Australia’s largest trade show for retailers, Retail Expo combines expert advise, supported analysis and strong solutions for retailers over three days of interactive seminars and workshops.
The retail marketplace has undergone a dramatic change of late, with the state of the Australian economy and greater online access to international retail mounting pressures back home.
As such, Retail 2011 Exhibition and Conference will explore and recommend how retailers can best achieve success and be advantageous in their approach to ‘eTAIL’ (online retailing and social media).
One of the retail industry’s most knowledgeable and successful voices, is that belonging to Andrew Eckford from Google.
Despite somewhat dire reports circulating about the state of retails, Andrew still sees today’s shoppers as active. Post GFC they have not cut spending altogether, but rather have become more discerning. With a tightened confidence, they seek value including, but not restricted solely to, reduced prices. This quest has seen a considerable growth in consumers searching for international brand names. Essentially, statistics show that while domestic brands still make up around 80-85 percent of branded retails searches, shoppers will and can easily look elsewhere if they can’t connect with a local brand.
As a keynote speaker at Retail 2011 Exhibition and Conference, Andrew will focus on these new consumer tendencies, as well looking at the influences of technology and how it has become such an integral part of the researching, browsing and buying experience.
Also embracing the positive swing on the changes of retail is Dennis Price, Chief Ideas Architect at Gandor, Inside Retail blogger and keynote conference speaker.
Ganador sets to create expedient customer experience for organisations, by empowering employees with the motivation and skills needed to execute this.
Dennis has collated some interesting research and studies on the recent changes in retail and concludes that it is going to, on the whole, strengthen the industry in the long term and remove some retailers who have resisted change, in a somewhat ‘natural selection phase’.
He believes that customer experience transcends from physical stores into the online space and, as such, the physical stores need to work harder to compete and raise the bar of 3D retail. Dennis describes retail as ‘pretty snazzy’ and something that retailers need to learn from, understand and be inspired by.
Both Andrew and Dennis have witnessed the evolving world of retail, as stimulated and reshaped by the ever-changing face of technology. Their optimistic and embracive approaches are refreshing and have indeed allowed for their success in the field.
The premise for discussions, debates and even a feature film, Social Media is a technology that has changed the way the world interacts and made its presence known in the retail realm. It has been eagerly embraced by some retailers, while deliberately avoided by others.
Nick Bowditch founded The Bowditch Group, as a means of educating businesses about how to best embrace this particular technology. He consults with small and medium sized businesses on their social marketing and present principles and strategies on how to collectively engage in social media to build a brand.
He preaches that no social marketing tool should be used in isolation; strength will come in numbers and that means exploring the inter-connecting possibilities of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin and more.
Through effective use of Social Media, Nick has created three businesses and will give a keynote breakfast presentation at Retail 2011 Exhibition and Conference on how to implement a strategy that will not get your Social Media efforts horribly wrong.
Success in retail is the prime objective; technology, if understood correctly and approached strategically, can be a valuable means to achieve this.
For more information or to register your interest for Retail 2011 Exhibition and Conference, go to www.retailexpoandconference.com.au
WHAT: Retail 2011 Exhibition and Conference
WHEN: Tuesday 13 – Thursday 15 September
WHERE: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank
EVENT CONTACT: Melanie Robertson
melanie@intermedia.com.au + 61 2 8586 6115