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Reshaping the Future of Retail Conference

Reshaping the Future of Retail

The conference, organized by the Bensadoun School of Retail Management and sponsored by KPMG, took place in Montreal on September 16, 2022. Participants had the unique opportunity to learn from industry practitioners and academics about the latest innovations and trends reshaping the retail landscape.

Didn't have the chance to join us? Here's what you missed!

Subtitles/closed captions (cc) are available in French. Les sous-titres (cc) sont disponibles en français.

Speakers

Canadian Tire Corporation – Cornell University / Amazon Science – DLT Labs Inc. – Government of Canada – HBS – Kenan-Flagler Business School – KPMG – McKinsey – Meta – Sobeys – Walmart Canada – Wharton School

Sponsored by

KPMG Sponsor

Speakers

Click on the speaker's name for a full bio.

Huseyin Topaloglu

Chair Professor
Cornell University

Scholar
Amazon Science

Ayelet Israeli

Chair Professor
Harvard Business School


Morris Cohen

Panasonic Professor, Manufacturing & Logistics
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Vinayak Deshpande

Chair Professor of Operations
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina

Garrick Tiplady

VP Global Business Group
Meta


Susan O'Brien

Chief Brand & Customer Officer
Canadian Tire Corporation

Luc L’Archevêque

Chief Merchandising Officer
Sobeys

Liam Sobey

VP Merchandising
Sobeys


Tracey Spack

Director of Plastic Regulatory Affairs Division, Environment & Climate Change Canada
Government of Canada

Amir Danak

Associate Partner
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Jean-François Letarte

Partner, Supply Chain Advisory Practice
KPMG

Francis Lalonde

Vice President Transportation
Walmart Canada

Loudon Owen

CEO
DLT Labs Inc.


Huseyin Topaloglu

Huseyin Topaloglu

Chair Professor
Cornell University

Scholar
Amazon Science

Huseyin Topaloglu is the Howard and Eleanor Morgan Professor in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell Tech. He holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton. His recent research focuses on constructing tractable solution methods for large-scale network revenue management problems and building approximation strategies for retail assortment planning.

Presentation title: Joint Assortment Optimization and Customization
Ayelet Israeli

Ayelet Israeli

Chair Professor
Harvard Business School

Ayelet Israeli is the Marvin Bower Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School Marketing Unit. She teaches the Rethinking Retail course in the MBA elective curriculum (EC), the Data Driven Marketing course in the Harvard Business Analytics Program (HBAP), and in various Executive Education programs. She has previously taught the Marketing course in the first year MBA required curriculum (RC), and the E-Commerce: Strategy, Growth, and Analytics course in the EC.

In her research, Ayelet studies omni-channel and e-commerce markets. In particular, she focuses on pricing, channel management, online marketing, and marketing analytics in the context of retail. Her research has been published in leading marketing journals including Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, and Management Science. Her dissertation won the 2014 INFORMS Society for Marketing Science Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award, and she was named a finalist for the 2018 and the 2019 Frank M. Bass Award. Her work has been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, MSN Money, and Harvard Business Review.

Ayelet received her PhD in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She holds an MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she also earned her MSc and BSc in computer science. In addition to her academic experience, Ayelet served as a lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps of the Israeli Defense Forces and worked as an engineer at Israel Aerospace Industries and at Intel Corporation in Israel.

Presentation title: The Value of Descriptive Analytics: Evidence from Online Retailer


Morris Cohen

Morris Cohen

Panasonic Professor, Manufacturing & Logistics
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Morris A. Cohen is the Panasonic Professor of Manufacturing and Logistics in the Operations (emeritus), Information and Decisions Department of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Co-Director of Wharton’s Fishman-Davidson Center for Service and Operations Management.

