Agenda

This session will take an honest and upfront view of how the region's political instability is impacting day-to-day business for retailers, distributors and vendors, and address the shifting global supply chain landscape. 

While supply chain pressure continues to be felt by the channel, retailers and its partners must find ways to manage freight cost inflation, forge new trade alliances and predictive data models to work towards more reliable delivery timetables. This session will discuss developing strategies to cope with supply uncertainty.

Brands and retailers are clamouring to get the attention of the region's youngest buyers but is it coming at the expense of more affluent demographics? This session will discuss whether vendors and retailers need to double down on their efforts to engage Gen Z or focus their energies elsewhere.

 Amazon, Noon, Temu, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) models are reshaping the MENA market. How can local retailers and global brands forge stronger partnerships, align their omnichannel strategies, and protect their margins against aggressive marketplace disruptors?

What's AI's real potential to transform retail? An honest, hype-free overview of Agentic AI, predictive analytics, and recent case studies to explore how these tools are fundamentally changing retail operations and marketing automation. 

Component shortages, ESG legislation, and the normalisation of refurbished tech are contributing factors to a growing secondary device market and customers understanding the value of ‘old tech’. Trade in and buy back programmes are additional touch points for retailers and brands to engage positively with customers, improve recycling rates and drive sales. This session will explore the current success levels of trade in programmes, what’s holding back the customer and explore new marketing and promotional strategies.

The connected home is evolving. Consumers are switching on to energy saving devices, and AI is set to transform how we engage with and operate the smart home. This session will explore the current smart home landscape, how it’s set to evolve, and the implications and opportunities for retailers and vendors.

New technologies, immersive experiences and the customer need for more engagement pose an interesting question for brands and retailers. Is it time to transform the traditional shop floor into an experiential hub or ignore the hype and focus on the online experience? Panelists will discuss how much the retail space needs to change and explore topics including AR/VR experiences, immersive product demonstrations, and the new role of the in-store sales associate.

Channel Summit CEO and Co-Founder, Farouk Hemraj will summarise some of the key findings from day and draw the event to a close.

The Channel Summit META awards celebrate excellence in the region’s consumer technology market. The Awards represent the culmination of the Channel Summit show and give attending retail delegates the opportunity to vote live for the best vendor in show across a number of categories. The awards also feature a number of application based categories including ‘Best Circular Initiative’ and ‘Best Product Launch’.