On Wednesday 13 November, around 500 members and industry colleagues from all parts of the country will come together in Sydney for our annual flagship event, the Retail Industry Summit and Awards, which will be held in conjunction with our FY24 Annual General Meeting at Doltone House Darling Island.
Our annual Summit and Awards provides a great opportunity to connect, share, learn and importantly, celebrate the successes of people and companies in our industry.
To continue to succeed in business, we need the latest information, trends and ideas to help make business decisions. The Summit sees business experts and industry leaders come together to share their knowledge and expertise to reveal key insights and strategies so together we continue to succeed in liquor retailing and help grow business and profits responsibly and sustainably.
This year’s Summit Program kicks off with an overview of the current federal, state and territory regulatory landscape impacting the retail liquor industry, including Retail Drinks’ recent and upcoming policy and advocacy activities and achievements.
Industry partner Circana will then delve into the current state of the industry, bringing together retail liquor market and category performance trends, and the dynamics driving performance around occasion, consumer, and shopper.
Next, a presentation followed by a panel of retail and loss prevention industry experts discussing the latest trends regarding retail liquor crime, safety and security, and the various challenges liquor retailers face on the frontline, how they are responding, and importantly what else can be done about it.
As an extension to this timely and important theme, delegates will be able to visit our Retail Security and Safety Hub. From finance, insurance, IT, software and hardware solutions, to compliance, training, resources and more, exhibitors will provide hands on, practical and insightful education on how to better understand, and reduce retail security and safety risks.
Lastly, award-winning actor, writer and director Rob Carlton – our official Awards MC – will deliver, through his own lived experiences and real-life stories, a not-to-be-missed keynote presentation, illustrating the importance of organisational culture.
Following the conclusion of the Summit and AGM, guests will return that evening for the Retail Drinks Industry Awards – the peak awards for Australia’s retail liquor industry, where the national winners will be announced across retailer and supplier categories. We take our Awards Program very seriously, as do our members, which is encouraging to see. It’s a significant investment, run with integrity and professionalism. This year, nominations across all categories grew by 20 per cent on last year, to a whopping 532 in total.
Retail Drinks simply couldn’t run the annual Summit and Awards without the ongoing, enhanced support of our members, partners and sponsors, and on behalf of the Board and Management Team, I sincerely thank all involved in helping to make this year’s event another resounding success.
For more information about this year’s Summit and Awards, or to register, visit www.retaildrinksindustrysummit.com.au.
This article was written by Michael Waters, CEO of Retail Drinks Australia, and originally appeared in the October issue of National Liquor News.
