The Invitation-Only Forum For IT Leaders from the UK’s Top Retailers

07/06/2023

Retail CIO Connect is The Invitation-Only Forum for IT Leaders from the UK’s Top Retailers. We provide high-level networking through a VIP, closed-door experience, supplemented by pre-qualified 1-1 meetings with hand-picked solution providers.

In June 2023, over 2 days we brought together 80+ Senior-Level IT decision-makers from the UK’s leading retailers to the luxury venue, Sopwell House in St Albans! We hosted 17 engaging sessions to encourage benchmarking and learning from these senior peers. In addition, we offered 9 stand-alone 1-1 meeting slots; resulting in a total of 201 pre-qualified 30 minute meetings. Not just this, we also had networking experiences from our Beers & Bubbles Roundtable to our Networking Summer BBQ! Our senior attendees represented some of UK Top Retailers, such as:

A.S Watson Group, AO, Arcadia, Boots, Burberry, Clarks, Costa Coffee, Dixons Carphone, Dune London, Footasylum, H&M, John Lewis, Joules, Miss Guided, New Look, Post Office, Sainsburys, Specsavers, Starbucks, The Gym Group

The audience breakdown at Retail CIO Connect read as follows:

  • CEO - 10%
  • Co-Founder - 10%
  • Director - 25%
  • Executive - 10%
  • Head - 23%
  • Lead - 11%
  • Manager - 5%
  • VP - 6%

View the full list of attendees here.

"A massive thank you for the invite to the Retail CIO Connect – thoroughly enjoyed it and got a tremendous amount out of it” - Louisa McCarron, M&S


Our Retailers Investment Priority

The Senior-Level IT Leaders that attended Retail CIO Connect are the top decision makers and budget holders who are actively seeking new solutions. All our attendees had a minimum annual revenue of £10 million, with 50% of these having an annual revenue of £1 billion+. Each attendee has a minimum personal budget of at least £500,000, with 42% having a personal budget of £10 million+.

With the extensive profiling and marketing campaign that happens in the lead up to the event, you can guarantee that deals are made across the 2 days.

Here is a look at the solutions our Retail CIO Connect IT Leaders were looking to invest in, within the following 12 months:

  • Data analytics/ Mining/ Data Management Platforms - 80%
  • Machine Learning/AI - 73%
  • Omnichannel Software - 64%
  • Business Intelligence - 63%
  • IT Security - 62%
  • Cloud Migration/ Automation Solutions - 58%



An Unrivalled Speaker Faculty

Under Chatham House Rule, our 38 speakers hosted a mix of high-level strategic case studies and interactive discussions focused on the industries biggest growth priorities. Our audience was able to engage in high-level strategic case studies and interactive discussions to benchmark their retail technology and digital strategies.

Our packed agenda of 17 sessions covered pressing industry topics, from Enhancing Omnichannel Experience & Achieving Omnichannel Personalisation to Strengthening Cybersecurity & Capturing Cybersecurity Insights.

  • Chris Blatchford, Group CIO, Kingfisher B&Q
  • Adam Warne, CIO, River Island
  • Krista Nordlund, Chief Digital Product Officer, Marks and Spencer
  • Holly Steele, Head of Technology, Sweaty Betty
  • Fran Pillar, COO, Seraphine
  • Alistair Edwards, Executive Director: Retail Technology Lead, Estée Lauder Companies
  • Hannah Ayala, Head of Digital Delivery, New Look
  • Lisa Camm, Head of Digital Transformation, Fortnum & Mason
  • Reuben Nelson-Cofie, Technology Director Europe, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie & Free People
  • Romi Arya, Director of Technology and Products, Walgreen Boots Alliance

These are just a handful of the brilliant speakers we heard from at Retail CIO Connect 2023.

Take a look at the full speaker line up and topics discussed by downloading our agenda here.

“Thank you so much for such a well-organized conference!” - Rob Barrett, Pure Gym


Social Media was Buzzing

There was a great buzz on social media whilst Retail CIO Connect was taking place. Here’s a look at some of our favourite posts on LinkedIn:

Alistair Edwards, Executive Director, Estee Lauder – “An incredible experience attending the Retail CIO Connect event at Sopwell House this week, where I had the privilege of sharing insights and speaking publicly about the Retail Digital Transformation and Omni-Channel personalisation experiences of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Sincere gratitude to WBR for organising such an engaging and thought-provoking event.”

Jonathan Summerfield, CEO & Founder, Xfuze Platform – “Look forward to the next one, WBR. Xiatech found this event very valuable.”


SAVE THE DATE

Retail CIO Connect: May 2024

Retail CIO Connect 2024 is already starting to take shape. Sponsorship opportunities are available now. If you want the chance to be introduced to your next client – get in touch with our team!

Get in touch here.

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