Key lessons learned from Feb’s GELF NYC. The latest industry developments. Day’s Overview

John Perasco, AVP – eCommerce at Urban Decay Cosmetics and Thoryn Stephens, Chief Digital Officerof American Apparel, will reflect on lessons learned in recent years and how data-driven “tipping points” have helped their organization prioritize market entry and growth strategies in South Korea, Japan and China and other key global markets. Global ecommerce leader Angela Kapp moderates and contributes her expertise on international growth.

Chris Shimojima will speak about building Nike’s global ecommerce business and lead a panel conversation where several execs including Finlay Robb (formerly Fender, Disney and Lego), Harvey Bierman (VP eCommerce Technology & Operations at Crocs) and Crist Costa, Director of Ecommerce at Patagonia discuss their own lessons learned in building a global ecommerce business from a branded manufacturer’s perspective.

Audience networking with sponsors and speakers

Zach Chang, who is a lead for Levi’s international omnichannel joins Alex Golshan (BCBG, American Apparel) and Sajid Mohamedy, Sr. Director at Nisum, on our operations panel. Zach will dive into how Levi’s looks at omnichannel operations (stores, mobile, social) from a global perspective and Alex will elaborate on how organizational dynamics, localization of operations and back-end systems like order management systems are facilitating agile international expansion. Jim Okamura, GELF co-founder, moderates.

Nic Marlin, head of marketing at Loot Crate will join our marketing panel to discuss how Loot Crate is working with Facebook to use social media to acquire and engage customers. Joining him will be Bruce Bommarito, VP of International Marketing for Caesars Entertainment Group, who will discuss how his firm is using WeChat  to connect with the next generation of digital savvy global shoppers in China. Jennifer Wang, Co-Founder & CMO of Dealmoon, explains how influencer sites are playing a key role in international marketing. Kent Allen, GELF co-founder, moderates.

Our audience dives deeper into the morning’s topics while also networking with industry colleagues, sponsors and speakers

Brands and leading ecommerce companies are pursuing a growing range of international marketplaces and D2C channels as strategic International market growth options.  New GELF research on the state of cross-border Ecommerce sets the stage for a panel discussion about how evolving fulfillment options are improving the global online shopping experience and connecting international shoppers with dropshippers and other distributed global suppliers. The panel includes: Anthony Khedaywi, CEO (Indestructible Dog), Alex Golshan (American Apparel, BCBG) and Jaggi Ayyangar, CEO of Yakit. Kent Allen, GELF co-founder, moderates.

POVs from system integrators/commerce agencies and retailers/brands that are building international sites and managing content and commerce on a growing range of platforms.

We explore different challenges and responses as retailers and brands strive to better manage brand consistency in fast-growing global markets. Our panelists provide insights and lessons learned about how work flows and processes differ as they localize brand messages and balance the centralization and localization of content assets. We explore best practices that convert under-performing content into localized ecommerce sales and analyze supporting benchmarks. The panel includes Eric Tam, VP, Global Digital Experience and Commerce, Benefit Cosmetics (former), Jeffrey Steinhardt, Director of Retail & Marketing, Mezlan Shoes/Bacco Bucci, Gerard Szatvanyi, President and CEO, OSF Commerce,and Brian Beck, SVP, Ecommerce & Omni-Channel Strategy at Guidance

The world’s largest day of eCommerce is China’s Singles Day.  It’s difficult to be a global leader in eCommerce without a China presence.  This fast moving presentation will give an overview of the China opportunity and how to engage their 1 billion+ connected consumers.

Speaker: George Gallate; CMO, Merkle

Audience networking with sponsors and speakers

Small groups will huddle with retail executives and international experts to share their experiences and tackle pressing issues facing their organizations. “What global e-commerce problem do you want to solve at the event?” Leaders are speakers, sponsors, experts and other volunteers

Cocktails, hors d’oevres and audience networking with sponsors and speakers