**POST EVENT UPDATE – SUMMARY FROM LOUISA HOSEGOOD:
“Does our retail industry need a reboot?
After the trading turbulence of the initial COVID-19 period retailers are now looking forward. We rely so heavily on retail in the UK, how can businesses navigate the next chapter?
Key takeaways:
- Pause, analyse and agree your business purpose – it might need to shift a little
- Ensure you consider what your customers want (this may have changed too
- Put that together with what you’re good at and then develop the plan
- Make a short, medium and long term plan
- Be clear on what you are doing and how it will be done, what will be prioritised
- Don’t lose the learnings from the last 6 months
- Bottle any creative and innovative ways of working and keep them alive
- Looking at retail supply chain solutions – automation is now far more accessible to all, collaboration is an under-utilised strategic route, and volatility isn’t going away so it’s how you create visibility and mechanisms to cope rather than tie yourself in knots trying to second guess
Retailers and their supply chains are resilient, they’ve always been accustomed to change and new ideas. The difference now is that things are happening much faster now so we need to be nimble and take some leaps of faith.
IBM are hosting their Think Digital Summit on Wednesday 7th October from 9.15am, to help businesses that are in need of transformation to look beyond the uncertainty – not just to adapt or recover, but thrive, and to emerge smarter.
From leading a business to coding new solutions, learn from inspiring talks of perseverance and adaptability; collaborate and rethink strategies in 1-to-1 chats with experts; and take part in live debates on hot topics and network with like-minded attendees.
Discover
- How to transform your data to meet the demands of a hybrid, multi-cloud world
- How to drive innovation within your organisation with a digital-first mentality
- How industry-changing technology can help you act with agility, resilience and unity
Connect
- Connect with iconic organisations who are making transformational progress
- Featuring speakers from CBI, Rolls Royce, Permanent TSB and the British Retail Consortium
Engage
- Engage with peers to share challenges, celebrate successes and be inspired
- Join live debates throughout the day
- Meet with client speakers and IBM experts to discuss topics you want to address
Agenda
Time: 9.15am – 1.00pm
9:15: Welcome & Introduction: Today isn’t a restart. It’s a rethink
9:30: Emerging Smarter: Rethinking business for a new pandemic-informed world
10:00: Emerging Smarter: Rethinking operational resilience in finance
Emerging Smarter: Rethinking healthcare in a time of COVID-19
Emerging Smarter: Rethinking manufacturing for the future
10:30 onwards: A variety of sessions to cherry pick from, under the following categories;
Unlock the value of AI and Cloud
Security: Emerge smarter
Hybrid multi-cloud infrastructure
Live debates
Where will you find us?
Our Digital and Strategy Director, Louisa Hosegood will be joined by fellow Supply Chain experts for a panel discussion:
‘Does our Retail industry need a reboot?’
Time: 10:30
Retail has always been a hard place to do well, coping with often low margins, fickle customers and unpredictable outside influences. 2020 has been “off the scale” hard though, with examples of extremes in all areas: you’ve either been break-neck busy or reduced to skeletal trading. One thing is for sure, the changes are not over. Now we’re back to trading at scale, retailers need to understand how to navigate the next chapters of this story.
The UK relies so heavily on retail trade, it’s important to get this right for our economy’s survival. It affects so many areas of our lives, including employment, property and sustainability. A strategic renewal is needed. How can retailers overhaul their winning formula to remain agile on a continuous basis, profitably, and without staff burnout, dealing with issues like localisation, supply chain disruptions, changing customer buying patterns and the ever present need to be kind to the planet?
More on Louisa Hosegood...
Louisa joined the Bis Henderson Consulting team in 2020, bringing with her 18 years’ experience in retail and eCommerce; fulfilling senior supply chain leadership roles at some of the UK’s largest retailers. Immediately prior to her appointment as Digital and Strategy Director, Louisa was Head of Logistics Network Development at Marks & Spencer, where she was responsible for developing the strategy and design for a simpler omni-channel logistics network to support in store and online sales for the retailers Clothing and Home lines.
Louisa also held senior positions at John Lewis where she was highly influential in creating the first end-to-end supply chain strategy for the retailer, underpinning ambitious online growth plans and operational efficiency at scale.
Using her wealth of experience and understanding of retail and eCommerce at a strategic level, Louisa will be responsible for developing the breadth, depth and reach of Bis Henderson Consulting’s retail and eCommerce proposition, offering our clients a much broader and heightened level of support for their supply chain and wider business objectives.
Further reading...
Introducing the first two instalments of our NEW four part mini-series:
‘Is your supply chain prepared for the new retail landscape?’
PART ONE:
Examining the role of the stock room in the new retail supply chain, and exactly how blurred the line between front and back of house needs to be now…
‘Flexing The Stockroom For A ‘New’ Future’
PART TWO
Offering a five-step process that will help your business find the appropriate levels and applications of automation for your business, now and into the future…
