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Oktoberfest Day #1: Oct 1st 2020 Sessions On-Demand
1) Tom Davis, Cartier — Retail is Dead. Long Live Retail!
GELF’s first virtual summit, Oktoberfest has ended but the content lives on! We open with Retail is Dead. Long Live Retail! Unmasking Retail’s Future as Global Ecommerce Takes Center Stage. Tom Davis, Global Digital Operations Director at Cartier kicks off GELF once again – view Tom’s excellent opening keynote CLICK HERE
2) L-Space and Manscaped — How Bold Guesses and “Happy Accidents” Help Digital and Wholesale Teams
After Tom’s fantastic opener, our second session, How Bold Guesses and “Happy Accidents” Help Digital and Wholesale Teams Work as One Team, features two fast-growing brands – L-Space by Monica Wise and Manscaped, whose leaders discuss how DTC and wholesale teams have worked closely together to grow overall sales. Check out the panel discussion CLICK HERE
3) SAXX, Canada Post, Passport Shipping — Global Growth Showcase: Canada
Curious about how much consumers in Canada are planning to spend this holiday – and on what products? Wondering what fulfillment and shipping strategies will pay off during peak season?
Check out (CLICK HERE) our third October 1st session, Global Growth Showcase: Canada, where our panelists discuss how the Canadian shopping journey is evolving as we head into the Next New Normal.
Our sponsor Canada Post shares recent consumer research and Shelly Wilson, VP Ecommerce and Digital Marketing at Saxx, weighs in about how her company is expanding internationally. Michael LeBlanc, GELF’s podcast moderator steers the ship as we learn about what lies ahead as retail brands navigate the waves of opportunities and challenges brought on by the pandemic.
4) Huda Beauty & Signifyd — Cross-border Ecommerce Panel
We all know that the pandemic has upended the traditional hierarchy of consumer products purchased via retail ecommerce operations. During GELF’s Cross-Border Ecommerce Panel, our fireside speakers discuss how holiday gifting, group buying, social commerce and new international consumer preferences, behaviors and awareness are putting pressure on existing global ecommerce operations and their supply chains.
Hear more from GELF’s favorite cross-border data guru, Indy Guha, VP of Enterprise Marketing at Signifyd, who joins Emma Lawson, Director of Global Ecommerce at HUDA Beauty to help global ecommerce leaders get ready to execute on the new opportunities that lie ahead in 2021. CLICK HERE
5) HARMAN, Accenture, Fortium — Global Transformation via Collaborative Acceleration
The final hour of Oktoberfest’s Day One opened with three retail executives steeped in the nuances of digital transformation. GELF welcomed back Michelle Frank, Director of Global Ecommerce at JBL/HARMAN International and Eric Tam, Partner at Fortium Partners while Shyna Hegde, Accenture Interactive’s Senior Principal Commerce joined us for the first time.
As three-to-five-year global ecommerce plans pivot quickly to frenzied three-to-five-month sprints to optimize DTC online selling opportunities for the holidays and 2021, hear how these leaders are answer the question “How best can our digital team execute these accelerated strategic timetables?” – good stuff panelists – CLICK HERE!
6) Jerry McGlynn frm Specialized & Digital River, How to Scale Global Gracefully in the Age of COVID
From supply chains to organizational growing pains, this year’s ecommerce boom has tested digital’s ability to scale. GELF’s closing fireside discussion, Digital Takes Center Stage: How to Scale Global Gracefully in the Age of COVID, focused on how global ecommerce leaders are embracing innovation to more quickly execute tomorrow’s ecommerce strategies today — and doing so cost-effectively.
Our two fireside speakers – Jerry McGlynn, CIO, Specialized (formerly) and Adam Coyle, Digital River’s CEO explored how brands are rethinking global architectures to reduce operational friction throughout the online shopping experience and especially during the post-order process. Hear more from these two ecommerce leaders CLICK HERE.
Oktoberfest Day #2: Oct 8th 2020 Sessions On-Demand
1) Burton, Nixon and Coresight — Keynote Panel – China Ecommerce and the Path Ahead
China is always a huge area of interest for the GELF audience. Lying at the headwaters of the digital commerce ecosystem, China offers a window into the ecommerce innovations that await the retail community. Never has this vantage point been more valuable than today as the retail world collectively heads downstream into uncharted waters.
