Retail Tech: a conversation on how retailers are diversifying

Tech London Advocates is an influential network of tech leaders, experts and investors. The TLA Retail Tech group is the retail arm of TLA, primarily focusing on the private sector retail industry, and topical subjects affecting the advancement of retail. We’ve seen a complete shift in how retailers show up for their customers and the changing of traditional customer buying behaviours. Retailers have diversified the way they provide their products and services, leveraging tech where possible. TLA Retail Tech organised an event to discuss this and I was kindly invited to share my insight on the panel hosted by Retail Week, alongside Strategy and Tech leaders from Farfetch (luxury fashion e-commerce business), Blue Coast Capital (Investment Fund who own high street fashion brand, River Island). To say I was in good company would be an understatement! It wouldn’t have been a well rounded conversation, without chartering into coronavirus and how it has shaped retail for the past 8 weeks and how we think it may influence it when we hopefully stabilise.

Eugene Fisher, TLA Retail Tech Lead and Russ Shaw, Founder of TLA, started the event with warm welcomes, setting the context for the evening. This ‘new normal’ we’re all living in, COVID-19 land, is quite something! There were over 100 people online, all tuned in from the comfort of their homes…