The transformation continues. Over the past decades, digitalization has continuously redrawn boundaries and turned retail upside down. The worldwide pandemic has destabilized global supply chains. The ongoing war in Ukraine is further intensifying the situation. After this humanitarian catastrophe, an economic crisis looms.
At the same time, customers are more demanding than ever before. They have learned that there is often less than ten minutes between desire and fulfillment. For them, consumption has gone from being an activity to a state. Because the dividing lines between physical and virtual worlds of experience are dissolving, ‘metaverse’ is the buzzword of the hour. Smooth process flows have never been as important as they are now. Yet they have also never been as challenging. How does commerce stay in flux? A new poker for procurement has begun; new bets are being made on customer preferences. At the 72nd International Retail Summit, we will discuss questions like:
- How can we build reliability and trust when supply chains and raw materials can no longer be guaranteed?
- Who bears the additional costs in a low-margin industry?
- How important does sustainability become when the availability of goods declines?
- How can business models establish themselves permanently in a hybrid world?
- What role does retail play when it becomes more than just the straightforward procurement of goods?