For years, retailers have held the advantage owning the shelf, the data, and the moment of purchase. But as discovery fragments across channels, that balance is shifting.
Today, brands are building stronger direct connections with consumers, while retailers work to retain influence in a world where demand is often shaped before shoppers even reach the point of sale.
So where does power really sit, and what does it now take to drive customer behaviour?
This candid fireside chat brings together perspectives to unpack how influence, loyalty, and conversion are evolving.

Your team is stretched thin. Retail algorithms aren't. Here's the operating model that closes the gap. 

Retail algorithms are making thousands of decisions every hour. Repricing. Reshuffling search rankings. Reallocating digital shelf placement. The brands competing against them are doing so with lean teams, fragmented tools, and operating models that were never built for this pace.

This session makes the case that the defining challenge for FMCG commerce in 2026 is not AI adoption. Most brands are already piloting something. It is the gap between knowing and doing, and how fast that gap is being exploited by algorithms that never pause. Drawing on conversations with some of Europe's leading CPG brands, Dan Shering examines why so many AI pilots fail to scale, what the fragmented tech stack is really costing FMCG teams, and what a genuinely different operating model looks like for brands competing across EMEA.

Attendees will leave with a clear framework for evaluating whether their current operating model is built for the speed the market now demands, and a practical understanding of what the shift to AI-driven execution looks like for lean ecommerce teams.

• Understanding evolving shopper needs and identifying untapped category demand
• Using data-led category vision to shape merchandising, assortment and innovation
• Collaborating with retailers to drive incremental sales, not just brand share
• Leveraging pricing and promotions to ensure profitable growth

Join us to explore the latest findings from this year's FMCG Instore and eCommerce report on the trends, innovations and platforms reshaping the industry. Our expert panel unpicks our insights to determine how brands can thrive in the wake of AI-driven search, marketplace domination, and the rise of retail media networks.

• Evaluating the digital touchpoints that are the most reliable predictors of instore performance
• How does digital content performance play in shaping stronger in-store messaging or activation?
• How can brands use real-time digital insights to drive better retail conversations and unlock offline growth?

 

Retail media is essential, but it’s no longer the growth unlock it once was due to increased competition and democratized technology. Meanwhile, as advertising has largely become a defensive play, AI-driven search and agentic recommendations have made organic visibility a renewed offensive advantage and a key to unlocking growth. Join industry veteran and ProductWind Strategic Advisor, Lynsey Sweales in this fast-paced, deep-dive session to learn how to apply advanced SEO and GEO programs in playbooks orchestrated with common media campaigns to improve your media performance and create a new compounding growth loop based on organic visibility and conversions in traditional and agentic search.  

• Exploring how AI is reshaping the path to purchase, transforming discovery, decision-making and loyalty
• Examining how the next generation of AI will redefine consumer expectations, behaviour and brand interaction
• Identifying the opportunities, and risks, for brands as AI becomes the primary interface between shoppers and commerce

 

A European perspective brings important clarity to retail media. ZetaDisplay, one of the largest digital signage companies in Europe, works with more than 1,500 clients across 50+ markets globally. This breadth of experience has made one thing clear: success in in-store retail media is not accidental. From these projects, eight key learnings emerge.

 

• Understanding how evolving marketplace models are reshaping FMCG growth, visibility and brand control
• Winning attention and conversion in crowded digital shelves through smarter assortment, pricing and activation
• Building scalable marketplace strategies that drive incremental sales 

 

As retail media becomes an essential part of FMCG growth strategies, brands are looking beyond reach and impressions to understand what really drives retail outcomes. This panel explores how the industry is putting sales back at the centre of the retail media equation by connecting media investment to verified purchases, shopper behaviour, and basket-level insights, helping brands close the loop from campaign exposure to in-store conversion.

The discussion will bring together perspectives from across media, brand, sales, and shopper technology, unpacking what’s working, where measurement still falls short, and how FMCG brands can build smarter, more accountable retail media strategies.

As competition intensifies across physical and digital retail, standing out at the moment of choice has never been harder. This panel brings together marketing leaders from challenger and established brands to explore how they create desire, secure visibility and influence decision-making without overwhelming shoppers.

The discussion will examine how brands balance investment across physical space, in-store activation, digital touchpoints and retail media, and where retail media genuinely adds value versus where it risks becoming background noise. 

• How shoppers navigate stores and digital grocery environments: Connecting, retail media, social, ecommerce and in-store
• The difference between impulse and habitual categories
• Building relevance in ‘quick decision’ aisles