ONLINE

The Digital
Future of Retail

Silicon Valley online program for retail executives and Senior Managers

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What Is The Program About?

Buyers or sellers, for everyone in the world of retail the landscape is changing. For consumers, new options abound. Where once we had self-checkout, soon we won’t have checkouts at all, as computer vision and artificial intelligence track purchases to make the in-store experience more seamless than ever. For those who prefer to shop online, a range of new tools to personalize the process mean less returns and more completed purchases. For retailers, meanwhile, tracking inventory, fulfilling online orders and understanding and responding to consumer sentiment are all becoming tasks to be carried out through digital platforms.

Our immersion program will educate you in all of these trends, connect you with the companies pioneering groundbreaking solutions and inspire you to turn your own company into a leading innovator for the long-term.

startup innovation map in retail

What Will I Learn?

Brick-and-Mortar Retail

Shopping at physical stores is still how the majority of purchases are made. With this in mind, a great many startups focus on using technology to improve the in-store experience. HEROFi falls into this category. The company provides display and device-based automated marketing that reacts to real-time data such as sales, inventory and weather. Percolata, meanwhile takes a different approach. It uses sensors as well as video and audio to collect data that provides retailers with insights into shoppers’ behavior. The other major trend in in-store optimization is in the checkout space. Several startups operate in this area, including Standard Cognition.

E-Commerce

A clutch of startups is building solutions to these challenges, not least among them Bold Metrics, which predicts shoppers’ body measurements using artificial intelligence to help them purchase clothes at online stores in the right size and fit. Savitude is another startup operating in this space. Ditto, meanwhile, offers a similar service but focuses on eyewear. The company’s software, which operates both online and in-store, lets customers virtually try on glasses frames and makes recommendations. Other online shopping optimizations come from startups such as SupplyAI, whose platforms helps consumers track orders and simplifies the returns process.

Inventory Management

Tracking inventory and optimizing merchandising is another growth area in retail technology. Stitch is a leader in this area, offering automatic syncing of orders, sales and inventory across channels to give retailers a holistic picture of their operations. Bossa Nova, meanwhile, is taking a different approach, using robots scan store shelves to capture data on which products are needed in which locations. Companies operating in this area are typically using a mixture of artificial intelligence and cloud technologies.

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Program Agenda

Get the direct access to the most transformative technologies that will help you lead your organization through turbulent time:

Theme 1

INDUSTRY-WIDE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN RETAIL

Session 1: The Changing Nature of E-Commerce

It is widely acknowledged that e-commerce truly began in 1995, when Amazon shipped its first book orders. But the online shopping giant no longer stands alone, with countless success stories since then of web-based retailers selling everything from wine to clothing direct to consumers. Many of these stores were founded as little as five years ago, and more are being opened everyday. Will e-commerce continue to thrive and, if so, what forms will it take in future? In this session participants will meet an internet retail innovator to gain insight into those questions.

Session 2: The Evolution of the Payments Ecosystem

First there was barter, then precious metals. Eventually, societies developed paper money as a form of payment but it wasn’t until the relatively recent date of 1862 that the first dollar bill was printed. Since then, change in the payments space has proceeded at a rapid pace, bringing us up to the present moment where mobile payments via NFC and facial recognition are commonplace. What’s next in this evolution of payments? In this session participants will meet a company building the software and hardware that will define how we transact in the future to learn the answer to that question.

Session 3: Everything as a (Subscription) Service

Subscriptions used to be for magazines and newspapers. Then they were for software, but today they are for everything because any product you can imagine is now available “as a service”. This model of delivering not just media but physical goods to customers on a regular basis is radically changing the retail landscape. How will this trend play out in future? Participants will learn the answer to that question in this session through an interactive meeting with a pioneer of the “as a service” business model.

Session 4: From E-Commerce to M-Commerce: Retail Goes Mobile

E-commerce may have begun on internet-connected desktop computers but today it is rapidly migrating to the mobile phone. Advances in smartphone technology and the speed at which the devices have spread globally have made so-called “m-commerce” one of the major growth areas within retail. While by now most brands offer smartphone apps and polished mobile experiences, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley believe there is still huge potential for innovation in mobile commerce. This session will connect attendees to these visionaries in order to learn what the mobile shopping experience of the future will be.

