By IRX - Thousands of industry professionals will gather for the UK’s premier digital retail show, IRX – which is free to attend

The InternetRetailing Expo (IRX), considered the UK’s premier digital retail show, returns to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on the eve of summer. IRX and eDX (the eDelivery Expo) take place on May 24th and 25th. Registration is now open for the free, two-day event.

Although IRX has been running for 17 years, it has never been more relevant, arguably. According to the latest Office for National Statistics data, online sales in January 2023 accounted for precisely one-quarter of all retailing in Great Britain. Notably, pre-pandemic, in February 2020, the figure was 19.8% – but there are obvious reasons for the change.

The lockdowns implemented to reduce the spread of coronavirus forced retailers to shutter physical stores and triggered an e-commerce explosion. But now, post-pandemic, consumer trends are evolving, and those operating in this space must elevate their digital retail offering or miss out. Here’s where IRX and eDX can help. 

Networking and interaction at IRX

Attendees will be informed by the latest trends and innovations shaping the industry, influenced by talks from over 100 thought leaders and speakers – ranging from industry veterans to rising stars – and inspired by pioneering technology providers or solutions providers.

Thousands of industry professionals will participate in the must-attend event in the digital retail calendar. With “networking” and “interaction” as the watchwords, attendees are encouraged to listen, learn, and share. From 5 pm, directly after the formal agenda has been completed, on May 24th, things will become more relaxed. Free networking drinks will be poured at the IRX bar in the center of the exhibition floor until 6.30 pm (at least officially). This 90-minute informal session is ideal for unwinding and chatting with fellow retailers, sponsors, and exhibitors.

IRX is a unique event where people can catch up with old friends, make new contacts, and hear about the latest trends – plus find out how to make the most of them. By attending workshops, IRX visitors will gain valuable insights and hear applicable, practical advice to enable businesses to thrive.

IRX always attracts the biggest names, and the lineup for 2023 is no exception. For example, this year’s conference will feature various household brands, exhibitors, and sponsors, including Amazon Freight, Amazon Shipping, Worldline, GFS, and Checkout.com. Also present will be Wunderkind, Shopify, and Klaviyo, among many others.

Additionally, Claire Hennah, Unilever’s Global Ecommerce Director, Selfridges Head of Customer Data, Giles Smith, and Michelle Kearns, Head of IT for Boots, are just three of 100+ speakers sharing their insights on stage at the NEC. Anjali Subburaj, DCX Architect at The Very Group, Nick Bradford, JD.com’s Sustainability and Procurement Director, and River Island CIO Adam Warne will also speak. And these are just the confirmed brands and presenters – many more will be announced before May 24th.

Conference tracks at IRX

Sessions across four conference theatres include keynotes, panels, and fireside chats. Meanwhile, three workshop theatres will provide practical and applicable advice on a range of subjects.

The seven conference tracks reflect the most relevant topics for digital retail professionals. For 2023, these include Marketing, Digital Marketing, Customer Experience, Customer Obsession, and Omnichannel Innovation.

To provide prospective guests with an idea of what will likely be discussed in the four tracks, below is a selection of working-agenda items – please note that these are subject to change.

Digital Marketing

As well as providing the stage for the initial plenary sessions on May 24th, Theatre 1 will feature sessions on how to market during the downturn – to help customers make the right purchases during the cost-of-living crisis – and how to capitalize on consumer browsing trends and impulse purchases. Also, tips to succeed Gen Z and Gen Alpha markets – both essential customers today and tomorrow – will be offered, plus advice about how best to use machine learning to improve conversion rates. On May 25th, Theatre 1 will feature sessions looking at how to stay competitive by creating brand authenticity, and how to drive revenue through gamification, storytelling, and influencers, among other trends. Attendees will also learn about the benefits of investing in a data-driven loyalty strategy to improve conversion rates and boost customer satisfaction. 

Customer Experience

In Theatre 2, guests will discover insights about how to use gamification and immersive shopping in the metaverse to enhance customer experience and improve all-important loyalty. Here speakers will also shine a light on building and engaging online communities by investing in artificial intelligence on social media channels to boost brand awareness.

Customer Obsession

This track is sponsored by Amazon Shipping and Amazon Freight. Following a welcome message from Daniel Evans, CEO of Birmingham Enterprise Community, visitors to Theatre 2 on May 25th will learn how to sell during an economic downturn – specifically how to respond to changes in customers’ buying behaviour – and tips for creating personalised shopping experiences that improve loyalty. There are also sessions on optimising the checkout experience to reduce basket abandonment, capturing Gen Z and Gen Alpha markets, the pros and cons of subscription-based services, and the future of online shopping.

