7th Annual, One-Day, Industry-Led Conference & Networking Exhibition, Cavendish Conference Centre, Central London, 13th February 2025
08.15
REGISTRATION OPENS
Registration, Informal Networking & GIC Welcome
09.00 Morning Chair’s Opening Remarks
Jenna Martin, Head Of Category & Insights, Angus Soft Fruits Ltd
CATEGORY INNOVATION & SHOPPER ACTIVATION – ONLINE
09.10 Unlock Spend With Savvy Ecommerce & Online Retailing Strategies: Guarantee ROI, Increased Activation & Growth With Dynamic, Targeted Marketing & Digital Shelves
- Uncover the challenges to execution: unify product developers, shopper and category teams to maximise shopper activation and increase sales
- From main grocers to D2C ecommerce and quick-service retailers, what are the latest drivers and barriers in consumers choosing online purchases?
- Investigate the psychology and rationale behind impulse buying behaviours, exploring effective tactics to stimulate purchases when people don’t feel the impulse while shopping online
- Achieve data-driven, personalised promotions and target advertising which enhances online shopping and increased conversion rates
Catalina Prado, Head Of Indirect Channels, Pernod Ricard HQ
DOUBLE PERSPECTIVE
DRIVING GROWTH DURING TIMES OF INFLATION
09.30 Persevere Through The Cost-Of-Living Crisis & Persisting Inflation With Strategies To Emerge Unscathed Through Advantageous Pricing & Product Quality That Solidifies Your Brand & Inspires Your Customers
- How much longer is inflation going to be a challenge? Benchmark how consumers are reacting to the new government and review the latest forecasts for product, pricing and promotional strategies which mirror economic recovery
- Ready for the boom – make sure that when outlooks improve that you are in the right position to push on and hit new heights
- Insights into the categories where consumers are willing to spend vs make savings: actioning strategies to toe the line between quality and cost and exactly where can we encourage customer spend and drive growth
- In it together? Increase collaboration and strengthen retailer-manufacturer relationships to weather price squeezes and maintain win-win profits and growth
09.30 Perspective 1
Diana Zharovskikh, Global Director Of Pricing & Category Management, Grocery & Retail, Deliveroo
09.50 Perspective 2
Aaron Cooper, Head Of Grocery Impulse, Iceland Foods
PANEL Q&A
RETAIL MEDIA: STRATEGIC, INFLUENTIAL & EFFECTIVE
10.10 Optimise Your Retail Media For Maximum Impact: Generate Compelling Retail Media Which Translates Into Increased Consumer Engagement, Higher Conversion Rates & A Tangible Bottom-Line Impact
- Steps you can take to leverage your customer, shopper and category insights to create compelling, effective and profitable retail media strategies
- Measure media performance: to what extent are we successfully monetising retail media and generating incremental revenue for the business?
- With retail media set to be a billion-dollar-industry by 2030, what do we need to do now to shape media strategies and ensure that manufacturers aren’t left in the dust?
- Delve into the evolving landscape of native advertising within retail media, exploring effective integration strategies that seamlessly blend brand messaging with customer experience to drive conversions and brand loyalty
Jack Johnson, Head Of Retail Media & Data, Ocado Retail
Celso Borges, Shimabukuro VP & Head Of eCommerce Europe, Pepsico
Kate Blackmore, Shopper Marketing Manager, Pilgrim’s Europe
10:40 Bonus Session Reserved For Exclusive Conference Partner, Brand Nudge
Ross Watson, Chief Operating Officer, Brand Nudge
10.55 Morning Refreshment Break With Informal Networking
11.25 Bonus Session Reserved For Exclusive Conference Partner, KHWS
INSIGHTivity , Blending Insight & Creativity to Drive Growth
- 95% of purchase decisions are unconscious & automatic
- We will demonstrate that by identifying the unconscious cues that drive purchase behaviour, you can deliver more effective Category Management strategies & create Shopper Activations that drive growth
- A wide range of brands use our proprietary methodology – developed in partnership with Durham University Business School – to uncover the insights needed to solve a range of category management and shopper activation challenges:
- Is your marketing messaging effective throughout the purchase journey?
- Can you enhance your existing sales data, customer personas and insights with an understanding of the unconscious cues that your audiences use to inform their purchase?
