Tomáš Jindříšek, Managing Partner, Dark Side
Has loyalty become a forgotten dream of retailers and brands, or on the contrary, is it highly topical even today? Is digitalization a huge killer or vice versa a new opportunity for building a stronger relationship with consumers? What disruptive innovations in the area of loyalty building and balanced marketing are functional today and what will come tomorrow?
Martina Kirchrathová, Co-Owner, Carpe Diem
Balanced logistics, taking into account the interests of all actors in the value chain, is a major theme that will be discussed with the regard to the benefits of the latest technologies. Discussion will also deal with new issues, such as the urban transport congestion. The topics of future green city logistics or fleet management will be logically covered as well.
Tomáš Krásný, Managing Partner, Blue Events
The discussion on who the winner is, whether the brick & mortar store or e-shop, is already dead. The future is in retail business, which allows consumers to shop anywhere, anytime and anyhow. Therefore, both online and offline, via mobile or PC, in a small convenience shop or in a giant shopping centre, just wherever it meets the needs of a shopper at that moment. Words, such as multichannel and omnichannel are already "out", what is "in" now is called Seamless retailing. But what does it actually mean?
Radek Sazama, Director of Retail Chamber, SOCR ČR
A brick &mortar store is no longer doomed to be the rival of an e-shop. The current technology development allows to bring digital transformation to traditional stores - the places that according to original forecasts should have been destroyed by internet. This part of the Conference will focus on how the world 4.0 can upgrade the brick & mortar store so that it is fully competitive with e-shop.
Jan Hejtmánek, Senior Manager, Deloitte
Robotics is developing in rapid steps, and even in retail segment there are series of real deployment, from which it is possible to learn and take examples. It is therefore the right moment for experts and active users of Robotics to discuss what was successfully automated in retail operations and what leads to success. The discussion will deal with impacts of robots and solutions with elements of artificial intelligence on various human activities, what it all means for the people in retail, and how it will change their workload and demands on their knowledge in future.
Jaroslav Tamchyna, Director, Czech Institute for Franchising
Franchising is becoming a hotter topic than ever before – this form of business represents the optimal way of sharing know-how, brand, technology and contacts. It also provides the ideal balance between global and local, and also between the risks and benefits of a stand-alone business. It is simply a golden rule between the certainty of the Corporation and the freedom of independent entrepreneurship.
Tomáš Drtina, Managing Director, GfK
Shopping centres are experiencing a very good period, which is determined by the strong market boom. However, once the demand explosion is logically over – are shopping centres ready for the future? How to cope with the growing digitalization? What other major trends can be expected in this dynamic industry?
Zdeněk Skála, Research Director Retail & Shopper, GfK
The debate on whether the Czech consumers prefer price or quality, has been dragging on for years and (logically) does not lead to anything. Also the definition of what quality actually means, is problematic. There is often a crucial difference between "production" definition of the quality standards and the perception of consumers. What the consumer does truly want? The maximum possible for the least money? Or are they willing to pay extra for a "foreign quality"? And what about the Czech or regional origin?
Tomáš Poucha, Managing Director, Marketing institute
Constantly we hear that stores of new generation will be equipped with a variety of technologies that recognize the customer and will communicate with him more effectively. They will be full of sensors, cloud technology and artificial intelligence. What is just a wish of marketers, and what customers really want? How, by what and from when can we improve the customer experience in retail, and also online? The panel will look at the issue from the perspective of technologies, their usefulness and benefit, but also from the perspective of the customers, their expectations and wishes.
Elvíra Čermáková, university teacher, University of Economics in Prague
Cooperation between retailers and suppliers is the eternal theme that has been resounding at Retail Summit and other forums for a long time. May new technology finally bring the hoped-for improvement and support of cooperation? In what areas? And can the current legislative pressure on the better waste management be a good drive for better collaboration in general?
Ondřej Žák, Associate Partner, EY
One of the retail market key balances is the relationship between the need to personalize the offer and the need to protect the personal data of customers. What will be the impact of the forthcoming tightening rules by the European directive GDPR? Will it mean the end of all efforts to promote better understanding of consumers and to provide higher-quality customer experience? And how to avoid big troubles and draconian fines?
Martin Dokoupil, Partner, Blue Strategy
New technology is attacking us from all directions, yet it is more and more clear that the future success in retail business still depends mainly on the people. However, how to get, motivate and maintain good quality people in today's highly saturated job market? And most importantly: how to develop, educate and prepare them for the increasingly complex market of tomorrow, where current knowledge and skills will not be enough.