Omnichannel Innovation

Theatre 3’s topics include maintaining a consistent experience when shifting from a multichannel to an omnichannel approach, tips to build a marketplace strategy into a business model and increase customer reach, and tapping into the circular economy.

IRX & eDX takes place on May 24th and 25th at the NEC, Birmingham. 

🔥Register for free here now. #IRX23 #eDX23🔥

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InternetRetailing Conference 2018 – Collaboration, Innovation, Expertise. A powerhouse of ideas to Re:generate Retail

Retail is re-structuring, re-formatting, re-skilling and re-connecting with consumers. In the current climate, success belongs to retailers that dare to be adaptive, creative and to take risks. Re-launching for 2018 – in a brand-new London venue - InternetRetailing Conference 2018 brings together 800+ retail board members, C-level executives and directors for a breath-taking day of inspiration and collaboration.

We’ve rejected endless PowerPoint presentations and superficial networking. Instead, our new format is designed to encourage peer-to-peer learning and board-level collaboration to enable ideas to flourish and innovation to be fostered.

Test your strategies against each other in order to create an overall solution that attracts customers, builds loyalty and generates revenue. How are millennials reshaping the way we all shop? What role will the store play in the era of eCommerce? What are the ingredients to successful international expansion? How is a tougher regulatory environment – stemming from GDPR and Brexit – affecting trade? How can a retailer overcome the challenges of re-skilling its workforce for the eCommerce and multichannel retail age?

Our 50+ speakers include:

• David Lloyd, Managing Director, UK & Nordics, Alibaba Group
• Caroline Hazlehurst, Operations Director, Deliveroo
• Rachel Humphrey, Director, Brand & Strategic Partnerships, Birchbox
• Sara Prowse, Chief Executive Officer, Hotter

Form lasting connections, share insight and help share retail’s future. Join the retail revolution on October 11^th, at the Business Design Centre in London.

Interested? You can find more information and sign up here.

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How can the retail industry survive (and overcome) the new customers’ demands? In a decade of digital transformation, customer behavior has dramatically changed. In 2017 nearly 20% of UK retail sales took place through non-conventional channels and customers spent £18bn on mobile shopping only. Retailers not offering a hassle-free multichannel experience, whether it’s in store, online or mobile, are missing out.

In 2020, being truly omnichannel will no longer be a luxury but a requirement so getting to grips with it NOW will be the only way retailers will stay ahead of the competition.

InternetRetailing EXPO (IRX) 2018 brings together the expertise, best practice and technology retailers need to enchant the customer and deliver a seamless shopping experience across channels.  On 21-22 of March, 5,000 digital professionals will gather at the NEC for the UK’s largest festival for digital and multichannel retail. With the largest educational programme in e-commerce, +80 retailers will unveil the solutions to the most pressing problems in digital retailing of today, harnessing the latest technologies across Mobile, Virtual Reality, Payments and more.

From creating your first e-commerce website to optimising your mobile experience or expanding internationally, IRX 2018 tackles today's retail challenges no matter the size of the retailer.

Be inspired by over 100 hours of content

IRX 2018 boasts 8 conference tracks featuring a stellar line-up, including Nigel Blunt, Head of Operations Development at Sainsbury's Argos, Mark Cody, Mobile Product Lead at Eurostar, Caroline Hazelhurst, Operations Director at Deliveroo, Tom Rooney, Senior Mobile Apps & In-Store Digital Manager at John Lewis and Daryl Hughes, eCommerce Manager at Facebook & Instagram UK. During IRX 2018, visitors will also be able to experience the latest innovations and developments from over 300 exhibitors, namely Ingenico Payments, Visa, Magento, Worldpay and many others.

Neil Gaisford, Managing Director for InternetRetailing Expo, commented: “Black Friday 2017 saw online sales overtake the high street for the first time, with £1.4bn taken on Friday. However, standing out in a competitive sales period like this isn’t just about who has the best promotions. The biggest differentiator can often be the customer service you deliver. Effective omnichannel; making it easy for customers to communicate, select, buy, take delivery and return, as they wish to, no matter which channel they’re using – mobile, desktop or in store. Omnichannel is the future of retail, and retailers not embracing it, will stay behind. “

Register for your free pass

For further information and to register free for IRX 2018, please visit internetretailingexpo.com. Get involved on Twitter by following @etailexpo and with the hashtags #IRX18 #EDX18.

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21-22 March 2018, Internet Retailing EXPO will take place in Birmingham, UK.

The event will contain over 5,000 European retailers and 300+ exhibitors descend upon the NEC each year for the UK’s biggest dedicated multichannel event – InternetRetailing Expo and eDelivery Expo.

