The 2019 Retail Innovation
Conference, set to take place a little more than two months from now
on May 6-8 in NYC, will give retail executives the chance to gain key insights
from today’s leading industry innovators, to help them meet and exceed their
own business goals.
As past RIC events have shown, there are plenty of “a-ha”
moments from the thought-provoking keynotes, panel discussions, breakout
sessions, Store
Tours — and even from fellow attendees during the event’s many networking
opportunities.
The RTP editors
share their favorite memories from past RIC events, and why they stood out.
What will you remember best from RIC 2019?
Debbie Hauss, Executive Director, Content: Each year, I’m excited to bring together a variety of retail leaders, experts and innovators to share their stories and motivate their colleagues. I’m looking forward to hearing from our fantastic speaker lineup May 7 and 8. One feature of the event that I’m particularly thrilled about for RIC19 is our exclusive annual Store Tours, scheduled for Monday, May 6. This year we’re bringing groups of execs to the newest retail destination in New York City
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Hudson Yards! I toured the site (still under construction) last week and I know it’s going to be an impressive, unique first-time look at some of the most innovative retail spaces in the center of the retail world. We’ll be announcing the tour visits shortly, so stay tuned and register for RIC19 to secure your spot!
Adam Blair, Editor:
My sharpest memory of the Retail Innovation Conference goes a long way back, to
May 2016 (well, that feels like a long time ago). Keynote
speaker Ken Hughes came up with what I consider a
perfect explanatory metaphor for the ways consumer attitudes and behavior have
changed: the “Blue Dot.” He unfolded a clumsy paper map (remember those?) and
noted that in order to use one, an individual had to know where he was
in relation to the wider world. But Google Maps, etc. now automatically
place each consumer at the center of the map, creating a “you are here”
Blue Dot. “That consumer is not a small part of a big world; they are the
world, and they are at its center,” said Hughes. “Today in retail, everything
is about the shopper.” The expectations consumers have today — not just that
they are at the center of the world, but that they can expect to be guided
through their journeys/transactions, step by step — seem even more relevant in
2019 as they did nearly three years ago.
Glenn Taylor, Senior
Editor: Last year, I covered
a session with analyst/consultant Steven Dennis, in which he
explained a lot of the challenges many retailers were experiencing in the midst
of Amazon’s growth. The session stood out so vividly because this RIC was the
first one following all the “retail apocalypse” doom-and-gloom headlines of
2017. It was good to see a lot of the reasons why companies had faltered, and
what they could learn going ahead. Of all the pieces of advice for what
retailers needed to do, Steve’s was some of the bluntest —
“don’t be boring.” Steve gave seven steps, with real-world examples, showing
how retailers could ensure they weren’t boring or “straddling the middle,”
where they “end up not really good at anything.” At a time when many retailers
were scrambling to figure out their own strategy for relevance, this session
hit hard with practical advice that I keep note of whenever I see retailers
continuing to struggle.
Bryan Wassel,
Associate Editor: For me, the most memorable speaker at RIC18 was Chris
McCann, President and CEO of 1-800-Flowers.com, who explained how
his company has remained ahead of the curve for more than three decades. That,
to me, was at the heart of innovation: not just hopping on the latest trend and
riding it for as long as you can, but actively searching for each upcoming
breakthrough and getting in on the ground floor. Even the company’s name tells
that journey, combining the well-known 1-800-Flowers brand with an
acknowledgement that e-Commerce has completely supplanted phone-based and
catalog retailing. This was the retailer that was investing in mobile
technology during the Great Recession — a time when its competitors were
cutting back and smartphones were still in their infancy. That fact has made
McCann’s observations stick with me, and I think retailers would do well to
follow in the company’s footsteps and get their conversational commerce
platforms up to speed.
