2019 China International Retail Innovation Conference Held In Shanghai

"Retail innovation has entered the no man's land, and we are taking the road that no one else has ever gone through."

Pei Liang, President of China Chain Store Association, said at the 2019 China International Retail Innovation Conference.

From April 10th to 12, the 2019 China International Retail Innovation Conference co sponsored by China Chain Store Association, Municipal Commerce Commission and Pudong New Area government was held at Shanghai International Conference Center.

On the morning of April 11th, Xu Kunlin, vice mayor of Shanghai, attended the main forum and delivered speeches. The Deputy Secretary General of the municipal government, Shang Yuying, director of the Municipal Commerce Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce in Shanghai and Pudong New Area government attended the meeting.

Participants include representatives from the International Retail Association (FIRA), Massimo Volpe, and other retail trade organizations from over 20 countries including the United States, Italy, France, Germany and Japan.

Okada Yuanshiya, global president of aeon group, and more than 100 representatives of retail companies at home and abroad, as well as experts and scholars at home and abroad, such as Matthias Schranner, etc.

During the meeting, participants will focus on the theme of "retail return to basic technology and lead the future". We will explore 6 forms of research, 2 engineers' nights, 7 parallel forums and 12 seminars.

Vice mayor Xu Kunlin pointed out that the development of Shanghai's retail industry has benefited from the city's character and the commercial civilization of centuries.

In recent years, with the accelerated application of new technology and new mode in the commercial field, Shanghai has become the experimental field and arena for retail innovation, which is inseparable from the participation of domestic and foreign retail partners.

At present, focusing on the three year action plan of "Shanghai shopping" brand, Shanghai will form a business civilization that matches the excellent global city positioning and build an international consumer city with global influence.

Shanghai will continue to uphold the open, innovative and inclusive urban character and provide a high quality business environment. We welcome the strength of domestic and foreign retail enterprises to settle in Shanghai, share the wisdom of global retail innovation, and jointly promote the innovation and prosperity of global retail, and better satisfy people's yearning for a better life.

The Retail Innovation Conference has four main highlights:

First, create a large platform for retail innovation and international exchanges.

Representatives of retail industry organizations from more than 20 countries including the United States, Italy, France, Germany and Japan will attend the meeting.

The two is to expand the international influence of the "Shanghai shopping" brand. More than 100 domestic and foreign retail business executives and industry experts gather in Shanghai to expand the global vision and provide international wisdom for Shanghai to make full use of the "Shanghai shopping" brand.

The three is to provide a new mode of creating high quality life.

The four is to open a new chapter in the building of modern business civilization.

At the conference, the three party representatives of the government, associations and enterprises jointly launched the construction of modern business civilization.

Next, we will focus on contract spirit, integrity management, consumer rights and sustainable development, and jointly carry out research on modern business civilization related projects, and call on global retailers to explore the connotation of modern business civilization.

Pei Liang, President of the China Chain Store Association, said in his speech that as the highlight of the "new consumption forum" series of China Chain Store Association, the Innovation Conference is a platform to fully display the technological innovation achievements of retail industry and promote the innovation practice of retail industry.

We hope to reflect and prospect the innovation and development of the industry through the annual Innovation Conference.

Retail innovation enters the no man's land

Pei Liang said that from the enterprise level, whether it is physical retail, online retail or full channel retail, the main body has entered the stage of imitation and innovation from the stage of simple imitation.

In some fields and enterprises, retail innovation has entered the unmanned area. We are taking the road that others have never gone through.

Although there are many arguments or even doubts in this process.

With the help of capital, it has also crossed the minefield and entered the wrong area.

But Pei Liang said that the significance of innovation lies in creating value.

First of all, from the enterprise level, a group of high quality retail enterprises, based on their own development strategy and market characteristics, continue to promote the improvement of enterprise management and operation ability through innovation. The development of stamina and competitive advantages become more and more prominent, and speed up the development of the market in the downturn.

For example, the innovation of management mechanism represented by partner system has injected tremendous momentum to enterprise innovation, but the lag of information system and business process has become a major obstacle to the success of enterprise innovation.

Therefore, Pei Liang said that technological innovation must be built on the basis of continuous optimization and innovation in business and management.

From the perspective of industry, consumers' consumption experience has been significantly improved through innovation practice, and consumers have not improved their shopping convenience before.

But at the same time, Pei Liang also pointed out the challenges facing the retail industry.

First of all, are consumers' innovative dividends and price benefits really because of the value created by innovation?

Judging from the overall operating efficiency and return on investment, the overall improvement is not obvious.

The turnover rate of commodities did not increase significantly, but the gross profit level and the scale of industrial scale were not high.

Secondly, the continuous emergence of new technologies, especially mobile Internet, mobile payment, and digital solutions, provides great imagination for retail innovation.

But we should also see that the current third party services, the supply of professional personnel and the effective use of social resources are also facing many challenges.

Future trend of retail industry

The leaders of the industry held a heated discussion on the trend of retail innovation in the retail leaders' summit and the 50 door closed meeting.

Pei Liang revealed that everyone's views are diverse, but there are several high points of agreement. First, all innovations should focus on the creation of customer value. Two, innovation must rely on people.

For the future, how will the retail industry's innovation, especially technological innovation, and the future pattern of China's retail industry be shaped?

Pei Liang said that through the full discussion of industry leaders, we agreed that the impact of technology on retail industry innovation will be reflected in two aspects:

First, under the influence of new technologies, including AR/VA, smart speakers, and Internet of things under 5G environment, the form of retailing will be changed.

But the retail sales of products, the full channel is an inevitable choice, in the commodity sales as the core function of the retail industry.

After full channelization, the service of the retail industry becomes more and more important. Retail services will also become a new support for the retail industry to create value.

The two is lean management.

Through technological innovation, the refined management level and efficiency of the retail industry will continue to rise, and the cost will also be effectively improved.

Especially through the application of artificial intelligence and digitalization, such as the previously popularized ECR, the rapid response of consumers, and the precise sale and forecast that is being tried.

Including effective management of personnel, these will continue to accelerate with the progress of digitalization, providing favorable support for retail innovation and improving retail efficiency.