Delivery services, digital assistants with voice skills, payment schemes and shopper apps are all changing the nature of our relationships with brands and event the act of shopping. This session is about understanding the myriad transformational services and technologies that are blurring the lines between traditional retail and what most of us would consider "services". 

With digital assistants poised to make more and more buying decisions on our behalf and delivery services literally fitting in between our relationship with retailers and brands, we now can imagine a world where services, brands, retailers and others are all compellingly equipped to provide for our needs and wants, and in new ways. These developments matter because shoppers now have more choices and options than ever before. If retail is a dance that retailers have traditionally led, it now seems that brands and services are equally capable of leading, maybe even more capable than retailers.

In this provocative session led by distinguished faculty member Curt Munk, you will learn about: 

• The importance of staying shopper-centric as the retail industry changes.
• Why brands are in a unique position in 2019 to serve shoppers directly as the role of the retailer undergoes profound transformation.
• Rules for how our industry should embrace services and prepare for digital assistants shopping on our behalf.