World Retail Congress 2024 Preview: AI, Africa & Olympic-Ready Brand Spaces

Published 11 April 2024

2 min read

Retail leaders will gather in Paris for the World Retail Congress (WRC) 2024 (April 16-18) to discuss and decode key challenges and innovations. Three key themes on our radar are wow-factor stores wooing Paris’ Olympic and Paralympic visitors this summer; responding to rising consumer powerhouses Africa and the UAE; and new retail-ready uses of generative AI.

At A Glance

Topics

  1. Olympic-Ready Store Spaces: An estimated 15 million visitors are expected in Paris for the Olympics and Paralympics (Inside the Games, 2024), prompting a retail revitalisation. Brands including British sportswear giant JD Sports and French beauty behemoth Sephora will decode their flagship makeovers at WRC. Innovations include the latter’s AI-driven sensorial perfume guide, which identifies consumers’ perfect scents.

  2. New Consumer Hotspots – the UAE & Africa: Two key regions – the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Africa – will be explored at WRC, with leaders dissecting their youth booms and rising consumer classes. With overall UAE consumer spending up 14% in 2023 (The National News, 2024), the region’s new spate of luxury retail megaprojects will be a major talking point.

    Another session focuses on how brands should respond to Africa’s emerging youthful consumer class: by 2030, young Africans will account for 42% of global youth (World Economic Forum, 2022), with the middle classes set to increase to over 40% of the continent by 2060 (United Nations, 2023).

    For more, see African Pop Culture Powers Up in Pop Culture Primer: 8 Trends for 2024 and Pop Culture in Africa: Trends & Opportunities for 2024, publishing on May 2.

  3. AI-Enhanced Engagement: Generative artificial intelligence was a key theme at Shoptalk USA 2024 and looks set to continue in Paris. Both technologists (Google Cloud) and brands (British DIY giant Kingfisher, US homewares store Crate & Barrel and German online fashion retailer Zalando) will explore how to drive engagement via services including Zalando’s new AI fashion assistant.

    Our coverage of World Retail Congress 2024 will publish on May 2.