Melbourne Retail and eCommerce Technology Summit 2027

Beat the rush and join us early for complimentary barista-made coffee and breakfast.

Retail is absorbing several major shifts at once, agentic AI, tightening consumer law, and rapidly changing shopper expectations, at a pace that makes the last technology cycle look slow by comparison.

This keynote discusses what's changing in retail technology and where leaders should be focusing their attention.

• What's structurally different about this wave of retail technology change versus previous cycles.
• Where the biggest genuine opportunity sits for Australian retailers right now.
• The capability gaps most likely to hold retailers back over the next two years.

AI shopping agents are starting to browse, compare, and even purchase on a customer's behalf, a shift some are calling "agentic commerce" and "zero-click shopping."

This keynote covers how far this has actually progressed, what it means for how retailers need to structure product data and offers, and the very real risk of becoming invisible to a customer who never sees your website.

• What agentic commerce actually looks like today versus the hype around it.
• How retailers need to adapt product data and merchandising for AI agents as a new kind of customer.
• The risk of disintermediation when the AI agent, not the retailer, owns the customer relationship.

Australia's new unfair trading practices laws, alongside expanded drip pricing protections and subscription reforms, represent the most significant change to consumer law in years, and they land with real penalties attached.

This panel unpacks what's actually changing, what "unfair" now covers that it didn't before, and what retailers need to fix before enforcement begins.

• What conduct is newly captured under the unfair trading practices ban that wasn't clearly regulated before.
• Where drip pricing and subscription practices are most exposed under the new rules.
• What a realistic compliance timeline looks like before enforcement activity ramps up.

Most retailers still have online and in-store experiences that don't really talk to each other, from inventory visibility to loyalty recognition to returns.

This case study covers how one retailer closed that gap and built a customer journey that felt genuinely connected across channels, not just badged as omnichannel.

• What was actually disconnected between their online and in-store experience before the fix.
• The technical and operational changes that made the channels feel like one experience.
• The measurable change in customer satisfaction or conversion after the change.

A hands-on, interactive session working through a real retail and eCommerce scenario as a room. Details announced soon.

With new laws specifically targeting subscription traps and requiring easier cancellation, many retailers are discovering their existing subscription flows were built to make leaving deliberately hard.

This case study covers how one organisation rebuilt their subscription management and cancellation experience ahead of the reforms landing, and what happened to retention when they did.

• What their subscription and cancellation flow looked like before the rebuild, and why it wouldn't have survived scrutiny.
• How they redesigned cancellation to be genuinely easy while still protecting retention fairly.
• What actually happened to cancellation and retention rates once the friction was removed.

Most retailers collect far more customer data than they actually use well, leaving genuine experience improvements sitting unactioned in a data warehouse.

This case study covers how one organisation turned customer data into measurable digital experience improvements, not just another dashboard for the executive team.

• What data they had that wasn't being used effectively before the initiative.
• How they turned data insight into an actual, shipped change to the customer experience.
• The measurable experience or conversion outcome that resulted.

The ACCC has been increasingly active on misleading surcharges, drip pricing, and opaque pricing practices, and enforcement activity is only going one direction.

This panel examines where common retail and eCommerce pricing practices are now at genuine risk, and what "compliant pricing" looks like under current scrutiny.

• Which common pricing and surcharge practices are now squarely in the ACCC's sights.
• What transparent pricing actually requires at checkout, beyond disclosure in fine print.
• How retailers are adapting dynamic and promotional pricing to stay defensible.

Small-group, discussion-based sessions where you'll work through real retail and eCommerce challenges with peers in similar roles. Roundtable topics will be announced soon.

Put your knowledge to the test in this fast-paced quiz covering real-world trivia, key concepts, and emerging trends. Compete for bragging rights — and a voucher — as the top scorer takes the crown.

With Australia's Privacy Act reforms tightening what retailers can do with customer data, personalisation strategies built on liberal data use are running into real compliance limits.

This case study covers how one retailer redesigned their personalisation approach to work within the new privacy expectations, without losing what made it effective.

• What their personalisation approach had to change under the updated privacy obligations.
• How they kept personalisation effective while using meaningfully less or more consented data.
• Where customers actually responded well to more transparent data use.

The checkout is where consumer trust is won or lost, and hidden fees, confusing pricing, and last-minute surprises are now both a regulatory risk and a conversion killer.

This closing keynote makes the case for treating checkout transparency as a growth strategy, not just a compliance obligation.

• Why checkout transparency is now a genuine competitive advantage, not just a legal requirement.
• What a fully transparent pricing and checkout experience actually looks like end to end.
• How to redesign checkout for transparency without increasing cart abandonment.

AI is reshaping how customers shop, but it's also eroding shopper trust through AI-generated scams, fake reviews, and impersonation, and retailers are caught in the middle of a trust problem they didn't fully create.

This closing session puts the room's confidence in their own AI-powered shopping trust and security to a live vote.

1. Has your organisation seen AI-generated scams or impersonation targeting your customers or brand?
2. Are your customers more worried about AI making shopping easier or making it less trustworthy?
3. How confident are you that your checkout and payment experience is resistant to AI-driven fraud?
4. Is your organisation ready for AI shopping agents to become a meaningful transaction channel?
5. Where will your next investment go: personalisation, trust and security, checkout experience, or agentic commerce readiness?