Sessions led by:

Theme 2

DISRUPTION OF THE IN-STORE EXPERIENCE

Session 1: Transforming the In-Store Retail Experience

E-commerce is still growing but that does not mean shopping in brick-and-mortar stores is dead. Far from it, in fact, with physical retail still the leading location for purchases. What’s more, digitally native brands continue to open physical locations. That’s why many tech companies are concentrating on optimizing the in-store experience through AI, computer vision and advanced analytics. In this session participants will meet a company reimagining physical retail in order to gain insight into what the future of brick-and-mortar shopping will look like.

Session 2: Automating Retail with Emerging Technologies

When Amazon Go launched just a few years ago, it was hailed as a glimpse into the future of retail. Cashless and cashierless, frictionless and automated, the stores addressed customer pain points in a highly effective manner. Today, the Amazon Go network is growing. Does that mean the commerce giant’s high-technology model will define the future of physical retail? While that may still be an open question, for a number of companies in SIlicon Valley, retail automation is undoubtedly the future. By building software and hardware around technologies such as deep learning, computer vision and artificial intelligence, these enterprises are redefining what it means to shop. This session will connect attendees to one of the innovators, taking them on a deep dive into the future of retail automation.

Session 3: Digital Rewards and Loyalty: Engaging Shoppers Across Platforms

Loyalty and reward programs used to mean having store cards or receiving coupons in the mail. But, with the spread of the internet and the digitization of business, that model has been thoroughly disrupted. Today, loyalty programs are fully online, from the tablets at merchants’ points of sale to the smartphone apps customers use to keep track of their rewards. In this session attendees meet a digital leader in loyalty and rewards in order to find out how the next generation of shopper engagement platforms will reshape the retail industry.

Session 4: Applying Location-Based Services to the Retail Experience

Now that we live in an era of mobile information, more and more companies are building location-based services into their smartphone apps and online experiences. Technology companies are driving this trend in retail as they help brands enhance location-based mobile engagement and create new paths to purchase. The future of location-based services is set to be dominated by their application in indoor environments and by fusions with other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. To learn about this future, this session will connect participants to a leading location-based services innovator.

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Theme 3

RETAIL BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION

Session 1: Beyond eBay: the Continued Relevance of Digital Marketplaces

Since the earliest days of e-commerce, marketplaces have occupied a prominent role in the landscape. Ebay was an early innovator in the space and although it is still a major player it is far from the only one. New, often niche platforms, are connecting more buyers and sellers than ever before. These channels specialize in clothes, electronics, cars, beauty products and much more. In order to find out why such platforms will remain an important part of the future of e-commerce, this session will connect participants to a company innovating on the marketplace model.

Session 2: Socially-Connected E-Commerce

When consumers shop online they do so socially, by reading community-generated product reviews or following recommendations provided by their friends and contacts from digital networks. In fact, one group of companies has wholly embraced social media, going so far as to make it integral to their business. These social commerce outlets surround their product offerings with digital content, leveraging platforms such as Instagram and Twitter to encourage buyers to become evangelists and even participate in the selling process. What is the disruptive potential of this new model for retail? Session participants will meet a leading social commerce enterprise to learn the answer to that question.

Session 3: The Digital Revolution in Fashion and Personal Styling

In the past, bespoke fashion was the preserve of a wealthy few. Today, it is accessible by anyone at the few clicks of a mouse, or swipes of a smartphone screen. Technology companies have made this possible. Their apps and online portals offer personal stylists and regular or on-demand deliveries of new clothes and grooming products. How will this disruption impact fashion retail in the coming years? This session connects participants to an innovation leader in the sector to find out the answer to that question and much more.

Session 4: The Innovation Trend of Ethical Commerce

For a new breed of retailers, more important than what they sell is how what they sell is made and where it comes from. These sellers are pioneering ethical commerce, where championing causes such as the environment, worker welfare and social justice are an integral part of their business model. These concerns are far from contradictory to profitability, with ethical commerce companies attracting large amounts of venture capital. Will the trend continue to grow and could it even become the dominant model for retail? This session connects attendees to an ethical commerce innovator to find out.

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Theme 4

MAJOR RETAIL SECTOR SHOPPING TRENDS

Session 1: The Growing Market for Online Grocery

At the dawn of e-commerce, we bought books and CDs through the internet. Today, we buy everything online, groceries included. Yet online grocery is still in its relative infancy, compared to the e-commerce markets for items such as clothing and electronics. That is set to change however, with a wave of entrepreneurs determined to convince consumers to buy produce on the web rather than make a trip to the supermarket. This has placed online grocery on the list of retail trends set to grow fastest over the next decade. In this session participants will learn about these disruptive aspirations for the grocery market as they meet one of the sector’s leading innovators.

