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What’s Next for Retail in 2023

Ethan and Robin are at it again! Register now for the next installment of our conversation with Robin Lewis and Ethan Chernofsky, chief marketer of Placer.ai. They will discuss how to leverage the latest location analytics to understand what’s ahead for retail in 2023. They’ll dive into the key lessons from the holiday season, the brands and segments best positioned, the strategies impacting brick-and-mortar performance, and the biggest trends that will define the year to come.

Smart: The intelligent Store

Strategically, the intelligent store will forever change retail operations. This online forum, Smart: The Intelligent Store, sponsored by Blue Yonder will enlighten you about how technology is changing the retail landscape, for the better. Today’s store is much more than a place to buy goods, it’s an integral part of the omnichannel shopping experience. Online retailing isn’t eliminating brick-and-mortar, in fact retailers that take a holistic approach to all their sales channels can deliver exceptional shopping experiences no matter how their customers shop. This can only be done by investing in store innovations that bring the power of digital to the physical shopping experience. Join Robin Lewis and a master in high-tech performance with a human touch, Andrew Laudato, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, The Vitamin Shoppe with a Q/A moderated by Dave Hamilton, Sr. Director Retail Industry Strategy, Blue Yonder.

Dave Hamilton, Sr. Director Retail Industry Strategy, Blue Yonder
Dave Hamilton is a seasoned retail leader with deep domain experience in store operations. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, as a store operations leader, he completed the implementation of a new POS system, task management, workforce management, omni-channel (BOPIS/Delivery) process, and a private label credit card program for a $4B retailer. In other roles, both business and IT, Dave has established and executed similar transformations, accelerated business performance improvements by elevating operating team capabilities from technology adoption and process integration using a people, process and technology first approach. Dave is trained as a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma and PROSCI Change management.
Andrew Laudato, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, The Vitamin Shoppe
Andrew Laudato started his career as a computer programmer and quickly realized he was as passionate about business as he is about technology. The intersection of business and technology is where innovation happens and where people and companies succeed. After spending more than 20 years as a CIO/CTO, he currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Vitamin Shoppe. In this role, he leads operations across digital commerce, information technology, enterprise portfolio management, supply chain, strategic sourcing, and commercialization. Laudato is a member of the CNBC technology executive council, the New York City CIO executive council, and a founding member of the George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation. In addition, he serves on the board of Lideranca, a private company focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. He recently published Fostering Innovation: How to Build an Amazing IT Team.
What a company stands for matters more than ever. Retail has a long history of being bad for the environment, whether it’s food waste or fast fashion. To appeal to customers that prioritize sustainability, sustainable practices must be embedded into every aspect of the retail experience. Join Robin Lewis and Suzanne Long, Chief Sustainability and Transformation Officer at the Albertsons Companies, and Jon Carson, Senior Vice President, Strategy at Blue Yonder, to learn how the food industry is a pioneer in identifying and adapting sustainability practices that redefine fresh, rethink resources packaging and waste, and respond to demanding customers who judge a business by what it stands for. It’s a lively conversation with a surprising outcome.

Suzanne Long is Chief Sustainability and Transformation Officer at the Albertsons Companies, the nation’s third largest food and drug retailer. She is responsible for driving both the company’s ESG strategy and a variety of enterprise initiatives. She joined Albertsons in 2001, leading the company’s Lean Six Sigma program – this first of its kind in the food and drug industry. In 2008 she became the Retail Practice Leader for the consulting firm SSA & Company, directing engagements with clients such as Kroger, Harris Teeter, Staples and Office Depot.
She began her career at Accenture consulting for Fortune 100 companies. Suzanne graduated from Duke with honors and currently serves on three non-profit boards and is a member of the EDGE Advisory Board at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
Jon Carson is Senior Vice President, Strategy at Blue Yonder. Jon joined JDA Software, now Blue Yonder, in 2001 as a Retail Business Consultant. Currently he leads the strategy and operations functions for the Americas. He is a collaborative partner to customers and works with his team and strategic partners to ensure customers are achieving maximum business value from their Blue Yonder solutions. Throughout his career, he has worked on numerous digital and supply chain transformation projects with leading global retail clients, including Walmart, Lowe’s, Advance Auto, Office Depot, Loblaws, Albertson’s, Macy’s and TJX. He started his retail career over three decades ago at Harold’s Stores. Jon also serves on the Board of Directors for the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

