Agenda Day 2
8:00 am - 8:30 am
Registration
8:30 am - 8:40 am
Welcome & Introduction from the Chair
Chair: Paul Sims -
Consultant,
Equal Experts
8:40 am - 9:10 am
OPENING PANEL DISCUSSION: Is Physical Retail Doomed? Revisiting the Fundamentals of Customer Excellence to Increase Footfall
Julia Bischof -
Retail Director EMEA,
Le Creuset
Mazhar Butt - Group Director of Guest Experience, The Bicester Collection
Louise Seston - Head of Marketing, Healthcare, Boots
Customers don’t visit stores to analyse the tech stacks and AI capabilities of their favourite brands – they come for memorable experiences which leave them satisfied and excited to return.
By revisiting the oft overlooked fundamentals of customer excellence (and exploring how AI can support rather than drive CX), brands can tap into what customers truly care about and answer the question that every retailer is asking: How does physical retail keep itself relevant in an age of AI?
• Differentiating physical retail through experience: moving beyond products and price to compete on emotion and loyalty
• Assessing your store operations to eliminate small friction points that quietly erode loyalty
• Using existing data, with the support of AI, to uncover simple, actionable insights to drive retention and improve experience
9:10 am - 9:40 am
SPONSOR PRESENTATION: Transforming Fragmented Journeys into Frictionless Experiences to Achieve Omnichannel Excellence
Many brands talk about omnichannel experiences, but few truly provide them. As customer journeys become increasingly fragmented across
channels, the moments where brands have a customer’s full attention are fewer - and more valuable - than ever, leaving no room for wasted
interactions or poorly executed touchpoints.
• Aligning messaging and content across channels to build trust and increase conversion
• Offering intelligent, real-time support that carries context forward to reduce effort and increase sales
• Delivering clearer product differentiation both online and in retail to lower the cost of conversion
Networking Break
9:45 am - 10:15 am
One-to-One Business Meetings
10:20 am - 10:50 am
One-to-One Business Meetings
10:55 am - 11:25 am
One-to-One Business Meetings
9:45 am - 10:15 am
THINK TANK: Adapting to Generational Shifts to Meet Evolving Expectations & Future-Proof the Customer Journey
Younger generations are reshaping retail with new expectations - they value quality over price, demand seamless experiences across channels, and move fluidly between platforms as they research, compare and purchase.
Retailers must now design journeys that anticipate the growing influence of younger shoppers, who are shaping the next wave of retail evolution.
• Designing flexible journeys that serve both more traditional shoppers and younger, multi-platform customers without creating channel conflict
• How do you keep these younger customers engaged, and converting, within your ecosystem? Or should you meet them where they are?
• Building operational agility to meet expectations for speed, convenience and immediacy, from fast delivery to frictionless returns
10:20 am - 10:50 am
Coffee & Networking
10:55 am - 11:25 am
THINK TANK: Empowering Frontline Teams with AI-Driven Tools to Ensure a Faster, Better Service
Maria Madonna -
Global Manager Customer Experience,
AllSaints
As frontline roles grow more demanding and customer expectations continue to rise, both physical store teams and phone/live chat agents need tools that can reduce strain whilst elevating the service they can deliver.
AI offers the solution: freeing people from repetitive tasks, sourcing answers instantly and connecting data across channels so that service feels faster, smarter and more personal.
• Identifying key pain points for frontline teams to decide which tools would be most beneficial to their service delivery
• Integrating AI-driven tools thoughtfully to ensure frontline teams are not overwhelmed by the evolving tech stack
• Creating a consistent, always-on service layer across channels
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Returns of the Future: Operational Cost to Loyalty Engine
Meriel Neighbour -
Global Transformation Director,
River Island Clothing
Wrong size, wrong style, wrong fit. As e-commerce continues to increase
its share of the market and younger generations turn to Google before
they even consider venturing in-store, ensuring customer satisfaction has
become increasingly complex.
As brands continue to define where they stand in the ‘Great Returns Debate’,
it’s becoming clear that quick, easy and frictionless returns are as much a
CX opportunity as an operational cost.