Morris has been a visiting faculty at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Technion in Israel, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Kobe University in Japan, the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, and the Interdisciplinary University in Israel. He also has served as an editor for Operations Research, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Manufacturing and Operations Management, Naval Research Logistics, Supply Chain Management Review, the Journal of Production and Operations Management, Service Science and as department editor for the Journal of Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, and a Senior Fellow of the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society. Morris is a recipient of awards for best paper IISE Transactions (2020), Wharton School Teaching Commitment and Curricular Innovation (2015), the Tibbets Award from the National Science Foundation (2007) and best paper IIE Transactions (1999).

Morris’s research interests include analysis of the drivers of global supply chain sourcing strategy and product-service system modeling with a focus on performance-based incentives and buyer-supplier coordination to support resilience and agility. He has also developed and implemented advanced optimization tools for supply chain resource planning. His recent application and consulting work include development of planning systems for supply chains in industries such as aerospace & defense, consumer electronics, health care technology, oil and gas, automobile, semiconductor equipment, computers, telecommunications, food, military logistics, process equipment, pharmaceutical, capital equipment leasing, and industrial paper/plastics.

Until recently Morris was founder and chair of the board of MCA Solutions, a software company specializing in after-sales logistics planning systems, which merged with PTC, a leading provider of decision support systems. He also has been a member of the Board of Directors of Vlasic Foods International, Inc., the Engineering Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation and the Advisory Board for the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. He recently founded a startup (AD3 Analytics LLC), whose vision is to help companies build agile and resilient supply chains through data driven decisions. He currently is the CEO of AD3.

Morris holds a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Sciences from the University of Toronto, as well as an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Northwestern University.


Vinayak Deshpande

Vinayak Deshpande

Chair Professor of Operations
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina


Garrick Tiplady

Garrick Tiplady

VP Global Business Group
Meta

Garrick Tiplady is a global business leader with twenty years of experience managing and advising businesses at innovative, mission-driven companies. As Meta’s Vice President, Global Business Group for North America and Canada Country Director, Garrick helps businesses across the United States and Canada unlock new growth opportunities, while ensuring Meta is a positive contributor to Canada’s economic, social and cultural fabric. He leads a team across North America with a long-term vision focused on inspiring innovation to drive transformative growth. Garrick brings a strong sense of purpose in all areas of the business - whether impacting the innovation ecosystem in Canada, working across industries and borders with businesses of all sizes, or building community at a global scale - and is a passionate advocate for the power of technology to create new opportunities.

Garrick’s expertise draws on years of experience at Rogers Communications, as the SVP of Customer Experience, and the Boston Consulting Group, as a Principal within the Technology and Communications Practice. He has founded and run several successful start-ups, including Vemba Corporation, an enterprise platform for premium video distribution, and VSBLTY, a world leader in Proactive Digital Display. Garrick is the Chair of the Board of Koru, a venture fund created by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a Director of Right to Play, an international non-profit organization that empowers vulnerable children to rise above adversity, and he serves on the Board of The Power Plant, Canada's leading public gallery devoted exclusively to contemporary visual art.


Susan O'Brien

Susan O'Brien

Chief Brand & Customer Officer
Canadian Tire Corporation

Susan O’Brien is the Chief Brand & Customer Officer at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC). She oversees all aspects of CTC’s brand, aligning the curation of the entire customer experience across all channels and marketing programs. Susan also leads the long-term strategy around customer insights and is responsible for CTC's sponsorship, community, and ESG initiatives.

Susan is an expert in all things branding, positioning, and customer engagement. She has played a critical role in reinforcing CTC as a purpose-driven, values-based Company through the evolution and rollout of CTC’s Brand Purpose – We Are Here to Make Life in Canada Better – along with its Core Values. Susan has been integral to the reinvention of the Canadian Tire brand through award-winning programs like We All Play for Canada and Tested for Life in Canada. She spearheaded the launch of Triangle Rewards – one of the most strategically important initiatives in the history of CTC – connecting the entire group of companies under one loyalty and credit card program. Her work has contributed to the Company earning the 2013 Marketer of the Year Award from Marketing Magazine, as well as it being named Canada’s Most Admired Brand by Léger in 2019 and 2021 and one of Canada’s Strongest Retail Brands by Brand Finance in 2019.

