DDi - July 2013 - (Page 44)

44 | Inside department stores Refining the customer experience, omnichannel and the impact of corporate culture dominate discussions at the World Department Store Forum in Istanbul By Alison Embrey Medina, Executive Editor H eld May 30-31 at Le Meridien hotel in Istanbul, the third World Department Store Forum brought together 330-plus global delegates to discuss the current relevance and future of the department store format. The event was organized by the Intercontinental Group of Department Stores (IGDS), the largest association for department stores worldwide with 41 member companies globally. During the two-day forum, 20 seasoned retail specialists and renowned CEOs, moderators and panelists from around the world shared their visions, strategies and success stories—as well as a few failures. The speakers collectively represent upwards of $18 billion in revenue, according to Simon Susman, non-executive chairman of | July 2013 Woolworths (South Africa) and president of IGDS, who welcomed the attendees on the first morning. The event kicked off with a global economic overview, presented by Dr. Aymo Brunetti, professor at University of Bern (Switzerland). He stated that the world had spent the last five years more or less in “crisis mode,” beginning with the U.S. subprime crisis, followed by the global banking crisis, the Great Recession, the Euro crisis and now the European unemployment crisis. He emphasized that we are not quite yet beyond a crisis world. “This was the worst world economic crisis for nearly a century,” he said, adding that world governments enacted completely different macroeconomic policies than in other crises, and that the corrections will take some time. The outlook is positive, albeit slower than we all might like. The Euro crisis is “a calmer situation” than last summer, but still affecting the European recovery, with unemployment now taking its toll, Brunetti said. Emerging economies dipped as well during the recession, but have recovered faster, so there is some stability to lean on there, he said. He also added that China would see 8 percent GDP growth in the coming years. It’s not double-digit growth like they are accustomed to, but it’s still four times the rest of the world. “Macroeconomic conditions are decisive for retailing,” Brunetti said. “Consumption is much less sensitive to smaller fluctuations in the market. Consumer confidence is the indicator to watch for the short-term outlook. Unemployment

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - July 2013

DDi - July 2013
Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Editor’s Choice
Visual Perspectives
Design Snapshot
Karl Lagerfeld
Walgreens
Fred Perry
World Department Store Forum
Fixture Leaders Listing
Company Index
Right Light
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Shopping with Paco

DDi - July 2013