Unwind with your peers for a couple of drinks on us!

Beat the rush and join us early for complimentary barista-made coffee and breakfast.

Retail is absorbing several major shifts at once, agentic AI, tightening consumer law, and rapidly changing shopper expectations, at a pace that makes the last technology cycle look slow by comparison.

This keynote discusses what's changing in retail technology and where leaders should be focusing their attention.

• What's structurally different about this wave of retail technology change versus previous cycles.
• Where the biggest genuine opportunity sits for Australian retailers right now.
• The capability gaps most likely to hold retailers back over the next two years.

AI shopping agents are starting to browse, compare, and even purchase on a customer's behalf, a shift some are calling "agentic commerce" and "zero-click shopping."

This keynote covers how far this has actually progressed, what it means for how retailers need to structure product data and offers, and the very real risk of becoming invisible to a customer who never sees your website.

• What agentic commerce actually looks like today versus the hype around it.
• How retailers need to adapt product data and merchandising for AI agents as a new kind of customer.
• The risk of disintermediation when the AI agent, not the retailer, owns the customer relationship.

Australia's new unfair trading practices laws, alongside expanded drip pricing protections and subscription reforms, represent the most significant change to consumer law in years, and they land with real penalties attached.

This panel unpacks what's actually changing, what "unfair" now covers that it didn't before, and what retailers need to fix before enforcement begins.

• What conduct is newly captured under the unfair trading practices ban that wasn't clearly regulated before.
• Where drip pricing and subscription practices are most exposed under the new rules.
• What a realistic compliance timeline looks like before enforcement activity ramps up.

Most retailers still have online and in-store experiences that don't really talk to each other, from inventory visibility to loyalty recognition to returns.

This case study covers how one retailer closed that gap and built a customer journey that felt genuinely connected across channels, not just badged as omnichannel.

• What was actually disconnected between their online and in-store experience before the fix.
• The technical and operational changes that made the channels feel like one experience.
• The measurable change in customer satisfaction or conversion after the change.

A hands-on, interactive session working through a real retail and eCommerce scenario as a room. Details announced soon.

With new laws specifically targeting subscription traps and requiring easier cancellation, many retailers are discovering their existing subscription flows were built to make leaving deliberately hard.

This case study covers how one organisation rebuilt their subscription management and cancellation experience ahead of the reforms landing, and what happened to retention when they did.

• What their subscription and cancellation flow looked like before the rebuild, and why it wouldn't have survived scrutiny.
• How they redesigned cancellation to be genuinely easy while still protecting retention fairly.
• What actually happened to cancellation and retention rates once the friction was removed.

Most retailers collect far more customer data than they actually use well, leaving genuine experience improvements sitting unactioned in a data warehouse.

This case study covers how one organisation turned customer data into measurable digital experience improvements, not just another dashboard for the executive team.

• What data they had that wasn't being used effectively before the initiative.
• How they turned data insight into an actual, shipped change to the customer experience.
• The measurable experience or conversion outcome that resulted.

The ACCC has been increasingly active on misleading surcharges, drip pricing, and opaque pricing practices, and enforcement activity is only going one direction.

This panel examines where common retail and eCommerce pricing practices are now at genuine risk, and what "compliant pricing" looks like under current scrutiny.

• Which common pricing and surcharge practices are now squarely in the ACCC's sights.
• What transparent pricing actually requires at checkout, beyond disclosure in fine print.
• How retailers are adapting dynamic and promotional pricing to stay defensible.

Small-group, discussion-based sessions where you'll work through real retail and eCommerce challenges with peers in similar roles. Roundtable topics will be announced soon.

Put your knowledge to the test in this fast-paced quiz covering real-world trivia, key concepts, and emerging trends. Compete for bragging rights — and a voucher — as the top scorer takes the crown.

With Australia's Privacy Act reforms tightening what retailers can do with customer data, personalisation strategies built on liberal data use are running into real compliance limits.

This case study covers how one retailer redesigned their personalisation approach to work within the new privacy expectations, without losing what made it effective.

• What their personalisation approach had to change under the updated privacy obligations.
• How they kept personalisation effective while using meaningfully less or more consented data.
• Where customers actually responded well to more transparent data use.

The checkout is where consumer trust is won or lost, and hidden fees, confusing pricing, and last-minute surprises are now both a regulatory risk and a conversion killer.

This closing keynote makes the case for treating checkout transparency as a growth strategy, not just a compliance obligation.

• Why checkout transparency is now a genuine competitive advantage, not just a legal requirement.
• What a fully transparent pricing and checkout experience actually looks like end to end.
• How to redesign checkout for transparency without increasing cart abandonment.

AI is reshaping how customers shop, but it's also eroding shopper trust through AI-generated scams, fake reviews, and impersonation, and retailers are caught in the middle of a trust problem they didn't fully create.

This closing session puts the room's confidence in their own AI-powered shopping trust and security to a live vote.

1. Has your organisation seen AI-generated scams or impersonation targeting your customers or brand?
2. Are your customers more worried about AI making shopping easier or making it less trustworthy?
3. How confident are you that your checkout and payment experience is resistant to AI-driven fraud?
4. Is your organisation ready for AI shopping agents to become a meaningful transaction channel?
5. Where will your next investment go: personalisation, trust and security, checkout experience, or agentic commerce readiness?

Unwind with your peers for a couple of drinks on us!