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El Corte Ingles bullish on future for department stores

“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 …

Emerging Markets are attractive, but there's no place like home

Opportunities for retail growth remain strong despite concerns about protectionism impacting global supply chains in a number of emerging markets, according to Deloitte Chief Global Economist Ira Kali …

Kaspar Basse, founder and CEO of Joe & the Juice, said: “Everything goes through our employees and if it’s not engaging to our employees we would not do it, no matter how much money it would make. We …

Exclusive interview with Barbara Daliri, SVP Demand, Zalando

What does it mean to you to be a female leader and trailblazer? “I don’t perceive myself as a trailblazer. Rather, I am grateful to those women who paved the path. However, being a female leader gives …

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 …

Exclusive interview with Suzie Wokabi, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of SuzieBeauty

What it means to you to be a female leader and trailblazer? “It is a huge deal to have created a pioneer brand in my home country after having honed my skills 10 years away in the US. I love that whil …

In a speech which introduced the company's policy of paying college fees for the children of full-time staff, Stanley the female company dog and why employees are taking a petition to end the tax on f …

Fashion future is about bridging the gap from X to Z

The overlooked Gen X still has plenty of spending power said trend forecasters WGSN “Are consumers really opting for online sales over visiting brick-and-mortar locations? We might be overlooking Gene …

In a session outlining the way to tap into consumers' 'connected lives', she said that with predictions that connected devices would rise to 50 billion worldwide, HSN is following five lessons to enga …

Radical solutions are needed for food sustainable production in the face of a global climate crisis, World Retail Congress delegates were warned on the final day of the event. Shir Friedman, Co-founde …

Forget making things quick and easy for shoppers, says retail ‘futurist’

“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 …

A day in the life of Tessa Sykes, World Retail Congress’ new Head of Content Strategy I must be about two months in… the time has been racing by which is a good sign. This new role allows me to make g …

“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 …

Going Global: An Essential Aspect of High Velocity Retail

In today’s High Velocity Retail world, brands and retailers often find that they have new competitors popping up from hundreds or thousands of miles away. Today’s shoppers are not thinking about borde …

Today, during the World Retail Congress in Amsterdam, James George – International Managing Partner OC&C, discussed High Velocity Retail with Sander van der Laan – CEO of Dutch retailer Action. “Good …

Google says techie tie-ups can help profits

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 …

Grocers ready to take on Amazon challenge

“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 …

How to win in a high velocity world – developing retail models for sustained success

It is clear from our ‘High Velocity Retail’ research that retailers are struggling to cope with the pace of evolution in the industry. 76% of the world’s leading retailers believe their model needs to …

Influencer make-up brands may have short shelf-life

"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 …

Ingka Group feels the need for sustainable speed

“When we do that then the benefits are incredible,” she said. “We are at a time when technology can be scary, but it's about us and our goals and values. Today, consumers are afraid of privacy invasio …

Kroger and Ocado pledge to be number one in E-commerce in USA

Kroger is targeting fast-track entry into the grocery ecommerce market after agreeing a partnership deal with UK-based Ocado, according to Rodney McMullen, Chairman and CEO, Kroger, speaking at the pe …

Thakran believes a digital interface is a must for luxury brands. “E-commerce is not a fringe channel, it’s a mainstream channel and [luxury brands] can provide as good a service in the channel, we’ve …

“Think about how you can make it easier to navigate this complex world of information overflow and decisions for your consumer. Think about creating immersive experiences not just digitally but in you …

Maintaining Disruption requires new thinking

The backbone of remaining a disruptive business is to ignore ego and experiment constantly, a panel including Orchard Mile, La Ligne and Universal Design told World Retail Congress delegates in Amster …

“By bringing together the brainpower and credibility of NRF and the World Retail Congress, we ensure that the global retail community will have continued access to first-rate events and thought leader …

Relaying a series of seismic figures to the speed and scale of the Chinese-based business, especially around the renowned singles day, where its payment platform Alipay was running at 120,000 transact …

Technology must not force consumers to change their behaviour and terminology needs to be carefully addressed, warned Janett Liriano, Co-Founder and COO of MadeMan, during a tech talk at World Retail …

Pottery Barn chief’s performance-based gender-equal board

“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, …

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 …

Promote women and promote change says Walmart boss

Global retail businesses need to look at the models they are working with and adapt to the new values their consumers have, Walmart International president Judith McKenna told delegates at the World R …

El Corte Ingles bullish on future for department stores

Emerging Markets are attractive, but there's no place like home

Empowering employees essential for retail success

Exclusive interview with Barbara Daliri, SVP Demand, Zalando

Exclusive interview with Dr Ira Kalish

Exclusive interview with Suzie Wokabi, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of SuzieBeauty

Extraordinary times and thinking outside the Boxed

Fashion future is about bridging the gap from X to Z

Five lessons to engage and inform from Mindy Grossman

Food futures need new thinking from the industry

Forget making things quick and easy for shoppers, says retail ‘futurist’

From travel to retail…

Give them a memory, says Lego

Going Global: An Essential Aspect of High Velocity Retail

Good is no longer enough warns OC&C

Google says techie tie-ups can help profits

Grocers ready to take on Amazon challenge

How to win in a high velocity world – developing retail models for sustained success

Influencer make-up brands may have short shelf-life

Ingka Group feels the need for sustainable speed

Kroger and Ocado pledge to be number one in E-commerce in USA

LVMH to discuss online opportunities with Amazon

Machine learning is the future of retail

Maintaining Disruption requires new thinking

National Retail Federation, Ascential Plc Form Global Partnership

New retail drives Alibaba's global vision

Partner to innovate in smart materials

Pottery Barn chief’s performance-based gender-equal board

Prepare for next recession

Promote women and promote change says Walmart boss

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