Keynote Theater 3

11.00 - 11.30

Alex Genov - Zappos

The talk will introduce a new way of thinking about how companies approach understanding their users, customers, consumers, fans, followers etc. – in short, understanding the people whose lives they affect. The new approach and mindset are applicable to companies of any size – from rebellious startups to established “captains of industry” type corporations. The new research mindset introduced here challenges calcified assumptions about how we approach understanding customers. These assumptions are most vividly apparent in large companies whose bureaucratic structure developed through the years establishes silos and sharp boundaries between understanding people for sales and marketing purposes versus understanding people for product design and development purposes. Once we realize that the final object of our understanding are real people with real behaviors, emotions, motivations, goals, etc., we will recognize that our customer research has to have a common business objective and a coordinated and complementary sets of methods across the whole organization. The talk will highlight a cross-functional, cross-silo research case study from Zappos – a company that was built and operates on challenging common wisdom and the status quo. Practical takeaways: - Understand the person, not the “shopper” or the “user”; UNDERSTANDING THE PERSON INVOLVES EMPLOYING COMPLEMENTARY QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS LIKE MARKET SEGMENTATION, SURVEYS, INTERVIEWS, TRANSACTIONAL DATA MINING, FIELD RESEARCH ETC. BY TRIANGULATING THE RESULTS OF THESE DIVERSE METHODS, THE ORGANIZATION WILL GET A HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR CUSTOMERS AS PEOPLE - No organizational silos when it comes to customer understanding; WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER RESEARCH CREATE A RESEARCH COUNCIL ACROSS THE WHOLE ORGANIZATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL TRADITIONAL SILOS WHICH ARE CUSTOMER-FACING; THEN COORDINATE ALL STRATEGIC CUSTOMER RESEARCH AS A GROUP - Use complementary research methods LIKE MARKET SEGMENTATION, SURVEYS, INTERVIEWS, TRANSACTIONAL DATA MINING, FIELD RESEARCH ETC. - Inform the business as a whole - Company culture matters – TRY TO FOSTER A COMPANY CULTURE OF COOPERATION VERSUS COMPETITION; ALSO FOSTER A CULTURE OF HUMILITY AND CUSTOMER EMPATHY

11.45 - 12.15

Rich Bulger, Sean Magann, Cisco - Cisco, Sims Lifecycle Services

Make it easy for people to shop online and oh, they will... then returns will be 25-35% of sales vs. 8-9% in actual stores.

12.30 - 13.00

Bill Walsh - Powerteam International

13.15 - 13.45

Parth Detroja - Facebook, Microsoft, Google

As Product Managers, we have an innate desire to build great products. However, to be a truly great PM, you must be able to take a step back and evaluate when and how to best enter a market (if at all). The first question you should always ask is why should we do this rather than jumping straight to how we do this. Without a clear strategy, your company will cease to exist. In the first half of this presentation, we will teach strategic frameworks for making crucial business strategy decisions. When a company is looking to enter a new space, it has three fundamental choices: acquire another company already in the space (buy), license from or partner with another company (borrow), or finally, create its own solution (build). As a Product Manager, your job is to find solutions which align with your company’s goals and users’ needs. Exceptional Product Managers know how and when to use the following arsenal of buying, building, or borrowing rather than blinding jumping to building. We will then apply these frameworks and break down how companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have utilized the different strategies presented to meet their business goals. During the second half of the presentation, we will look at some of today’s top tech firms (e.g. Amazon, Airbnb, etc.) and make predictions of what these disruptive companies will do next and why.

14.00 - 14.30

Chris Banks - Pyramid Analytics

Living in a COVID-19 world for over a year has left many retail organizations wondering what the new normal will be. Adaptability is key to sustainability, and 2021 will provide great opportunities for those who embrace change and look ahead to anticipate roadblocks. Join us for a look at some retail predictions for 2021, and how organizations like TFG have thrived in our changing world.

14.45 - 15.15

Tony Sciarrotta, Tom Maher - Reverse Logistics Association, Dell

Make it easy for people to shop online and oh, they will... then returns will be 25-35% of sales vs. 8-9% in actual stores.

15.30 - 16.00

Nicole Leinbach Reyhle - Retail Minded

Looking to boost sales, create stronger profits and ease operational efforts? Technology is the answer. In this keynote session, join Retail Minded's Founder Nicole Leinbach Reyhle as she unveils the realities of how consumers unknowingly depend on merchants integrating technology into their efforts to not only increase their customer engagement but to strengthen your profit along the way. Both digital and in-store technologies will be revealed to help you gain stronger store success with a core focus on omni-channel efforts that keep consumers on your direct path to purchase. Avoid roadblocks, detours and collisions that steer your customers off course and instead, learn how to optimize your efforts through technologies that will keep customers returning to your store again and again. The best part? Many are free and can be introduced to your business right away!

16.15 - 16.45

Mary P. Anderson - USPS

Shifting from Response to Recovery - Learn ways for small and medium business to respond and thrive. Increase in ecommerce and how logistics companies are handling the added volume to ensure delivery to consumers and how to advertise your company in this new normal to not only attract customers, to retain customers for maximum lifetime value and ROI. Learn how to save with our Loyalty Program through Click and Ship.