GELF was thrilled to welcome Deborah Weinswig, CEO & Founder of Coresight Research, who brought her trademark passion to GELF’s big screen as she explored key trends in China from pre-COVID crisis, high-crisis and post-crisis perspectives. Her opening presentation re-established a baseline perspective for how brands should learn and grow digital sales in China … and in markets that can follow China’s lead.
Gary Penn, Global VP of Digital and e-Commerce at Nixon, and Jeff Burton, VP of Global Direct and Digital Commerce at Burton Snowboards, then dropped into GELF’s China Ecommerce Super Session panel session to explore the path ahead. CLICK HERE to check out the conversation and hear insights into lessons learned from their companies’ respective journeys into China ecommerce.
2) Universal Standard and Flow — Cross-border Ecommerce Case Study
In the wake of strong global ecommerce growth, cross-border e-commerce is exploding. But some retailers are missing out. Many, especially store-centric retailers, haven’t adapted quickly enough to massive global shift of shoppers moving online. Others are unfamiliar with the cross-border best practices and tactics that have enabled competitors to respond quickly to recent market disruptions.
Universal Standard, a revolutionary plus-sized fashion brand has gone all-in on cross-border ecommerce. The socially forward brand is providing loyal fans around the world the freedom to shop when, where and how they prefer.
Rita Hudetz, Chief Operating Officer at Universal Standard joined Flow CEO Rob Keve to examine the different facets of the fashion brand’s cross-border growth planning and execution. If you want to learn how online retailers everywhere can execute a winning global strategy, check out this excellent cross-border case study, How Universal Standard is Growing Global Retail Sales by Liberating Cross-Border Shoppers, CLICK HERE!
3) PVH Corp, Signifyd, Forrester — Driving Top-line Growth by Removing Operational Friction
If you’re a global ecommerce data geek, this is the session for you! Global Growth Showcase: Driving Top-Line Growth by Reducing Friction for Post-Pandemic Global Shoppers brought back Indy Guha, VP, Enterprise Marketing at Signifyd for his perspectives on cross-border growth dynamics and product category shifts.
We also welcomed for the first time Forrester Research’s Viraj D’Costa, the Forecast Analyst of Record who walked the GELF audience through his freshly updated five-year forecasts for global ecommerce growth. Janelle Spatz, Director of Operations, Ecommerce at PVH Corp joined Indy and Viraj to discuss key steps retail ecommerce leaders can take to smooth out the kinks in the cross-border ecommerce shopping and checkout process. View the crew — CLICK HERE.
4) Pura Vida & Facebook — Social Goes Global: Boosting Conversion with Discovery Commerce
By now, everyone knows that the COVID pandemic has accelerated trends throughout the digital world. With stores closed, reopened and then closed again, shoppers clearly need another way to discover products that they don’t know they want – or need. When it comes to discovery in today’s new normal, social commerce is what’s next. So GELF lined up its old friend, Jake Bailey, to talk shop and show us the way.
Jake, Facebook’s Director of Disruptors, kicked off our social super session Social Goes Global: Boosting Conversion with Discovery Commerce with a tour of how innovations in social commerce are helping global ecommerce leaders engage and serve new international audiences. He showed advertisers how to discover new shoppers by telling us how shoppers are discovering new products.
Then Jake interviewed Pure Vida’s two co-founders Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman about how this super hot start-up has discovered its own niche by expanding into fast-growing markets around the world. Words don’t suffice, bro – you have to check this session out (CLICK HERE) yourself.
5) Estee Lauder, Manduka — What’s Next as Social Engagement Accelerates?
Last but certainly not least was the second half of our social super session, What’s Next as Social Engagement Accelerates? Our fireside speakers, Doug Jensen, SVP Consumer Marketing Analytics & Innovation Insights at Estée Lauder Companies and June Pai, GM, APAC at Manduka explored what awaits online retailers and DTC brands as the holiday season is redefined by the intersection of social and international ecommerce.
June Pai returned to GELF with an update for the GELF audience about her brand’s journey in China; detailing how social marketing & commerce has been key to a successful growth strategy in China and other emerging global markets.
Doug Jensen focused his analytical eye on the global social scene and provided a fascinating viewpoint from the lens of one of the world’s top beauty brands. He shared learnings gleaned from Estée’s social listening programs and global shopping data about shifting consumption patterns throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
CLICK HERE to hear the conversation about how the use of influencers is shifting focus – and how programs differ in key intn’l markets.
