Following its successful inaugural year, the eDelivery Conference (EDC) returns to London in 2016. The event will address the latest trends and developments, as well as the best strategies for the “S-O-L-D” – Supply Chain, Operations, Logistics and Delivery – industry.

Key decision makers from Royal Mail, Tesco, Mothercare, ASDA, Intershop, M&S, John Lewis, Barbour, FedEx Cross Border, among other leading brands, will lead the board level discussion taking place on 11th October at Novotel West, Hammersmith.

The umbrella theme for this year’s eDelivery Conference is PRACTICALITY; how to respond to customer demands and schedule requirements by improving operational performance will be addressed across two conference streams and through roundtable discussion groups.

The first of these streams will concentrate on Availability. This track will examine how the rapid growth of online retail has impacted traditional infrastructure, revealing new approaches for achieving efficiency, responsiveness and agility through stock and operations management. Industry experts such as Roger Morris, Head of Royal Mail Parcels at Royal Mail and Ian Towell, Head of Returns at Tesco, among others, will be leading this debate.

The second discussion stream will focus on Experience and how delivery professionals have evolved from being “back office” staff to key drivers of customer experience. Some of the issues covered in this track will relate to new order management and supply chain standards – how to make products buyable for a customer; enable transaction; get the product to (and sometimes from) a customer wherever they are.

New to this year’s event, will be the inclusion of 13 Roundtables, where industry experts will share insights over the strategic, operational and trading aspects of their businesses. This third stream will provide a practical, deployable learning track to supplement the inspiration and best practice in the other two conference tracks. It will include moderators such as Paul Johnson-Barnett, Head of Distribution at Barbour, discussing how to take fulfilment and delivery abroad and Kamal Bal, Head of Online Performance at M&S, discussing strategies to put customer experience at the heart of online.

Sam North, Portfolio Director, says of the event: “The eDelivery Conference is the first pan-European conference where the retail boardroom gathers to discuss the strategies, innovations, new capabilities and cross-border regulations that are shaping the universe behind the buy-button. With the increasing role that S-O-L-D is playing in setting retailers apart, there has never been a greater need for a conference like EDC. We are proud to gather the most innovative retailers and supply chain leaders to share their insight in a practical way.”

eDelivery Conference is the sister event of the InternetRetailing Conference (IRC), now into its second decade at the forefront of multichannel. The well-established 11th Annual Conference, taking place on 12th October also at Novotel West, Hammersmith, will offer a rounded view on the new directions of travel and goals as multichannel commerce moves into the next stage of digitally-led transformation.

To learn more about the InternetRetailing Conference and eDelivery Conference or to book your place now, visit www.internetretailingconference.com or www.edeliveryconference.com.