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Elevating Retail with Innovation and Experience at the Retail Technology Show 2025 · The Retail Podcast

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  I suppose the most important thing is that people feel there
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  was something there for them and that it was relevant.
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  You know, there's nothing worse than saying, well, there's
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  nothing new there. We spoke about that last year.
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  I came with I'll be able to know what, No one could resolve it.
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  So I suppose that that would be my key, if people could leave
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  feeling that they had learnt something, benefited from it
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  and, like I say, and had fun. Hello and welcome to the Retail
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  Podcast. Hopefully you'll be watching
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  this on the weekend before the Retail Technology Show and we're
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  joined by Matt Bradley, founder and director of the Retail
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  Technology Show. So this has been your baby for
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  how many years? I.
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  Launched a retail show in this space in 2011 that was under the
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  guise of the name RBTE, which is the Retail Business Technology
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  Expo got how he ran that initially in Ells court.
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  So that customer how long ago this was before Ells court was
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  was sadly knocked down and replaced with houses.
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  So we launched this out. I then sold that business to
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  another exhibition company where we rebranded the show and called
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  it the retail Expo. And we added some design
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  elements and some digital signage elements into that
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  before COVID happened. And I know we had to make some
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  sort of pre pretty difficult decisions around what events as
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  that most multi large business would run.
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  And sadly retail wasn't one of ones on their agenda.
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  So they they they just put a red line through US really, and we
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  had to make a decision of what we're going to do next.
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  And you know, I then to the phone call from Peter Jones, who
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  was not the dragon, someone completely different, but he ran
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  a company called 19 and said, look, we think this is a really
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  good idea and we'd love you to come and try and bring this back
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  and launch this with us. So we obviously had to come up
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  with a new name as as as RX still owned the IP on that
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  retail Expo. Yeah.
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  And the retail technology show was born.
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  I think 2022 was the first one could be 23.
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  So yes. And it was, and, you know, and
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  it's just come from shrink to shrink really.
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  It was a, it was the big reunion.
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  And you know, to be perfectly honest, it would have been
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  really difficult to not be successful in that first year
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  because we'd all been locked out for God knows how long.
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  Obviously retail was going through fundamental changes at
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  that time as well. And people just want to be back
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  in front of each other. So yeah, we've always had a good
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  feeling about year one, but the the challenge always comes in
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  in, in being better than you were the previous year.
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  So we are now I think into our fourth year and that that graph
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  is still going upwards. So I'm still very pleased.
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  Well, I mean, most incredible element is the location of this
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  show. You've gone for Excel, right?
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  Yeah. So we've, yeah.
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  And that's, that's obviously been a very difficult decision.
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  We've been, as I say, initially we were in else court.
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  We moved to Olympia in 20, 14 I think, and we've been an Olympia
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  ever since. So so leaving Olympia was never
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  gonna be a an easy decision. It's something that I've
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  wrestled with for quite a few years now as the show has grown
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  and grown and grown. And it really has just got to
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  the point where we just, we, we can't fit in there anymore.
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  Yeah. And we needed some, you know, we
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  needed Excel to do a lot of work in order for us to feel
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  comfortable about putting a show in there.
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  And they need to improve a lot of the transport links that led
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  people to there. And now since the Elizabeth
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  line's gone in and it's sort of 10 minutes from Tottenham Court
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  Road, I felt a lot more confident that that it was the
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  right place. They just sort of the the the
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  the planets aligned and there we are.
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  How does? How does that look from from
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  numbers? Because is it like in in my
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  mind, like when I visualise it, it's almost doubled, right or
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  not is Yeah, it turns to the Excel space that you have
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  compared to what you have because I I think I was just
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  saying you off camera. I went to that first show and
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  what really blew my mind was I was sat in one of the talks
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  Gang, this is a free show, right?
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  And and I'm getting some fantastic content that's not,
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  you know, just exhibitor LED content.
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  It was like, I think it was Sainsbury's and somebody else
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  chatting at that time and the room was packed, but it was
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  free. I'm just curious, like what what
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  how are the numbers? What are the numbers?
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  So I mean it's quite daunting actually.
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  I made, I made a big mistake of doing a venue visit a few weeks
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  ago and looked at the entire country.
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  We've actually, since the show, since we finished the show last,
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  we've actually taken additional space throughout the year at
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  Excel. We've had to keep negotiating
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  and say, look, we need some more, we need some more.
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  So. And I haven't really seen what
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  that venue looks like empty until a couple of weeks ago
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  because there's always sort of shows and happenings and going
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  on in Excel. And they said, no, we've got a
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  break. Actually, you can come down and
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  see exactly the space you've got.
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  And yeah, it's, it's, and the difference between Olympia and
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  Exile is Olympia we had two different halls, so you could
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  never really see from one end all the way down to the other.
