Attending events can be a good way to keep abreast of what’s happening in retail, including the latest innovations, tech trends, and benchmark data, as well as how the industry is responding to the challenges it is facing. With so many events and sources of insight to choose from, it can be hard to decide which to attend which is why we’ve compiled this list of top omnichannel retail, marketing technology, and data events and resources based on their speaker line-ups, content, and/or thought leadership.
The pandemic has not only changed consumer behaviour and the way we work. It’s revolutionised events, leading to more virtual events (both live and on-demand) and content being shared online. Now restrictions have eased, and the UK economy is showing signs of bouncing back, in-person events are returning for the last few months of this year – good news for those who are “zoomed out” and ready to get back in a room with people in real life!
Equally, if you're not ready for live events and/or enjoy the ease and convenience of virtual events, there's no need to fear missing out as they're set to continue. In addition, hybrid events are starting to emerge, offering a live stream of in-person events to enable a wider audience to attend virtually.
Our list covers a diverse mix of in-person and virtual events, in date order, with something for everyone in retail; data-driven marketers, customer experience and engagement experts, data scientists and analysts, as well as eCommerce, digital, and technology leads. We've also provided some useful digital and eCommerce benchmark data sources at the end.
AI & Big Data Expo Global – “Delivering AI & Data for a Smarter Future”
Paid for, In-person Conference & Exhibition, 6th – 7th September, Business Design Centre, London
Paid for, Virtual Show, 13th – 15th September
Co-located with five other events including Digital Transformation Week, IoT Tech, Cybersecurity & Cloud, 5G, and Blockchain Expos, this event showcases the next-generation of technologies and strategies from the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data. Explore and discover the advancements in AI and big data, the impacts within both Enterprise & Consumer sectors, as well as development platforms and digital transformation opportunities.
World Retail Congress London Summit – “The Global Roadmap to Rebuild a Better Retail”
Paid-for, In-person Summit, 14th September, Ham Yard Hotel, London
Speakers from across the global retail industry share their insights into the critical focus areas, how to be relevant to customers and what it takes to deliver relevancy consistently and sustainably. The agenda includes panel discussions, a working breakfast and lunch, and breakout workshops across six strategic pillars (Our Planet, Society, Economy, Businesses, Consumer, and Plan for Change). The format
is designed to connect retailers in a number of key regions virtually with the in-person event in London serving as the “hub” for the critical discussions.
Retail Week Consumer Week – “New Shopper, New Rules”
Free to attend, Virtual Event, 15th-16th September
Provides strategic insights across two virtual masterclasses, exclusive consumer research, and online content to identify and influence the new breeds of shoppers.
Day one focuses on identifying tomorrow’s shopper including the psychology of the new consumer, developing a data mindset, and winning with fandoms. The second day then looks at how to influence tomorrow’s shopper including revolutionising the customer experience, tapping into direct-to-consumer opportunities, and the ethical consumer.
IMRG Data Summit 2021 - “Black Friday Preview”
Free to Attend, Virtual Summit 15th–16th September
This event looks ahead to Black Friday and peak, providing insight around launch dates, discounting patterns, campaign types and expectations for the peak trading period. The first day focuses on campaigns and operational efficiency, whilst the second day focuses on discounts and expectations for Black Friday.
The Retail Bulletin Future of Retail Marketing – “Attract and Retain More Customers”
Free to Attend, Webinar, 15th September
The aim of this four-part webinar is to help you learn how to use customer data and optimise digital capabilities to further engagement, and accelerate the digital user experience (UX) and data capabilities. A range of speakers will discuss marketing ideas and retail case studies to show how retailers have converted interested browsers into loyal customers and brand advocates.
Big Data LDN – “Unleash the Dynamic Power of your Data”
Free to Attend, In-person Conference & Exhibition, 22nd-23rd September, Olympia London
This data and analytics conference and exhibition hosts leading data and analytics experts to arm you with the tools to deliver your data-driven strategy. Co-located with Blueprint LDN the UK’s enterprise cloud-native event focused on how to build a modern cloud-native architecture.
Internet Retailing & eDelivery Expo (IRX & eDX) – “Thrive in the New Digital World”
Free to attend, In-person Conference & Exhibition, 13th–14th October, NEC, Birmingham
Providing knowledge, insight, inspiration, and connections to help you stay one step ahead of the competition and thrive in the new digital world. The conference offers keynote speakers, practical workshops, and networking opportunities whilst the exhibition provides the opportunity to meet vendors.
CX Retail Exchange - “The Unmissable Customer Experience Exchange for Retail”
Invite only, In-person Event, 18th–19th October, Hilton Syon Park, London
This event is for a select group of around 60 senior customer experience professionals from FTSE 500 retailers looking to meet, network and connect with their industry peers and learn from leading retailers who have thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic.
