Day Two is underway and we are looking forward to another fantastic day of content! Registration is still open in the eTail Hallway and the EXPO is waiting for you to walk through it!
If you are one of our retailer speakers, join this VIP breakfast with your fellow thought leaders to chat about the future of retail!
Christie Raymond, chief marketing officer, is responsible for Kohl’s marketing and customer service organizations – including the overall marketing strategy, brand and creative, media and personalization, credit and loyalty, customer insights and analytics, corporate communications, and philanthropic efforts. In her role, Raymond leads the company's focus on driving customer engagement through data-driven personalization, leadership in loyalty and rewards, accelerating customer traffic and continuing to build the Kohl's brand. During this opening fireside chat, she will walk us through how the marketing team at Kohls has been merging data with creativity to market to customers in today's changed retail landscape. Expect to hear about:
Where are we in the evolution of artificial intelligence and what is its place in the marketing ecosystem? To harness the true future potential of any technology, we need to understand its capabilities and limitations today.
Jaysen Gillespie, Head of Analytics and Data Science at RTB House, takes us on a surprising journey–through Bing, Salvador Dali, and Python, among others–to assess where exactly AI is today and how businesses can use it to break the status quo and scale up while maintaining marketing campaign efficiency.
“2023: The year of Deep Learning AI… and what it means for e-commerce” is an example of Jaysen’s talent for taking complex data and finding a simple and compelling story that needs to be told.
With customers adapting to new ways of shopping, retailers are recognizing that a seamless customer experience is more important than ever before. Customers who once preferred to shop mainly in store are now shifting to curbside pickup, BOPIS or 100% online shopping. It is becoming more and more evident that customers don’t care which channel they use, as long as it is quick and easy. If they have flexible options to shop with you, and their experience is seamless, many customers are willing to pay more to get a better overall experience. Join this keynote panel discussion with executives from leading omni-channel retail companies as they walk us through how they are grappling with ever evolving shopping behaviors and creating stellar customer experiences. Expect to hear about:
The past few years have led ecommerce transactions to reach new highs, and we only see the competition continue to grow. This, in combination with recent economic uncertainty, has provided an opportunity for businesses to seek new avenues to improve cash flow and boost their bottom line. An often-overlooked opportunity lies within the transaction moment―the process from cart to confirmation―where relevancy can unlock significant revenue. Join this session to see how to utilize first-party data and technology to stay ahead of the curve and drive relevancy to reach the right customers while they’re in the buying mindset.
A lot of different factors came into play during the pandemic that have led to a considerable change in the marketing ecosystem. Customers are more in tune to the types of companies they align with, and they are looking for increased transparency, trust, a sense of community and a consistent brand experience. Customers are increasingly skeptical as well and can spot inauthenticity from a mile away. Retailers are realizing that they have to be more thoughtful about their marketing strategy and really focus on consistency over time to build long-term relationships with their customers. Join us at this panel discussion as a powerhouse group of CMO’s comes together to tell us how they are approaching this changing reality and what this means for their brands. Expect to hear:
Start your morning off right with coffee and networking! Meet us in the EXPO hall for a cup of joe and a pastry!
Are you a full on makeup pro?? Or even just a amateur artist? Join us for this meet up with fellow makeup lovers in the social lounge in the EXPO. This meetup will be sponsored by Dibs Beauty!
Jamie Columbus, VP of Omnichannel at Office Depot, is a visionary leader who developed the strategic framework and leadership for Office Depots 1,000+ retail stores and website. Jamie is an accomplished, top-performing Digital-Merchandising executive with 25+ years of experience at a $8B fortune 200 company. During this keynote we’re checking in with Jamie as he follows up on Kevin Moffitt's keynote from 2022- Office Depot's Path to Connected Commerce: Checking in One Year Later. It’s a can’t miss.
