SAS® Global Forum Executive Conference 2008
Successfully Navigating "The World as It Will Be"
Making Business Transformation a Sustainable Strategy
Retail Track
Information Transformation: Precision Retailing Through Retail Intelligence
Retailers are under the gun to deliver relevant, timely information that can help a company meet – or exceed – its business goals. This requires that companies have access to critical information, the ability to combine, aggregate and integrate it, and the power to deliver it to the decision makers.
With standardized planning frameworks, processes and enabling systems, you can transform your data into insightful information, make accurate forecasts, predict trends and see patterns that help you make better, more customer-centric decisions.
Join us in San Antonio for this special executive event and learn from experts and your peers. You’ll find out how increasing the precision of retail merchandising decisions will drive your customer satisfaction levels to new heights – increasing market share and profitability.
Discover what the SAS Retail User Group and Executive Conference have to offer – view the Online Event Guide today.
SESSIONS
The following sessions highlight the retail industry but are open to all attendees. Please view the full agenda to learn about the rest of the conference.
Don’t miss hearing Jon Nordeen of Kohl's speak at the 9:45 a.m. executive panel discussion during the morning general session.
| 11:00 a.m. | Keynote: The Mind of the Retail CEO The combination of a nervous consumer, a shaky economy and a historic presidential campaign means that there has never been more at stake for the retail industry. Join Tracy Mullin, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation (NRF), as she looks at how economic concerns will affect the upcoming election and influence priorities on Capitol Hill. Mullin will also provide insights into consumer trends and provide NRF’s economic outlook for 2008. |
| 1:45 p.m. | Why You Should Optimize Join us to learn how revenue optimization can drive significant business improvement by comprehensively managing prices, promotions and markdowns on both short- and long-lifecycle products. Brian Kilcourse will lead a discussion about the ways that revenue optimization technology can generate superior results.
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| 3:15 p.m. | The Power of Knowing Your Customers
This panel of industry executives will discuss how knowing your customers well can inform your merchandising decisions. Learn how customer insights can help you improve the effectiveness of your in-store activities, increase sales, save money and gain a competitive advantage. |
SPEAKERS
Paul Coleman, PhD
Director of Marketing Statistics
Macy’s Inc.
Paul Coleman leads the construction of customer behavior models supporting retail marketing, including home departments. Reporting and analysis from the Macy’s customer database is also an essential complement to the statistical operations done by his team.
Transferred from Fingerhut to Macy’s in 2002, Coleman was previously on the research and teaching staff at the medical schools of Washington University and University of Minnesota.
Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's premier retailers, with fiscal 2007 sales of $26.3 billion. The company operates more than 850 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy's and Bloomingdale's. The company also operates macys.com, bloomingdales.com and Bloomingdale's By Mail.
Jay T. Dittmann, PhD
Vice President, Marketing Strategy
Hallmark Cards Inc.
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| Jay T. Dittmann |
Jay Dittmann is responsible for building the portfolio of strategic outputs that help guide the development of high-impact, high-ROI marketing communications across key internal and external partners. He is also responsible for the maintenance and development of the various systems and technically-oriented capabilities and assets supporting these strategies, such as the consumer database.
Dittmann joined Hallmark in 1980 and has held several positions dealing with strategic marketing information and business process re-engineering. Dittman, who holds an MBA and a doctoral degree in industrial engineering from the University of Missouri, has published articles on leveraging retail information and is past president of the executive board of the Conference Board Council on Marketing Research.
Tammy Hermann
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Shopko Stores
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| Tammy Hermann |
Tammy Hermann’s accomplishments include her role as part of the multi-department team responsible for the development and highly successful launch of Shopko's "My Rewards" loyalty and co-branded credit card programs. Currently, Hermann's focus is on the development and deployment of a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, an e-commerce strategy and a complete overhaul of the company’s merchandise planning, forecasting and replenishment systems. In addition, Hermann continues to lead and support significant ongoing initiatives related to financial system replacements, merchandising and POS upgrades.
Prior to Shopko, Hermann had technology leadership roles in a variety of world-class companies, including TD Ameritrade, Mutual of Omaha and Walt Disney World. She holds a master’s degree in computer science and a bachelor’s degree in management information systems.
Shopko is a $2.2 billion retailer of quality goods and services. Based in Green Bay, WI, Shopko has stores in 13 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 132 Shopko stores providing name-brand merchandise, pharmacy and optical services in mid-sized to larger cities, and three Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept.
Brian Kilcourse
Managing Partner
Retail Systems Research LLC
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| Brian Kilcourse |
Recognized as one of the top retail technology leaders in the United States, Brian Kilcourse is a Managing Partner at Retail Systems Research LLC (RSR Research), a company focused on delivering research, strategies and knowledge for the extended retail industry.
Kilcourse previously worked as President and Chief Executive of Retail Systems Alert Group (RSAG) and as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Longs Drug Stores for 10 years. One of the top retail CIOs in the United States during his tenure, Kilcourse was named one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders by Computerworld magazine and as leader of the No. 1 retail IT shop by InformationWeek in 2001. Kilcourse is a member of several technology company advisory boards, including those of Borland and GoldenGate.
Kilcourse has a bachelor’s degree in management from St. Mary’s College of California.
Tracy Mullin
President and CEO
National Retail Federation
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| Tracy Mullin |
Tracy Mullin was elected President of the National Retail Federation by a unanimous vote of the NRF board of directors in 1993; she had previously served as President of NRF's Government and Public Affairs Division. NRF, an organization created by the merger of the National Retail Merchants Association (NRMA) and the American Retail Federation, is the world's largest retail trade group.
Mullin joined the National Retail Merchants Association in 1976 and was promoted to a series of positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President of the Washington Division. Prior to joining NRMA, Mullin served as Senior Legislative Assistant to the Minority Leader of the US Senate and as Assistant Press Secretary to US Senator Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania.
Mullin serves on the executive advisory board for the Center of Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida and the national advisory board for the department of retailing at the University of South Carolina.
A native of Washington, DC, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Boston University.
Executive Vice President, Administration
Kohl’s
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| Jon K. Nordeen |
Jon Nordeen joined Kohl’s in January 2001. During his time at the company, he has also served as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President, Planning and Allocation. Prior to joining Kohl’s, Nordeen served as Senior Vice President/Chief Information Officer at Eddie Bauer/Spiegel Inc. from 1996 to 2001. Prior to that, he held a variety of management positions over a 14-year career with Target Corporation. Nordeen has 31 years of experience in the retail industry.
Lori Schafer
Executive Advisor
SAS Global Retail Practice
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| Lori Schafer |
In her capacity as Executive Advisor, Schafer focuses on product strategy and strategic retail industry and customer partnerships. Prior to taking on this advisory role, she served as Vice President of the Retail Division of SAS from 2003 to October 2007. Schafer was instrumental in creating, growing and leading SAS’ retail business on a global basis and bringing SAS to the leadership position in the retail intelligence market.
Schafer has 23 years of experience in retail/consumer packaged goods and 18 years of experience managing software development companies focusing on retail application and infrastructure software. Schafer was Chairman and CEO of Marketmax Inc. from 1996 until 2003, when it was acquired by SAS. Marketmax, a software company specializing in retail merchandising solutions, was acquired by SAS to serve as the launch pad for building out its global retail practice.
Prior to her move into the software industry, Schafer held positions of increasing responsibility at Procter & Gamble, including assignments in brand management, sales and management information systems. She then spent a number of years consulting with both mass and grocery retail executives in the areas of marketing, merchandising and fulfillment.
Schafer also serves on the board of directors for several retail and technology companies.San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter