In partnership with the brand new RetailX event (the
co-location of IRCE, GlobalShop and RFID Journal Live! Retail), Retail
TouchPoints is hosting Retail
TouchPoints Live! @ RetailX for the first time June
25-26 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The event includes three content tracks
focusing on the next gen store, omnichannel optimization and digital
transformation, and is designed to create a forum addressing the
convergence of physical and digital shopping experiences.
Speakers from retailers such as BJ’s Wholesale Club, Under
Armour, Hibbett Sports, Moosejaw and Adore Me will
share the stage with analysts from BRP Consulting, HighStreet Collective and
A.T. Kearney, among many others. The RTP editors share which sessions
they’re most looking forward to at Retail TouchPoints Live!
Adam Blair, Editor: Surveying the session
offerings for the debut of Retail TouchPoints Live! in Chicago
next week is a bit like reading a restaurant menu when you’ve got the munchies:
everything looks so good. But I’ll force myself to choose two tasty
items: Driving A Decent Specialty Approach At the World’s Largest
Retailer (While Still Remaining Well-Coiffed), with Moosejaw’s
Dan Pingree revealing how the often edgy outdoors retailer is (hopefully)
keeping its identity within an e-Commerce structure known for selling
commodity-type consumables, a.k.a. Walmart.com. Given the
recent absorption of Jet.com into Walmart, the session is quite
topical. I’m also looking forward to Delivering A Consistent Customer
Experience In A Complex Environment with Todd Sasala of Cedar Fair
Entertainment. The ability to delight visitors in an amusement park’s
multiple locations and situations sounds like it will be a great object lesson
for retailers trying to create engaged, relevant customer journeys in
increasingly experiential stores.
Glenn Taylor, Senior Editor: Being stuck in that
middle ground of not being cheap enough while also not being differentiated
enough is a harsh pit that no retailer wants to fall into. When it comes to
those that do compete on price, even that is no longer enough to win the
wallets of consumers. Many retailers seeking to compete on price are competing
on just that factor, so I’m definitely curious to see what the session titled Breaking
The Chains Of Price & Convenience With Omnichannel Experience has to
offer. I think of companies like TJX and Dollar General that have
done so well under their business models, simply because they offer things that
can be found elsewhere — but for much lower prices. I wonder if other retailers
can make headway in these verticals with the takeaways from this session. In
the case of pricing and convenience, breaking conventions and making your own
rules can often be a major risk, especially from a profitability standpoint, so
I’d love to see where retailers can possibly mitigate that risk.
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Bryan Wassel, Associate Editor: While Amazon Go
has certainly generated a lot of buzz and a few other companies have launched
their own takes on the format, the cashierless store has yet to take off. I’m
not sure if this is a matter of cost, technology, or other factors, but I feel
like the Will Cashierless Stores Dominate New Spaces? session has the
right team of experts to shed some light on this trend and discuss what the
future holds. Scan-and-go technology is not without its downsides, and new,
previously unconsidered problems may crop up as more stores appear, but there
will be unforeseen benefits as well. Innovators from companies like Third
Haus and Innowi have a good grasp on what’s possible and likely in
the future of retail; this should add some grounding in the realistically possible
to this discussion of what is yet to come. The panel also will discuss best
practices for designing the checkout experience itself, which will practical
info for retailers that are just starting to explore these concepts.