How does a global brand that’s been around since 1935 transform to meet the changing health and wellness needs of consumers around the world? Through a hyper-focus on technology innovation. Making wellness more accessible, by lowering the barrier to purchase, while also creating a convenient shopping experience, GNC is advancing how the wellness category functions with the introduction of established and emerging technologies. Hear from Scott Saeger, Senior Vice President, and Chief Information Officer at GNC, during a fireside chat where he’ll share how the company’s global enterprise technology strategy is achieving transformation through established and emerging technology solutions
Brunch is always a good idea. Join us for some egg-cellent snacks and refreshments in the EXPO hall!
Are you a wizard in the kitchen?? Spend all your time at the store browsing the cookware section? Then join your fellow retailers in the social lounge in the EXPO to network over new recipes and kitchen gadgets.
Fireside Chat: Diversity, Equity And Inclusion - A Game Changer For Workplace Culture And For Business Success
Open to All is a national nondiscrimination campaign based around the idea that everyone should be welcome regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, immigration status, religion or disability. Open to All is a growing coalition of more than 200 non-profits, from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Anti-Defamation League to disability groups, LGBTQ groups, faith organizations and more. They also unite thousands of large and small businesses across the country committed to being Open to All. Never before have so many businesses and nonprofits joined together in a single, unified campaign that sends a message that everyone is welcome, valued and respected. Because when a business is open to the public, it should be open to all. Join this fireside chat with Tshombe Laughman, Deputy Director of Open to All, as he chats with one of Open to All’s retail business partners. They will chat through:
Learn how Liquid I.V. built its partnerships program to achieve efficient customer acquisition cost (CAC) and full-funnel coverage
Discover how to work with creators and commerce content publishers
Understand how to strategize partnerships and marketing together
For businesses preparing for trying times in an uncertain economy, it’s important to consider your existing customer base as an opportune audience that deserves your attention. Leveraging existing customers through reengagement campaigns is a proven tactic for boosting clicks, conversions, and most importantly, revenue.
Join Bloomreach, the World’s #1 Commerce Experience Cloud, on March 1st at 1PM and immerse yourself in an exclusive lunch event where you can network, dine on exquisite food and wine, and learn how to use customer-centric tactics for success.
Join the Criteo team for a seated/plated lunch during eTail on Wednesday – March 1, 2023 at 1:00 PM featuring retail Partner, Overstock. Angela Hsu, Chief Marketing Officer, will speak with Ned Samuelson, Managing Director of Criteo’s Growth business on how Overstock is strategizing for the future and taking advantage of the Commerce opportunity by leveraging advertising technology to reach and engage shoppers.
Despite lowering concerns around COVID-19, shoppers are facing a new wave of spending hesitations including rising inflation and the looming recession. Join NRF, the world’s largest retail trade association, and Affinity Solutions, the leading Consumer Purchase Data Platform, as they share data-driven, consumer spending insights from the 2022 holiday season, reviewing surprising trends and providing a fresh outlook on consumer spending behaviors for the upcoming year.
We will be giving all attendees a Yeti Wine Tumbler!
We will also raffle off a Prisoner Winery Gift Basket to be shipped directly to recipient the week following the conference.
Join adMarketplace for a private Wine & Dine Lunch where we will explore the process of assessing the value of media. Attendees will come away with deep learnings about performance media models and with new insights into how to identify room for growth within their own current reporting strategies.
Brooks Running has a strong customer base of avid runners but needed to ensure that base stayed loyal against escalating competitive pressures, while capturing net-new Brooks buyers. DAC was brought on to deliver a holistic search strategy to acquire new Brooks customers and maintain the current customer base. During this exclusive invite only lunch with Mario Lemieux, DAC’s Senior Vice President and featured guest Jillian Zech, Senior Manager of Digital Brand Media at Brooks Running, learn how DAC tailored our search approach to maximize ROAS and combat increasing competitive pressures against the Brooks brand through integrated search strategies across SEM and SEO. Also, be entered to win a free iPad!!!
Learn how a leading global retailer partnered with Granify to deliver rapidly personalized and optimized in-session shopping experiences that have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in incremental sales on web and app.
