Q&A: Ryf Quail on the iMedia Online Retail Summit Australia

The coveted Online Retail Summit AU kicks off in May, what makes this event unique and gives it the edge over similar events?

Yes, it’s the first of our iMedia calendar of events for 2023, and we’re excited for it. The retail community love this event, and the iMedia Online Retail Summit Australia is unique as it’s an exclusive invitation-only event designed for senior eCommerce professionals and supporting vendors for enterprise-level retailers. An ‘expression of interest’ must be registered via the website each year, so it’s unique in that way, as it’s not a ticketed event and it’s carefully screened to ensure the right collection of professionals come together for the chance to network and collaborate.

The iMedia environment is one where leaders, in this case it’s the senior retail community, all meet for three days of world-class content and presentations. With that comes unique networking and business opportunities with their retail peers. The sessions includes “Business Connect” 1:1 meetings, thought-leadership presentations by industry experts and keynote presenters, as well as roundtable discussions and popular networking opportunities.

The Online Retail Summit AU brings together industry leaders from across all facets of online retail. Who could best benefit from the event? Is it exclusive to retailers?

iMedia delegates enjoy the experience of meeting, learning, discussing, and sharing with their peers.  At the heart of it, iMedia is about the people you meet and the relationships you make.
Plus, they also enjoy staying at the five-star Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast and enjoying our famous networking events such as golf, the boat cruise, our pool side dinner, just to name a few.

What we hope they’ll take away from the events – New Relationships,  New Knowledge, and New Opportunities.
Last year we had a net promoter score of 77 percent. This means that nearly eight out of every ten people would recommend it to their peers.

The event boast over 25 expert keynotes, who are some speakers you are particularly excited for attendees to hear from?

We really enjoy working with our keynote speakers, it’s an aspect in our content that that is carefully considered, and we take note from our Advisory Board members on what the Retail Community are experiencing or seeking in terms of analysis, insight or motivation.

Our opening Night speaker is Anders Sörman-Nilsson. He’s a world renown futurist and he’ll be looking at the trends and future of ecommerce. His presentations are meticulously researched, highly energetic and always fascinating. Anders has shared stage with Hillary Clinton, Nobel Laureates, and European and Australian heads of state – so he’s going to be right at home opening iMedia Retail Summit AUS.

To kick off Day 2 we are extremely excited to welcome back Nicola Clement. Nicola is the former General Manager Omni Experience for Myer and a highly regarded eCommerce leader with over 20 years’ experience across international markets within retail, travel and services industries. Nicola is currently living in London studying for her Executive MBA at Oxford University and is looking forward to journeying back to Australia for our Summit to share her wealth of stories, experience, and opinions. Nicola will be unincumbered by corporate messaging, so get ready for an uncensored knockout of a presentation.

To open Day 3 we have Paul Zahra, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Retailers Association. Paul is also a Non-Executive Director, Board and Company Advisor and one of Australia’s most influential corporate diversity advocates. A leading force in the Australian Retail Industry for over 40 years, Paul represents small to large retailers through the Australian Retailers Association.

And to Close out the event we have the fantastic Lucy Bloom. Lucy is an award-winning leader and speaker who is not afraid to break rules. She’s a change maker, exceptional communicator, and business fixer with the best mohawk in the business!

What will make this year’s event different to previous events?

• People.  It’s the people that make our events and every year we ensure that we have new delegates so it’s always new.
• Content. The content is always different every year and is curated with the input from our advisory board. iMedia Retail Summit AUS focuses on the big issues and opportunities facing Australian retail today and so that changes every year and reflects the dynamic nature of retail.

The Online Retail Summit Australia is designed for senior ecommerce professionals and supporting vendors for enterprise-level retailers. It takes place from May 3-5th.  Register your interest to attend here https://www.imediasummits.com/onlineretailau23/register