Retail trade event organiser, Mark Pigou discusses why selling in the digital age is a pivotal theme at the upcoming retail trade show, IRX 2012, with a focus on multichannel growth, social and mobile retailing and the customer experience
Retail trade event organiser, Mark Pigou discusses why selling in the digital age is a pivotal theme at the upcoming retail trade show, IRX 2012, with a focus on multichannel growth, social and mobile retailing and the customer experience
Internet Retailing Events has announced Internet Retailing Expo (IRX 2012) will take place at the NEC in Birmingham, 21-22 March. Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, IRX 2012 has been enlarged for its second year and takes “selling in the digital age” as main theme of the two-day event.
“There’s no other event in Europe that offers such a wide gamut of skills and capabilities to sell in the multichannel era,” said Mark Pigou, Internet Retailing Events show director. “IRX 2011 was praised for its high quality delegates, highly targeted visitors, busy show floor and ROI [return on investment] generation. In 2012 we intend to build on this by delivering an even better mix of marketing with technology, logistics with customer-facing design, and mobile with in-store experience through our four conference tracks, free to attend workshops, learning sessions and demonstrations.”
Building on initial success
Over 2,600 visitors attended the first IRX in March 2011. Of those, 48% were e-tailers and 22% were multichannel retailers. More than 900 visitors took part in the learning programme, with standing room only for many of the presentations. In 2012, over 4,000 visitors are projected to attend and 150 leading suppliers to e-commerce and multichannel retailers – marketing, operations, technology, payments, checkout, mobile, logistics, marketplaces, display, store and more – will come together under one roof. The 2012 title sponsor is PayPal, while Intershop, Ciao! from bing and LivePerson are silver sponsors.
New for the 2012 learning programme is a dedicated mobile or 'M-Retailing' conference track. On Day 2, the “Mobile and Social Commerce” track, sponsored by Reevoo, will offer sessions for late adopters looking to jump to the front of the queue, and for those early adopters looking further to integrate and extend their offering. From customer behaviour and research, to industry trends and triggers to selling on the mobile, via social, apps, integration and data, this track will provide insight into the world of mobile and how it can be exploited. Presenting companies confirmed to date include PayPal, Reevoo, Mothercare, Javelin Group, www.whatusersdo.com, Headsdcape, Sponge, nToklo, Eagle Eye Solutions and Virgin Business Media.
The other track running on Day 2 will be called “Customer Experience,” sponsored by Certona, which Pigou said will consider how to create a rounded, integrated view of the customers’ experience, how to shape and to exploit this. Design, interaction, experience planning, usability, service management, customer touchpoints – and of course the data and analytical systems to collect, analyse and give insight – will form the basis of this new stream, focused on the customer’s experience. Presenting companies include John Lewis, Asda, Blue Inc, FACT-Finder, Certona, LCP Consulting and JD Sports.
Catering to diverse strategic needs
Two “Fast Track” and Enterprise” conference tracks will run on Day 1. “Fast track”, sponsored by Amazon Services Europe, has been designed to provide an ideal learning and inspiration opportunity for businesses looking to make their first step (or first major commitment) to digital channels. Pigou said it will focus on getting businesses up and running quickly across all channels, learning from entrepreneurs who’ve made the leap and from people who can help businesses go from a standing start to success in the shortest possible time. Among the presenting companies are PayPal, Stinkyink.com, eSellerPro and Towequipe, Barnsley Football Club, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, ActivInstinct and Amazon.
The “Enterprise” conference track, sponsored by Efficient Frontier, is aimed at people already selling online and the larger enterprise who are already very capable and successful, but who want even more. "In this channel we’ll learn from the very best retailers on how to extract evermore revenue from an increasing customer base - by uniting channels, increasing relevance and coherence, and differentiating ourselves profitably," Pigou added. Presenting companies include Hitwise, De Vere, CBS Interactive and Shop Direct, Shutl, Jacques Vert, wehkamp.nl and eCommera.
