Industry Alliances and Tech Innovations: Highlights From Shoptalk Europe 2024

This IDC Perspective provides IDC Retail Insights' key takeaways from Shoptalk Europe 2024, held in Barcelona, which gathered over 10,000 retail professionals to explore the future of retail. The event emphasized the critical role of technology in transforming the retail landscape to meet shifting market conditions and dynamics in the industry. Key themes included AI, GenAI, unified commerce, and the importance of industry partnerships in satisfying the channel-agnostic needs of current and future consumers. The insights from Shoptalk Europe 2024 underscore the necessity of investing in updating data management capabilities, digitalizing stores, and adopting composable commerce platforms to have the flexibility to seamlessly combine and integrate channels and applications as new requirements emerge. The diverse range of technologies showcased - from RFID to AI-driven personalization, GenAI, and retail media - highlighted the industry's commitment to innovation."The future of retail relies on the strategic integration of AI and GenAI into workflows and the formation of strong industry partnerships. Retailers must advance their data collection and management capabilities to fully leverage AI, streamline operations, and revolutionize customer engagement, thus delivering substantial business value. Effective data collection, unification, interpretation, and governance are crucial for fostering beneficial data-sharing practices and unlocking new revenue streams. European retailers must eliminate data silos and establish robust data foundations as data has become the critical competitive advantage for embracing technological advancements, outpacing competitors, and delivering increased value to customers," said Sofia Poggi, senior research analyst, IDC Retail Insights.