Combined, the bustling show floor of IRX and EDX offers visitors a rich and relevant programme with the complete range of products and services essential to drive multichannel retail performance.

And with over 100 hours of structured content spread across the two days, you’ll be immersed in the UK’s largest multichannel education programme – all for free!

IRX is for CEO’s, Directors, Senior Managers and Executives who are responsible for delivering multichannel strategies.

Want to know more? Visit the website. Sign up here.

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The UK’s biggest multichannel event, the InternetRetailing Expo (IRX), co-located with eDelivery Expo (EDX), Europe’s only dedicated multichannel delivery event, returns to Birmingham on the 5th and 6th April this year. With it come the latest innovations and products as well as the next big players in multichannel retail.

In addition to top retailers Lululemon, Google, Facebook, Sainsbury’s, LEGO, Harrods, John Lewis, M&S, Alibaba Group, Ocado, Schuh, Vodafone, Specsavers, Volkswagen, GAME and ASDA sharing their insight and expertise on stage, true action will also be seen in the exhibition floor of the NEC in Birmingham.

Visitors attending the show will not only get a first-hand look at the latest research, innovations and technology set to define the future of fulfilment and multichannel retail, but will also have the opportunity to interact and immerse themselves in it.

Virtual reality, robots, new software and developments will form part of the exclusive demos of cutting-edge technology to be unveiled by 300 leading solution providers at the show.

Some of these technologies will focus on business and competitiveness improvements, such as Brightpearl, live demonstrating their mobile point of sale system & automation platform designed for multichannel retailers, and Bunting, proving the importance of personalisation by carrying out live transformations of visitors' websites and personalising them in real-time.

For the payments industry, particularly, Worldpay will be presenting a proof-of concept demo of how payments could be used in the Internet of Things, with an IoT driverless carparking Lego demonstration. myPOS Europe Ltd will also be presenting different online payment tools, and demoing their latest myPOS devices and myPOS AppMarket.

Exhibitors at EDX will also showcase the latest technology in packaging, parcels, stock management, warehousing, logistics end-to-end, and many more areas to help retailers improve their operations performance at the show.

For instance, Eiratech Robotics will be demonstrating its full automation system for warehouse management live, including two of their award-winning robots. OrderWise will exhibit their Mobile Warehouse Management Devices and exciting new Android App functionality. Delegates will also have the opportunity of experiencing, through virtual reality, how they can operate the new LR 35 by Kardex Remstar, a vertical buffer module system that incorporates automated storage and retrieval in one solution.

Spotlight of this year’s show will also be on the Innovation Hub, a dedicated space where the most ground-breaking entrepreneurs and emerging technologies will be presented.

There, TrueStart, Europe’s only independent retail and consumer accelerator and investment fund, together with 9 start-ups: Posttag, ChoiceMaster, Blockverify, LogistCompare, Milkman, PixonEye, Hullabalook, Photospire and Streetdots, will be showcasing the new technological solutions and platforms that are disrupting the retailing space. Checkout-conversion improvement, home-delivery, data analytics, artificial intelligence and customer recommendations, search optimisation, bottom-line improvement, supply chain management, anti-counterfeit measures, marketplaces for warehousing, innovation in the last-mile and data-driven videos are some of the key elements these technologies address.

Other companies like Consignor, Payoneer, Khaos Control, Papier Metter, Netmatter, Kardex Remstar, Profulfilment, Yotpo, VL, Automated Packaging Systems and Volo Commerce will also be introducing new products and features for the UK market at this year’s edition. From cloud marketplace and channel integration solutions, to new sustainable and protective packaging materials, benchmarking tools for user-generated content and comprehensive integration platforms for ERP software, accounting systems, ecommerce platforms, shipping services and more, many exciting innovations will be presented.

Latest insight and research on the industry, to help retailers better understand opportunities in multichannel retail and logistics, will also be unveiled. Industry experts and analysts like iAdvize, Magnolia and CompetitorMonitor will be sharing their exclusive reports on creating conversational customer journeys, personalisation of web experiences and best practice for E-commerce Managers.

Adding to IRX and EDX’s comprehensive educational programme, the Expos will have 20 workshops for hands-on, practical, training. These will cover an array of topics including: building best-in-class supply chain by Profulfilment, ChannelAdvisor and DHL; increasing new business and secure repeat business by Webmarketing Booster; predictive marketing solutions by Smarter Ecommerce; and personalisation of digital experiences by Optimizely.

Attendees to the Expos won’t want to miss the chance of winning a Remote-Controlled Drone (Quadcopter) at Profulfilment’s stand or trying out Akamai Technologies’ fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience, as they follow a cyber-attack attempting to breach and destroy a corporate website.

