Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014 - 35

thE business of retail is about details. It's

also about people. And, as the landscape
continues to evolve and reshape and the
consumer becomes more connected, curious
and aware, the business of running a successful retail operation becomes more about
following the trends and responding to them
in the right way, and leveraging insights to
influence trends of your very own. However,
with so many trends to pay attention to, driven primarily by the consumer and the technologies that they use, it can sometimes be
difficult for retailers to prioritize the innovations and execute the ideas that will help
improve business and enhance engagement
and relationships with customers.
For this reason, Retail Council of Canada
and its industry partner KPMG decided to
focus the discussion of the 2014 Women in
Retail Executive Roundtable on the power of
social media in engaging with today's connected and social consumer; the potential of
big data analytics in helping to understand
the consumer and improve the shopping experience, both online and in-store; and the
need for retailers everywhere to strengthen
the perception of retail through positive
marketing and active mentorship to attract
the right talent to the industry.
This year's roundtable was co-moderated
by Willy Kruh, Global Chairman for Consumer Markets KPMG International and
Head of High Growth Markets for KPMG
Canada, and Beth Wilson, Managing Partner for KPMG Toronto and Head of Community Leadership for KPMG Canada.
We brought these highly talented female

executives together not only for their business acumen
and retail intellect, but to also fulfill a promise that we
made to our readers at the end of 2013. At that time, we
had conducted an Executive Roundtable that, purely as a
result of scheduling conflicts, featured an all-male panel.
"When it turned out that last year's roundtable featured a panel of men, we immediately decided to make
it a priority to gain a female perspective on retail in
Canada as well as careers in retail for women," says
KPMG's Kruh. "That's the genesis of how we arrived
at this roundtable today. In addition to exploring the
current issues in retail, we wanted to pose the question
as to whether there are any barriers to women entering
the executive ranks, and if more should be done to facilitate the entry of women into senior retail positions.
Given the topic, I thought it fitting to ask my friend
and colleague Beth Wilson, who has championed the
advancement of diversity and women at KPMG, to comoderate this discussion."
The panel were also visited by the Minister of Labour
and Status of Women, the Honourable Dr. Kellie Leitch,
who addressed everyone with some thought provoking
commentary on the topic of women in business and
on Boards, encouraging some constructive discussion
around tangible ways that can facilitate greater opportunity for women in the Boardroom.
"Interestingly, the women who attended the roundtable felt strongly that career advancement and success
in retail was more directly correlated to having the
right support and mentorship opportunities, and that
barriers that needed to be overcome to reach the executive ranks applied to both men and women," says Kruh.
"It didn't take long then, with a panel of such strong
retail executives, whose experiences and perspectives
shape and enrich our industry, for the conversation to
focus on the issues, challenges and opportunities affecting retail today."

PaRtICIPants:
Marie-Claude Bacon (3), Senior Director, Corporate Affairs, Metro inc. // Wendy Bennison (8), Chief
Operating Officer, Roots Canada Ltd. // Carol Deacon (5), Senior Vice-President, Digital and Loyalty,
Canadian Tire // Kriston Dean (6), Vice President Chocolate Merchandising & Marketing, Purdys
Chocolatier // Anna Martini (4), President, Groupe Dynamite Inc. // Linda Maslechko (1), CEO &
Founder, Triple Flip Inc. // Pippa Morgan (2), Executive Vice-President, Retail Division, Aritzia
Co-modeRatoRs:
Willy Kruh (9), Global Chairman for Consumer Markets, KPMG International and Head of High
Growth Markets, KPMG Canada // Beth Wilson (7), Managing Partner, KPMG Toronto & Head of
Community Leadership, KPMG Canada
ArTiCle phoTogr Aphy by ChriSTopher WAdSWorTh

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| 35
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