Adapt or Die: Building Innovation at Walmart
JP SUAREZ – WALMART
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
The face of retail is changing more rapidly today than at any point in history. Online players are putting pressure on traditional brick and mortar retailers, and the motto is now “adapt or die.” But traditional construction/build lead times run in the opposite direction. How can retailers successfully adapt their approach to building and remodeling stores to make them more relevant to today’s consumer? What role will technology play in building the store and delivering the customer experience? And how can we build in a way that allows us to adapt and not die? Technology needs to help retailers change their offer, store size, fixtures, and new store profile quickly. New methods of visualization and collaboration, and innovative building materials and techniques seem to hold promise. Or do they? Is traditional brick and mortar on an unavoidable and inexorable long term decline? Who will win?