Paris Retail Week 2017 Showcases Market's Vitality

The 3^rd edition of Paris Retail Week ended on 21 September after three days dedicated to Live Retail. Punctuated by conferences and the Paris Retail Awards ceremony, trade and e-commerce professionals who attended the show shared their experiences and viewpoints on future retail trends.

“The dynamic exhibitors, the prestigious speakers, the innovative companies which were rewarded and the innovations displayed make Paris Retail Week a key event. On the strength of this 3rd edition, we intend to maintain our momentum and continue to make Paris Retail Week the not-to-miss event of the autumn for retail professionals”, stressed Sophie Lubet, Director of the Retail Division at Comexposium.

Key figures:

– attendance of 25,497 professionals and nearly 500 participating companies 

– around 300 speakers

– interventions from major players, such as FEVAD, Amazon, Google France, Facebook, Twitter, Costco, LeBonCoin, Zalando, FNAC Darty, Jumia, Gemmyo, etc.

– nearly 12,000 participants at the conferences over the 3 days

– 2 Paris Retail Tours to the capital’s innovative points of sale

– 11 prizes awarded – of which 7 Paris Retail Awards, 1 Paris Retail Golden Award, 1 Jury’s Favourite, 1 French Initiative Prize and 1 Rookie Of The Year start-up prize

– 823 business meetings organised between exhibitors and qualified visitors

– over 18.8K mentions of the event on social media and news sites

– the hashtag #ParisRetailWeek in trending topics the day before and on the first day of the event

Live Retail, the main theme of the 2017 edition

This 3^rd edition of Paris Retail Week brought together players from physical and online retail on the subject of Live Retail. It spotlighted how new technologies and data, notably thanks to AI, virtual reality and augmented reality, have become central in the retail sector while continuing to provide the authentic, human and  experience-based service that customers want. 

At plenary conferences and keynotes, company directors, digital technology managers, brand strategy and supply chain directors explained retail trends and the challenges faced by professionals, along with the innovations which are allowing them to meet the demands of an increasingly informed and connected clientele. 

A few trends from Paris Retail Week 2017

The fully connected era and the key place of emotions are real revolutions in the retail world. Consumers want instant access to information, on all devices; access to the items of their choice at any time, in store or for delivery; they expect to be able to pay using the method they want, etc. Retailers rely on data and on artificial intelligence to meet these expectations. Data collection and security are among their main concerns. In addition, incorporating messaging in customer relations refines knowledge of the consumer, gives retail a human face and is a way of fine-tuning the offer. Conversational marketing creates involvement and helps retailers offer customers the personalised service they are looking for. As a result of this demand for exchange, advice and circulation of information, the retailer is becoming a brand ambassador as their role is redefined.

Consequently, logistics is also shaken up by this transformation of consumption patterns. It has to be adjusted to deliver to the customer where they want and when they want. The growth in ship from store is the direct consequence because it provides new-found flexibility in stock management and aims to put an end to product unavailability. To optimise customer satisfaction, it is now coupled with customer relations, which takes into account the availability and preferences of each consumer, at every step of the purchasing act, both in the point of sale and online.

These speakers shared their strategic vision of retail: Olivier de Mendez, General Manager of Starbucks France, Nicolas Bertrand, Managing Director of Micromania Group, Thierry Tallet, Managing Director at Ixina France, Soumia Hadjali, VP Digital Operations of Accor, Martin Sauer, Group Digital & Retail Director of Manutan, Mathieu Bellamy, Vice President Brand Strategy Director of Citroën, Mathieu Cervety, Deputy Head of SMB Marketing of Google France and Antoine Jouteau, Managing Director of LeBonCoin.

Retail trends from near and far

All over the world, retailers are faced with the obligation of proposing several payment methods to satisfy each user. For marketplaces, bringing very diverse products together on the same platform and collecting data on the quality of retailers’ services is a major lever for proposing the right offer to each customer. But that offer has to be identified and targeted. This is why information is central to consumption and the development of e-commerce depends on this data to create customised retail where satisfaction is the key word.

With this in mind, the shop is no longer a shop. It is a living space, which no longer focuses on the product but on the customer’s well-being at the point of sale. Enjoyment and service are the bases of retailtainment, the customer experience proposed in these shops, which have become experience laboratories. By immersing the visitor in its universe or even by offering shops in which you can’t actually buy anything, the brand takes on a human face by focusing on emotion and experience.

Among well-known international personalities, the following shared their experiences: Patrick Labarre, Director of Amazon France and Edouard Chabrol, Head of France, Italy and Spain Amazon Pay, Gary Swindells, Managing Director of Costco France, Juliet Anammah, CEO of Jumia and Charif Debs, co-founder of Gemmyo. The challenges of the supply chain, logistics and transport were analysed by Christophe Poutier, Supply Chain Director of Bazarchic, Mourad Bensadik, Director of Logistics and Transport Operations of FNAC Darty and Jonathan Trépo, Managing Director France of Zalando. 

The Paris Retail Awards, celebrating innovation

Spotlighting innovation in the world of retail, the Paris Retail Awards offer a showcase of tomorrow’s assets and give them the opportunity to forge potentially strong contacts with the professionals at the event. 

During this ceremony, chaired by Sébastien Badault, Managing Director of Alibaba Group France, the jury of the Paris Retail Awards rewarded Temelio, Relais Colis, Mister Pasha, Facelift, Kendu In-store, Daxium, Octipas, Oyst, Bmobile and Admo.tv. 