Granify is the leading real-time conversion optimization and personalization platform use by the most successful large retailers in the world. In 2021, Granify optimized 6.7 billion shopping sessions, leveraging its cutting-edge capabilities in reading digital body language to create shopping experiences that are optimized to both delight and maximize sales.
The idea of a headless commerce system - where the back-end and front-end are decoupled, offers brands the opportunity to have a more personalized and dynamic ecommerce experience for their customers. However, before jumping on the headless bandwagon, it's important to consider the potential drawbacks. Ultimately, while headless commerce may offer some advantages, it's important to carefully weigh the pros and cons before making a decision about your brand's ecommerce strategy. Join this panel debate to hear from several retail brands as they walk us through the benefits and pitfalls of this strategy. Expect to hear:
Rhone Co-Founder & CEO, Nate Checketts, discusses the brands evolution from a DTC startup to an omni-channel business and the critical role that retail expansion has played. In this Keynote, Nate Checketts will cover everything from how early pop-up shops and a successful wholesale business have helped inform the brands retail locations, to the importance retail plays in supporting their brand mission and growing the Rhone community
Far gone are the days when components of your payments ecosystem operate in silos, limiting user data and creating a fragmented business strategy. Instead, Open Banking technology helps modern eCommerce businesses bolster their omnichannel strategy and cut costs by expanding access to consumer-permissioned financial data from banking systems. In this session, learn about the growing popularity of Open Banking and how Jostens utilized Open Banking Payments to reduce costs, improve conversion, and mitigate risk.
Learning Objectives:
Many retail companies had an omnichannel strategy in place pre-COVID, which fortunately allowed them to stay afloat during the crisis. However, as the pandemic changed customer behaviors and shopping preferences, companies had to think more holistically and invest in more sustainable omnichannel capabilities. Our panelists from several top retailers have been actively expanding their digital and omnichannel offerings. And they are continuously finding new ways to create an effortless customer experience. Join this lively discussion to hear our panelists walk you through how they are:
A common misconception about social commerce is that it’s as simple as selling on social media. Spoiler, it’s not. A successful social commerce program must create the best of both worlds on social and e-commerce channels. Which is trickier than it sounds. The challenge is finding effective ways to streamline omnichannel selling and utilize the content generated from social media across all key channels. Hear case study examples from Samsung and Villerory & Boch on how they did just that. We’ll share how they are combining social and e-commerce to connect deeper with their customers:
The power of a brand is undeniable. It can define and drive consumer behavior, spur loyalty and even become part of our identity. But today's market demands more than just strong branding; it calls for brands to build communities that connect on a deeper level with like-minded individuals. In order to truly make the transition from brand to community, companies must prioritize fostering relationships with their customers. Join this panel of retailers as they walk us through their approach to community building and how it has helped to strengthen their brand. Expect to hear:
· Refocusing on community knowing that today’s customers are craving a sense of connection in this virtual world
· Creating a customer community combining your own content, user generated content and potential influencers can be a great way to create loyal customers
· Finding this community that may already exist via your social media or building one on another platform or your own website
· Leveraging communities not just to build brand loyalty but also to test new product ideas and get feedback
Returns and reverse logistics are hurting brands’ bottom line, particularly for oversized products. Making matters worse in the midst of a struggling economy, retailers are downsizing and being asked to do more with less. The silver lining? As consumers tighten their belts, resale continues to gain momentum as an affordable and sustainable alternative to managing returns that actually creates profit.
Join us as Chris Richter, CEO of FloorFound breaks down the economics of recommerce and explains the competitive advantage it creates versus liquidation and other band-aid solutions, including the most costly option...doing nothing. This is a can’t-miss event for anyone who wants to learn how to do more with less employees and solve ever looming returns problems.
Amazon offers more tools than ever before when it comes to crafting more branded experiences on the retail site. But what strategies and tactics are worth pursuing? In this session, John Solomon, CMO of Therabody, will chat with Aisha Khan, VP of Strategy & Insights at Momentum Commerce about how Therabody has utilized data alongside new advertising and branding opportunities to drive top- and bottom-line results for the brand.
