Seamless retail - 12 Mar 2018

The annual Seamless Africa conference kicked off in Cape Town last week, serving up a healthy dose of professional advice and inspiration from leaders in retail, payments and fintech.

Forming part of the retail track, Ralph Lauren's Samantha Starmer presented on the topic of 'Store 4.0', sharing her thoughts on how the future of retail is the smart integration of physical and digital. Meanwhile, retail consultant Frans van der Colff explained why cultural nuance and the concept of community should inspire store design in Africa, and Action Gear's Warrick Kernes shared his winning recipe for customer service.

The second edition of Mastercard's Index of Women Entrepreneurs was once again released on International Women's Day on 8 March. It showed that while South Africa has made progress in reducing the gender bias for women engaging in early stage entrepreneurial activities, SA women remain underrepresented among the ranks of entrepreneurs.

We also have the winners of the MamaMagic New Product Awards, which shines a spotlight on new, outstanding products released into the parenting market in the last year.

have an inspiring week!

Lauren Hartzenberg
Retail editor: Bizcommunity.com