Last week, Las Vegas held one of retail’s biggest conferences: Shoptalk. Here’s what you missed:
What is Shoptalk?
Shoptalk is a three-day retail and ecommerce event covering everything from the evolution of how consumers are buying inventory to new business models and technologies for retailers.
Who attends Shoptalk?
Shoptalk is attended by retailers, brands, startups, technology companies, investors, and media who are there to network, teach, and learn. Everyone comes from different backgrounds, varying levels of experiences, and fresh viewpoints, the perfect combination for this sophisticated breeding ground of ideas for the future of retail. The goal is for everyone to leave the event with new knowledge about how to grow their businesses and the upcoming trends and technologies important to the industry.
What happens at Shoptalk?
During this three day event, the agenda is filled with small conferences, panels, and discussions about critical technologies and other factors impacting the retail space today. Some (of many) topics that speakers present about include artificial intelligence, marketplaces, store and mobile technologies, and customer service. There were over 330 speakers this year, all coming together to share ideas and experiences as well as discuss topics that are currently changing this industry.
INTURN at Shoptalk
This year, one of the panels featured INTURN’s CEO and Co-Founder, Ronen Lazar as part of the “Merchandising Innovations: Emerging B2B Marketplaces” panel. In this discussion, Ronen sat down alongside Hubba CEO Ben Zifkin and NuORDER CEO Heath Wells to be interviewed by Radian Capital Partner Weston Gaddy about B2B marketplaces. The purpose was to discuss liquidation and wholesale platforms and how they are trying to replace old methods with streamlined means of product sourcing and transacting.
B2B Marketplaces Panel
During the panel, Ronen discussed how B2B marketplaces are changing the way transactions occur, making them easier, faster, and more cost-effective. In particular, he reviewed how INTURN takes old practices and methods of buying and selling excess inventory and transforms them into a more automated and efficient process. Before INTURN’s B2B marketplace, inventory data was scattered in various forms, there were rarely any product visuals, and the workflow for liquidation of inventory was inconsistent at best. The 30,000-row spreadsheets sent by brands to buyers give buyers no understanding of what they are looking at, leading to hours spent searching style numbers.
But INTURN changes this, providing the real-time inventory visibility that brands need to get their inventory out the door and that buyers need to confidently and successful acquire product.
The platform normalizes data and visuals, allows brands to be proactive, and create one consistent system allowing brands and retailers to sell and buy their inventory efficiently and more profitably.
As Ronen stated, “In a nutshell- we’ve taken an enterprise approach to drive efficiency, liquidity, and help our customers operate more intelligently.”
Leaving Shoptalk
After an information-dense, event-packed three days, the attendees and speakers left Shoptalk with some key takeaways and a better understanding of the future of the retail industry and ecommerce.