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  Yeah. Like if you go to to NRF at the
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  Jabbis and you go to upstairs, you can stand at one end and
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  almost look entirely down. And you can do that now at
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  Exile. And it was, it's a long way
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  down. It's and, and yeah, and you're
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  right, it is, it is a different model to, to what what you'll
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  find in, in Europe where we, we actually don't allow vendors on
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  stage unless they're accompanied by a retailer.
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  And normally it'd be the vendor interviewing the retailer rather
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  than a vendor because, you know, you don't want to put any sort
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  of false presenters around it. You know, we are encouraging
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  retailers to attend this show because they're going to learn
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  from peers and learn from, you know, people within their sector
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  and in their industry. And you don't want to hoodwink
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  them into the show and then be sort of into a into a theatre.
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  And then this PowerPoint starts and a sales pitch begins because
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  you, you lose your audience very quickly.
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  And, you know, I have found that this sector has been very loyal
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  to me in the I've come back in various guises and we've
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  launched shows again after after pandemic and, and you want to
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  return that loyalty by ensuring that, you know, the the promises
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  that we've made, we stick to. So, yeah, it's a slightly
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  different business model in the that we you know, we have AII
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  think personally and of course I'm biassed.
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  I think he's up there with any paid for conference programme.
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  I think we can put ourselves next to any paid for conference
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  programme out there and and sit quite comfortably at that table.
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  Yeah, I can't say that I've been every year, but for the the
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  first year that I went and the content was really for for a
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  free and I have to keep stressing a free event.
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  Good news is from talking to retailers who have been on the
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  show that the industry wants a good show to go to.
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  And one of the interesting things for me is your rebound
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  about making this an event. So there's two things that will
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  in in terms of going forward. I'm curious about your
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  philosophy about more entertainment.
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  So I can see like the carnival theme has come in this year for
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  the first time, which is welcomed a grab jury, British
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  Day and a lot worse thing I could think of going into a
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  miserable grey conference. But you've really gone for this
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  vibrant, colourful, I think. Tell tell me what the thinking
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  behind that was. Well, and you know, it's great
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  that that's been picked up and noticed because that definitely
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  is the intention. I think I totally agree with
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  you. And I've spent, you know, yes,
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  you know, about 15 years running retail shows, but I've also
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  spent around 25 years in the exhibition industry and it, it
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  can be draining. I've done several shows that
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  I've attended in all sorts of areas of the world that can be
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  absolutely mind numbingly boring.
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  And you know, the thought of rows and rows of cheap yellow
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  red carpet or blue carpet and multiple, multiple amounts of,
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  of shell schemes and just sore feet at the end of the day in
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  this soulless whole of a venue, you know, nothing come.
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  I can't think of anything worse. And we, you know, I'm really
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  lucky that we work in an industry that engages with fun,
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  that engages with excitement, engages with experiences.
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  So it was always my ambition to make sure that this show became
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  more the destination and that it isn't a, you know, you're not
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  dragging your team there. People want to go there and
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  that, that that's what you want. It's it's, it's a really, really
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  vibrant, fun sector. And I think as a show, and if we
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  sit as part of that community, we need to represent that.
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  So the ideas of always, you know, we try to come up
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  something different every year. I think that, you know, year one
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  was very easy. It was the big reunion.
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  Year 2 we went sort of this golden ticket, Willy Wonka style
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  theme. It was all around magic and the
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  magic of the retail tech show. And there was magicians and
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  there was cards and there was all sorts going around.
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  And obviously this year new venue, you know, and I'm not,
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  I'm not daft. I hear people saying, oh, Excel
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  is a bit soulless and you know what, most exhibition venues are
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  just these, these sort of massive buildings.
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  So, you know, I, I want people to leave saying I got value and
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  that was a fun day and that that's that for me is, is, is,
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  is job done. So we have.
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  We can't obviously talk about the show without talking about
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  what did you do to get these people to come to the show.
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  I mean, that's a pretty hot A list.
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  And this. Handball and we just announced
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  and we've just announced Joe Wicks as well, who obviously the
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  body coach, social media entrepreneur, so he's going to
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  be there as well. So what?
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  What's he doing? Sorry, because obviously you've
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  got these are speakers. I saw the joke.
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  What's Joe going to be like? I don't.
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  Think he's going to do any exercise He's not getting there.
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  People have to do we need to bring their trainers or anything
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  like that. Well, we just remind you.
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  COVID, but I mean, obviously I'm, I'm not in the UK, sorry.
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  I, I don't want to be disrespectful to if he's moved
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  on, but that was for me. Like where I learn about the
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  guy? There is, I mean, yeah, I mean,
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  a lot of people get PTSD when they when they think about what
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  I think all he's done is he he sort of found his niche in a
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  very difficult time and obviously when got huge amounts
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  of success from him. So he, I think he's got a lot to
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  say around social media, building out content and the
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  importance around that. So that's I think he's doing a
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  keynote. For you, yeah.
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  Yeah. So I mean, that's that's the
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  thing. We've we've got so many, there
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  are many good speakers. It's really hard to say what's
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  the key. Look, I'll scroll through them.