- Are you able to recognise differences in buying behaviour amongst your customers from one retailer to the next and deliver the relevant messaging?
- Does your category management deliver a fluent shopping experience?
- We will show a breadth of case studies that give context to our approach – illustrating how we blend Insight with Creativity….to deliver INSIGHTivity
Andrew Watts, Founding Partner, KHWS
DOUBLE PERSPECTIVE
RETAILER COLLABORATION & INSIGHTS
11.40 Discovering The Secrets Behind Building & Maintaining Strong, Mutually Beneficial Retailer-Manufacturer Relationships That Expand Your Reach & Boost Your Brand
- Tricks of the trade: the stories of how retailers are adapting to step-change and evolving their businesses using insight partnerships to counter constant volatility and increase profits in the retail world
- New visions, new launches and NPD: how can manufacturers align with retailers to ensure smooth and successful product launches and execute their category vision?
- Can we innovate together? Best-in-class tactics to team up and deploy innovative fixtures or formats
- Explore methods for brands to successfully sit alongside private label ranges on retailer’s shelves, ensuring your portfolio still appeals to value-driven customers and doesn’t get overlooked
11.40 Perspective 1
Julie Stevens, Head Of Category & Shopper, McCormick (UK) Ltd
12.00 Perspective 2
Jack Johnson, Head Of Retail Media & Data, Ocado Retail
SOCIAL COMMERCE
12.20 Join Nora As She Speaks Around Social Commerce In Relation To TikTok From The Perspective Of TikTok Shop UK
Discover how a cohesive strategy, streamlined product fulfillment, and quick response to shifting shopper trends can boost your brand and create lasting connections with your customers.
Nora Zukauskaite, Integrated Marketing Director, TikTok Shop UK
INTERACTIVE DELEGATE DISCUSSION
AI APPLICATIONS
12.40 Transformative AI Strategies & Innovative Applications To Increase Efficiencies & Effectiveness Across Shopper, Category Management & Retail
- In a world of ever-changing tech advancements, how can you allow AI to do the heavy lifting on data insight and insight pooling and transform your category and shopper strategies with AI-led data science and analytics?
- Infuse AI with a human essence – despite worries of AI replacing us, uncover methods to equip your teams with new tools that allow them to complete processes faster and more accurately
- Hallucinations, incorrect data, generic tone of voice… to what extent can AI be trusted to support commercial, customer and marketing strategies?
- Explore AI applications to achieve cost savings and wider retail success: from machine learning assessing promotional effectiveness, to speech analytics in customer service, how can we embrace this brave new world?
PANEL Q&A
THE OMNICHANNEL FUTURE OF RETAIL
13.00 From QCommerce To TikTok & AR Fixtures & Fittings… Keep Pace With Channel Shifts & New Innovations In The Retail Landscape For Holistic Omni-Channel Strategies Which Engage Shoppers, Grow Categories, Boost Profits & Secure The Competitive Edge
- Quick commerce, social commerce, ecommerce, main estate, convenience, wholesalers, discounters, meal box subscriptions… how is the retail landscape projected to evolve over the next few years?
- As shopping channels have diversified, how can we remain agile and innovative to respond to consumers and maximise our revenue?
- App spotlight! Customer engagement, promoting loyalty, developing targeted marketing and data collection, what does the growth in app strategy mean for our shopper and category strategies?
Ben Webster, Global Head Of Category, Ornua
13.30 Exclusive Session with dunnhumby
Sam Harding, Insights Director, dunnhumby
13.45 Lunch & Informal Networking For Speakers, Delegates & Partners
14.45 Afternoon Chair’s Opening Remarks
14.50 Exclusive Session with VST (Virtual Store Trials)
Charlotte Kiddle, Chief Research Officer, VST (Virtual Store Trials)
PANEL Q&A
IDENTIFYING GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FROM EVOLVING CONSUMER & SHOPPER BEHAVIOURS
15.05 Maximise Revenue Growth By Aligning Retailing, Category & Product Strategy Behind The Very Latest Consumer & Shopper Behaviours: What Are The Growth Trends To Back & How Can We Create Effective Activation & Loyalty Strategies For 2025 & Beyond?