Microplastic Pollution: A Constant Threat

A Thought Leadership Forum

Sponsored by Cotton Incorporated

In Partnership with FIT

Microplastic pollution is one of the single most critical threats to climate change…and among the least understood by the general public. Microplastic pollution from synthetic textiles can be found all over the world — from Mount Everest, the highest point on the planet, to the Mariana Trench, the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. The dangers of microplastics are cannot be understated — synthetic textiles are now responsible for 35% of the microplastics found in the oceans, and If plastic pollution continues unchecked, there may be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050. Even worse, in a study this year, microplastics were found in human blood.

This thought leadership forum takes a broad look at the intersection of microplastics and biodegradation research as well as how consumer demand is impacting how science and sourcing play roles in the future of sustainability.

Watch and learn from our experts who will deconstruct the problems, recommend solutions and present action plans for the retail industry as well as consumers to reverse the microplastic pollution tide.

You Know Something’s Happening, But Do You Know What It Is?

It started with pandemic and supply chain chaos. Now, inflation, recession, and Inventory overflow. Next? Disruptions and uncertainty — the new normal. So, how do you keep your business agile in a rapidly shifting marketplace? Join First Insight CEO Greg Petro and Robin Lewis in a dynamic discussion on what happened when retail worldwide was caught unprepared, what’s happening now, and a prediction of what’s to come.

Playbook on How to Choose and Use Data

Digital transformation is table stakes. And for the last several years, the retail industry has been touting how AI powered analytics will transform all facets of the business. But exactly how does a retailer go about leveraging their data and introducing analytics in functional disciplines that have relied on gut instinct and intuition to drive results? Drawing from the journeys of several leading retailers, you’ll hear how a data strategy is a key competitive edge in a digital marketplace.

  • Which data to leverage and how to monetize customer data.
  • Where can AI best be used to impact the customer experience.
  • How to approach the change management challenge of introducing AI Powered Analytics into the organization.

Join Robin Lewis, Anjali Burkins, retail strategy advisor at o9 Solutions, Rich Pedott, partner at Columbus Consulting and host, Professor Catherine Geib at FIT as they discuss the power and limitations of AI powered analytics and how this data must be incorporated into a holistic process that maximizes the unique workforce talents that exist in every organization.

An Exclusive Interview with Marc Mastronardi, Chief Stores Officer at Macy’s

Resetting the New Rules of Retail

Welcome to Retail 2022. Four key systemic solutions will unlock retail success in 2022.

  • Sustainability: The Shape of the Future
  • Strategy: Managing Disruption
  • Service: The Customer Experience
  • Smart: The Intelligent Store

Robin Lewis and Marc Mastronardi talk straight talk about Service: The Customer Experience. Putting your customers at the center of everything that you do helps you meet the expectations of all stakeholders. It starts by truly understanding your customers, their priorities, and what drives buying behavior — and then building that intelligence into all your planning and executing decisions, every day. Learn from Marc how extraordinary customer service can be mastered through the art and science of retail in an omni-ecosystem designed to meet customers where they are. This wide-ranging conversation focuses on the physical store‘s role in the customer journey built on four pillars: discovery, service, engagement, and convenience. Agile and courageous, Marc plays by new rules and responding to demanding, savvy consumers who have set the pace for an upgraded retail experience.

Presented by Blue Yonder

Predicting the Future: Retail Status Check on How Bad Has It Been, What’s Real, and What’s Fleeting

Ethan and Robin are back with another deep dive into the most contentious topics in retail 2022. They shed some needed insight on what’s real and lasting…and what’s just a temporary result of our current marketplace environment. From the retailers and segments positioned for long-term success to the trends that will define the coming holiday season, our two industry experts break down the most important topics, informed and validated by a data-driven perspective.

Ethan Chernofsky and Robin Lewis are back with a new online conversation about the state of retail.

What’s the update? Retail’s 2022 Kick-Off, New Challenges and Opportunities is a dive into what’s shaping the retail experience. Find out how the triple threat of Covid, inflation, and rising gas prices are going to impact growth across retail. Robin and Ethan will examine the sectors and retailers that have shown strength, those that have seen visits lag, and break down the reasons why. Listen, learn and take advantage of this live, online opportunity to ask the experts after the presentation.