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  Yeah, they, I know. I think that on on this.
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  No, they've only put sorry, it's not the agenda.
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  I know. I was looking at the agenda.
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  Well, I'd say. I can pick up my favourites that
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  I'm looking forward to. Yeah, I think.
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  I mean, Archie, I'm a massive M&S fan, I'm a huge M&S fan.
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  I think the resurgence in the world, in the industry has been
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  really, really exciting to watch.
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  So I'm really keen to hear what Archie's thoughts about that
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  are. I think you know, Archie Norman,
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  chairman of M and SI think will have a lot to say around that.
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  The gym shark story is quite incredible.
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  Steve Hewitt there, who was former CEO from the beginning.
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  So, so he really saw it at the at the start of that and saw it
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  rise from something like 4 million to 4 billion or
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  something like that in six years.
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  So just the insight he's going to be able to share with us is
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  really, really good and there. Are.
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  Stuart Trevor, who was the founder of All Saints, you know,
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  he's really on this big ability thing.
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  He's got some, he's got some incredible stories and someone
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  really, really worth listening to Google, Sophie Neary is going
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  to be there. You know, we've spoken off
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  camera about there's two sides of, of, of the retail industry
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  right now, which is, yeah, challenges.
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  And there are a lot of challenges out there.
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  The economy me is really, really difficult with the rise in
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  National Insurance and things like that.
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  So a lot of retailers that sort of feeling the pinch there and
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  not showing what the next steps are.
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  Richard Lim, CEO of Retail Economics, he's going to be
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  there on stage. He's going to be able to talk
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  through what the economy means and the impacts going to have to
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  retail. So there's some really important
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  Nuggets from him. Obviously, then we talk about
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  some of the really incredible opportunities that are out there
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  as well. And we know that AI is obviously
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  everywhere. So lots and lots of people are
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  going to be talking about that with real time.
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  This is what we've installed and this, this is a difference we've
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  seen. So it's not going to be, though
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  they'll obviously be some blue sky because that's what we love
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  about Rita, isn't it? We always think about what could
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  be. There's also going to be a lot
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  of practical. This is what we're doing, and
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  this is a difference we've seen. You mentioned like your
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  favourites in in terms of the speakers.
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  I know this is your it's like, you know, multiple children, you
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  can't choose which one is your favourite child.
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  But what for you out of the you know, the things that really
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  over the sort of a couple of days of the of the show, what
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  are the standout moments for you that you know, I don't know
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  something that along over the last 12 months you came across
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  the E4 This this is. Well, do you know what?
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  And I think there's something very special about the obviously
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  one, but there's something very special about the big party at
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  the end of day one because there is this real feel, this feeling
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  of of united, of being part of this community.
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  And yeah, there is. There is interrupt you, is
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  everyone invited to that or is that for retailers during the?
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  Everyone is invited to that. And that's.
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  What at? The in the venue itself.
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  Yeah. So as part of our retail
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  carnival Wonderland, from 4:30 till 6:00 on the first day is
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  complete, there'll be entertainment, there'll be
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  prizes, there'll be free drinks. And it's just a really great
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  couple of hours where everyone just lets their hair down and
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  you just see these conversations going on between competitive
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  retailers, which I find really, really fascinating.
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  So it's it's a yeah, that that's obviously a very special moment.
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  And just seeing the engagement from people, you know, that's
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  why we do this. That's why we're putting this
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  together as trying to get people to engage with each other.
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  And so when you can see that happening, you know that you're
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  doing something right. I got you.
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  That's fantastic. If you put yourself in the mind
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  of a retailer who's obviously got the sore feet, has been
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  walking around the show they're on on the train, going back to
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  wherever they. What do you want them to take
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  away from the show? What's the one thing you would?
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  Yeah. What?
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  What's that one thing you'd like them?
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  To take about, I mean. And it's, I suppose just just
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  learnings because obviously a lot of these researchers are on
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  very different journeys and different stages of those
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  journeys. So whereas some might be, you
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  know, and they all come with their own issues as well.
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  So some might have issues around payments, some might have their
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  issues around supply chain, some might have their issues around,
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  you know, can they use AI or economy or some of the stuff
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  we've spoken about, I suppose. But the most important thing is
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  that people feel there was something there for them and
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  that it was relevant. You know, there's nothing worse
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  than saying, well, there's nothing new there.
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  We spoke about that last year. I came with a problem not could
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  resolve it. So I suppose that that would be
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  my key. If people could leave feeling
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  that they had learnt something, benefited from it, you know,
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  made a new connection that might help build their business going
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  forward. All those little things would be
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  and like I say, and had fun. Oh, fantastic.
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  Well, listen, I want to be super respectful to your time, Matt.
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  Thank you. I know this was this was all
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  incredibly last minute. The show's in two weeks time,
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  but we're hoping to get it out next week.
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  So with that, Matt, thank you so much for being on the show.
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  It's a pleasure, Alex. Thank you very much.