Welcome to The Merchant Life, for retailers and retail enthusiasts wanting the insider perspective of all things retail.
In today’s edition we are doing a round of shameless self-promotion and giving you the rundown of upcoming events and news.
Let’s dive in.
Retail in the Windy City
We are heading down to Chicago – the home of deep-dish pizza, architecture, and mobster history.
And also the home of the retailX 2021!
Here is where you will find Retail Strategy Group:
First up, I will be talking curbside pickup with Melissa Minkow, the Retail Industry Lead of CI&T.
What you will learn:
- Best practices for both large and small retail businesses;
- How to integrate curbside into omnichannel strategy;
- Address Curbside space allocation challenges; and
- The ideal methods to keep customers informed and engaged.
Next, I get to referee the battle between former Lowe’s and Home Depot executives.
Ok, maybe it’s not that extreme.
I will be moderating a discussion, talking about designing the ultimate customer experience, with Ruth Crowley and Albert Vita, former execs of Lowe’s and Home Depot.
What you will learn:
- Insights that apply to your own retail business by learning from the Home Improvement category;
- Why retailers must be proactive when it comes to CX design; and
- Insights from leaders gathered from their own CX experiments.
Find out more about retailX 2021 by following this link and we’ll see you in Chicago!
A Bigger Basket
RetailWire is hosting another exciting webinar featuring Joe McCambley, CMO of Saatva, Parrish Chapman of Samsung Electronics, and yours truly!
Mark the date in your calendar, August 4th at 12 pm EST – we discuss how retailers can use 1st party data to build loyalty and increase in store conversions.
What you will learn:
- How retailers are creating a connected retail journey – for example, how does a DTC brand replicate a great digital experience within brick and mortar;
- How 1st party data can drive relevant messaging to customers; and
- Unlocking loyalty opportunities to increase customer basket sizes.
The webinar is free and you can complete your registration by clicking on this link.
First Prize!
The Retail Council of Canada’s 2021 Excellence in Retailing Award winners will be crowned on September 15th Gala during the STORE conference.
Finalists for the award categories have been announced on the Retail Awards webpage and I had the pleasure of serving as a judge for this year.
For information about the awards and the virtual gala celebration, click on this link to discover more.
More RSG Highlights
We round out this edition of the newsletter with recent content with RSG.
- What did I think about the recent buzz behind Kanye West and his relationship with Adidas and Nike? Read more in this Footwear News piece.
- My store spotlight on Brooks Brothers Toronto location can be found in the latest edition of the British Display Society’s VM Magazine.
- Finally, a conversation on This Commerce Life talking about the future of shopping malls, shifting the fashion calendar and more.