Not every marketplace is right for every brand. It’s important for retailers to spend time assessing different marketplaces to ensure that their products fit into the marketplace ecosystem based on their goals, but also based on what their brand represents. There are also unique challenges to consider with each type of marketplace. Join this panel to hear more about:
· Selecting the right marketplace(s) for your brand based on features, budget and your ecomm goals
· Deciding whether it’s best to go with a curated or an open marketplace
· Determining the top metrics to track on online marketplaces
· Analyzing the benefits from exposure to SEO to logistical resources
· Weighing in on the drawbacks of marketplaces from lower profitability to produce restrictions and determining if it makes business sense
The future is already here. In 2022, Starbucks paved the way of the future by announcing their Web3-native loyalty program "Odyssey". Join us to walk through the basics of a Web3 activation from how it works to why it is making such an impact in businesses big and small. Learn about everything from small test cases to big metaverse launches to figure out what is the best strategy for your brand. Takeaways will include:
1) How to think about the death of the cookie and getting ahead on your consumer data strategy with wallets
2) How to build a real community and engage regularly to drive sales
3) How to gamify the customer experience with challenges
During this panel several retail executives give their quick thoughts, raw feelings (hates and loves!) on a buzzword that the moderator throws out at them. Think words like AR, VR, metaverse, NFTs, liveshopping, TikTok, headless commerce. Hear from our panelists what their gut reactions are to these terms and more. The audience plays Bingo as the buzzword is called out and a prize is given to a winner!
Back by popular demand, our bi-annual Women in (R)eTail panel discussion and networking event is your chance to meet other women and hear perspectives from retail executives on leadership, mentorship, work-life balance, career path and more.
Living the sweet life! Join us in the expo hall for a sugar rush- Flamingo milk shakes, cookies, brownies and more!
Are you a working parent and this work trip is the new vacation? Meet in the Social Lounge in the back of the EXPO!
Throughout the pandemic, there was a noticeable difference in how brands started to display their products online. With no stores for customers to visit, brands had to rely on product reviews, customer photos, stellar images, and more to make the sale. Retailers even added virtual try-on’s and virtual showrooms to their websites to help customers see clothes on their bodies or furniture in their living rooms – making their products pop. Now that customers have gotten used to this level of product detail, there is no going back- in fact customers will expect the above add-on’s at minimum when interacting online. Join this panel with several standout merchandisers as they talk through how they increase sales with innovative merchandising strategies. Walk away with ideas for:
Throughout the event, we will be talking about convenience. And one of the top friction points that keeps customers from buying online and experiencing true convenience is a cumbersome returns process for their purchases. They are worried about not liking something or something not fitting and it being impossible to return. So how do we mitigate this issue for them pre-sale without breaking the bank on our supply chain? Join this case study to hear how one brand is:
With the path to purchase constantly evolving, the purpose of stores must evolve as well. During this panel, hear how several retailers are using their stores for online returns, ecommerce fulfillment, curbside pick-up, BOPIS, and more, and how they are continuously innovating to meet changing customer needs and preferences. Panelists will review ideas for:
In today’s retail landscape, with so many brands to choose from, how can you make sure your customers choose yours time and time again? Your customers want flawless experiences via all channels, but fragmented data creates fragmented customer experiences. The best customer experiences are personalized, relevant, and timely. Brands and retailers must focus on creating an omnichannel customer journey effective at engaging your customers in the right channels with the right message at the right time. Doing so will increase the reach and impact of your sales and marketing campaigns, reinforce brand equity, and, most importantly, build better relationships and loyalty with your customers.
