Submission Criteria

At RTS, we have a proud history of providing a ground-breaking, independent and completely free to attend conference programme that has attracted top-tier retail professionals to join the stage. With this in mind we have a strict policy for speaker submissions:

  • Senior Retail Representation: Your submission must include a senior retailer (C-suite, board level or Director) as a speaker who has confirmed they are happy to speak at the event on 22nd or 23rd April 2026 in London on the topic you are proposing.
  • Confirmed Speaker Details: Clearly specify the name, job title and company of the individual who will join you on stage. Priority will be given to retailers with the most senior job titles from the most well-known, fast growing or innovative retail companies.
  • Complete Submission: Ensure all fields in the form are fully completed.

Any entry that does not meet the above criteria will not be considered.

Deadline:  Friday 9th January at 5pm (GMT/UTC)

Notification: You will be notified by the end of January if your submission is successful. Given the large volume of applications we receive, we kindly request you do not contact us to check on the status of your application.

Please note: If you DO NOT have a senior retailer speaker confirmed, please do not complete this form now. 

To increase your chances of your application being accepted, we strongly recommend your submission is similar to one of the themes outlined below although other suggestions may be considered. 

Retail Media, AI & Data
•    Understanding the impact of the retail media opportunity on bricks and mortar ROI
•    Assessing how to bring all retail functions together to realise the true value of retail media and pivot effectively 
•    Evaluating how to measure the success of your retail media initiatives 
•    Understanding what the move to agentic AI really means for retail and how it can be embraced
•    Assessing which AI use cases have made the biggest difference to the retail industry to date and which ones show the most promise  
•    How has the shift to customer search through AI impacted the retail landscape and where is this headed?
•    Evaluating how to educate your workforce on the importance of data, it’s quality and cleanliness 
•    Building a data-driven retail organisation that will truly drive market share in the AI age 

Loyalty, Customer Experience & Personalisation
•    Evaluating which new innovations retailers can use in 2026 to truly maximise customer loyalty  
•    Assessing how personalisation can be taken to the next level in the store environment to drive sales in a non-intrusive manner
•    Understanding what AI means for retail customer experience and how retailers can use it to quickly drive market share
•    Predicting how customer experience will evolve by 2030 and what steps retailers need to take to embrace the opportunity
•    What do customers actually want from a loyalty scheme in a challenging economy?  
•    Evaluating how use personalisation as tool to shape your brand experience effectively   

Leadership, Cybersecurity & Economy
•    Evaluating how to move your cybersecurity strategy to ‘not if but when’ in the face if more sophisticated threats
•    Assessing how to make cybersecurity a priority to your board and normalise it throughout the retail organisation 
•    Understanding how retailers can think outside the box to find new ways to cut costs 
•    What does great retail leadership look like  in times of uncertainty and what new skills are required to deliver it?  
•    Evaluating what retail leaders can do to drive more resilience throughout their organisations in 2026
•    Predicting how the macro-economic landscape will evolve by 2030 and what retailers need to be doing today to maintain market share 

Sustainability, Supply Chain & Innovation
•    Assessing how retailers can turn product traceability into a real customer facing value add 
•    How can retailers communicate their sustainability credentials to their customers in a truly engaging manner 
•    Evaluating how the robotics opportunity can help you maximise retail efficiency and market share in 2026 
•    Assessing which opportunities and challenges AI is bringing to retail supply chain and how to respond to them
•    Understanding which key innovation lessons European retailers can learn from US and Asian retailers 
•    Evaluating how retailers can ensure innovation remains at the heart of their company culture