DAY ONE – OCTOBER 15TH 2008

Chairman's opening address

Jon Hauptman, Partner , Willard Bishop

The real impact of the current economy on retail pricing

The current consumer spending drought brought on by a huge hike in gasoline prices, the housing slump, rising food prices, a severe credit crunch and weakening job market has pushed retailers into a corner.

As a result, the retailing landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, and now - more than ever - smart retailing and smart pricing is crucial to holding your market share . In this opening keynote address, Ira Kalish from Deloitte will outline exactly what the current economic climate means for retailers and who's forecast to be the market winners and losers in both the short and long term. Get new ideas on how clear price positioning and better merchandising are set to become even bigger differentiators and how to adapt your strategies to survive.

Ira Kalish, Director of Global Economics and Consumer Business , Deloitte Research

Panel Discussion: Responding to the economic challenge: pricing priorities - now and going forward

• Setting the context: why intelligent pricing is rising up the agenda in modern day retailing
• Receive direct retailer insight on the current challenges and opportunities in pricing, promotions and overall merchandising in all sections of the industry
• Find out where you should be prioritising your resources in the next 12 months to stand the best chance of strong ROI
• Consolidate your position: how making the most out of what you already have can save you can be very effective and can save you significant dollars now and in the long term
• What’s top of the pricing wishlist? Hear where major players in the industry are focusing their efforts going forward

John Vanrenterghem, Manager, Central Pricing , Walgreen Co.

Manu Sareen, Director, Pricing Strategy , Best Buy

John Kittell, Category Manager , ACE Hardware

Gul Ahuja, Systems Manager - Pricing & Markdowns, Sears

SESSION 1: Getting the technology backbone right - new advances in price optimization

Price optimization as a key enabler of insight-driven retailing

• Latest updates on how strategic pricing has become a critical factor and a core differentiator in driving overall customer satisfaction and retail success
• Learn how to merge art & science by leveraging optimization analytics with robust decision support to recommend more informed pricing decisions throughout an item's lifecycle
• Find out how price optimization, when approached in the context of broader retail merchandising and execution processes, provides incremental value & ROI
• Retail case study: hear from a leading retailer how they delivered more value and profitability with the latest pricing solutions
  
  

Chris Morrison, Vice President, Solution Strategy, Oracle Retail
Retailer TBD

How to get price optimization off of the backburner at your company

You know your company needs price optimization and you've seen the ROI your competitors have had, but you're having trouble getting a price optimization initiative off the ground. This presentation will help you:

• Learn how to build a rock-solid business case and secure initial investment
• Hear proven strategies for gaining buy-in from top leadership - what exactly do you need to deliver?
• Find out how to position your initiative for short-term and long-term success so you can leverage the true benefits

   

Zeroing in on predictive consumer behavior: getting the right insight to drive effective pricing and marketing decisions

• Stay ahead of the game by focusing on how predictive consumer insights can improve your pricing and promotion decisions
• Hear how to improve your marketing effectiveness by identifying specific target groups that will be most responsive to particular price or promotional offers
• Learn why geo-based trade area analysis which focuses on traditional age / income demographics provides only a limited descriptive view of the consumer and falls short in obtaining a truly predictive understanding of buying behavior
• Discover why consumer segmentation driven store clustering to facilitate more effective decision making by category will take your pricing to the next level
• Get personal with your pricing! Find out how unique household level customer segmentation enables you to execute at the household or individual level

Mike Gold, Senior Retail Strategist , Acxiom

Consumer-centric pricing & merchandising: what does this actually mean?

• Discover how to optimize and execute pricing and merchandising programs based on a holistic understanding of consumer demand
• How important is price to your customers... and what does this mean for the development of your pricing strategy?
• Understand the demands of the consumer centric squeeze and what you need to do to achieve customer satisfaction and success across all your stores
• Determine where else your customers are shopping and for what items: understand how this knowledge presents you with huge opportunities to increase your market share
• Getting back on track - hear what you can do if things start to go wrong in your merchandising process to ensure you don't disappoint your customers and risk them going elsewhere

SESSION 3: Integrating and implementing pricing solutions across the retail enterprise

How to change pricing behavior before sophisticated technology is implemented to speed and maximize benefit realization

