When looking at retail across the globe, there are clear indicators that the industry is changing at an accelerated pace. We’ll look at the macro trends impacting the retail industry, from demographic and societal changes to the role of technology and the growth of e-commerce. We then provide examples of a wide range of innovative grocery concepts with a focus on examples from small to mid-sized chains that demonstrate what the future of retail will look like. The examples provide a practical roadmap to what it will take to win at retail in the future. Presented by Neil Stern, McMillanDoolittle.

BC is facing a labour shortage with close to 1 million expected job openings by the year 2025. The grocery and retail industries already feel the strain. Finding and keeping talent is something that every manager wrestles with. However, some retailers, including Buy-Low Foods, London Drugs and smaller retailers, are securing talent by adopting more inclusive and accessible employment practices. Presented by Trish Kelly, The Presidents Group

Mark O’Connell is President and CEO of Interac Corp. In his role, he oversees the operation of one of Canada’s leading payments brands, which is chosen an average of 16 million times daily to pay and exchange money.

Mark is responsible for a suite of trusted payment products including Interac Debit and Interac Flash, Interac e-Transfer (a leading real-time money movement innovation that has grown by 50% year-over-year) and digital technology, such as the Interac Token Service Provider and mobile payment and in-app solutions including Interac Debit on Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and mobile Interac Flash.

Joel Gregoire serves as Associate Director – Food and Drink at Mintel, specializing in the Canadian food and drink industry. Joel has over 18 years of experience working in market research, 15 of which focused on what matters to Canadians in terms of how they eat and drink. Before joining Mintel, Joel worked at OMD, Loblaw Companies Ltd, where he generated insights for the company’s private label brands, including President’s Choice, and The NPD Group, where he tracked consumer eating patterns and presented the analysis to top tier clients. Joel heads up Mintel’s Food and Drink team in Canada, and has personally authored over 50 reports on various topics related to food and drink during his tenure. Joel also contributes to various publications. Despite Joel’s expertise in understanding what Canadians eat, he’s still trying to figure out what to feed his kids for dinner. You can follow Joel on Twitter at @JoelDGregoire.

We obsess over innovation. But innovation is overrated. If you look at the smart companies that are prized for “innovation,” you see that they are actually masters of “adaptation”—of knowing when to adjust, when to speed up, and when to capitalize. It’s not about being first; it’s about being flexible. In this thrilling new talk, Amber Mac looks to leading organizations, many of which she covers for Fast Company, to explore the practice of relentless adaptation. Is your company taking advantage of disruptive new technologies, or simply being disrupted by them? Presented By Amber Mac

While we’ve obsessed about millennials for almost a decade, it’s time to shift focus to the next generation. Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2010) is an economic powerhouse that represents a quarter of our population—and is growing. They buy differently, engage differently, connect differently, and think differently. In this talk, Amber Mac explains how to break down your digital strategy into four simple steps to reach this next audience: Rethink Mission, Rethink Work, Rethink Platform, and Rethink Communication. Presented by Amber Mac

Loyalty programs reimagined: What’s are the top 5 actionable things your loyalty program should be doing; and top 5 things you can do if you do not have a program. Presented by Rob Shields, loyalty expert, co-founder of Paymi

Loyalty programs reimagined: What’s are the top 5 actionable things your loyalty program should be doing; and top 5 things you can do if you do not have a program. Presented by Rob Shields, loyalty expert, co-founder of Paymi