Innovation Transforms Shoppers

Keeping the smarter-than-ever shopper the focus of retail decisions was the theme of the sixth Annual RIS News Retail Technology Conference, “Retail Next: Shaping the Shopper Journey.” More than 130 attendees at the April 11-13 event heard from industry experts, analysts and other retail executives about the challenges and opportunities they face in this age of informed, increasingly empowered shoppers.

 

Keynote speaker Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Retail, kicked off the retail next theme with “Shaping the Shopper Journey,” noting that 57% of shoppers use mobile in-store, which puts the shopper in charge of buying any thing, anywhere at any time.

 

At the conference, RIS presented the 2012 Mobile App of the Year awards to four retailers: Lowe’s for Enterprise Excellence, Cabela’s for Shopping Experience, Guess for Innovation and Sears Holdings for Store Operations.

 

Gartner’s research vice president Jeff Roster and RIS group editor-in-chief Joe Skorupa, presenting results from the 22nd Annual Retail Technology Study, noted that CMOs are emerging as the new powerhouses in retail, and by 2015 will be responsible for a larger portion of the IT budget than CIOs.

 

The next major RIS event will be the 2012 Retail Executive Summit, taking place June 13-15 at the Grand Del Mar, Del Mar, CA. Visit www.risnews.com/retail-conferences for more information.

 

  

Scenes from the Retail Technology Conference: (Top row, l-r): Mike Relich, CIO of Guess, winner of the RIS Mobile App of the Year Award for Innovation; Tim Williams, Business Project Manager for Cabela’s with RIS executive editor Adam Blair, accepts the Mobile App Award for Shopping Experience; (Center row, l-r): Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Retail presents “Shaping the Shopper Journey” as the opening keynote; Retail Networking Luncheon on Thursday afternoon; Jeff Roster of Gartner presents the 2012 Retail Technology Study; (Bottom row, l-r): Steve Cornett, director of enterprise information services for Lowe’s accepts the Mobile App Award for Enterprise Excellence; and Deidra Merriwether, chief operating officer of retail formats for Sears Holdings accepts the Mobile App Award for Store Operations from RIS group editor-in-chief Joe Skorupa.