Complementary to the abundant opportunities for attendees to interact with cutting-edge technology and participative learning opportunities, the Expos will also mix business and pleasure outside the exhibition floor. Worldpay, Yotpo, Nosto and Kount will be hold networking opportunities and fun activities across both days.

New to this year’s show, IRX and EDX will also host an official party on the night of the 5th April at The Vox. This unique evening will bring together the who’s who of multichannel retail and the most distinguished industry professionals at this year’s show. Together they will celebrate the continued success of the most dynamic online retail sector and toast to the bright future ahead of the industry. Retailers interested in attending the party can apply for tickets here.

To learn more about the InternetRetailing and eDelivery Expo and to register for free, visit www.internetretailingexpo.com and www.edeliveryexpo.com

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This year’s InternetRetailing Expo (IRX) returns to Birmingham’s NEC on 5 & 6 April. It’s the seventh year in a row for the UK’s only dedicated multichannel retail expo. The underlying theme for 2017 is ‘Unveiling the Future of the Retail Nation’, which aims to provide insight into what the future holds for ecommerce and multichannel retail in the post-Brexit Britain.

The show will host features, conferences, demonstrations, workshops and top-level speakers from global brands such as Lululemon, Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Sainsbury’s, LEGO, Harrods, John Lewis, M&S, Ocado, Schuh, Vodafone, Specsavers, Volkswagen, GAME and Made.com, among others.

IRX will consist of two days of thought-leadership, learning and networking with over 5000 visitors and 300+ industry leading solution providers, showcasing their latest innovations and everything that will aid retailers to thrive in the future. The show will be co-located with eDelivery Expo, Europe’s only dedicated fulfilment event covering S.O.L.D – Supply Chain, Operations, Logistics and Delivery for multichannel retail.

The Opening Plenary will be led by Alan Wizemann, business guru and VP for Digital Product and Guest Experience at Lululemon. With 19 years of experience working on product strategy and business transformation with top retailers such as Target, Amazon, Nike, Levi’s, Sony, Saatchi & Saatchi and multi-million dollar start-ups, Wizemann will be addressing how digital can drive global growth and customer satisfaction. He will focus on sharing knowledge, strategy and advice on how organizations can use digital transformation to work smarter and faster, generating significant gains in revenue while retaining millions of dollars in the process.

Attendees will also be able to participate in 20 hands-on workshops covering an array of topics including: building best-in-class supply chain, capitalising on customer service reviews and user-generated content, the values of Hyper-Personalisation and the role of personalised product recommendations to avoid conversion leaks. There will also be practical training and a chance to address personal ecommerce doubts and questions in exclusive one-to-one 30 minute clinics, delivered by leading companies and retailers in the industry.

This year’s event will see the launch of the Omnichannel Theatre where industry experts from across the retail sector will aid brands who are struggling to support consumers across multi-channels. Additionally, experts will inform visitors on how to deliver consistent and relevant customer experience across all channels.

The Innovation Hub will also have a key presence in this year’s show, bringing together the most innovative entrepreneurs and emerging technologies.

There, TrueStart, Europe’s only independent retail and consumer accelerator and investment fund, together with 8 start-ups such as Milkman, PixonEye, Hullabalook, Photospire and Streetdots will be presenting the new technological solutions and platforms that are disrupting the retailing space. Checkout-conversion improvement, home-delivery, data analytics, search optimisation, bottom-line improvement, supply chain management, anti-counterfeit measures, innovation in the last-mile and data-driven videos are some of the key elements these technologies address.

But, it’s not all about the work, IRX and EDX are focused on attendees having an immersive and fun experience throughout the two-day event. Complementary to the abundant opportunities for attendees to interact with exclusive demos of cutting-edge technology and participative learning opportunities, the Expos will also mix business and pleasure outside the exhibition floor.

Further, IRX and EDX will be hosting an official party on the 5th April at The Vox. This will be a unique evening that aims to bring together the who’s who of multichannel retail over drinks and evening entertainment. Guest will join together to celebrate the success and diversity in the industry and look to the future. For retailers interested in attending the party they can apply for tickets here.

With its rich and varied peer-led educational programme, with over 100 hours of structured content led by key decision makers and C-level executives, exclusive networking opportunities and demonstrations from the latest technological innovations shaping the industry, IRX and EDX is a must-attend event for all who work in the retail industry. Ambitious retailers and leading suppliers with a shared vision are every year brought together to this exhibition floor.

To obtain your free ticket to IRX and EDX, visit www.internetretailingexpo.com and www.edeliveryexpo.com. For further information please contact the Internet Retailing Events Team on 020 7384 7802 or email info@internetretailingevents.com.

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