• Why speed and convenience matters: unlock faster refunds, simpler selfservice initiation, and more flexible return options to build trust and reinforce
loyalty
• Turning insights into actions that reduce future returns, improve product
accuracy, and ensure the returns experience matches your customer
experience
• To charge or not to charge: Navigating the shift from free to paid returns
and its impact on loyalty and retention
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm
SPONSOR PRESENTATION: Proving ROI & Retention Impact to Reposition Customer Care from Cost Centre to Value Creator
In a world where AI drives the conversation around cost efficiency, many board rooms view customer care as the low hanging fruit.
As pressure increases to replace headcount with AI-powered chatbots and virtual agents, the conversation must evolve beyond simple cost-cutting.
• Quantifying not only the cost-savings but the retention impact of your customer care channels
• Linking service quality, speed and resolution metrics directly to LTV
• Demonstrating the strategic and capital risks of over-automation
12:35 pm - 1:05 pm
One-to-One Business Meetings
12:35 pm - 1:05 pm
THINK TANK: Aligning Digital & Retail Teams to Eliminate Friction & Create a Consistent, Connected Brand Experience
Lewis Day -
Customer Strategy & Value Proposition Director,
Currys Plc.
Customers don’t think in channels, they think in brands. Yet many retailers still operate with siloed digital and store teams, each driven by their own KPIs and disconnected priorities.
This results in a fragmented experience and frustrated customers, especially when teams are measured on conflicting sales targets rather than shared CX outcomes.
• Removing sales-driven competition between retail and online teams to ensure the customer is prioritised over revenue targets
• Encouraging the sharing of data between teams to ensure sales are not lost due to siloed information
• Designing journeys that act as one brand instead of two competing channels to increase customer satisfaction across the board
1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Networking Lunch
Networking
2:05 pm - 2:35 pm
One-to-One Business Meetings
2:05 pm - 2:35 pm
Coffee & Networking
2:40 pm - 3:10 pm
Managing the Implications of Macroeconomic Uncertainty to Remain Competitive
News headlines in 2026 are largely dominated by coverage on tariffs, wars and ever-shifting budgets, a backdrop that creates a ‘double-squeeze’ for retailers. As disposable income shrinks, supply-chain pressure increases and margins suddenly become fragile.
So, how do you protect your competitive edge in this climate, whilst ensuring the customer is still front and centre?
• Prioritising investments that strengthen lifetime value even as short-term spending becomes more volatile
• Creating open channels of communication across supply chain and fulfilment so CX teams can react quickly to cost shocks, delays or demand spikes
• Planning customer needs under different economic conditions to quickly adapt messaging and support channels
3:10 pm - 3:40 pm
Instilling Customer-Obsession Across Frontline Teams to Ensure Every Touchpoint Delivers on Rising Customer Expectations
There’s no denying that frontline and customer service roles in retail are demanding, come with high emotional load and the pressure to resolve issues out of their control.
For retailers with hundreds of stores, managing teams at scale demands clarity, robust development, and an aspirational merit programme.
• Rethinking the KPI structure of frontline teams to ensure CX is a priority, rather than an afterthought
• Investing in the hiring and development processes of frontline teams to embed a customer-first mindset
• Clarifying CTAs and USPs with frontline teams and providing a clear frame of reference to ensure consistent service across all channels
3:40 pm - 4:10 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: Creating a Customer-Obsessed Culture that Aligns Teams & Fuels Growth
Deborah Honig -
Former Chief Customer Officer,
Samsung UK & Ireland
Andrew Webb - Chief Digital Officer, Screwfix
Stuart Trevor - Founder, ex-CEO, AllSaints
Samuel Jackman - Head of Customer Experience, Hammonds Furniture
A truly customer-obsessed culture doesn’t happen by accident - it’s created, modelled and reinforced within the very fabric of the business.
Retailers where the C-suite champions the customer consistently outperform those driven only by product or trading priorities.
• Setting the tone across store, digital, product and operational teams to ensure shared ownership of the customer experience
• Shifting focus from individual team KPIs to wider business CX targets to ensure the customer is at the centre of every conversation
• Introducing performance metrics that reward satisfaction as they would sales
