09:00

WELCOME ADDRESS

09:05

SETTING THE SCENE: Keeping Up with the Consumer

Consumer behaviour, trends and forecasts

09:30

DRAPERS RESEARCH: The Connected Consumer

Rebecca Thompson, Head of Commercial Content, Drapers Head of Commercial Content, Drapers

09:40

POWER TALK: The Levi Strauss & Co Change-It-Up Consumer Journey

 Richard Hurren, Vice President & Managing Director North Europe, Levi Strauss & Co.

10:10

POWER TALK: TBA

10:30

PANEL DISCUSSION: CX Marks the Spot - Customer-Centricity Goes Mainstream

It wouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that customer experience is just as important today as product and service. Consumers are looking for a more compelling shopping experience and retailers are looking for new ways to give it to them. From storytelling, to offering interactive and technology-focussed touchpoints, what’s the secret? How can you connect with customers in different and innovative ways? The customer-centric model offers a robust solution that enables retailers to determine what their customers want and also deliver it – with speed and at scale. So, can offering an exceptional customer experience go mainstream?

PANEL: Paul Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, Seasalt

John Boumphrey, Vice President, Amazon Fashion Europe

Greg Petro, President & CEO, First Insight

11.40   POWER TALK:

TBA

11.40   WORKSHOP A: TBA

Sailthru

11.40   WORKSHOP B:

12.00   PANEL DISCUSSION: Retailvention - The Transformation of Bricks & Mortar Retail

Given the continuous talk of a retail apocalypse and the closure of major stores in recent years due to the digitisation of shopping and the shift in consumer behaviour, fashion retailers have had to look to new ways to innovate in the traditional store space. With more brands moving from the online to offline world, retailers have had to revamp stores or introduce new features to increase foot traffic to bricks-and-mortar stores. Whether it’s increasing investment on in-store technology, streamlining service, or focussing on new product lines to further enhance the customer experience, how are forward-thinking retailers reinventing bricks & mortar stores to appeal to tomorrow’s consumer today?

PANEL: Peter Ruis, Managing Director of International, Anthropologie

Victoria Suffield, Founder, The Hambledon

Talbot Logan, Senior Vice President of Brand Management, Ben Sherman

Hannah Mercer, Vice President of Retail Operations, Adidas

12.20   SPOTLIGHT SESSION:  

Tobias Buxhoidt, Chief Executive Officer, parcelLab

12.20   CAMPFIRE SESSION:  Cultivating an Emotional Connection with your Customer

An emotional connection is the foundation for brand loyalty. Customers with a strong bond and brand loyalty have been shown to be more invested in a brand - and its success. They buy more products, visit the website or physical store more often, are less sensitive to price, and recommend your brand to more people in their social circles. So how do you go about creating that personal connection with your customer? 

Linzi Boyd, Founder, The BoB Group

12.40   SUCCESS STORIES: Collaborate to Innovate

Brands and retailers are overwhelmed with a constant pace of change; from shifting market expectations to increasing consumer demand. This talk will discuss how Pentland Brands has deployed a disruptive mindset to stay relevant in an ever-evolving environment.

Chirag Patel, Chief Operating Officer, Pentland Brands

Emily Haynes, Head of Ideas Incubation, Pentland Brands

12.40   SPOTLIGHT SESSION: 

Olga Kotsur, Chief Executive Officer, Mercaux

STAGE ONE

The Big Picture

STAGE TWO

Keeping it Practical

14.00   SUCCESS STORIES: Making it Personal

The Tiffany & Co. Style Studio

Learning lessons on CX and the ‘personal experience’ from other sectors

Barratt West, Vice President & Managing Director UK & Ireland, Tiffany & Co.

14.00   THE SOLUTION ROOM: Fixing Tomorrow's Problem's Today

Participants will work together to debate and brainstorm solutions to a problem or challenge the industry is currently facing. Teams will collaborate to offer advice and a solution drawing on their own experiences, practices and knowledge.

PROBLEM: To Sale or Not to Sale

Consumers are smarter and savvier than ever before, and we all know that they love a bargain, but what effect do discounts and sales have on your brand? Should retailers re-evaluate their sale/discount strategy?

PROBLEM: Innovating Online vs. Offline

With traditional retailers closing physical stores and moving into the online space, and online-only brands entering the world of bricks & mortar, the retail landscape has flipped on its axis and it can be difficult to decide what to do next. What’s the best strategy?

PROBLEM: How Much is Too Much?

With retailers delivering such high levels of service and convenience, are they becoming unsustainably expensive?

PROBLEM: Is Being Sustainable...Sustainable?

Despite the significant progress being made by brands and retailers to minimise their impact on the environment, one of the biggest hurdles faced by sustainable fashion brands is the high production costs due to increased input costs. Is it possible for brands to adopt sustainable back-end operations in a cost-effective way?

15.00   PROBLEM SOLVED

Team facilitators will feed back to the wider audience on the problem at hand and how their team came to a joint solution.

14.15   SUCCESS STORIES: Building a Brand for the Digital Age

Digital technology has transformed whole industries from music to entertainment to travel, fashion and beauty. In this exciting time, consumer behavior has changed forever, and brands must adapt to this new world. As platforms and marketplaces dominate, the rules of engagement have changed. It's no longer about talking to one customer segment but to many, not about having one identity or look and feel, but many. In this complex and ever-changing world, brands must adapt to the new digital-first landscape.  

Jonathan Ng, Director Marketing Strategy & Campaigns, Zalando

14.30   PANEL DISCUSSION: A New Era of Advertising - An Evolving Landscape

The rise of social media opened up a unique platform for brands and retailers to interact directly with customers and has proven to be a valuable tool for them to not only connect with their customer-base in real-time, but to also promote their brands to a wider and more engaged audience. Traditional advertising methods were no longer the most efficient and cost-effective way of reaching a customer base with spend vs. ROI of social campaigns proving to be much more successful than TV or print ads. However, some would argue that the replacement methods and tools – such as influencer and social marketing – have opened up a whole new world of challenges as an increasingly crowded market and battling against algorithms has in fact made it harder to fight your way to the top of your customer’s feed. With some brands dropping TV advertising and others giving up on social – where should fashion retailers be putting their advertising spend to get the best ROI? 

PANEL: Mike Branney, Managing Director, Oh Polly

Sara Lewis, Global Brand Director, Fashion Concierge | Farfetch

Tom Beahon, Founder, Castore

15.10   PROBLEM SOLVED: Clipper

16:00

POWER TALK: Crash & Turn

A retail turn-around story

16:30

INTERVIEW: TBA