Conference Agenda

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0830

Registration & Coffee

0855

Welcome Remarks by Conference Chairperson:

Kim Winter, Global Chief Executive Officer Logistics Executive Group

0900 – 0955

Cross-Border Ecommerce: The World is Your Market

Ecommerce is forecast to make up 15.5% of total worldwide retail sales by 2021, and cross-border ecommerce is growing just as fast or even faster. Retailers who are cross-border enabled have the opportunity to capitalize on international sales and sell their products to millions of new customers, but it’s no easy feat. Shippers just getting into cross-border – and even those who have been at it awhile – are constantly running into issues related to time of delivery and cost, effecting both the customer experience and their bottom line. How can GCC players create a seamless market for themselves.


Nadia Abdul Aziz, President, National Association of Freight & Logistics (NAFL)
Fatih Cigal, SVP Cargo Sales & Marketing, Turkish Cargo  
Prahlad Tanwar, Executive Director, KPMG
Joy Ajlouny, Co-founder, Fetchr
Nooruldeen A. Agha, Founder & CEO, elabelz.com
Maher Tarazi, Founder & CEO, Altexpress
0955–1040

Strategies for implementing an Omnichannel Business Model

75% of retailers consider omnichannel to be essential for their business, but nearly 50% are not actively investing in an omnichannel strategy. Why the disconnect? There are certain operational complexities that come with integrating a number of systems and functions across an organization, and these complexities are different for each business. There is no “one size fits all” omnichannel solution. So what are the best ways to build an omnichannel strategy.


Silvia Fracchia, Head Merchandising, The Luxury Closet
Michael Truschler, Managing Partner, TruConsult
Shailen Shukla, Head Logistics, Jumbo Electronics LLC Dubai
Arvind Sahay, Regional Director, Vinculum MEA  
Wesley van Kemenade, Inventory Management Consultant, Slimstock Middle East & Africa
1040 - 1100

Reimagining the future of omnichannel retailing


Prof Christopher Abraham, CEO & Head and Sr. Vice President, S P Jain School of Global Management
1100 – 1130

Where Do I Ship From? Optimizing Order Sourcing Across Channels

The growth of “omnicommerce” has led to challenges including transportation costs, fill rates and inventory positioning. With all this capacity to ship from stores or an ecommerce DC, how do you decide when and where to send orders to be fulfilled? What impact will this have on your in-store sales? This session will address the impact of new omnichannel tactics on your fulfillment operations.


Baljeet Nagi, Director: SCM Strategy ECEMEA, Oracle  
1130 – 1145

Refreshment Break

1145-1215

Can Blockchain be the Next Big Thing in Omnichannel?

Blockchain’s potential as an enabler of smarter supply chains is gaining ground. Test cases have demonstrated blockchain’s potential for making data sharing across supply chain partners more secure through the use of “smart contracts,” while eliminating costly logistics (and fulfillment?) errors. Even with this great potential, however, there is a need for standardization across technology providers and organizations, plus broader industry buy-in. This session will cover current efforts to leverage blockchain for decentralizing retail supply chains, making them more agile and configurable to meet the constantly changing dynamics of supply and demand.


Iqbal Ali Khan, Program Director, Blockchains & Innovations, IBM Global Markets  
1215 - 1245

Sprint to the Last Mile: Optimizing the Costliest Leg of Fulfillment

It’s no secret that the last mile of fulfillment – from the final node to the doorstep – is the costliest. Retailers, ecommerce companies, carriers and service providers have all been wrestling with this conundrum, seeking creative solutions to a vexing, expensive problem. Various consolidation approaches offer promise, including parcel lockers and store or curbside pickup services.

What is the latest thinking on conquering the last mile of ecommerce? What solutions are being put into play and what kind of benefits do they deliver? How is technology being leveraged to optimize routing? How about crowdsourcing and ridesharing solutions?


