World Retail Congress is an invaluable and important meeting place for anyone leading a retail business today. For 12 years, the world's most important retail companies come together with industry experts and top academics to deliver three dynamic days that provide thought-provoking content, actionable insights and strategies for your business today and in the future.
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An excellent and invaluable opportunity to connect, share and learn from the best retailers and experts in the world.”
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The most interesting retail event I’ve participated in for a very long time. Well done!
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The content here is so wonderful, it’s so amazing and inspiring.
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The best learning experience in retail that I had; the Congress gained me several years of experience in only 3 days.
Congress Insights
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Q: In the Global Powers of Retailing report, you stated that you thought the global economy finished 2018 at a turning point and could be entering difficult times. This is in contrast to the optimism ... -
Eight trends for 2019 The focus for the 2019 World Retail Congress is High Velocity Retail. In describing the ever-faster pace of change that is impacting on retailing, the theme also describes a new ... -
Discussing the future of malls at a special real estate session, Centennial Real Estate Founder & CEO Steven Levin said that the complexity around click and collect, customers returning goods to store ... -
Fleischer said that the organisation has made a shift from 95% in-kind benefit to 30% cash in many poverty-stricken markets and decsribed Syria as “the big change” in policy, when the body worked with ... -
“People ask me: ‘How did you do that?’ There’s no bias, it’s just based on performance,” Alber told the World Retail Congress in Madrid. “We want you to perform and you damn well better form.” Alber, ... -
Some retailers’ websites take about 20 seconds to load – the online equivalent of a long queue at a till in a physical store, Martijn Bertisen said. Websites shouldn’t take more than three seconds to ... -
Alber joined Pottery Barn as its Senior Buyer in 1995, going on to a newly-created role as President of Williams-Sonoma, leading its global supply chain, distribution and logistics before becoming Chi ... -
Kingfisher Chief Executive Veronique Laury laid out stark choices for retailers if they wish to thrive in the future, in a wide-ranging discussion at the World Retail Congress in Madrid yesterday. Alt ... -
The Chinese government has brought in developers to connect China to Russia by rail. There will also be better access by sea to the country from Africa and the Mediterranean, through the Silk Road pro ... -
Delivering the opening talk at the second day of the World Retail Congress in Madrid, he flagged India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Panama as markets with strong pote ... -
“We hear that if as a customer we are not engaged then we don't count. We also hear that retailers are here not to sell us stuuf, but to save the planet,” he said. “I would say that's hogwash.” While ... -
I was very happy to be invited to the recent World Retail Conference in Madrid to give a short talk entitled ‘KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid’. Kelly Johnson, who was the lead engineer at Lockheed develop ... -
"We’re seeing loads of influencers launching new products,” he said. “We’ll see how long they last. I’m not sure they’ll be around in 10 to 15 years.” De Lapuente is also sceptical about brands resort ... -
“Department stores are great and they have a great future. People have been trying to kill us off for centuries,” Dimas Gimeno Alvarez, El Cortes Ingles’ Chairman told the World Retail Congress on Thu ... -
“I believe it will take many years for them [Amazon] to enter the pharmaceutical market,” Stefano Pessina told the World Retail Congress in Madrid, citing recent comments from Amazon ruling out sellin ... -
Magazine Luiza CEO Frederico Trajano said that online retail now represents 35% of all sales for the Brazilian retailer and is still growing. However, he remains a firm advocate of stores. “Brazil is ... -
“The digital world has taught us what we want from the real world: the real world has got to be more engaging,” said Saunders, who describes himself as a “futurist” for the retail industry. “We are an ... -
Ove Pedersen, influencer and the creater of Geeohsnap on Snapchat, makes content for some of the world’s best-known brands. “You have to get people talking about your business,” he said. “The main thi ... -
In a wide-ranging address on the role of automation in life and business, he told World Retail Congress delegates in Madrid on Thursday: “Tech is what brings everything together. The notion is that mu ... -
Discussing the future of malls at a special real estate session, Centennial Real Estate Founder & CEO Steven Levin said that the complexity around click and collect, customers returning goods to store ...
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“No food retailer out there that should not be taking Amazon seriously,” said Stephan Ducharme, Chairman of the Management Board of Russian retail group X5. Grocers also had to repond to the challenge ... -
The company, which is 10 years old, is also planning to open more cafes although McGuiness stressed that this is largely to grow the brand rather than as a push into F&B. He said: “We have been pionee ... -
“For a small and medium-sized enterprise it has never been so easy to do business with China”, he said, saying Tmall helped businesses grow both online and offline brands. As an example, British baby ... -
The pace of digital retail is being driven by smart young people, the chairman of Emaar told the World Retail Congress in Madrid today. “I realised my way of doing business is obsolete,” Mohamed Ali R ... -
Retail, the digital revolution and Spain's success as a tourist destination were the key themes from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's opening address as he inaugurated the 2018 World Retail Cong ... -
“Think about what you want people to remember from their visit to your store,” he advised. Urrutia advised retailers to think of their stores like “another media channel” or a “brand experience centre ... -
Richard Liu said his company was using drones to deliver to remote villages in China because consumers would not accept the two-day delivery plans offered in Europe. “In China that would be a disaster ... -
“We live in an age of relatively good products at relatively good prices,” he said of the current retail environment but said that the climate is also familiar. “We have been through this with Y2K and ... -
Chief Executive Jaume Miquel revealed the new name and logo at the World Retail Congress in Madrid on Tuesday morning at a special press conference. “We’ve concluded a process of transformation,” Miqu ...
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