Shop.org Annual Summit this fall stocked with special seminars, thousands of exhibitors

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/27/2011 2:39:01 PM

Washington - National Retail Federation's digital version, Shop.org, will kick off its Annual Summit in Boston this September with an assembly of more than 3,000 innovators and experts from the online retail community.

The three-day summit and expo event is scheduled for Sept. 12 to 14 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. It will feature an expo hall with more than 200 solution providers showcasing products, technologies and services designed to improve the online retailing experience. In addition, there will be educational sessions on a variety of online retailing topics, including marketing ROI, technology trends and cross-channel retailing.
The Tuesday keynote addresses include:

--The opening summit at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 13, with keynote, "The Impact of Technological Innovation on Consumer Behavior and Retail as We Know It," by author and inventor Ray Kurzweil;

--Mick McCormick, executive vp of global sales and marketing for Columbia Sportswear Company, who at 10:30 a.m. will present his keynote, "Gear up for Growth: Innovation in the Outdoor Industry.";

--Bill Bass, president of direct for Charming Shoppes, at 11:30 a.m., who will discuss "5 Lessons in 15 Years of Cross-Channel Retailing" and will later also reflect on his past experiences and current role at Charming Shoppes to outline the five most important lessons he has learned on how to succeed in cross-channel retail and will offer observations on how to optimize performance across all channels to drive profitability and how new technology fads are not always the cure.

Concurrent sessions on online marketing and merchandising tactics, social retailing, customer experience and conversion and the next generation of retail will fill the afternoon schedule.

The Wednesday keynotes include:

--Google vp of commerce, Stephanie Tilenius, who will kick things off at 9:45 a.m. with her keynote, "Google Insights on Local, Mobile and Payments." During her presentation, Tilenius will discuss where Google is placing its bets this year and why local, mobile and payments are important themes for retailers right now. She'll also discuss how retailers can take the lead with cross-channel shoppers and what technologies will be taking off in the next few years;

--Phil Terry, ceo of Creative Good, who will host a special and interactive consumer-user session for his 11 a.m. keynote, "Live Labs with Phil Terry." During his session, Terry will bring in customers and run live labs on retailers' mobile and social apps and websites. The audience will be able to experience firsthand what customers say about the showcased technologies. He will also add his own critiques of these new technologies and provide specific feedback on how they can improve to be more profitable and customer-centric;
Wednesday's concurrent afternoon sessions will feature tracks about advanced strategies and planning, global retailing and online marketing strategies.