Retail Planning and PLM professionals have their own dedicated event: the Thinking Retail! Symposium. This one of a kind event organized by TXT Retail is coming back for its 8th edition on Thursday, 17th March, at the prestigious Savoy Hotel in London.
Under the theme "Transforming Merchandise Management from A to Z", TXT Retail's experts, industry thought leaders and some of the brightest names in retail, luxury and fashion will discuss the latest trends and best practices for connecting merchandise planning, assortment planning, product lifecycle management and in season management as the completely integrated process of Merchandise Lifecycle Management.
Featured speakers include leading footwear and sportswear retailer AW LAB (Bata Group), who will describe their end-to-end planning implementation and how the TXT Retail solution has become an enabler to organizational change; Sephora, the international leader in skin care and fragrances, who will outline the inventory optimization benefits they have received through their Galaxy project; Takko, one of Europe's fastest growing fashion retailers, who will showcase their experience and guidance in customer-driven assortment management; the lifestyle brand Urban Outfitters who will comment on their experience with implementing a single merchandise planning solution for a global omnichannel business. Pandora, one of the world's largest jewelry brands, and adidas, a leader in the sporting goods industry, will be panelists of the event roundtable together with other leading global retailers.
Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner at RSR Research will deliver a featured presentation titled, Retail's Reset Moment -- How Digitally Enabled Consumers Are Changing How Retailers Win in Today's Marketplace. This year's planning summit also include presentations from industry solution leader First Insight, provider of solutions to incorporate the voice of the customer into product design & merchandising, and Columbus Consulting, experts in retail business processes and systems.
"In the era of Customer-focused Assortments, the requirement to create unique product offerings and then to deploy those products to the best locations for the shopper to order, pick up or return, has become an essential survival skill for Retailers," comments Peter Charness, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at TXT Retail. "The business processes and technology of Planning, Designing, Sourcing and Delivering compelling collections takes center stage at Thinking Retail, where global retailers and brands gather to hear real-world experiences from industry experts and leading Retailers."
The Planning Symposium, which has been located in Berlin, Paris, Milan and New York in previous editions, has grown each year attracting over 150 delegates in 2015 from about 80 international brands. "Over the years, Thinking Retail has emerged as the premier symposium specialized in Planning and PLM and an excellent turnout is expected for this 8th edition as well. We are thrilled to host this unique international gathering and thought-provoking debate for the Retail community," adds Charness.
Presentations will be interspersed with Q&A sessions and networking opportunities. Live demonstrations of sponsoring companies and the TXT Retail 7 solution will showcase the enabling role of technology in orchestrating the end-to-end merchandise planning process from design to the customer doorstep.
