After a whirlwind three days last week in Philly at the 2015 Shop.org Digital Summit, I must take this moment to share some of the highpoints with you.
We were delighted to kick things off Monday evening by co-hosting a dinner party with Adroit Digital in the historic Center City at Time restaurant. We enjoyed cocktails, good eats, and live music among friendly faces all gathering for the digital summit.
The opening keynote session on Tuesday morning gave retailers a preview into The Next Generation of Digital Retail, compliments of QVC’s CEO, Mike George. We learned about QVC’s evolution from linear TV, to a multi-platform integrated shopping experience, and why agility and a mobile first approach is vital. Check out a quick video clip from this session with Mike George discussing the evolution of mobile here:
We also heard in the opening session from VP, Principal Analyst Forrester Research, Sucharita Mulpuru, regarding the state of retailing online and some of the challenges retailers are facing i.e. cross-device attribution and what’s informing future strategies. Some of the key highlights include:
- Mobile sits atop to-do lists
- Mobile and omnichannel are inseparable
- Content makes a comeback
- Merchandising basics are still essential
- The holidays are more important and more expensive
The second keynote session on Tuesday debatably may have been the most fascinating where we heard from Salim Ismail, executive director at Singularity University, former VP at Yahoo!, on the topic of The Exponential Organization: How to Win in a Disruptive Tech Enabled Age. Technological change is accelerating at a pace our world cannot keep up with, yet we are faced with the challenge of harnessing disruption in a survival of the fittest fashion. It’s imperative that we spot disruptive, exponential technologies early to gain a competitive edge. Learn more about technologies on the cusp of disrupting our everyday.
The breakout sessions were divided into six tracks representing:
- Channel Convergence
- Conversion and Acquisition
- Digital Technology
- Dynamic Marketing
- Inspiration and Innovation
- Mobile First
Each track covered a wide array of timely topics from how digital dollars will drive traffic in-store, to how user interface design drives sales. The major theme throughout the summit had to do with embracing technology to succeed in fulfilling the demands of today’s consumer in addition to their expectations of brands and retailers for the future.
Our very own Paid Media Director, Garrett Hood, sat on a panel Tuesday afternoon during a BIG !deas session with the President of Adroit Digital, Jacob Ross, and SVP of Data, Attribution, and Insights, Mark Rockett, in a Q&A format discussing the right outcomes to focus on within marketing campaigns. They stressed the importance of fresh, accurate data being the foundational core to driving success within media programs at scale.
And finally, one of the last keynote sessions of the summit, had us tapping into our creative side by having us “Think Like a Startup: Designing Creative Organizations”. Justin Ferrell, Fellowships Director at Stanford University Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka “d.school”), encouraged all of us to have creative confidence and radical collaboration. In order to accelerate growth, organizations must shift from a hierarchical model to an emergent one. An emergent model is where behaviors will shift to focusing on people before products, showing ideas vs. talking about them, embracing experimentation, and being mindful of process. We must become bias towards action, and always remember to design for the behavior – not the outcome.
For access to more articles, videos, and session materials visit: http://summit15.shop.org/recap
We hope to see you next year at the 2016 Shop.org Digital Summit in Dallas!
