Retail Week Live kicked off in London yesterday, with its usual mix of great speakers, inspiring insights and enjoyable conversations.
Andrew and I were tweeting throughout the day – and you can follow everyone’s updates from the event under the #RWL2023 hashtag – so here are just seven of the highlights from the first day of keynotes, panels and presentations.
1. Perhaps an underappreciated retailer in the past, there was lots of love in the room for North East institution Greggs – and, in Roisin Currie, a humble but inspiring CEO who sees herself as “custodian of the brand [that] is owned by our customers and colleagues”.
Brilliant start to #RWL2023 with warm and interesting Greggs CEO Roisin Currie, who clearly loves the business and knows it inside out. "We are the custodians of the brand just now, but the brand is owned by our customers and colleagues". Wise words! pic.twitter.com/nlHnt98ceN
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
2. In a reminder of the particular challenges of convenience retail, Tracey Clements – SVP and CEO Europe, Mobility & Convenience at BP – observed that “we only have three-and-a-half minutes to impress a customer” – and that “great colleague service” is essential to keep them coming back.
Nice quote from Tracey Clements – SVP and CEO Europe, Mobility & Convenience at BP : "We only have 3.5 minutes to impress a customer".
Obvious when you think about it, but Tracey clear that those 3.5 minutes must always be "underlined by great colleague service".#RWL2023 pic.twitter.com/llyVPcjSQ2
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
3. Tesco boss Ken Murphy – not with the word “Aldi” behind him this time – covered issues including food security, net zero and the Apprenticeship Levy in a surprisingly political speech, but saved some of his strongest criticism for that old retail elephant in the room: business rates.
Tesco boss Ken Murphy appealing to government on business rates:
"The current system places a huge burden on retailers of all sizes, undermining bricks and mortar retail. Considered and targeted reform is needed, to incentivise investment in jobs and places".#RWL2023 pic.twitter.com/O1CsgkirBh
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
4. Former Waitrose MD Lord Mark Price, who now runs employee engagement platform Workl, talked about “the benefits of having a highly engaged workforce” – but neatly dodged a cheeky question (not from me) about whether the John Lewis Partnership might benefit from his technology and advice.
It's always interesting to hear @LordMarkPrice – the former Waitrose MD – speak. These days he heads up @WorkLforBusines and is talking about "the benefits of having a highly engaged workforce" – definitely one of the themes of the morning at #RWL2023. pic.twitter.com/o8gPFkjXEm
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
5. On a day where shoppers’ “savviness” amid the cost-of-living crisis was a recurring theme, CEO of online retailer Very, Lionel Desclée, shared data suggesting that his customers are “more optimistic” than might be expected.
Families are "resilient and savvy'", and "value convenience, flexibility and value", says Very CEO Lionel Desclée, highlighting the retailer's surprisingly strong Christmas, and data that shows more optimism among consumers than might be expected. #RWL2023 #networknortheast pic.twitter.com/91y5FSSfvz
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
6. Like Greggs, we learnt from CCO Sam Dickson that Asda “talks to customers constantly” – and had more than two million customer engagements last year in the form of surveys, listening groups and other methods, feeding directly into the company’s ranges and services.
"In Asda we talk to customers constantly", says Sam Dickson, Acting Chief Customer Officer.
Interesting to hear about how the grocer is gathering lots of qualitative insight into customer needs, and using this to inform the way it serves them. #RWL2023 pic.twitter.com/NVVDfUwHz0
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
7. If you’ve ever struggled to define the proposition of retailer Wilko, the company’s Group IT Director, David Hennessy, may have the answer: “jobs to be done in the here and now”.
Good to hear from David Hennessy, Wilko's Group IT Director, about the successful – and accelerated! – rollout of click and collect.
Wilko's proposition, he says, is "jobs to be done in the here and now", so making sure any orders *can* be fulfilled has been crucial. #RWL2023 pic.twitter.com/S0dz5aPxNO
— Graham Soult FIPM (@soult) March 28, 2023
Follow more of our updates through the second day of Retail Week Live, and check out Andrew’s longer reads on LinkedIn about “mastering the small things” and Greggs’ use of digital technology.