Since joining the Company in 2008, Susan has held several progressively senior roles. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice-President, Marketing; prior to that, she was Senior Vice-President, Marketing & Corporate Affairs and Vice-President, Marketing for Canadian Tire.

Susan sits on the Boards of the Canadian Marketing Association and Enactus Canada. She holds an MBA in General Management from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) from Dalhousie University. Susan’s marketing acumen has consistently received industry-wide recognition, from her nomination for Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 under 30 awards to being named one of Toronto’s Brand Stars by Ad Week to one of Strategy Magazine’s Marketers of the Year. Most recently, she was named among the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business 50 Best Executives in 2022.

Presentation title: Leadership Driven Pride in Retail


Luc L'Archevêque

Luc L’Archevêque

Chief Merchandising Officer
Sobeys

Luc L'Archevêque, who completed a Bachelor's degree in operations and production management at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, began his career as a Buyer – Fresh meat division at Metro before joining Sobeys Quebec in 1997 as a Buyer for the grocery division. Over the next 8 years, he successively occupied the positions of Marketing Coordinator and Category Manager, grocery division.

In 2006, after spending a year with Mars Canada, he returned to Sobeys Quebec as Senior Director, Merchandising - Multi-Banner. Following his transfer to the IGA grocery merchandising team in December 2016 as Senior Director, he was promoted to Vice-President, Merchandising – Grocery for the IGA and IGA Extra banners in April 2017. Before being promoted as Chief Merchandising Officer in May of 2022, he occupied the role of Senior Vice President, Merchandising Grocery and Community.


Liam Sobey

Liam Sobey

VP Merchandising
Sobeys

Liam Sobey is a 5th generation Sobey family member working in the business and is currently the National VP of Merchandising for Grocery. Liam has extensive retail experience in Canada, the UK and France which supports his passion for all things food, data and strategy. Liam is a member of the Young Global Leaders forum and received his MBA from ƻԺ Business School in Montreal. Tracey Spack

Tracey Spack

Director of Plastic Regulatory Affairs Division, Environment & Climate Change Canada
Government of Canada

Dr. Tracey Spack has worked in the field of environment and health for the last 15 years, most recently as the Director for the Plastics Regulatory Affairs Division where she is responsible for developing and implementing regulations to control and manage plastic waste and pollution, including the Single Use Plastic Prohibition Regulations that were published on July 22, 2022. She holds a doctorate in Medical Anthropology from the University of Alberta and has a Master’s Certificate in Public Management from the Sprott School of Business, Ottawa and in the Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies from the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge.

Presentation title: Creating a Circular Economy through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Plastics Regulatory Agenda


Amir Danak

Amir Danak

Associate Partner
QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Amir Danak is an Associate Partner and Senior Expert in QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) practice, with a focus on transforming businesses across different industries, leveraging advances in big data and advanced analytics. He has over a decade of experience building data science teams and data science products, and supports clients to develop the comprehensive data strategy, tech strategy, talent strategy, and the change management strategy needed to realize the full potential of data and analytics transformation. He holds a PhD degree in Engineering from ƻԺ with a focus on developing adaptive data-driven decision support systems using reinforcement learning.

Presentation title: The Evolution of AI in Retail


Jean-François Letarte

Jean-François Letarte

Partner, Supply Chain Advisory Practice
KPMG

Jean-François Letarte is a Partner in the Supply Chain Advisory practice of KPMG and cumulates over 17 years of experience in Industry and Advisory Services, in the field of supply chain performance improvement, strategic sourcing and procurement. Jean-François acts as National Subject Matter Advisor in Procurement Transformation and is the Lead Partner for KPMG’s Coupa Alliance in Canada.

His areas of specialization include Strategic Sourcing and Procurement Technology Enablement, Logistics and Distribution Network Optimization.

