Michael Ford, Bernie Brookes, Jack Gance and many more to speak at Inside Retail Live

InsideRetailLive_Day#2_003Not-so-shameless plug – Inside Retail’s annual event, Inside Retail Live (IRL), has now announced its full line-up of speakers and discussion topics ahead of Retail Week in Melbourne at the end of the month.

The 3-day festival of ideas and innovation will take place in Melbourne from 28 February – 2 March 2018 and welcome 30 keynote sessions, 60 local and international speakers, up to 100 exhibitors and an estimated 3000+ delegates.

Inside Retail Live (IRL), APAC’s largest retail and trade event, has announced its full line-up of speakers and discussion topics set to hit the main stage during Retail Week.

IR is really excited about the event, which will be officially launched on Wednesday the 28th by Victorian Minister for Trade and Investment, Philip Dalidakis before a highly anticipated address from former Edcon and Myer CEO, Bernie Brookes, who will discuss the 2018 retail state of play.

Brookes spoke to IR last week about the current state of retail, so check out that story for an idea of the retail veteran’s current thinking on the Australian market.

The agenda has been designed by our team of journalists and includes speakers such as Michael Ford, Steinhoff Group Chief Executive (Asia Pacific), Anna Lee, Chief Operating Officer, The Iconic, Jack Gance, Chairman, Chemist Warehouse and Erica Berchtold, Managing Director, Rebel. Forming a panel, the retail heavyweights are set to tackle retail’s biggest questions such as, where are the key investment opportunities and how can retailers leverage inter-channel competitiveness.

Innovation and technology will be a common theme across the three-day event, with CommBank’s Retail Lead, Jerry Macey set to discuss organisations becoming more innovative, Forbes contributor Steve Dennis, to explore why now is a bad time for brands to be boring and JD.com’s Chief Technology Officer, Chen Zhang, scheduled to focus on the digital transformation of the retail industry, exploring how tech will continue to develop within the coming years.

Amazon, similarly to last year, will also be a big focus for event speakers, with a number of talks and panel discussions touching on the US-owned, retail heavyweight and how it’s arrival in Australia has, and will continue to impact the current landscape.

Revlon’s newly appointed Chief Technology Officer, Chau Banks, will be making her international debut within this role, sharing her top three lessons from working with leading US retailers, evaluating new customer technologies, highlighting examples of RFID, IoT and social platform integration and demonstrating effective methods of organising a culture of technology innovation.

Octomedia CEO, Oliver Ranck said the program has been specially designed for business owners who want to provide the opportunity for all staff to attend, without committing to three days of an empty workplace.

“We understand that for many businesses, three days is a long time to spend out of the office. To combat this, we have set up Inside Retail Live to be relevant to different departments at non-conflicting times. This approach allows for team members from management, marketing, sales, customer service, IT, development etc. all attend at varying times of the conference, ensuring every aspect of the industry-event is captured,” Ranck said.

“Our event is a springboard for Australasian retail players to open its doors to bigger business and we can’t wait to see the wave of innovative minds, from all areas of the industry gather together at the event.”

Inside Retail Live is the headline event of 2018 Retail Week, held throughout Melbourne from 26 February – 2 March, 2018. The massive 5 day industry affair is set to inspire and educate, with retail, leadership and collaboration content held across 10 different events, with over 500 speakers and 3,000 industry influencers.

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