Preliminary Program

8:30am - 9:30am: Registration

9:20am - 9:30am: Welcome and opening address from the Chair
Bruce Atkinson, Melbourne Editor of Inside Retailing

9:30am - 10:20am: From the Front Line to the Board Room. An operators view on the Future of Retail
Peter Wilkinson, CEO, Australian Discount Retail (Trading) Pty Ltd
Peter Wilkinson reflects upon a career in Australian retail to provide a view on its future from the operator's perspective. How will economic uncertainty impact selling approaches? What's the role of service in building a retail brand? How will the food retailing environment in Australia evolve in the face of new ownership and new players and how will 'green' impact route to market for retailers and suppliers? Mr. Wilkinson brings his considerable experience and expertise to bear on these and other mission critical issues for all retailers and suppliers.

10:20am - 11:00am: Retrospective - 10 years of Touring Retail, 'Insights, Ideas, Inspiration and Intuition
Stephen Kulmar, CEO, IdeaWorks

11:00am - 11:20am: Morning Tea

11:20am - 12:00pm: A view on the future of Australian and New Zealand retailing from a financial analysts view point
Richard Barwick, Morgan Stanley
This presentation will look at sales growth expectations for overall retail and specifically in food. The speaker will describe the current market structure and offer an analysts view on the direction its heading including the scope for new entrants (particularly Costco) and the likely impact.

In more detail the present will offer sales growth expectations for Woolworths, Coles and IGA with each specific forecast including the role of private label and fresh participation.

12:00pm - 12:40pm: Australasian Supermarket Industry: Behemoth, Backwater or Beachhead?
Tim Morris, Managing Director, Coriolis Research Limited
The Australasian (Australia and New Zealand) supermarket industry is a major part of the economy, with turnover of more than $70b across over 4,000 stores. It is also the most highly concentrated supermarket industry in the world, with a handful of groups dominating the industry.
In this presentation Tim Morris, Managing Director of Coriolis Research, presents a complete and comprehensive overview of these groups, including their strategic directions and financial results. In addition, the presentation looks at the ongoing breakdown of the historically isolation of the market, with profiles of new and potential international entrants.

12:40pm - 1:40pm: Lunch

1:40pm - 2:20pm: Winning Retail in The Conversation Economy: How Shopper-Centric Retail Can Work to Increase Loyalty and Profits
Phil Bonanno, Director of Retail, The Leading Edge
How are the best retailers earning a greater share of shoppers' spend globally? What formats are likely to succeed in the future? What global best practices are most relevant for the future in Australasia? Mr. Bonanno's presentation will explore the most important global retailing trends likely to impact ANZ retailers and branded suppliers over the next 3-5 years.

2:20 - 3:10pm: Tomorrow is Today: Putting the Customer at the Centre of Growth at Woolworths
Will Soulsby, Head of Insights, Woolworths
Woolworths is recognised internationally as a world class retailer thanks to investments in supply side capabilities. Off this platform, Woolworths is poised to deliver growth with an increased focus on driving demand through its stores. Store refurbishments, better customer understanding and more focused ranging all signal that this market leader is adapting to become more competitive and more effective. Customer Insights Manager, Will Soulsby, will demonstrate how Woolies' customer-led initiatives are transforming the company and placing it in good stead to succeed in a more dynamic marketplace.

3:10 - 3:50pm: Retail Trends
Toby Hill, CEO, The Leading Edge
Retail Trends, exclusively for conference delegates, groundbreaking research on shifts in consumer and shopper preferences in retail outlets and key growth categories. This research will aid retailers in building the fabled “destination departments”, with the most valuable shoppers in mind. The Leading Edge will bring to light the impact of global consumer trends and their local impact in relevance to shop owners and brand stewards alike.

3:50pm - 4:10pm: Afternoon Tea

4:10pm - 5:00pm:
Warren Wilmot, CEO - 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd
7-Eleven Australia is a local division of the global 7-Eleven brand, which has more retail outlets worldwide than any other brand. Convenience shopping is changing though, and the channel is blurring significantly. Also consumer preferences are changing at an ever increasing pace. Warren Wilmot’s presentation will discuss how 7-Eleven is meeting those ever changing needs (and in many cases leading them), and highlight the business transformations that are being made to accelerate these processes.