Nektarios Triantafyllidis, PTV MENA Region DMCC  
1245 -1315

Using Customer Journey Reconstruction as a Powerful Tool in CX Design

Building genuine customer empathy is a challenge in any service environment, and this is compounded when even tried-and-true CX methods present customers as theoretical entities. But when that customer has a name, when you frame the actual event, and when you hear the raw emotion in the customer’s own words, empathy is inescapable and becomes a powerful motivator for action. Your customers are talking all along the journey – are you listening?


M.Hammad Anwer, Head, Ecommerce Technology, Ekuep.com  
1315 - 1400

Networking & Lunch Break

1400 - 1420

Real-Time Inventory Visibility: Is it a Myth or Achievable Reality?

Inventory visibility impacts suppliers, retailers and consumers alike. Consumers like to see what’s available so they know the item will be at the store or arrive on time at their doorstep. Without sufficient visibility across channels – including in transit – retailers may not know where inventory is, when more will be needed or when shipments will arrive. And suppliers risk letting down retailers and consumers when they fail to hold up their end of the bargain. In today’s Omni channel world, greater inventory visibility is required to meet rising customer expectations. Success depends on both accurate visibility (across channels, distribution and fulfilment points) and the speed with which that information is made available to customers. How close to real time can it get?


Dr. Shereen Nassar, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus  
1420-1500

Getting Out Late-Day Orders: Hitting Cutoffs, Balancing Cost and Service Level

Knowing your service-level commitments, and the growing expectation of two-day delivery, fulfilling late-day orders can prove tricky. With carrier cutoffs set in stone, you have to work against those times to get orders onto the last truck. But you’re also trying to be as cost-effective as possible, which means relegating some of the late-day orders for earlier pickup at a cheaper rate. That means the game of “beat the clock” has been elevated – and this challenge only grows trickier on Fridays, as pickup schedules shift over the weekend. How do you balance the competing demands of cost and service level on your late-day orders? What about labor management and allocation needed to push them out the door in time?


David Dronfield, Founder & Managing Director, Intralogistic Solution
Firoze Zia Hussain, Vice President Security, Delhivery  
Hassan Jawad, Founder, DeliWer Shopping
Shawn Chaudhery, CEO, Snap Delivery
1500 – 1530

Harnessing Data, Automation to Optimize Drop Shipping for Suppliers and Retailers

The massive amounts of B2B data sharing required for drop shipping means that manual systems are often unable to maintain the needed accuracy, timeliness and segmentation. But with the proper automated tech stack and processes, much higher volumes of accurate and timely B2B data can be exchanged and harnessed for optimized drop shipping operations.


Sarah Jones, Founder & CEO, Sprii.com  
1600 - 1630

Taking Your Fulfillment to the Cloud

With an explosion in the popularity of subscription boxes, it’s tempting for ecommerce companies to explore a subscription offering as an added revenue source. But it pays to understand the unique challenges associated with subscription order fulfillment. From managing inventory to getting orders out of the door, there’s an exact science behind well-oiled subscription commerce – and warehouse management technology makes it possible.

Sandeep Chatterjee, Senior Manager, Deloitte India  
1630-1645

Refreshment Break

1645-1715

Driving Operational Efficiencies and Increasing Profitability for your Supply chain


Ashish Kawale, Principle Solution Consultant, Supply Chain, Infor  
1715 – 1800

Fostering A Next-Gen Customer Experience

It is becoming increasingly important and difficult meeting the heightened expectations of digitally savvy customers through differentiation and innovation. It necessitates Creating a seamless journey that reflects how customer want to shop across devices and channels: browsing, seeking peer influence, comparing prices. The objective is to foster better shopping experiences and streamline a vast matrix of interactions, Evolving from a customer service to customer centric mentality


Darryl Judd, Chief Operating Officer, Logistics Exceutive
Thulasiram Bollipalli, Head-Marketing and General Manager, UAE, AWOK.com
Anass Boumediene, co-founder, Eyewa
1800

Close of conference