“This new edition of the Paris Retail Awards, which I have had the honour to chair, has given us an insight into the retail of tomorrow. We have seen inspiring and promising start-ups with solutions which will revolutionise our sector. The awards celebrate the complementarity of on- and offline retail, which is not a trend, but the new norm. This momentum is at the centre of our thinking at Alibaba, around what we call New Retail”, stated Sébastien Badault, Managing Director of Alibaba Group France.

The overall prize, called the Paris Retail Golden Award, was awarded to Octipas, in the “Digitisation of the point of sale” category, for its Sales Staff Tablets. It provides sales staff in shops a real digital assistant. 

Nicolas Passalacqua, CEO of Octipas, explains: “Octipas being announced winner of the “Digitisation of the point of sale” category was truly a great surprise. Behind the Octipas solution is a great team dedicated to our customers. This Award also partly belongs to our customers who, thanks to their confidence, recommend us and this accelerates our growth. Paris Retail Week is the flagship event in retail, and in addition, this year was focused on digitisation of the point of sale. We could not have dreamed of more than to win the Golden! Thank you again to the exceptional jury for choosing us!”

The Jury’s favourite went to Oyst for its Oyst 1-click solution, the button that allows you to buy in just a click on any online shop without entering a login or password, delivery information or bank details, and pre-enters the consumer’s preferences.

“1-Click with Oyst has had a remarkable reception since it was launched, and this prize is like a consecration! Since winning this award, we have noticed a lot of interest in Oyst on social media in particular. We are delighted! A big thank you to the jury for naming Oyst as its favourite!”

For the second time, a French Initiative prize was awarded. This prize honours companies which promote France internationally. This prize was awarded to Bmobile for its SaaS Dartagnan service for creating high-performance responsive emails on all devices. 

Lastly, the Rookie Of The Year prize, which rewards a start-up for its innovative and promising concept, rewarded the TV & RADIO Analytics platform by Admo.tv. The winner was decided by a vote by the audience present at the ceremony after each short-listed company presented their offer.

“We would like to thank the jury and the audience for this prize which endorses our leadership on the TV analytics market. Our purpose has always been to shape tomorrow’s TV and to be a forerunner. The jury of Rookie of The Year confirms this need to change the market: it’s the key to creating increasingly more value for TV, but especially for advertisers. With the recent opening of our office in London, things are extremely dynamic for us at the moment and we should be recruiting around ten new people in 2018.” Pierre Figeat, CEO of Admo.tv

The enthusiasm stimulated by the Paris Retail Awards is shared by Alexandra Bouthelier, General Delegate of the Fédération du Commerce Coopératif et Associé (FCA): “Experiences, AI, live retail, omnichannel retail, dramatization of the point of sale, etc.: retail actors are overflowing with ideas and are constantly re-inventing themselves. That is their greatest strength. This year again, Paris Retail Week has been the opportunity to analyse today’s retail in order to anticipate tomorrow’s. Bring on the 2018 edition!”

Paris Retail Week, the backdrop for retail innovation

Paris Retail Week put on its own show to demonstrate the novelties of retail to consumers.

For the first time, visitors were able to use Gustave, the show’s chatbot, in partnership with the start-up BotSpell. Gustave uses artificial intelligence to answer over 200 questions and guide visitors around the show.  

In terms of experience, the Retail Tech in Live stand, organised by Keyveo, allowed visitors to experience virtual reality and augmented reality. 

Paris, capital of connected retail

Paris Retail Week ventured out of the site of Paris Expo Porte de Versailles during two Paris Retail Tours which highlighted innovations at points of sale. Participants were able to discover the strategies and creativity of brands used to attract, seduce and build the loyalty of their customers at the point of sale in the following boutiques: Birchbox, Printemps de la Beauté, Orange, Adidas Foot, E-polette.com, K-Way, Lulu dans ma rue, Comptoir des recettes, Le Comptoir Major, PSA Experience Store, Maison Sonos and My Little Paris.

Over three days of intense discussions, Paris Retail Week brought together players from the retail world, from newcomers in the Start-up Village to international giants. It reflected on the market’s transformations and revealed the innovations which offer consumers human, authentic and experiential retail.

Marc Lolivier, General Delegate of FEVAD, adds: “Consumers continue to buy, but their habits are changing considerably. They get their information differently, and purchase processes and expectations in terms of delivery are changing too. Retailers are constantly innovating to keep up with this. This is what Paris Retail Week has spotlighted over these three days. It is essential for retail players, like FEVAD, to continue to get together at this large exhibition of connected retail to reveal the trends of tomorrow and ensure that the energy of this effervescent sector lasts.”

In addition to the exhibiting companies and well-known speakers, this third edition of Paris Retail Week attracted many visitors, including Adidas, Alinéa, American Express, Camaïeu, Casino, Chanel, Etam, Ebay, Go Sport, Ikea, Intermarché, les Laboratoires Bioderma, Leclerc, L’Oréal, Monoprix, Nespresso, Nocibe, Nuxe, Picard, SFR, Yves Rocher, etc.

See the videos of Paris Retail Week now, as well as the press kit and visuals on the dedicated Digital Pressroom.

Note: The next edition of Paris Retail Week will be held from 10 to 12 September 2018.