Learn from those in the trenches about how you can:
With the online surge brought on by pandemic, ecommerce is certainly here to stay and will continue to grow. However, the store plays a more important role now in omnichannel distribution and brand building. Customers use the stores to engage in person, get education on a product, test, try and feel. Stores are also billboards for their brands and are a huge part of driving brand awareness, product discovery, and attracting new customers. The challenge is staying on top of the entire end to end experience, which includes hybrid shopping experiences like BOPIS, so that it is seamless for the customer at every point in their shopping journey. Join this case study with the GM of eCommerce from Sur La Table as she walks us through how her team is staying on top of customer preferences and providing the best possible experiences. Expect to hear:
Influencers come with an already built community of potential consumers that might be interested in your brand. But working with influencers is not a walk in the park and campaigns have to have very specific goals in order to be successful. Join this panel with a group of influencer experts who will share some of their tips for optimizing influencer campaigns and finding the influencer community that will work best for your brand. Expect to hear about:
Shopping at the edge is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years. Let’s dive into the research and learn how to improve brand discoverability to acquire and convert new customers on today’s leading social channels using Salesforce.
Shipping chaos continued from 2021 into 2022. Especially during the holiday season. Though brands were more well prepared for holiday this past year than they were in 2020, challenges still remained. Customers were shopping online more than ever and expecting constant inventory updates, fast delivery, easy returns and complete transparency on where their packages were. Products easily sold out, inventory went low and supply chains slowed down as the reality of this shift in customer behavior took effect. Join this diverse group of retailers as they walk you through their current plan for avoiding low inventory and overdemand and lessons learned over the 2022 holiday season and beyond. Discuss:
For an emerging DTC brand, launching your products on a 3P marketplace can feel like a big step into uncharted territory—especially if you’re in a category dominated by big, legacy 1P brands. But many DTCs are doing exactly that in an effort to reach more customers and take advantage of the powerful tools and attractive economics that marketplaces can provide.
In this fireside chat, we will speak with Ryan Lupberger, co-founder and CEO of CleanCult--a DTC brand focused on zero-waste, eco-friendly cleaning products--about how and why he chose to expand beyond the DTC channel and become a 3P seller on Walmart.com though Walmart Marketplace. We'll also learn how this choice became a pathway for CleanCult to gain distribution in Walmart Stores within just one year!
Ryan will share his perspective on the importance of 3P marketplaces as a business growth strategy, as well as tips on how sellers of all kinds can win on Walmart Marketplace.
Most of us have kids or bosses. That means we can’t travel the world with our four extra days off a week. Moreover, a 20% drop in sales would be bedlam. The worst sector, travel, was down only 11% during the great recession. Thus, if we don’t have a very specific plan to innovate with our 80% new found freedom then we are just losing out. Solution: 96/40 The next 20% will achieve 80% of the remaining sales. Yes it really works.
Understanding the ins and outs of tech project management and timelines
Looking at the key issues with execution and why tech projects experience delays
Examining tech vendors who can assist with project workloads and move them forward in the queue
Determining which jobs you may be able to outsource instead of depending solely on internal teams
Your budget is flat to last year and you’re asked to drive double digit growth. Sound familiar? Now what?
Learn about the five big bets in 2023 to drive consumer growth AND profitable growth for your organization – without spending one additional media dollar.
Table 1: Executing Efficient Testing Programs To Adapt To Customer Needs And Increase Revenues. Hosted By: Damian Delgado, Vice President, Digital Experience, Ecommerce, Rent-a-Center
Table 2: How Organic and Paid Search Can Work Together. Hosted By: Carolyn Vaccarro, Senior Manager, Performance Marketing, Windsor Stores
Table 3: Affiliate Marketing Tips and Tricks. Hosted By: Christen Evans, President, Performance Marketing Association
Table 4: There is A Creator For Every Marketing Objective Hosted By: Jessa Reus, VP, Marketing, Shopstyle.com
Table 5: Using AI (ChatGPT, etc.) and how Content strategy will shift over time, Hosted by Alessandra Sales, CMO, Trifecta Nutrition
Table 6: Trends in Experiential Retail. Hosted by Craig Kapilow, VP, Brand Partnerships, WS Development
Table 7: Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives For Retail. Hosted by Chris Johns, Senior Manager, Partnerships, Zulily