2012 Store Conference - Recap of the Show!

A few days have passed and we're still catching up from a very busy last few days. On June 4th and 5th the OrderDynamics team participated at the 2012 Store Conference in Toronto. Store Conference is the Retail Council of Canada's biggest annual event and attracts some of Canada's best and most experienced retail professionals. OrderDynamics is extremely proud to have been both an exhibiting vendor and a panel moderator.

First and foremost, we'd like to thank James Connell (Roots.com), Paige Malling (Well.ca), Tamy Butterfield, and Tanbir Grover (Hudson's Bay Company) for helping us put together an absolutely fantastic eCommerce speaking session. The session, titled "Getting eCommerce Right", was moderated by OrderDynamics President Michael Turcsanyi and focused on today's Canadian eCommerce landscape and consumer expectations, threats within the marketplace from Canadian and US-based retailers, opportunities to drive sales and online growth, and general eCommerce strategies. Each of the speakers provided outstanding insight from their industry knowledge and experience. We also appreciate everyone who attended the panel - especially the people who stood through the whole session due to a "packed house".

Prior to our "Getting eCommerce Right" panel session, Mitch Joel of Twist Image ran a complimentary eCommerce session (which was a great lead-in to our "Getting eCommerce Right" panel) with a number of other Canadian eCommerce heavy weights. One of the highlights from that session was Joel's observation of consumer buying habits and their lack of "channel loyalty". He noted retailers need to provide a singular experience across each sales channel to be effective in today's retail world. This message echo's the stance and strategy of our Connected Commerce vision.

Another highlight from that session was Christina Callas of Hudson's Bay Company/Lord & Taylor and her comment about consumer retail expectations being much farther ahead of what online retailers can deliver today in Canada and the United States. She suggested the retail landscape must continue to progress in order to close the gap between expectations and actual experience. Time will tell how quickly retailers can adapt to these expectations.

We'd also like to mention several of our partners who we were fortunate enough to spend time with at Store including Canada Post and Chase Paymentech. It's always great to catch up with our partners and hear about their recent news. Both have exciting upcoming news announcements that will surely impact Canadian retailers, so keep an eye out for them.

Lastly, we'd like to thank each of people who spent time with the OrderDynamics team at our booth or in various meetings. The general vibe and feeling from Store encompassed growth - not only in terms of achieving it, but also how to sustain it. The appetite for eCommerce as a viable way to generate revenue has grown substantially in the last few years. This kind of retail evolution is forcing retailers to innovate and get creative with direction and strategy. This will no doubt benefit consumers in the the long run.

Kudos to the entire Retail Council of Canada team for putting on a first-class Conference in terms of quality and substance. We're already excited for the 2013 Store Conference!

We will be reaching out to all interested parties over the next two weeks. You may also contact us directly: solutions@orderdynamics.com.

In the meantime, we invite you to visit our website at www.orderdynamics.com to learn more about our On-Demand eCommerce Platform.

Sincerely,

The OrderDynamics Team
1 (866) 559-8123