Gone are the days when retailers sold primarily through brick and mortar, and online was an afterthought. Today’s successful retailers often have to juggle a variety of selling channels -- from your own website and stores, to wholesale retailers to online marketplaces. That makes it harder than ever for companies to know where to invest their time and money.
At the Modern Retail Summit LIVE, retail executives will come together virtually to discuss effective strategies for driving sales by building a loyal customer base both online and offline. What role should your stores play? How can you acquire the most customers without burning through your marketing budget? What changes can you make to your website that will improve conversion?
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Welcome to the Modern Retail Summit. Kick off the event by joining our editorial team and other attendees in a working session of your choice on Zoom. Please be prepared to participate and bring your own challenges and solutions to the table.
Soon, it will be more difficult to target customers online thanks to software updates and new laws. Brands still need to figure out how to find new shoppers. In this room, we’ll talk about what preparations brands are making, as well as fears (and solutions!) on the horizon.
Michelle Horowitz
CMO
BLINK FITNESS
Brands are trying to find their customers where they are — and there sure are a lot of places. Some have been testing out TikTok, others looking into other types of video platforms. In this room, we’ll look at where experimental marketing budgets are going and talk about what new marketing channels and strategies are working.
Cale Weissman
EDITOR
MODERN RETAIL
2020 was an unpredictable year, but what does 2021 hold? Walmart CMO, William White will take us through how customer behavior evolved out of 2020 and what will stick through 2021. We'll also discuss how to reach the average consumer in our "new normal".
William White
CMO
WALMART
Free People, a bohemian apparel and lifestyle brand under the URBN portfolio, has over 200 locations throughout the US and Canada, in addition to an e-commerce website—and knows how important it is to have a comprehensive omnichannel marketing strategy. This session will explore how Free People uses text message marketing to deliver relevant content—including geo-targeted messages—that engages consumers and drives conversions, allowing the brand to build a loyal customer base both online and offline.
Sandy Eisen
DIRECTOR OF CLIENT STRATEGY
ATTENTIVE
Chris Worthington
SR. DIRECTOR GLOBAL MARKETING & ANALYTICS
FREE PEOPLE
In this session, Krista Bourne, svp of consumer sales and operations at Verizon will take us through how the brand was able to quickly pivot to touchless retail at the beginning of the pandemic and how this trend has helped the brand rethink how it approaches its retail presence.
Krista Bourne
PRESIDENT & SVP, SALES & OPERATIONS
VERIZON
While renting furniture isn’t a totally new concept, the business model is stale and hasn’t been adapted to meet the needs and wants of today’s consumer— until now. Feather’s key marketing goal is to dispel the myths around furniture rental and communicate what makes it such a compelling concept to a new wave of consumers who care about value, experience and sustainability. In this session, Jinal Shah will discuss the challenges of changing consumer behavior through the lens of companies who have come before.
Jinal Shah
VP, MARKETING & GROWTH
FEATHER
Anxious purchases and newfound hobbies. Dramatic increases in online shopping across the generations. So much athleisure. 2020 was a year of constant upheaval as consumer habits changed overnight. So, as more Americans are vaccinated each day, what will getting back to normal look like in the retail industry? What will stay changed, perhaps for the better? Who is the disrupted consumer and what do they value? How will those values inform the evolution of the retail experience? Join AI-driven marketing expert Ericka Podesta McCoy, Resonate CMO, to learn how to connect with a disrupted retail consumer on a level that goes deeper than loyalty programs and curbside pick-up.
Ericka Podesta McCoy
CHIEF MARKTING OFFICER
RESONATE
In 2020 the spirits industry faced a huge shift with the closure of bars and restaurants around the world. This caused a seismic shift in consumer purchase behavior – with spirit e-commerce partners like Drizly and Instacart seeing sales up by 300-500%. The premium spirits category had always been slow to sell via e-commerce, but the growth and activity expected to build in e-commerce in over two years took only two weeks. In this session, Martin De Dreuille from Grey Goose will take us through how his team was able to adapt to this shift and what lessons they are continuing to learn moving forward.
Martin de Dreuille
VP, GLOBAL MARKETING
GREY GOOSE
eCommerce marketplaces provide invaluable marketing and advertising opportunities. But not all retailer goals are the same and not all marketplaces are created equal. Join Scott Kelliher, Head of Brand Partnerships and Advertising as he breaks down how the right channel and ad solutions mix can help drive sales at the highest efficiency.
Scott Kelliher
HEAD OF U.S . BRAND ADVERTISING & PARTNERSHIPS
EBAY ADS
In this session, an exec will discuss how the company has honed its voice to both engage customers and sell product via social media. It’s not a one-size-fits-all model, and instead focuses on each channel. In a world where brand voice is everything, it’s important to be able to stand out among the crowded space that is social media.
Physical retail isn’t dead, it’s just changing. This brand exec will discuss how the brand has leveraged traditional distribution networks -- including big box retail, and department stores -- while also growing a robust business online.
In this session, StoreBound CEO Evan Dash will take us through how his team has been able to win the hearts of new consumers first on Instagram, and now on TikTok and how the brand has found growth within niche social media communities. We'll hear about how the brand has been able to expand upon the success and attention of that one of their tentpole products has created.
Evan Dash
CEO
STOREBOUND
With a focus on combining online and offline information, this session will dive into why Lucky Brand and others across the industry are placing customer data at the center of their tech ecosystem. Learn what business goals are supporting this strategy plus key insights gained as brands are looking to engage customers, new and old, in a post-pandemic world.
Karilyn Anderson
VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MARKETING & CRM
SPARC GROUP
Jeanne Jones
HEAD OF CUSTOMER COMMUNITY
AMPERITY
Given the current global climate, what has the impact been on making sure your customers are still purchasing and receiving orders? Hear from one exec as they outline their supply chain strategy.
In the current retail climate, it is more important than ever that brands are leveraging data to strengthen their understanding of the customer and inform their strategies. Not comprising on digital is a key component to the success of your business and the experience it provides to a diverse audience.
As artificial intelligence continues to weave its way into eCommerce, companies are already using chat-bots to automate tasks around the digital customer experience. However, it will be critical to find a balance between human interaction and automation. To develop loyal, repeat customers, online businesses need to personalize their interactions with each customer and offer many different ways for customer’s to contact customer service to reach their needs as quickly as possible.
Julia Whatley
PARTNER MANAGER
GORGIAS
How can you make your users into your brand’s biggest advocates and establish a steady stream of quality user-generated content? Hear from a retail exec about how their brand is turning their casual consumers into evangelists by fostering community and threading purpose-driven marketing into a new initiative.
Are you a brand executive interested in speaking? Contact Cayley Plotkin.
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