Since joining the management consulting field, he has been advising clients on supply chain related matters. Jean-François’ particular area of interest and expertise lies in advising clients in leveraging and adopting technology to propel procurement and sourcing capabilities.

Jean-François has led engagements in a variety of private industrial sectors, focusing namely on performance improvement, targeted cost reduction, as well as strategic investment decisions, including: Financial Services, Commercial Real Estate Operations, Consumer Product Goods, Retail and Distribution, Pharmaceutical as well as Industrial Manufacturing. He has also led and acted as subject matter expert for many Procurement and Supply Chain engagements serving Provincial government, Crown corporations, Public Utility and Federal government.


Francis Lalonde

Francis Lalonde

Vice President Transportation
Walmart Canada

Francis is responsible for leading Walmart Canada’s fleet and transportation operations.

Prior to joining Walmart in 2018, Francis held a number of leadership roles including Vice President Operations for Eastern Canada with Sysco and Director of Integrated Business Planning for Dyno Nobel, one of the top three explosives manufacturers globally.

With extensive experience in both retail and distribution operations, Francis’ passion for the business, operating a safety-first organization, commitment to investing in people, and focus on continuous improvement is second to none.

Francis holds a master’s degree in international relations, a bachelor’s degree in political science, and is also a six-sigma green belt.


Loudon Owen

Loudon Owen

CEO
DLT Labs Inc.

Loudon Owen is CEO of DLT Labs Inc., which has developed a leading platform for digital transformation, with a complete suite of digital ledger technologies for enterprise.

Loudon has over 30 years of building businesses around the globe as an international businessman, venture capitalist, and lawyer. He previously co‐founded McLean Watson Capital, one of Canada’s premier venture capital firms.

In particular, he has decades of experience in technology ventures, including 3D imaging software, deep mining technology, xml data management, and now digital transformation and distributed ledger technology.

A champion of intellectual property rights he is recognized as one the world’s leading intellectual property strategists (IAM 300). He holds a BA (University of Toronto), a JD (Osgoode Hall Law School), and an MBA (INSEAD).

Schedule

Friday, September 16, 2022

Time Activity
7:30am

Registration/Breakfast

8:15 am

Welcome Remarks

8:30am

Susan O’Brien
Chief Brand & Customer Officer – Canadian Tire Corporation

Leadership Driven Pride in Retail

9:05am

Garrick Tiplady
VP Global Business Group - Meta

Beyond reality: The future of multi-dimensional discovery commerce

9:40am

Morris Cohen
Panasonic Professor, Manufacturing & Logistics – Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Vinayak Deshpande
Chair Professor of Operations, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina

A novel approach to achieving supply chain resilience using optimized machine learning

10:15am

Break

10:30am

Ayelet Israeli
Chair Professor – Harvard Business School

The Value of Descriptive Analytics: Evidence from Online Retailers

11:05am

Luc L’Archevêque
Chief Merchandising Officer - Sobeys

Liam Sobey
VP Merchandising - Sobeys

Feeding the Algorithm: Advanced Analytics in Food Retail

11:40am

Amir Danak
Associate Partner – QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

The Evolution of AI in Retail

12:15

Lunch

1:45pm

Huseyin Topaloglu
Chair Professor – Cornell University
Scholar – Amazon Science

Joint Assortment Optimization and Customization

2:20pm

Tracey Spack
Director of Plastic Regulatory Affairs Division, Environment & Climate Change Canada – Government of Canada

Creating a Circular Economy through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Plastics Regulatory Agenda

2:55pm

Jean-François Letarte
Partner Supply Chain Advisory Practice - KPMG

FrancisLalonde
Vice President Transportation - Walmart Canada

LoudonOwen
CEO - DLT Labs Inc.

Blockchain: Solving supply chain challenges in the retail industry

3:30pm Closing cocktail reception

Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile

1155 Sherbrooke St W
Room: Picasso/Monet-Chagall
Montreal, Quebec H3A 2N3

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