Event CoverageWorld Retail Congress 2018, Day 1: Hearing About the “Retail Apocalypse,” Chinese Retail and the Need for Change in Brick-and-Mortar Coresight Research April 18, 2018 Executive SummaryThe Coresight Research team is attending World Retail Congress 2018 in Madrid this week. Here are our top takeaways from day one of the conference: The “retail apocalypse” story is “great clickbait,” but it is not taken seriously as an accurate depiction of US retail. JD.com’s Richard Liu predicted that the retail industry will be operated at some point by artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, rather than by humans—but he did not predict when. Alibaba Group sees Tmall as the “gateway to China” for Western retailers and brands and notes that the platform enables these companies to test products rapidly. Please Login to read the full report. Not a member? To access this content for free, register for a free account. This document was generated for Other research you may be interested in: Weekly UK Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2025, Week 36: UK Sees 25% Fewer Closures Year Over YearThree Data Points We’re Watching This Week, Week 32: US Store Tracker ExtraFinancial Confidence Stabilizes: Weekly US Consumer Sentiment, Week 42, 2025—Data GraphicWeekly UK Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2025, Week 31: Greggs Opens More than 60% of Its Announced Store Openings
