Industry News: RFID Kicks In
Hot trends the focus of Retail Systems/VICS event in Chicago
This year's Retail Systems/VICS Collaborative Commerce event is closer than you think. Event organizers and attendees are gearing up for the annual technology extravaganza, which takes place May 17 to 19 at Chicago's McCormick Place. Global research and events provider Retail Alert Systems produces the conference.
2004 Highlights
For this year's attendees, there will be a number of highlights, including the Retail RFID Technology Symposium that looks at applied technology and the business challenges of adopting RFID-driven systems.
The ninth annual Merchandise Planning Symposium will cover the methods and techniques retailers are applying to address merchandise, store and assortment planning, while the Retail IT Management Symposium will provide IT executives the necessary financial background and tools to define and evaluate low-cost, high-value initiatives.
For the latest on retail tech trends, attendees will not want to miss the 14th annual Retail Technology Trends Study presented by RIS News and Gartner. The study draws on data gathered from retail IT executives across all verticals and aggregates the input to define upcoming trends in retail IT.
The annual benchmark study, which will feature a panel of top retail executives, as well as Jeff Roster from Gartner and RIS editor-in-chief Joe Skorupa, provides a comprehensive picture of the competitive retail IT landscape including the hottest areas of current and future technology investments, new applications and management initiatives.
Beyond the Keynotes
The TechTours program returns to help attendees find solutions to meet their business needs, providing market analysis and panel discussions featuring technical professionals from leading systems providers in different industry segments.
The Retail Best Practice Roundtables €” designed to expand the educational opportunities for attendees €” offer small group and independent industry forums. Group participants will discuss business and technical challenges impacting individuals and companies.
Looking beyond the keynote speeches, this year's Retail Systems/VICS Collaborative Commerce attendees will hear from industry peers in a full range of concurrent sessions. Cy Young, director of store systems for Burlington Coat Factory will discuss how his company has set cost- and operations-effective standards for all hardware and software development. He will talk about how Burlington's foundational environment has enabled consistent communications at all stores and company growth while keeping a common infrastructure.
Another dynamic speaker will be Laurie Fielding, Louis Vuitton vice president of retail operating systems who will be joined by LV's Mark Orciuoli, director of infrastructure and technology. Fielding and Orciuoli will speak about Louis Vuitton North America's (LVNA) implementation of consumer-oriented technology. They will detail how Louis Vuitton implemented its POS system, with requirements of high-speed transaction processing and minimal down time during servicing and upgrades.
For more information, please visit www.retailsystems.com.