travellers at Home & Away

The unprecedented rise in travel and tourism paired with fast-pace changes in technologies is opening up an amazing new world for customers. It promises untapped opportunities for many businesses and brands - department stores especially.

In this new era, all customers are global travellers by either holding the world digitally in their palm or spending time and money on travelling.

Which businesses are going to be challenged and which ones are ideally positioned for growth? Who wins the fight for market shares?

During the 5th Global Department Store Summit, highly experienced retail CEOs and experts from around the world will analyze this and its  impact on their businesses. How will this affect your business?

Conference

27-28 april 2016

Birmingham (UK)

The Connected Store of Future

The Connected store of the future is designed to illuminate the most ground-breaking technologies and strategies that are driving the digital store, so retailers can get smarter about the way to help shoppers feel connected in multiple retail spaces and online places! Hear from leading retailers who are successfully delivering a seamless online to physical store shopping experience, boosting sales and enhancing customer experience

International & Cross Border

International & Cross Border will showcase strategies for overcoming significant challenges of planning, establishing and growing retail operations in multiple countries. Hear how UK retailers are evaluating the risk of entering new territories and taking advantage of growth opportunities in both established and emerging international markets.

Insight & Experience

The digital revolution has precipitated a massive shift in retail. Customers now have the freedom to shop from the comfort of their home with a phone, laptop, tablet and other devices. Insight and Experience will explore the best practice to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds for a seamless and memorable customer experience.

Multichannel Fulfilment

Does your delivery service meet your customers’ expectations? Delivery is one of the most important parts of the multichannel process and a challenge for retailers to get it right and keep customers happy. The anytime anywhere customer knows what she wants and expects a range of delivery options to choose from. Find out how retailers can manage the operational challenges to ensure speedy delivery and collection in the Multichannel Fulfilment conference.

Mobile in Multichannel

Mobile pervades everything and is continuously on the rise. We are now at a stage where ecommerce is ‘mobile-first’. The focus is moving from the “newness” of the mobile device to understand the impact on staff, stores and services when the customer is holding a “remote control for retail” in her hand. Where are the newest and biggest opportunities for retailers and how can they deploy the latest technologies to win the virtual race?

Digital Sales & Marketing

Digital Marketing is increasingly complex but retailers keen to gain the competitive edge are realising that getting to grips with digital can offer more opportunity to reach customers and deliver results. How can you use digital to shape a customer-centric culture, deliver more compelling customer experiences and use data, journey mapping and personalisation to create campaigns and drive behavioural change? Find out at the Digital Sales and Marketing Conference.

Digital Merchandising

How easy is it for your customers to log on, find what they want, purchase it, receive it on time and in perfect condition? Digital Merchandising is designed for retailers who want to connect with the customer online to win new business, with a focus on converting customers and boosting online sales. Find out about the latest tools and strategies to create new websites and display products in a way that is accessible and attractive to online shoppers.

Operations in Multichannel

Since the emergence of online shopping, retailers have restructured operations, models and relationships with customers and suppliers in order to achieve supply chain effectiveness. This conference will look at how leading retailers are getting to grips with new technology and operational strategies designed to increase growth opportunities and customer satisfaction.

Download the presentations

THEME 2016

Connected Retail: The New World Order

By end of 2016, connected retail is expected to influence 44% of retail sales.*

Built on the pillars of innovation, convenience and engagement, Connected Retail seeks to offer fully-integrated, digitally enhanced, personalised in-store experiences that engage customers at the intersection of the virtual and digital world.

This is done by integrating channels and optimising all business processes including sourcing, HR, supply chain, operations, payments and marketing.

Connected Retail offers retailers the opportunity to digitally enhance immediacy, control, convenience, touch-and-feel and face-to-face interactions — key factors that form a store’s core strengths.

However, connected retail demands a fundamental and enterprise-wide transformation in the current operating model. New systems will have to be put in place, new priorities set and new job roles defined – all centred on the customer.

Connected Retail is undoubtedly The New World Order and therefore the focus of Retail Leadership Summit 2016.

*Forrester

RLS 2015

RLS 2014

RLS 2013

Attracting and engaging tomorrow's consumers How can retailers create winning customer experiences in a digital age?

Organisational change and leadership

The consumer is constantly transforming and you must keep up. How can you build innovation from within? How can you build a more agile organisation that can keep pace with the change ?

Customer experience

From technology to the people who sell your products, making your customer (your guest) feel special has never been more important. What strategies fly or fail? Who is winning and why?

Disruption and innovation

Who is doing what differently and why does it work? From young entrepreneurs making waves in retail and related industries, to established brands revising their business and customer engagement models – the Congress is dedicated to shaking up your thinking.

Engaging with your consumer

How do you talk to your customer across marketing, advertising and social media? How should you be?

International expansion

Conquering the world is no easy feat, but it can be easier. What can be learned from the battles won and lost by retailers around the globe who continue to expand?

New markets (and old)

Iran and parts of Asia and Africa hold exciting retail potential, while the way the BRICs need to be approached is changing. Get to grips with the entry challenges and opportunities in these markets.

Future-gazing: What’s next?

From the way consumers will shop, to mobile use and shifting demographics – what is on the horizon for retail?

Author: Martin Lindstrom

Author: Adam Gazzaley & Larry Rosen

Author: Arun Sundararajan

Author: David Sax

Author: Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Comments: Lynda Gratton, together with her colleague from the London Business School, continues her exploration of the future of work with this essay on the challenges and intelligent choices that all of us, of any age, need to make in order to turn greater life expectancy into a gift and not a curse. We need to move away from the three-stage approach to our working lives: education, followed by work, and then retirement since life expectancy is rising, final-salary pensions are vanishing and an increasing number of people are juggling multiple careers.

Author: Robert Gordon

Author: David Crystal

Author: Adam Grant

Publisher: Viking

Comments: Adam Grant from Wharton School, addresses the challenge of improving the world, from the perspective of becoming original: choosing to champion novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battle conformity, and buck outdated traditions. How can we originate new ideas, policies, and practices without risking it all? He tells surprising stories from different areas of life which explore how to recognise a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act and manage fear and doubt. He looks at how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children, and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent. Specific examples inlude Apple, the CIA, Finance and TV.

Author: Alan Lewis and Dan McKone

Author: Sydney Finkelstein

Author: Emma McClendon

Author: Joshua Cooper Ramo

Author: Alan Treadgold and Jonathan Reynolds

Author: Joshua Gans

Author: Vijay Govindarajan

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Comments:Probably one of the classics in management theory about innovation, The Three Box Solution develops Harvard Professor Govindarajan’s idea that, in order to innovate, companies need to create a separate innovation team; nevertheless linked to the core business; and evaluated not in terms of financial metrics but in terms of its ability to test assumptions about the future. Box 1 is about managing the present. It is about competing for the present through incremental measures and is about closing the performance gap. Boxes 2 and 3 are about selectively forgetting the past and creating the future. They are therefore about competing for the future by responding to weak and non-linear signals to develop new business models and new customers. This is about closing the possibility gap. Each of the two areas must benefit from separate resources which need to be ring-fenced so that, when times get tough, the creation of the future is not jeopardised.

watch him

See also The Day after Tomorrow: how to survive in times of radical innovation by Peter Hinssen

and Dealing with Darwin: how great companies innovate at every stage of their evolution by Geoffrey A. Moore