WLUK2026

Shopping is undergoing its biggest transformation since the rise of e-commerce. In this talk, Alex Linebaugh explores how social commerce and TikTok Shop is reshaping consumer behavior, why creators have become the new storefronts, and what this shift means for entrepreneurs, brands, and the future of retail. Attendees will leave with a new perspective on how products will be discovered, marketed, and sold in the decade ahead.

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Retail connectivity is no longer just about WiFi. This session explores how stores are becoming infrastructure-heavy environments, supporting POS, staff devices, guest access, cameras, sensors, IoT and automation. We will look at how retailers can rethink store networks as a secure, repeatable operating model rather than a series of disconnected projects.

Cold brew is one of the fastest-growing coffee categories today — especially among under-25s — but almost nobody can produce it at real industrial volume without hitting heat's control problems or food-safety risk. This talk covers the economy and the science behind a new cold extraction method used by brands from Snapchat to Google, for both brand marketing and private label distribution.

We often rush to solve problems before we truly understand them. Through stories from business, hair health and entrepreneurship, this keynote challenges conventional thinking and explores how changing the questions we ask can transform the solutions we create. Expect to leave with a new perspective—not just on business, but on the way you approach problems altogether.

Learn how strategic outsourcing can reduce staffing costs, improve flexibility and provide specialist expertise without adding payroll or employee administration. Jim Frampton explains how businesses can identify suitable functions, build bespoke remote teams and select the right service model, with potential savings of up to 60% compared with equivalent UK employment costs.

This session explores the most common product compliance mistakes identified across consumer products such as cosmetics, foods, toys and more! Using real-world non-compliance data and trends to highlight where and why products fail on legal compliance. It examines the commercial and regulatory impact of getting compliance wrong, from delays to recalls, and provides practical insight into how brands can identify risks earlier, strengthen their approach, and bring safer, compliant products to market with greater confidence whilst protecting their business.

Ania Klimczuk from Baymard Institute will share why using unvetted AI UX tools is a gamble your e-commerce site can't afford. Learn how to distinguish between a valuable tool and a costly liability when using AI to design changes to your ecommerce website or improve conversion rates.

As international trade becomes increasingly complex, companies are under growing pressure to manage customs and compliance processes more efficiently. This seminar explores how AI-driven technologies can support the digitalisation and automation of trade compliance workflows while improving operational efficiency, data quality and process transparency.