Opening Cocktail Reception

Registration

Networking Breakfast

Opening Comments

Opening Keynote

Multi-Channel Retailing 2.0: The Internet as the Hub 

Keynote Speaker: Bernie Feiwus, Sr. Vice President, JCPenney Direct Chief Operating Officer, J.C. Penney Corporation

Retailers have historically chosen one of two paths regarding the Internet: drive traffic to stores or drive online sales. Six factors determined what path a company initially chose: experience selling at a distance, fulfillment capabilities, a database of customers, call centers, technology platforms, and marketing knowledge. The customer is becoming increasingly sophisticated and less forgiving. Today, they demand that retailers provide information about store merchandise and services, in addition to providing a robust shopping experience online. How can retailers meet the increasing demands of customers in this environment and what will the customer expect in the future? Bernie Feiwus provides insight from more than 35 years of experience leading companies through change, including the turnaround at J. C. Penney and the emergence of jcp.com as one of the leading multi-channel retailers and the first home and apparel retailer to achieve $1 billion in online sales (2005).

General Session #1

Upgrading Your E-Commerce Platform

Moderator: Joe Skorupa, Group Editor-in-Chief, RIS News

Discussion Participants:  Curt Avallone, General Manager, CVS.com; Kevin Ertell, Vice President, E-Business, Borders Group Inc.; John Lazarchic, Vice President, eCommerce, PETCO Animal Supplies Stores Inc.

Whether you are using a first-generation e-commerce platform or one capable of rich Web 2.0 functionality, every cross-channel retailer is racing to stay ahead of the swiftly moving competitive landscape and rising customer expectations. Learn where leading retailers appear on the upgrade curve and what new functionalities they believe are critical to success.

Networking Coffee Break

General Session #2

Dynamic Merchandising 

Moderator: Scott Langdoc, Vice President, Research & Business Leader, Global Retail Insights (an IDC Company)

Discussion Participants: Dan Brausch, Vice President & General Manager, Reebok Retail; Stephen Carvelli, Director of E-Commerce, Chico's FAS; Steve Kahn, Vice President of Merchandising, DSW Inc.

When search and navigation converge with merchandising, the effectiveness of each rises exponentially. As a concept and strategy, dynamic merchandising has been around for years. As a tool that enables retailers to react to buyers in real-time using advanced business analytics and smart personalization, it is one of the hottest and fastest evolving technologies in cross-channel sales. Here's what you need to know to stay ahead of the competitive curve and drive online sales.

General Session #3

Demystifying the Conversion Funnel: Acquiring, Engaging and Retaining Customers

Speaker:  Eric Stockton, Director of Partner Research, Marketing Experiments

Metrics that matter in the online world involve the conversion funnel, conversion rates, where visitors drop out, tracking metrics and others that have no close parallels in the brick-and-mortar environment. Based on the latest research, this session takes you through the process of acquiring, engaging and retaining customers while identifying key lessons and metrics throughout.

General Session #4

Customer Engagement via Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Speaker:  Steve Knox, CEO, Tremor - powered by The Procter & Gamble Company

Tremor, a revolutionary new marketing company from Procter & Gamble has cracked the code on creating national word-of-mouth advocacy in the teen and Mom demographic.  Tremor CEO Steve Knox is a 29-year veteran of P&G who has held a wide variety of sales and marketing roles in his P&G career - roles that have taken him around the world to lead breakthrough marketing work with global retailers. In today's presentation on how Tremor works and the results it has brought to P&G's work with retailers, Knox will provide you with a new way of looking at customer engagement via word-of-mouth marketing.

Networking Coffee Break

General Session #5

Focus Group: Understanding GenNet

Facilitator:  Richard T. Sweeney, University Librarian, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Focus Group Participants:  Eight 18- to 21-year-old students from the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing 

If you have ever closely watched how teenagers communicate, do social networking and use the Web, then you realize they have different expectations about how things should work than other generations. They are digital natives, while the rest of us are digital immigrants. Will you be ready for them when they start influencing a major portion of the nation's buying power in a few years? In this focus group you will have the opportunity to observe and also question members of the Millennial (GenNet) generation. The session will be facilitated by Richard T. Sweeney, a leading research expert on Millennial behaviors and demographics who has led more than 40 Millennial focus groups throughout the United States. This is your opportunity to find out what you need to know - right now. [Focus Group participants are coming to us from the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona.]

4th Annual RIS News Fusion Awards

The 4th Annual RIS News Fusion Awards presentation will recognize excellence in cross-channel retailing. See 15 retailers who have successfully fused technology solutions with cross-channel business strategies as they are honored for achieving outstanding business results and noteworthy IT accomplishments.

Day Two Opening Comments

Extended Keynote Presentation - Analysis & Discussion

Key Findings from the First Annual RIS News / AMR Research Cross-Channel Technology Trends Study 

Highlights & Analysis: Rob Garf, Vice President, Retail Strategies Practice, AMR Research; Joe Skorupa, Group Editor-in-Chief, RIS News

Discussion Participants:  Charles Carstens, Director of Enterprise Business Solutions, Cabela's; Rob Garf, Vice President, Retail Strategies Practice, AMR Research; Janet Sherlock, CIO, Calico Corners Inc.; Todd Wermerson, Vice President of Information Technology, Northern Tool & Equipment

Establishing the benchmark for where the industry is today and where it is heading in the future is the mission of the First Annual RIS / AMR Cross-Channel Technology Trends Study. Today's extended keynote session begins with the presentation of this authoritative research report's highlights and in-depth analysis from Rob Garf, AMR Research's leading retail analyst. After the opening segment, Garf and RIS Group Editor-in-Chief Joe Skorupa will be joined by top cross-channel retail executives who will provide their real-world insights in a discussion of the Study findings.

General Session #6

Creating Loyalty Across Channels

Speaker: Tom Beauchamp, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Hot Topic Inc.

Creating customer loyalty across multiple channels is an area where the Torrid brand, a division of teen-oriented retail chain Hot Topic, has excelled.  In this session, Hot Topic senior vice president and chief information officer Tom Beauchamp details how Torrid went about creating its seamless, multi-channel customer-loyalty environment to deliver improved sales and margins for the organization. 

Networking Coffee Break

Closing Keynote Panel

Retail 2.0 Strategies in Action

Moderator: Bud Wagner, Principal, CSC Consulting Group

Discussion Participants:  Christina Callas, Vice President of E-Commerce, Aeropostale; Bob King, Chief Executive Officer, ClickBank.com; Ray McCready, President, The Orvis Company

Online interactivity, customer engagement and social networking - these are elements of the next frontier in Web and cross-channel retailing. But adding more functionalities and options without aligning it with business processes and the overall marketing mission could mean adding clutter and confusion. Here's what you need to know to balance new tools with line-of-business to increase the number of visitors to your site and convert them into satisfied, loyal, paying customers.

2007 Cross-Channel Retail Executive Summit Concludes