5:00pm - 5:20pm: What's Next?
Phil Bonanno, Director of Retail Strategy, The Leading Edge

5:20pm - 5:30pm: Closing address from the Chair

Bruce Atkinson, Melbourne Editor of Inside Retailing

Bruce Atkinson has been a contributor to the leading retail industry publications, FOODweek and Inside Retailing Weekly for more than 20 years.

He was also a retail consultant working throughout Australia and New Zealand before entering the Victorian State Parliament in 1992 where, among other roles, he was shadow minister for small business between 2002 and 2006.

Peter Wilkinson, CEO, Australian Discount Retail (Trading) Pty Ltd

Peter has extensive retail management experience within Australia, including almost six years as Chief Executive and Managing Director of David Jones Limited. During this time he was responsible for managing the strategic development and value generation of 35 stores, and clearly positioned David Jones as Australia’s premier department store. He had previously spent 18 years with Myer and Coles Myer Ltd., including positions as Managing Director of Target, Managing Director of Myer Grace Bros and Chief Operating Officer of the Coles Myer Group. Peter has held numerous positions within the retail sector, including President of the Australian Retailers Association.

Phil Bonanno, Director of Retail, The Leading Edge

As Director of Retail Strategy at The Leading Edge, Phil's mandate is to help FMCG companies and retailers to understand how to align and respond to future retail developments for sustainable growth. Prior to joining TLE, Phil spent ten years at Management Ventures Inc. As President of the Americas, Head of Global Consulting, SME, VP Training, analyst, product manager and trainer. In addition to covering Top US channels and retailers, Phil launched MVI's coverage on International retailing.

Richard Barwick, Morgan Stanley

Richard is a Retail analyst at Morgan Stanley and a member of their Equities Research team. Richard has recently joined Morgan Stanley after three years in a similar role at UBS Securities. Prior to switching into equities Richard spent eight years in a variety of analytical and strategy roles within the FMCG and consumer durables industries. Richard holds a bachelor of business degree from the University of Technology Sydney and a graduate diploma in economics from the University of New England.

Tim Morris, Coriolis Research Limited

Tim Morris graduated in Food Industry Management from Cornell University and then entered the Management Development Program with Safeway Stores in Seattle, Washington. He served in a number of management positions before joining Swander Pace and Company, a leading US food industry consulting company, based in San Francisco. In 2000 Tim set up Coriolis Research, a consulting company specialising in developing growth strategies for food, beverage and foodservice companies. He has worked with many leading supplier, retail, distribution and service companies in North America and Australasia.

In addition, Mr Morris is a prominent researcher in the field of international retailing. He has undertaken comprehensive studies of global retailing and produced an international perspective on private labels. Tim has written detailed case studies on Tesco, Costco, Aldi, Loblaws, Whole Foods Markets, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Smithfield Foods and developed overviews of food distribution in Australia and New Zealand and an assessment of private labels in Australia.

Toby Hill, Joint CEO, The Leading Edge

Toby is Joint CEO of The Leading Edge, having been with the company for the past 14 years. During this time Toby has established Whetstone, the Company's online research division, and the Advanced Quantitative Techniques Unit. With twenty years consulting experience, predominantly in quantitative research, Toby's passions lie in creating innovative research and consulting solutions and tackling the big strategic projects and more recently in helping guide TLE into new consulting territories.

Warren Wilmot, CEO, 7-Eleven

Warren Wilmot has had an expansive career in retail from the field to the board room. Warren has spent the past 15 years at 7-Eleven. Warren was appointed CEO of 7-Eleven in 2002, he had commenced work at the organisation as a District Manager in the field with franchisees progressing through various operational roles and also briefly held the position of head of Marketing. Prior to 7-Eleven, Warren spent 9 years with the Pizza Hut group, working his way up from Store Manager to Operations Manager for Victoria and Tasmania, for the Jardine group. Warren is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Australian Association of Convenience Stores and is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Will Soulsby, Customer Insights, Woolworths Ltd

Will is the head of customer insights dept at Woolworths Ltd and has been at the company for 7 years. Since joining the company in 2001, Will's role has evolved from research manager in the Supermarket division, to head of customer insights for the Woolworths portfolio of brands. During the past seven years at Woolworths, Will has developed both an in-depth understanding of Australian shopper needs, wants and expectations and the tools to support consumer-led retail strategies. Prior to joining Woolworths, Will spent ten years working in various market research roles both in Australia and the UK.