ROSEMONT, IL (Nov. 5, 2018)–Today consumers can shop from anyplace–their living room, kitchen, car or office, and even the soccer field. Digital marketing makes omnichannel shopping possible and is changing the retail landscape. This new customer journey will be the focus of several presentations in the Innovation Theater at the 2019 International Home + Housewares Show March 2-5 at Chicago’s McCormick Place complex.
More than 20 sessions will be offered in the Innovation Theater over the four days of the Show and cover other topics including consumer lifestyle trends, the Smart Home and connected products and retail merchandising. The theater is located in Room E350 in the Hall of Global Innovation in the Lakeside Center.
On Saturday, March 2, Jeff Mau, director, experience strategy at Digitas, and Tod Szewczyk, vice president and director, emerging technology and innovation at Leo Burnett Group, will open the Innovation Theater schedule with “Designing for Relevance in the Attention Economy.” Consumers are bombarded with media messages 24/7. In this session, Mau and Szewczyk will offer perspectives on how brands can design their products and experience to capture consumers’ attention and trust.
Other sessions exploring digital marketing and omnichannel retailing include:
- Leverage Trends to Trigger Transactions: Motivate Shoppers to Buy Your Products by Brian E. Gracon, Ph.D, president, Brian Gracon & Associates. In digital marketing, content is king. But, what content? Retail-apocalypse-proof and recession-proof companies emphasize customers’ self-images (“There’s a better you in you” Apple Watch 4), entertainment (“Never Boring. Always Surprising.” Marshalls) or pampering (“Because you’re worth it” L’Or&éal). In this session, Gracon will explain the changes in shopper buying habits, what suppliers and retailers can do about them and how to apply the strategies being used by many apocalypse-proof companies.
- Omnichannel Impact on Housewares: Havoc or Opportunity? by Peter Greene, consumer electronics practice director, Numerator. As the pace of consumer spending in new channels continues to increase, many brands are left trying to figure out where their products are selling. In this session, Greene will offer an overview of where consumers are spending outside of traditional retailers, the shopper segments that are shifting online and what the omnichannel path to purchase looks like for the electrics, non-electrics and cleaning categories.
- Alexa, How Do I Promote My Housewares Brand Online? by Francis Skipper, partner, 451 Agency. Success in the omnichannel world is achieved by capitalizing on an integrated approach that uses a variety of digital marketing strategies at various points in the buying cycle to help improve sales outcomes and reduce customer-servicing costs. In this session, Skipper will moderate a panel of housewares industry professionals, including an expert on the complexities of selling through Amazon, discussing the digital marketing strategies that are most effective in boosting the bottom line and helping a brand stand out in a crowded marketplace.
- Jump Start Your Digital Commerce: Understanding Today’s Customer Journey by Terri Pucin, Sr., consultant, FitForCommerce. Customers don’t care about “omnichannel,” they just want a seamless and unified experience relevant to their needs, some experts say. In this session, Pucin will cover the current commerce landscape, how to use customer journey mapping to design differentiated experiences across all customer-facing channels and how suppliers can get started, including a comprehensive understanding for today’s selling channels (website, mobile, marketplaces, social channels, etc.) and a framework of technologies to consider.
The 2019 Show will feature more than 2,200 exhibitors from around the globe showcasing their new products throughout five expos and 60,000 total attendees. Show badge registration is available at www.housewares.org.
Further information about all of the Innovation Theater programs is available at http://www.housewares.org/show/innovation-theater.
