This year, Retail Week Live brought together the largest gathering of senior retail professionals in the UK to connect, take stock, and share new insights on technology trends. The jam-packed event took place on March 27 and 28 at the Intercontinental O2 in London.
Mi9 Retail exhibited at the show where the team had many engaging conversations about our Retail Operating System, addressing the Plan-to-Sell process of retailers. What’s more, our CMO, Charles Kaplan, joined Andy Harding, Chief Digital Officer at Arcadia, and Eric Fergusson, Director of E-commerce at Liberty, in a panel discussion to discuss the importance of embracing a well-thought-out data strategy to drive real business growth. The panel discussed the necessary steps needed to ensure effective data management and explored the tools, talent and culture needed to support it.
Here are our key takeaways from Retail Week Live 2019:
Optimizing Omni-Channel Fulfillment is Key
Delivering a seamless omni-channel fulfillment experience is no longer negotiable – delivering it profitably can mean the difference between barely surviving and thriving. Retailers need to simultaneously optimize and orchestrate all inventory and order types with the best combination of workforce, automation and robotics, all while adopting a customer-centric approach.
Data-Centric Companies Are Here to Stay
While retailers are now able to collect vast amounts of data, most of them still struggle to make the most of it. To build an effective data strategy, recruiting experienced experts is key, as they can help incorporate best practices into business operations and enforce change.
Digital Transformation Shows No Sign of Slowing Down
The retail industry is in the midst of massive transformation. To thrive, retailers need to understand their customers, and make the most of emerging technologies. Becoming more agile and creating a holistic view of the customer will help retail organizations increase their overall productivity and deliver added value to customers. Digital transformation is defining modern retail, as businesses jostle to position themselves for future growth in an increasingly digital economy. Retailers need to reengineer their businesses with a new technology strategy in order to appeal to a new generation of consumers and remain relevant and competitive.
Putting Employees First
An increasing number of workers are worried about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could potentially threaten their jobs. While AI will probably shake up the job market, it should also create new jobs while modernizing others. Showing employees that their work matters and creating a peaceful, positive work environment can significantly help increase productivity and performance and is a smart strategy to retain top talent.
