Shop.org Pleased with Success of First Multichannel Executive Symposium

Shop.org Pleased with Success of First Multichannel Executive Symposium

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Last month, more than 80 Internet and multichannel retailers gathered for the first annual Multichannel Executive Symposium at the W New York-Union Square in New York City. The event, co- hosted by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, and McKinsey & Company, targeted the senior-most executives with responsibility for direct- to-consumer business in North America.

The two-day program included keynote presentations by Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Amazon.com; Ed Mueller, Chief Executive Officer of Williams-Sonoma, Inc.; and Christiana Shi, Director at McKinsey & Company. Breakout sessions, facilitated by attendees, focused on the key challenges of senior online retail and multichannel executives.

"We are very pleased with the number of senior level executives that attended the first-ever Symposium," said Scott Silverman, Shop.org Executive Director. "With such positive feedback I anticipate that it will become the primary industry forum for Internet and multichannel retail senior executives."

Topics explored during the Symposium included coordinating online, catalog and retail activities to drive customer conversion, breakthrough format ideas to fuel growth across retail and direct channels, organizing multiple channels for optimal performance, and building the bottom line through efficient operations and optimized procurement costs.

The Multichannel Executive Symposium was held in conjunction with Shop.org's January forum, FirstLook 2005, which brought together the leaders in online retail to discuss best practices from the holiday season and plan for the future. Event highlights included a recap of the Shop.org/BizRate.com eHoliday Mood Study, a day focused on Customer Experience and Usability Testing, and a keynote presentation by author Paco Underhill.

Shop.org is the network for retailers online. It's where the best retail minds come together to gain the insight, knowledge, and intelligence to make smarter, more informed decisions in the evolving world of the Internet and multichannel retailing. Founded in 1996, Shop.org became a division of the National Retail Federation in January 2001. The association's membership includes interactive executives from store-based retailers, catalog-based retailers, Web-based retailers, and retail solution providers. http://www.shop.org/.


Source: Shop.org

CONTACT: Ellen Tolley, tolleye@nrf.com, or Scott Krugman,
krugmans@nrf.com, of the National Retail Federation, +1-202-783-7971

Web site: http://www.nrf.com/
http://www.shop.org/


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