Executive Summary

The Coresight Research team attended World Retail Congress 2018 in Madrid this week. Here are our top takeaways from the third and final day of the conference:

• The “third generation” of retail is characterized by marketplace companies, intermediary firms and social media influencers. Tech giants such as Alibaba are unifying retail and services.
• Social media is the “new storefront,” according to Facebook. Social media can help retailers personalize offerings, track in-store shoppers and distribute immersive content.
• When Luxottica changed its supply chain to fit new consumer demands, it saw an increase in logistics costs, but those were offset by fewer markdowns and fewer inventory write-offs.
• Amazon is unlikely to enter the pharmacy market, according to Stefano Pessina, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance.The Coresight Research team attended World Retail Congress 2018, which took place in Madrid April 17–19. Here, we feature our takeaways from the final day of the conference.