Session 2: Health, Beauty and Wellness In Focus

A catch-all term encompassing a wide range of industries from beauty to weight loss, wellness is a trend within retail that is on the rise. Its growing popularity has been put down to a turn by consumers toward products and experiences that promote both mental and physical well-being. Entrepreneurs and established companies alike are responding to this demand, bringing to market innovative products and services that include everything from wearable health monitors to online platforms for booking beauty treatments. This session will take participants on a deep dive into wellness, connecting them with an innovator in the space to hear what the future holds for this growing trend.

Session 3: Medical and Recreational Cannabis: a Billion-Dollar Market

The legalization of cannabis for recreational use in California in 2016 sparked the birth of an industry dedicated to the sale and distribution of the plant. Since then, innovators have wasted little time, with startups and venture capitalists alike turning their hand to building businesses around marijuana. This explosion of activity has quickly created a billion-dollar industry, with further growth on the way as cannabis is legalized in more markets around the world. Will this upward trajectory justify cannabis’ position as one of the most important sectors for the future of retail? In this session participants will meet a business leading innovation in the cannabis industry to learn the answer to that question and much more.

Session 4: Innovation in Resale and Secondhand E-Commerce

Today there are countless online marketplaces trading in secondhand goods. But in 1995, eBay stood more or less alone with a platform commerce model that was as yet untrusted by the wider public. Fast forward to the current day, and eBay is a publicly listed company with revenues in the tens of billions of dollars. Yet today it has many competitors, who bring with them a range of innovations on the online marketplace model. This session will connect participants to one of those companies in order to provide insights into the future of secondhand and resale commerce.

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Theme 5

OPTIMIZING THE RETAIL BACK OFFICE

Session 1: Reinventing Last-Mile Delivery

When Amazon first launched in the mid-1990s users could expect books ordered through the site to take up to a week to arrive on their doorsteps. Today, that waiting time is routinely down to a single day or, in many cases, a matter of hours. Yet in spite of recent progress on shipping times, innovators are far from satisfied. In Silicon Valley today disruptive startups continue to work to perfect retail logistics. Using drones, robots, autonomous vehicles and much more, they are defining the future of last-mile delivery. In this session participants will meet a leading last-mile delivery innovator to learn what the future of the sector holds.

Session 2: Digital Supply Chain Management

Today, supply chain management is about optimizing complex global networks using sophisticated technologies and real-time data. But it was not so long ago that moving raw materials and finished goods between suppliers, manufacturers and retailers was a task characterized by labour-intensive, manual processes. Since those early days supply chain and logistics have undergone numerous transformations. In our current era Silicon Valley companies are deploying AI, blockchain and other disruptive technologies to recreate the supply chain anew. In this session participants will meet a leading supply chain innovator in order to see what this digital transformation of supply chains means for the future of the retail industry.

Session 3: Using AI and Big Data to Drive Retail Decision-Making

A wave of technology companies has focused in on the retail sector, building data platforms and machine learning algorithms tuned to the specific needs of commerce. These software applications digest data from every part of the value chain; from the shop floor to the factory floor. With the help of artificial intelligence, innovators are taking this wealth of information and turning it into insight. Backed by data, brands can with confidence launch promotions, predict demand or cut unprofitable product lines. In this session participants will meet a company leading this innovative work in retail analytics and learn how data will reshape shopping in the years to come.

Session 4: Building Omnichannel Customer Experiences

Once upon a time, consumers interacted with brands solely through the in-store experience. But today, for a majority of customers, engagement with companies comes via an online channel such as a social media post, a web page or a mobile app. This move to digital platforms has catalysed the retail industry to rethink the customer experience. It is aided in this by a new wave of technology companies that are expert in providing seamless, omnichannel ecosystems. In this session participants will meet one of these innovators moving the retail industry toward an ever-more individualized model of commerce. Attendees will learn what the impact of this model will be on the future of shopping.

Sessions led by:

Interested In Online Custom Programs?

We can work with you to develop a custom online program around a topic or area of interest and strategic goals.

Personalized and Interactive

Direct Contact with Experts

Access more than 15 hours of live presentation plus additional materials and recordings on your schedule. Drill down with your mentors on things that matter most to you.

Dedicated SVIC Assistant

Silicon Valley Innovation Center provides a personal assistant to participants for the duration of all programs, ensuring a real white-glove experience.

World-Wide
Community

Program participants will uncover new connections and business development opportunities, both within Silicon Valley and globally with fellow course participants.