Oktoberfest Day #3: Oct 15th 2020 Sessions On-Demand
1) Hendrik Laubscher, Blue Cape Ventures — Grounding the Future of Global Ecommerce in Today’s Realities
GELF’s final Oktoberfest keynote opened with a rapid-fireside conversation Hendrik Laubscher, CEO and Founder of Blue Cape Ventures. Hendrik was kind enough to join us from South Africa for Grounding the Future of Global Ecommerce in Today’s Realities, a no holds barred look at key cross-border themes defining the future of cross-border.
We dove in headfirst to debate the accelerating rise of digital titans and whether Amazon or Alibaba would be the first to blink. Hendrik was kind enough to share his unique visions about how international marketplaces and cross-border selling opportunities differ between mature and emerging int’l markets.
We covered alot of ground:
This one is a keeper – check it out here folks (CLICK HERE)!
If there is one take-away from this session its simple – cross-border ecommerce growth is hard work! Learn how to be smart about managing cross-border growth expectations – and about making the right decisions for the long game.
2) Amazon Music — How “Local-First” Lessons Learned Drive Successful Global Marketing Programs
Next we had another long-sought after speaker, Amazon’s world-traveler Fred Neil, Global Head of Engagement Marketing at Amazon Music, join us for a dive into India during How “Local-First” Lessons Learned Drive Successful Global Marketing Programs.
Fred shared insights and lessons learned from his leadership of Amazon India and Amazon Music. CLICK HERE to check out the session and learn why US retail brands need to set aside their US playbook – and how “outside-in” discovery and innovation starts with understanding local language and culture.
3) Vincero Watches & Global-e — Improving Conversions & Customer Loyalty by Localizing the X-Border Experience
Combining the operational and localization themes led us to our third session, Driving Conversions and Building Customer Loyalty by Localizing the Cross-Border Experience.
Aaron Hallerman, Co-Founder at Vincero Watches, explored the brand’s focus on global online sales and how his team is overcoming friction before and after cross-border checkout. Matthew Merrilees, CEO North America at Global-e, joined the fireside to discuss the importance of big-data analysis as a tool to support brands’ global strategy and optimize cross-border offerings and ROI.
CLICK HERE to hear more about how localizing the shopping experience for each market enables merchants to increase international conversion rates and boost customer satisfaction by providing shoppers with a seamless, tailored experience.
4) ReVive, Newton Baby, Harry’s, Saatchi Art — Today’s Marketplace Realities
GELF headed into the home stretch of Oktoberfest by bringing together one of our largest panels yet of global ecommerce leaders for the DTC Leadership Showcase: Pivoting Global Growth Plans to Reflect Today’s Marketplace Realities.
This session featured leaders ranging from brands relatively new to cross-border ecommerce to global brands seeking to pivot to take advantage of unprecedented digital opportunities.
We opened with a discussion about how leaders are doubling down on global ecommerce investments to gain market share. Jeanne Anderson, SVP and General Manager at Saatchi Art detailed how her digital team needed to move quickly offset significant losses from other divisions hit hard by the pandemic. Abby Whitmer, Executive Director, E-Commerce, Digital and Social at Revive SkinCare shared lessons learned from growing her digital team remotely – and as quickly as possible.
Whether your organization is new to ecommerce or more seasoned, hear our panelists detail they’ve re-connected and re-engaged with shoppers shifting to new channels. CLICK HERE and check out the session to listen in on other insights about how 2020’s wild ride has prepared their organizations for what’s ahead in 2021.
5) AboveBoard — Closing Fireside: Connecting Diversity to Better Global Ecommerce Results
We wrapped up Oktoberfest with a session that’s is as relevant and timely as one can get today – Connecting Diversity to Better Global Ecommerce Results. GELF welcomed back our old friend Na’Im McKee, who is now VP of Marketing at Above Board.
Na’Im recently moved into a leadership role in a next generation technology recruiting company. He shared his recommendations for establishing a better balance of Black leaders in technology and ecommerce organizations while underscoring the role of diversity in global ecommerce and localization.
Check out this discussioN (CLICK HERE) about the important role that diversity plays in global ecommerce and technology. We explored how diversity helps drive better results by aligning leadership with your customer base, which is especially important in global ecommerce and the need for localized customer experiences.
Thanks for joining us for Oktoberfest! Stay tuned for GELF’s next exciting adventure as the GELF community travels down the path ahead together!
Cheers,
Kent, Jim and Scott
GELF Co-founders
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