• Understand how implementing a core pricing strategy enables buy-in on complex concepts and prepares your organization for price optimization
• Quantify the knock-on results of price changes and gain deep insight on the mechanics behind the power of price
• Hear how disassociating price from cost should be a key part of your strategy and why not all competitors are relevant when setting your prices
• Becoming truly customer-centric – how to formulate a pricing strategy to move from reactive competitive shifts to proactively setting value in the marketplace
• Advancing your pricing capabilities to become a world-class competitor: nuts and bolts advice on implementing lifecycle pricing software, streamlining your pricing processes and defining cross-functional stakeholders

George L. Coleman, Partner , Accenture NA Retail Pricing Lead

Bren Baldock, Sr. Manager Merchandising Strategy , The Home Depot

Presentation: How to build – and maintain - a pricing culture in your business

• Lessons from the manufacturing space: get a handle on how best to promote pricing internally to guarantee the best results
• Hear the best ways to manage organizational change and minimize the opportunities for disruption in your new pricing methods
• It’s all about the execution: how to get the most out of the insights that your analytics provides
• Don't be shortsighted! Why a short term view of price optimization does not give you the full picture and how your profitability can suffer as a result
• How working closely with manufacturer partners across all categories allows you to leverage the full profit making potential of pricing

JD Spangler, VP Pricing & Promotion Management , Sara Lee

Developing and executing a pricing strategy - key steps to implementation

Chris Vukich, Vice President of Pricing , Winn Dixie Corporation

Jean-Michel Fally, Senior Manager, Retail Growth and Pricing Practice Deloitte Consulting

Executing a successful multi-tier price strategy at Nash Finch

• Hear how Nash Finch identifies needs and overcomes challenges in pricing for both its wholesale and retail business units
• Understand the process the company went through to select the right partner and how they are working through important change management practices
• Get insight into the lessons learned to date: the crucial importance of data preparation and ongoing data quality in maintaining profitability
• What's next? Find out how Nash Finch is leveraging today's success to build tomorrow's plans and stay at the cutting edge of price management

Larry Foster, Senior Director Retail Services , Nash Finch Company

SESSION 4: The place of pricing in end-to-end merchandising

Enterprise optimization at a leading international retailer -

Panda, The Savola Group

During this multimedia feature story you will discover how an international retailer has uniquely leveraged pricing:

• throughout the enterprise and across categories
• to create loyal and enthusiastic customers; and
• to generate phenomenal business results

Dr. Wayne Neale, VP Merchandise Lifecycle Team, SAP Retail

Panda Grocery and Hypermarkets Executives

Merchandise planning and pricing: how to really price according to demand

• Hear how best to integrate your regular price optimization technology back into your core merchandising and enterprise systems to execute on it
• Learn about the organizational and system requirements to achieve efficient and profitable demand driven category / consumer centric pricing
• Get insights into the use of modeled customer targeted demand in you execution of your weekly merchandising program

Tom Richardson, President , Retail Vision Systems

NETWORKING DRINKS & GALA DINNER

Networking drinks run from 5.30pm - 6.45pm at the Hyatt Regency

Dinner from 7.30pm at Phil Stefani's restaurant on 437 N. Rush St.

Presentation: How to shape consumers’ value and price perceptions

• Find out how to manage customer value through a deeper understanding of real customer perceptions of prices on your shop floor
• Get insight into a real world retail study on consumer price awareness and recall - what do the results mean for your pricing strategy going forward?
• Understand how to convince customers that your prices are low compared to the competition and avoid them delaying purchase in anticipation of future discounts
• Hear what marketing tactics work and why they are effective in driving increased sales across your product categories

Eric T. Anderson, Hartmarx Research Associate Professor of Marketing, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

SESSION 1: Optimizing promotions and markdowns

The nuts and bolts of lifecycle pricing and promotions

• Clear definitions and insight into the latest industry trends from AMRs 2008 Lifecycle Pricing and Promotions report
• Find out why pricing is gaining in importance for retailers and how you can benefit from the latest advances in technology and strategy
• Hear why - and how - getting the right foundations in place is the key to getting the most out of your pricing systems and processes
• In depth analysis of vendors in the space: identifying the real value propositions and who offers the best price determination and modeling applications
• Functionality matters: reasons why an improved UI is becoming a bigger differentiator between systems
  
  

Kevin Sterneckert, Research Director, Retail, AMR Research

Is your demand forecasting and price optimization solution scalable by design?

