The future of retail

COVID-19 has changed the way that consumers shop, with online grocery shopping experiencing a boom of 33% after 4 years of consecutive decline. What does the future hold in store for retail, how is the landscape changing and what does this means for the supply chain?

As we now ease our way out of lockdown, this podcast will explore how COVID-19 has impacted on the future of retail, for the short and longer term. Can we expect change to continue, how must the supply chain evolve to meet with the demand.

About our panel

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, Nielsen

Mike Watkins is Head of Retailer and Business and Insight for Nielsen UK and is responsible for commercial development with food, non food and e commerce retailers. Having graduated from Loughborough University with an Economics degree, he worked for Co-operative retailers in various line management positions across buying, marketing and merchandising, before leaving to join Nielsen as Business Manager.

Before taking on his current role, he was Senior Manager for Retailer Services, with responsibility for strategic planning across the retail and wholesale channels in the UK. Mike is a lead contributor to white papers for Nielsen and regularly shares his viewpoints on the Retail State of the Nation with the media, and is a member of the Nielsen Global Thought Leadership team, supporting retailer, manufacturer and financial services clients with retail, business and shopper insight for the UK and Europe.

With over 25 years’ experience in retailing, his view is that over the next 5 years we will see the biggest ever change in how we shop, which will challenge the traditional industry business models.

Sam Roscoe, Senior Lecturer in Operations Management, University of Sussex

Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management and teaches in the areas of Operations and Supply Chain Management. Sam has published in the Journal of Operations Management on digital manufacturing in the aerospace sector. He has also published on dynamic supply chain capabilities in the International Journal of Operations and Production Management (IJOPM) and local volunteerism in disaster relief situations with the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR). Sam received funding from the EPSRC to investigate how 3D printing is reconfiguring pharmaceutical supply chains; moving production closer to patients and consumers. Sam's research interests are on how emerging technologies (3D printing, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence) are reconfiguring global supply chains. He is the research leader for the Supply Chain 4.0 Hub at the University of Sussex Business School.

Shane Brennan, Chief Executive, Cold Chain Federation

Shane leads the Cold Chain Federation team, having joined the Federation in July 2018. He is an experienced lobbyist and campaigner. He has worked in membership organisations across the food industry and brings a track record of running influencing campaigns that make a positive difference. Shane is a political geek, he can recite sections of early 2000’s political drama the West Wing verbatim (don’t ask him to!) He is also a part time supporter of Bristol City and father to two girls.