Catch Robin Lewis and Ethan Chernofsky of Placer.ai and their fascinating webcast on how retail shaped up this year and a prediction of things to come. They have a candid conversation about what retailers are doing well, surprising brands that were sleepers over the past year, and the prospect for physical retail (optimistic, by the way).

Robin Lewis and Ethan Chernofsky of Placer.ai Reveal All on the Retail Recovery!

Robin Lewis and Ethan Chernofsky, VP of Marketing at Placer.ai return with the next installment of what’s in store for retail. They take an insightful look at “Retail’s Recovery: The Sectors, Brands and Ideas Leading the Way.” No guesswork here, they break down the latest location data from the retail industry to analyze the top-performing brands and sectors, the trends driving their success, and what it all means moving forward. You’ll have the chance to ask questions, real-time, to dig deeper into the winners and losers emerging from the pandemic.

FIND OUT MORE AT PLACER.AI

Pathr and Spatial Intelligence

Do You Know Where Your Customers Are?

Tech innovations reveal insights about your customers that you may not see in plain sight. In-person analytics should be as common for each retailer as online analytics are for their websites. How do retailers measure and leverage the shifts in consumer behavior as cities and businesses reopen? Join special guests George Shaw, CEO of Pathr, Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR’s chief strategist as they explore how algorithm-based spatial intelligence provides meaningful insights to help understand live customer interactions in real time, increase sales, decrease losses and manage your workforce.

FIND OUT MORE AT PATHR.AI

Open-Source Collaboration: The Future of Retail

Continuous retail transformation thrives through open collaboration. Partnerships are the acceleration tools retail needs to compete in a dynamic digital marketplace. Going it alone can limit and even repress your ability to lead change, transform and remain competitive. Consider this: You have no shortage of data but lack the insights and intelligence that connect it real-time and make it relevant. You can try to hack through it alone or streamline the process. Join Robin Lewis in a revealing conversation with Nelson Petracek, CTO at TIBCO and Stacey Shulman, Vice President Internet of Things Group at Intel, who share their story on how their collaboration has led to a breakthrough tech innovation for retailers of any size. And learn more about the open-source collaboration between Intel and TIBCO.

What Happened, What’s Coming?
A Deep Dive into Offline Retail

Originally aired December 15, 2020

Trying to figure out evolving consumer trends and how the pandemic has changed brick-and-mortar retail? Join us for an insightful look at what happened this Holiday sales season and how it may influence physical retail going forward. Who are the real winners and losers? We also took a look at what’s going on in the major U.S. malls and predictions about the future of the retail industry. Robin Lewis is in conversation with Ethan Chernofsky, VP of Marketing at Placer.ai. to dissect, deconstruct and make sense of the turbulent world of retail.

FIND OUT MORE AT PLACER.AI

Holiday 2020: Fasten Your Seat Belts!

With the retail industry reeling from the converging storm fronts of a global health crisis, massive economic disruption and ongoing civil unrest, Holiday 2020 will be unpredictable, at best. Will consumers have enough discretionary spending power to make the last sprint of the year profitable for retail? Better yet, will customers have the appetite to buy to overcompensate for the past nine months, or will they hold back?

Robin Lewis and his guests, Jennifer Davis, Managing Director, Head of Retail Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, Dick Johnson, CEO Footlocker and Steve Sadove, former Chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue and now head of his own consulting firm, Stephen Sadove and Associates, discussed the future of retail through the prism of Holiday 2020. They took a deep dive into the key socio-economic issues that will influence Holiday including the election, pandemic and consumer confidence, along with operational challenges including supply chain, inventory, distribution, fulfillment, staffing and store closures. They deconstructed how inspired leadership and innovation will play a starring role in re-engineering Holiday 2020.

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Copyright © 2023 · Robin Lewis, Inc. All rights reserved. Copying or reproducing, by any means whatsoever, of The Robin Report, or any distribution hereof, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of Robin Lewis, Inc. is strictly prohibited. The Robin Report is published for senior executives in the retail, fashion, beauty, consumer products and related industries. The opinions expressed herein are not, and should not be construed as investment or other advice. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice.

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