Jean-Christophe Bennavail, CEO, Retail-Analytics Ltd & Chief Scientist, Retail-Express Ltd

Panel Discussion: Identifying the impacts of promotional pricing strategies on sales and margin

• Discover what lifts to expect from the variety of promotions and markdowns you're offering and hear how to minimize margin erosion
• Chain reaction: the importance of p lanning how your promotions and markdowns strategies will affect your inventory levels
• Determine the optimum amount of time that promotions should run to maximize direct revenues and avoid impacts on other items in the category
• Calculate the right timing and location for markdowns to avoid revenue loss and maximize your profit-making ability

JD Spangler, VP Pricing & Promotion Management , Sara Lee
Kevin Sterneckert, Research Director, Retail, AMR Research

Chris Morrison, Vice President, Solution Strategy, Oracle Retail
Marc Dietz, Vice President, Marketing, DemandTec

Paul Donovan, Director Merchandise Lifecycle Team, SAP Retail

The secrets of consistent cross-channel pricing  

• What is the influence on the consumer of multi-channel? Does it result in a shift in attitudes to price and buying behavior?
• Measuring the impact of multi-channel pricing - should this impact your in-store pricing?
• Does the internet affect pricing? Understand how you can respond best
• The importance of price coordination across multiple channels: discover how to price right to satisfy customers and hold margin

Gary Ritzert, VP Client Principal, Nielsen Analytic Consulting,

The Nielsen Company

Pricing and Promoting in a Challenging Economy with Increasing Channel Competition

A presentation referencing real-world empirical results on the changing consumer, changing channel competition, and changing price and promotional response - 2006 to the present

• How has the changing economy affected your customer’s price and promotional response?
• What are the implications for regular pricing and promotions?
• Identifying and responding to competitor price changes and supplier cost increases
• Opportunities for increasing gross margin dollars in an increased-cost and increased price competitive environment
• What strategic and tactical assessments do you need to be making now to maximize 2009 financial performance?
  
  

Dr. Kenneth J. Wisniewski, Sr. Partner and Managing Director, Analytical Consulting, Momentum Market Intelligence

The vital role data plays in defining your category planning and pricing strategies

Jon Rubich, VP, Sales & Marketing, Retail Insight

SESSION 3: Pricing - what's next? Future visions of pricing systems and analytics in retail

The next generation of retail pricing

• Get insight into the results of a study that finds retailers massively under-utilize advanced pricing capabilities
• The inside track on why retail winners keep price central to their retail strategy and laggards don’t
• Understand how being stuck on price as a lever for margin, you are missing other opportunities to maximize the value of pricing capabilities  
• Hear why a focus on price strategies at the category level is the way to go and why you should always maintain a large degree of flexibility in the number of different price strategies your use
• Assess why base price setting is only the start and how you can expand across the entire price lifecyle to leverage major new benefits for your business

Nikki Baird, Managing Partner , Retail Systems Research

Panel Discussion: A vision of the future: how is pricing set to change in the retail industry?

• Lessons from the summit: a summary of key takeways from the sessions so far
• Learn why catering for your consumer always has to be central to your pricing strategy
• What future for rules based pricing? Has it been an outright success or is the optimization bubble about to burst?
• What's next? Hear how are retailers responding to shifting sands of the industry … and how your pricing will have to change as a result

Monica Cardestam, Director - Central Pricing, Walgreen Co.

Tom Richardson, President , Retail Vision Systems
Nikki Baird, Managing Partner , Retail Systems Research

NETWORKING LUNCH + ADVANCED ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS

With subject specific tables such as:

• What makes a good pricing team?
• Life cycle pricing and merchandise management
• Using data to improve margin and sales
• Positioning pricing at the core of your business
• Understanding consumer attitudes to pricing
• Managing organizational change
• Promotion and markdowns planning and execution
• The application of rules based pricing to retail
  

Roundtable feedback panels and chairman's closing summary

These sessions will take place in the main conference room and will zone in on the key learnings from the networking lunch roundtable discussions. Facilitators from each of the roundtables will be invited to summarise the key takeaways from the discussions ensuring you don’t miss out on any element of the conference agenda.

Get actionable ideas that you can take away to help you solve your most pressing pricing challenges when you return to the office.

Conference ends