MarTech Summit – “Converging Marketing and Technology for a Winning Future”
Paid for, In-person Event, 18th–19th November, London (venue to be confirmed)
The agenda is designed to reflect the latest trends and pain points modern marketers experience across the four themes of; data-driven marketing, customer experience and engagement, digital transformation and emerging marketing technologies.
Drapers Digital Festival – “Rip up the Online Rule Book”
Paid-for (some free passes available to retailers and brands), In-person Event, 6th October, 155 Bishopgate, London
For key stakeholders in ecommerce and omnichannel retail looking to discover the new rules, data and tech reshaping ecommece to capitalise on fashion retail’s digital acceleration.
Retail Week Live
Paid for, In-person Conference & Exhibition, 13th-14th October, Magazine, London
The annual global festival established to challenge, inspire and connect the retail ecosystem. Two days of curated content and 150+ speakers providing insight on the shape of the retail sector today and the future of the new consumer landscape across five key themes. As well as the keynote and speaker programme, you can attend networking sessions, tech tours and start-up pitches, plus schedule meetings with delegates in advance.
Festival of Marketing – “The Year Ahead”
Paid for, Virtual Event, 18th–20th October
Aimed at helping marketers tackle their marketing challenges with best practice content, debate, workshops and interactive sessions across four themes of powering growth, trends, customer delivery and creativity and collaboration.
Digital Marketing World Forum Europe – “Exploring the Future of Digital Marketing”
Paid for, In-person Conference & Exhibition, 23rd-24th November, Amsterdam
Virtual Show, 30th November–1st December
Exploring the latest digital marketing trends and strategies including digital marketing technologies, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, influencers marketing, UX, CX, ecommerce, content marketing, data, analytics and mobile.
Benchmark Data Sources
IMRG’s Weekly Retail Data Show is a 1-hour webinar looking at ecommerce and online retail performance with data insights from the IMRG CapGemini online retail index. This usually includes a deeper dive into a key focus area (eg. conversion rates, delivery and returns, device usage) with a vendor partner.
IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index & Digital Dashboard is a performance indicator for online retailers in the UK, providing retailers with extensive market analysis, insight, and comparison data.
DataReportal produce various reports to help people and organisations stay up to date with the latest digital trends and understand how the world uses the internet, social media, mobile devices and ecommerce. Reports are produced by Simon Kemp and Kepios, along various with partners including Hootsuite and We Are Social.
Statista is a leading provider of market and consumer data with insights and facts across 170 industries and 150+ countries.
Getting the most from Retail, Tech and Data Events
Our list is only a small selection of events and resources in the UK and may change due to current circumstances. There's lots of events out there, so much so you could probably find something to attend every week and, if you noticed four of the events listed above are on September 15th, you could even find yourself double-booked!
To make the best use of your time and select the right event for your needs we’d recommend thinking about the following:
What are your objectives?
Learning from others
Hearing from a particular person and/or company
Sharing best practice
Obtaining data insights
Expanding your network and knowledge by meeting a diverse mix of brands, retailers, partners and vendors
Exploring solutions and talking to vendors
Logistics - date, location, timings, paid for vs free to attend, etc.
What topics are of most interest to you?
You’re likely to find common recurring themes at retail events including customer experience, connecting the online and offline journey, the future of the store / high street, leveraging data and technology, sustainability and digital transformation.
Be clear on what’s most relevant to you and what you’re looking to achieve from attending a session.
What’s the agenda?
Check the speakers, sponsors, partners, exhibitors and format to make sure you have the most up-to-date information and that it meets your needs. If in doubt, contact the organiser.
Prepare in advance and have a plan
Highlight the sessions you want to attend, the vendors you want to speak to (if applicable) and the delegates you'd like to meet prior to the event (if appropriate).
Say hello!
Whilst Datitude is not exhibiting at any events in 2021, we do attend various events as a delegate so look out for members of our team and do say hello!
Enjoy the event and let us know if there's an event you'd recommend listing.
About Datitude
We do data! Datitude is a fast, robust, customer and retail data platform that helps retailers and consumer businesses make sense of their data. Combining data warehouse and data lake, systems integration, and business intelligence, Datitude's platform integrates, processes and unifies your key data from multiple systems and channels, both on and offline, to unleash the most powerful customer and trading insights. Whatever the data source, we can process it. Business intelligence, reports, and analytics are built-in and automated as standard, including visualisations and sophisticated interactive dashboards. If you need to turn your data into valuable intelligence, insight, and action, we'd love to talk.