- Health is wealth! What are the current health and wellness purchasing drivers and how can we adapt our strategies to derive maximum value from this mission?
- Loyal customers? Unpack the importance of loyalty to consumers, the value of schemes and how to best employ loyalty data to both encourage repeat purchases and attract new business
- Determine where consumers will splurge or save across different categories and missions – and how this is changing – to adapt your shopper strategies and see where you can spark conversions
- What are our main growth players to watch – and which need to watch out? From plant-based to sustainability, from functional foods and free-from to no and low… and which are our new and emerging growth categories and trends?
- Insights into action: how can we close the loop on new insights and effectively translate them into strategies in practice?
Claire Brosnan, Head Of Category & Commercial Strategy, Brown-Forman
Polly Lamy, Head Of Commercial, Elior UK
Scott Macrae, Buying Manager, George At ASDA
Kerri Fidler, Head of Food For Later Portfolio (Ready Meals, Quiche, Soup & Sauce & Coleslaw), Greencore
Anne Morris, Category Controller, Kopparberg UK
Aaron Cooper, Head Of Grocery Impulse, Iceland Foods
DOUBLE PERSPECTIVE
SUSTAINABILITY
15.35 Boost Brand Image & Show Off Your Green Credentials with Campaigns, Policies, & Products That Cultivate Loyalty & Foster Trust In An Increasingly Conscious Consumer Base
- Amidst a turbulent economic situation, discover methods to keep your sustainability initiatives on track that prove your green commitment while also staying financially savvy
- Balancing act – ensure that your pricing strategies are allowing the modern shopper to remain sustainability conscious on a budget without putting the squeeze back on yourself!
- More plastic, more cardboard – what does enhanced POS branding mean for sustainability? Uncover tricks to reduce usage while ensuring your locations look as attractive as possible
15.35 Perspective 1
Matt Bowler-Jones, Commercial & Supply Chain Director, Finlays Beverages
15.55 Perspective 2
David Deeley, Insights Manager, Europe, Kerry
16.15 Afternoon Refreshment Break With Informal Networking
16.45 Exclusive Session With Nomad Foods
Kostya Artyukhov, Head Of Strategy & FP&A, Nomad Foods
Becky Henry, Head of Cluster Insights, Nomad Foods
BRAND VS PRIVATE LABEL
17.05 Draw Insights Into Brand Vs. Private Label Purchasing Behaviours To Grow The Category, Increase Market Share & Maintain Healthy Competition
- As consumers seek more affordable alternatives, tap into the private label categories that are gaining market share amidst inflation and holding their own against the premium brands’ performance to gain a better understanding of the customer base
- High vs low frequency? Impulse vs everyday? Occasions vs necessity? What are the shopper missions and priorities that swing more towards private label or branded products? How can you use this understanding to influence consumer decision making?
- Drive growth on all fronts by deep diving into the data and analysing cutting-edge insights on both sides of the coin for a more harmonious co-existence between the competitors
- A new tier? As private label grows in popularity, discover which categories can benefit from additional pricing tiers to maximise customer spend – and how can you encourage them to trade up?
Sam Dickson, Vice President, Own Brand, Commercial Strategy & Operations, ASDA
CONVENIENCE CHANNEL
17.25 Unlock In-Store Convenience Success With Actionable Strategies Which Enhance The Shopping Experience, Engage Shoppers & Activate Spend
- What methods best activate in-store shoppers in 2025? From competitions, tickets and freebies to shelf trays and branding – how can you catch attention, engage the shopper and maximise spend?
- Retail insight focus: how should packaging, product ranges, formats, and merchandising strategies be tailored to increase foot traffic and appeal to today’s convenience shopper
- New tech, new opportunities – Who has been thinking outside the box and how well have innovative approaches like contactless checkout and mobile promotions worked in attracting attention and increasing basket spend?
- Where does convenience shopping experience sit within the customer’s overall shopping? Insights into how can we harmonise the convenience experience with our brand presence across all channels to create a cohesive and engaging shopper experience
Sara Pravisani, Wholesale, Convenience & Fuel Category Manager, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
17.45 Afternoon Chair’s Closing Remarks & Official Close Of Conference
Want To Speak At The Conference?
If you would like to join our incredible speaker lineup, then please get in touch!