Here’s to Future Retail Summit 2023 and the best moments of it

More than a month has passed since Bucharest Tech Week took place, and we are still in festival fever. This is what happens when you love what you do way too much. Bucharest Tech Week is our dopamine source for the entire team behind this event.

Because things have settled down, it's time to remember the most important moments and leave them here for posterity. Take your coffee and join us for a virtual journey through Future Retail Summit 2023.

Many thanks to our Future Retail Summit Partner this year – Mastercard – for supporting us!

First thing first, chapeau to our extremely special and important partner that opened Future Retail Summit. We must thank him once again for his presence - Mihai Cismașiu-Buda from Mastercard.

Coffee checked, good mood checked.

Now let’s get to the stage and recap some of the key topics our international and local speakers addressed.

While 2022 was a year of many challenges, it was also the first full year of business on the rebounding from the unprecedented ‘lockdown economy.’ These challenges have sprung myriad opportunities for growth as the sprint to innovate services in the last two years has continued to bear fruit, particularly now that consumers have demonstrated their eagerness to get out and shop again.

Based on this context, Paula Macaggi, Head of Partnerships and Global Strategy at RETHINK Retail, shared some helpful information regarding what consumers expect from retailers and brands in 2023, the challenges & opportunities in the industry, and the strategies retailers are using around the world to retain customers.

Consumer demands and buying behaviors evolve faster than brand owners and retailers can adapt their products and concepts. Gamechangers are ahead and create new demands by disrupting complete categories. Lucky us, Tobias Göbbel and Szabolcs Nemes from Roland Berger shared their best practices and success factors from real category disrupters and how to hack their growth code.

Scan & Go technology is at the forefront of the European checkout revolution. Nearly every major retail chain has adopted so actively sought a solution to transform its in-store shopping experience. Shopreme, as the leading Scan & Go provider, has driven the largest vendor-led rollouts in partnership with some of the world's top retailers, such as REWE Group, Douglas, ROSSMANN, and Auchan.

In this enlightening session, Kevin Müller gave us valuable insights into successful implementations, the keys to achieving usage rates exceeding 10% of all transactions, and a behind-the-scenes into the future of Scan & Go technology as a catalyst for creating Retail Media revenue streams.

David Schalenbourg responsible for reducing Delhaize's carbon footprint by building sustainable 'brick' infrastructure (stores, warehouses, production plants and offices), so he taught us in his session how to lower the footprint of food retailers.

In one of the most awaited Masterclasses of the week, Hamish Stacy from Mondelēz International provided insights on how some of the world’s largest brands are renovating their ecosystem to build value for consumers and retailers through consumer data initiatives. He also facilitated an interesting session throughout the day focusing on two examples of shifting narratives to get a ‘yes, approved’ decision that you can deploy from tomorrow.

In the end, we want to thank you all for being with us at Future Retail Summit 2023!