Michael Hughes is CEO of PlushBeds and leads a portfolio of direct-to-consumer sleep brands. He oversees brand strategy, ecommerce, product development, manufacturing, and customer experience. Michael focuses on applying AI, data, and conversion optimization to improve customer acquisition, strengthen operational efficiency, and drive profitable growth. His experience across both manufacturing and ecommerce gives him a practical perspective on profitably building and scaling consumer brands.
Wednesday, February 24, 2027
10:25 AM Keynote Panel: Where the Money Goes: Funding What Your Customers Actually Value
Every major retail bet right now comes down to the same question: stores, technology, or inventory, and in what order. This session brings C-suite retail executives together to share how they are making those calls, what they got wrong the first time, and how the criteria for investment have shifted as the cost of being wrong on any one of them has gone up.
- Sequencing store, technology, and inventory investment when the business case for each competes for the same pool of capital
- Deciding when a digital transformation investment has earned the next tranche versus when to cut and redeploy
- Building inventory strategy that protects margin and customer promise without tying up capital in the wrong places
- Presenting capital allocation trade-offs to a board that wants growth and efficiency from the same budget
Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Michael.
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