Agenda

Get to know your fellow Total Retail Tech attendees during this kickoff networking session. This is a valuable opportunity to start creating the connections that can lead to long-term career and business growth.

James “JC” Curleigh had no idea what was about to happen after making a call to Gibson — one of his favorite brands — in the fall of 2018. The brand had lost its way, and Curleigh thought he could help, having spent years turning around another iconic American brand, Levi Strauss & Company. Soon after the call, Curleigh was named CEO and thus began his journey bringing Gibson Brands back to life. In this entertaining keynote, you’ll learn about JC’s varied background, how he was able to turn Gibson Brands around, and how technology helped him do it. You don’t want to miss this session featuring one the Music City’s iconic brands, Gibson.

Let’s celebrate being together again! Join us at Analog, located on-site at the Hutton, for our Opening Reception sponsored by iAdvise. Enjoy a live band, dinner and socializing.

Let’s face it: Today’s consumers have revolted against the marketplace status quo. They’re now in charge, and retailers must recognize and embrace this fact in order to survive in the new “metail” economy. In this important and entertaining keynote, Joel Bines, one of today’s top retail brand thought leaders and author of the bestselling book, “The Metail Economy,” will offer innovative methods for connecting with the me-centric consumer and show you how to thrive in this new consumer revolution. He will offer six proven models you can use to cultivate and serve highly informed and empowered customers in the me-tail marketplace.

A common dilemma for retail organizations is whether to build or buy (i.e., outsource to a third party) select systems and solutions within their overall tech stack. There are many factors that go into those decisions, including in-house talent and whether skills gaps exist, the ease of integration with an outsourced solution, speed to market, among many other factors. This panel discussion will feature tech decision makers at their respective organizations, who will address the factors that must be considered when making build vs. buy decisions. In addition, the panelists will provide real-world examples from their organizations, offering details on both hits and misses.

This retailer-only session will group attendees by job function/title for in-depth conversations. With similar roles within their organizations, this time will help you better understand how peers are navigating the day-to-day challenges of their jobs and an evolving industry.

Numerous studies have shown that racial and ethnic minorities, as well as women, are still woefully underrepresented in tech. Having a more inclusive workplace starts with recruiting, hiring and retaining diverse talent. In this panel, technologists working at forward-thinking retail companies will discuss how to remove unconscious bias and refrain from simply “checking the diversity box” when looking at who gets hired and promoted, both externally and within the company. They’ll address common biases they see in the hiring process and discuss the significant values having a diverse workforce can bring to retailers. The panelists will provide proactive approaches to diversifying a tech team that will create a positive ripple effect within the organization.

The retail industry has seen major disruption over the past several years, driven by shifting consumer behaviors. To help them adapt to an evolving landscape as well as meet and exceed consumers’ rising expectations, retailers are turning to technology for help. But what’s next, and how can retailers prepare? And with so many technology systems and solutions in the marketplace, how do you know where is best to invest your time and money? This panel of tech experts and decision makers will offer their insights on the emerging tech trends, including which they believe will have the biggest impact on the retail industry going forward.

Your chance to investigate further into the service providers and technologies that your business is looking to invest in. Consider this due diligence the first step in making a well-informed purchase decision.

KILLSTAR, to put it bluntly, is killing It. The fashion and lifestyle direct-to-consumer brand that sells gothic and alternative rock-inspired items, which was founded in 2010 in the U.K., is seeing great success in the U.S. Why? Partly because of several innovate technology-based initiatives implemented by Traci Inglis, KILLSTAR’s recently named CEO, and her team. In this fireside chat, Forrester Research Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali will speak with Inglis about, among other topics, KILLSTAR’s YouPay payment launch; its success with live selling and why it built an in-house studio specifically for livestreaming; its digital transformation; and more. Inglis will also detail how KILLSTAR has created a team of digital nomads who work wherever they are, the brand’s impressive diversity and inclusion programs, and how the brand is preparing for future technology disruption.

This interactive, “Shark Tank”-style session will feature pitches from three founders of innovative retail technology startups competing to win the approval of the Total Retail Tech audience as well as a panel of esteemed judges — along with the chance to be featured in a Total Retail Talks episode! Each founder has 10 minutes to introduce their solution and explain how it solves key industry challenges, as well as answer questions from our judges and audience. Following a brief voting period, one startup will be named the winner.

Get your cowboy boots ready! We’re heading offsite to Broadway’s famous Tin Roof for dinner, music and networking!

There has been an acceleration of digitalization resulting in more data than ever. Organizations are thinking about how they can harness the power of data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and “big data.” But you can’t start with data; you need to start with where and how you want to create value in your business, then move to data.

What is big data? How does data create AI? How does it impact consumers, retailers, and strategic planning for organizational strategy?

Asha Saxena, CEO and founder of Women Leaders in Data and AI, will answer the above questions and more during her keynote presentation. She will discuss best practices and frameworks for building strong, sustainable data organizations for tangible outcomes.

While the metaverse may not be widespread in retail just yet, there’s clear excitement about the new business opportunities it’s bringing to retail and brand marketers. Every day, retailers are learning about how they can create immersive and interactive content, expand their audiences, and even enable a new way for consumers to shop — all in the metaverse. To learn more about the metaverse and how retailers and brand marketers can find success there, we’ve assembled a group of retail leaders tasked with overseeing their brands’ metaverse strategies. They will walk you through their campaigns and strategies, as well as offer best practices and tips they’ve learned along the way.

This retailer-only session will match up attendees with similar technology pain points and challenges to enable them to discuss potential solutions. Take advantage of this opportunity to tap into the knowledge and experiences of your fellow Total Retail Tech attendees as you seek to identify solutions to business challenges.

Your chance to investigate further into the service providers and technologies that your business is looking to invest in. Consider this due diligence the first step in making a well-informed purchase decision.

Get valuable insights and analysis into tech trends, buying behaviors, and future opportunities within the retail industry. The session will feature highlights from Total Retail’s 2022 Retail Technology Report, an annual report which provides valuable insights into the technology landscape within the retail industry. The report features survey data from Total Retail’s audience of retail executives to get a better understanding of their current usage of technology, future technology needs and wants, and the processes within their organizations for technology purchasing.