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Reinventing retail at Beyond Retail 2015


Johannesburg, 01 Sep 2015

Beyond Retail is back, and this year it promises to deliver even more valuable insights.

UCS Solutions - South Africa's preeminent systems and services company, and a leading provider of business process optimisation and technology services and solutions for the retail sector - has announced the dates, venues and speakers for its flagship annual conference in 2015.

The focus of Beyond Retail 2015 is on how embracing omnichannel can allow organisations to reap benefits not only for their business, but also for their customers. Omnichannel retail impacts many aspects of the retail value chain and drives a different model of customer engagement. Even though omnichannel is still relatively small in South Africa, the retail market needs to position itself to harness the innovation it demands.

This series of engaging presentations and discussions is a 'must-attend' for retail-orientated individuals and will be held in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 9 September 2015 at Summer Place, Sandton; and in Cape Town on Friday, 11 September 2015 at the Table Bay Hotel, V&A Waterfront.

The list of confirmed speakers for the event boasts a range of accomplished and influential executives, including:

Colin Fleming - Group eCommerce Executive, Massmart

Colin Fleming is a retailer at Massmart, currently serving as the Group eCommerce Executive. Fleming is responsible for leading group thinking in omnichannel retail strategy, and for identifying and closing the competency gaps required to excel in an omnichannel retail paradigm. Prior to his current role, Fleming held executive roles at Game stores, in merchandise, business development and IT. Before joining Massmart, Fleming spent 10 years as the Sales Director at a digital agency, ePages.net, which he co-founded in 1993, and served as a Director of Private Property, which he co-founded in 1997.

Peter Allerstorfer - Founding Partner, Silvertree Capital

Peter Allerstorfer is a Founding Partner of Silvertree Capital, an Africa-focused business builder and seed investor in the wider technology space aimed at eCommerce and Internet opportunities that address Africa's emerging consumer markets. Prior to founding Silvertree Capital, Allerstorfer co-founded Zando, South Africa's largest eCommerce fashion store, and served as a Co-CEO. Allerstorfer also co-founded Jumia, Nigeria's largest eCommerce store. Before co-founding Zando, Allerstorfer worked for McKinsey & Company as a Management Consultant between 2009 and 2011, where he was involved in consulting in consumer goods, process optimisation and providing strategic counsel in relation to marketing and sales.

Andre de Wet - CEO, PriceCheck

Andre de Wet is a Senior C-level Executive and seasoned entrepreneur. He builds and grows companies and launches new products and solutions in the mCommerce, eCommerce and mobile spaces. De Wet has 25 years' C-level experience in management, marketing, strategy and business development, both in developed and emerging economies. He grew his current company in three years by more than 700%, to a point where it is now among the top five most visited eCommerce sites in South Africa and Africa. He also successfully launched a mobile shopping app that was voted the best app internationally in 2013, beating 150 000+ other entrants. The same app won the MTN Business App of the Year award in South Africa, with more than a million downloads to date.

Justin Drennan - CEO, Parcelninja

Justin Drennan is the CEO and Co-founder of Parcelninja, a cloud-based warehousing and delivery service geared towards South African eCommerce businesses. The business provides small-to-large online retailers with cutting-edge plug-and-play integration into Parcelninja's warehousing facilities and delivery networks. Drennan also co-founded WantItAll, an online shop based in Johannesburg, South Africa, that sells over 14 million products. WantItAll has more than 25 employees and is ranked the third-largest Web store in South Africa in terms of sales, and the second largest in terms of visitors (as per Alexa Internet rankings), with 200 000 customers and over 150 000 products shipped from the US to South Africa. Drennan was selected as one of the 200 Young South Africans You Must Take To Lunch by Mail & Guardian in 2009, won the EO Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2010, is a mentor at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, and is involved in a variety of social responsibility initiatives.

Mike Cotterell - Head of Online and Mobile Business, Pick n Pay

Mike Cotterell joined Pick n Pay in 2010 and is currently responsible for its online and mobile business. At Pick n Pay, Cotterell has leveraged his retail and commercial background to build an innovative and scalable eCommerce model that has demonstrated strong, viable growth. Over the past 15 years, he has been involved in all aspects of digital commerce - working both locally and abroad - covering multiple categories and models. Prior to his work at Pick n Pay, he ran the online B2B business for BT Retail in the UK, where he introduced the first 'online-only' customer service model.

Professor Jon Foster-Pedley - Dean and Director, Henley Business School, South Africa

Jonathan Foster-Pedley is the Dean and Director of Henley Business School, South Africa. He is an education designer, academic, coach, learning facilitator and entrepreneur, and is a former airline captain and senior executive in the European aerospace industry. He has over 30 years' global business experience. He is a visiting professor in strategy, creativity and innovation, a blogger and a writer. His areas of expertise include strategy, learning, creativity, design thinking and innovation. Foster-Pedley specialises in innovative and rich learning design that develops cognitive rigour, imagination, originality, self-confidence, self-belief, creativity and proactivity. He has hands-on experience in international sales and marketing, and has participated in and led multicultural sales and management teams.

For more information and to register for the event, contact Amanda Gibbs (UCS Solutions) at amanda.gibbs@ucs-solutions.co.za.

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Sarah Martin
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