Organized by TXT MAPLE LAKE, the leader in end-to-end integrated planning solutions for retail and fashion, the event will bring together the industries brightest and best for this focused symposium: experts from Gartner, Columbus Consulting, Capgemini, RIS News and Microsoft. Also on stage with case studies and real-life examples will be TXT MAPLE LAKE customers Aerosoles and Thirty-One Gifts.

Sessions will cover best practices such as: Planning for the Omni Channel Shopper; Creating compelling merchandising strategies and customer-centric assortments; Forecasting and analyzing demand to increase inventory ROI.

One message across all presentations will be that unprecedented transformation in the industry – new generations and changing customer behaviors, omnichannel, mobility - calls for new approaches in all levels of merchandise planning: “vertically” from strategy to merchandise, assortment and supply chain execution, as well as “horizontally” across all channels.

In his keynote speech, Robert Hetu Research Director at Gartner will emphasize how integrating the customer view with planning, seeing customers as “collaborators” is also top priority in the digital era: “For too long, retailers have adopted a product-centric approach to merchandising with an internal focus that chooses to perpetuate what has traditionally provided sales. Future successful retailers will procure, source and develop products and services as demanded by the customer.”

Joe Skorupa, Editor-in-Chief, RIS News, will be moderating an expert round table focused on Assortment Planning systems and featuring the participation of Robert Hetu, Gartner; Ben Pivar, the Senior Vice President, North America Retail Lead of Capgemini; Jon Beck, the CEO of Columbus Consulting; and Peter Charness SVP America and Global CMO for TXT.

Throughout the day, the innovation “hub”, will be the area where delegates can see TXT’s end-to-end planning solutions in action through live demos: from design; to forecasting; to assortment and in-season management, including the latest developments in the field of visualization and mobility.

TXT Maple Lake