Record number of speakers and business-sessions: how the main meeting of the country’s retail RAU Expo 2021 was held

On June 16-17, the anniversary – the V largest specialized exhibition of retail and development industries in Ukraine – RAU Expo 2021 took place at NSC Olimpiyskiy. The event’ organizer is the Retail Association of Ukraine.

This year the number of speakers and business-sessions reached a record high in five years of the event’s existence. About 100 experts from Ukraine and abroad took part in the program of presentations. And about 90 leading market’ companies placed its stands on three floors of the exposition zone.

Topics of speeches within the framework of business-sessions were formed on the basis of current industry’ requests for doing business under conditions of restrictions and after lockdowns. In total, the program included record 17 thematic blocks.

In particular, on the first day, the business-program was opened in conference-hall #1 by top-managers of Nielsen, Foxtrot, Auchan, Invogue Fashion Group and Consulting for Retail. Speakers presented the market’ analytics, retail’ trends and tendencies in modern conditions.

At the same time, representatives of EVA, Metro Cash & Carry Ukraine, WOG, RDA and Ruta talked about private label in conference hall # 2. In particular, they talked about the change of the attitude and perception of private label’ goods by buyers in connection with the pandemic, about categories and price segments in which it is more profitable to develop a private label, etc.

And the session “Restaurant reformat. How cafes and restaurants adapt in conditions of constant quarantine” taking place in the conference-hall #3. Speaker’ composition includes Founders of such companies as Restaurant Consulting, Gusovskikh Restaurants, This is Pivbar, Salateira and Pesto Family. Experts assessed the impact of lockdowns on work’ results, advantages and disadvantages of cooperation with delivery services, voiced strategic decisions that had to be made, and more.

After a pause for coffee, the business-program was continued. The session on innovative solutions and technologies in hall #1 included presentations by representatives of MOYO, Webpromo, “Innovative Insurance Capital” and Secnet EECA.

The session “Prospects of investment projects in the retail sphere” was held in hall #2 under the auspices of the Sayenko Kharenko Law Firm. The panel discussion was attended by experts from KOLO, Socar and Watsons Ukraine.

At the same time, the panel discussion under the auspices of the Franchise group, which was dedicated to anti-crisis formats in franchising, took place in hall #3. Heads of the Dmitry Borisov Family of Restaurants, CSD lab and Eco-Lavka shared the criteria for selecting franchisees and how the partnership helped chains stay afloat in turbulent times.

The first day of the business-program was closed by the next wave of business- discussions.

Representatives of Bizerba Ukraine LLC, “Zi Laboratory” TemaBit Fozzy Group, Verna, HPEAruba (ERC), SupplierPlus Group and Konica Minolta Ukraine spoke about artificial intelligence in retail, video analytics systems and others in the second block of the session “Innovative solutions and technologies”.

The topic “New SEC’s – opening must not be opened” brought together in speaker’ composition top-managers of Budhouse Group, CKS, Cleaning Pro Group, SC TEMP and RDA. The program was continued with a panel discussion, which was attended by Heads of SEC River Mall, SEC and BC Retroville, Budhouse Group and SEC Respublika Park. Working methods of attracting an audience to the SEC, the level of rental rates, and more was discussed.

Representatives of Intertop, Kasta, Decathlon Ukraine, Meest and Kacho Group made presentations within the framework of the session “E-commerce. Multichannel”.

The exhibition’ first day ended with a party at the KLITSCHKO EXPO. The event’ partner, the company “Audi Center Vipos”, prepared an auto show for all guests of the VIP party in addition to the possibility of test-drive of various car models for two days RAU Expo 2021.

The second day of the largest retail meeting in Ukraine was no less eventful.

Session #1 in the first conference-hall was dedicated to the international retailers’ experience. Top-managers of FLO, Lacoste, Yves Rocher, as well as Colliers Ukraine were among speakers.

In parallel, session “Effective concepts in retail” was held with the participation of representatives of Epicentre K, Dzyuba retail atelier, Diodika, Allo, Synergy Construction and LC Waikiki in the second hall. Speakers talked about “shop in shop” format, tools for creating emotions in the store, trends in the modern interior of retail outlets, and much more.

And, panel discussion on acquiring’ theme was launched on the 3rd floor, at the initiative of the Retail Association of Ukraine: “Will the state allow Ukrainian business to work at European rates?” The discussion was joined by the Vice President of PJSC Concern Galnaftogaz, Director for cooperation with Government Bodies and Public Relations Metro Cash & Carry Ukraine and СEO Intertop. Alexander Matskov, Deputy Director General of the “Public Health Center” of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and Alexander Melnikov, Managing Director of the SEC Fabrika, was joined the topic “Will vaccination save retail from quarantine?”

After a pause for coffee, speakers from robota.ua, Union Group, Metinvest Digital, Eldorado, Agromat, Jooble and MIRA top recruting are exchanged views on technologies for recruiting’ transforming, changes in the labor market in retail and adaptation to covid and postcoid reality.

Panel discussion on challenges 2021 under the auspices of the YouTube channel “Beyond Retail” was one of most anticipated sessions of the second day. Author and moderator of YouTube channel “Beyond Retail” is the Head of the Board Retail Association of Ukraine Andrey Zhuk. The strategies chosen by companies this year were analyzed by leaders of JYSK Ukraine, Allo and Epicenter K.

At this time, top-managers of Dragon Capital Property Management, Multi Corporation, NOVO Technologies S.A, Arricano Real Estate, TsUM Kiev and SEC Dream Town met in conference-hall # 3 to talk about the SEC as a space for new reincarnations.

After the lunch break, two final sessions of RAU Expo 2021 took place. In particular, the first one was “Marketing. PR. SMM. All about current trends”. Representatives of Novus, Lions, ATB-market, Budhouse Group, TSUM Kiev and SEC Dream Town made presentations. The second session included two panel discussions under the auspices of the CEO Club. The top-management of Johnson & Johnson, Tedis Ukraine, Henkel Ukraine, Novus and Carlsberg Ukraine are among speakers of the discussion “Seti & Postavtschiki”. And the theme “Business as a Facet of Personality” united UVK, Megogo, Gazer and Color Trend on one scene.

Stands: Dragon Capital, SEC Respublika Park, Budhouse Group, SEC PortCity, SEC Equator, Canon, Consulting for Retail, robota.ua, Secnet, RDA, Synergy Construction, Diodoka, Verna, SEC Retroville, Altea Group, Cosmo Multimall, SEC Podolyany, Bizerba, Flylights, Lumiere, Meest, Midsun, Vision Lighting, Quantula, U&Sluno, Nhood, Intshell, Jooble, Nai Ukraine, The Cleaning Pro Group, SQM Experts, CKS, IBS, Svitlotek, Silver Line, Cushman & Wakefield, 4service, Novaja Pochta, idnt, UTG, Kapelou, Supplier Plus, Audi Center Vipos, Linden, iPost, Expomedia, Sushi Master, Idealist and others were presented in the exposition for two days, in addition to the program of performances in three streams. Guests of the event could familiarize themselves with companies’ proposals, discuss options for cooperation and add to the list of useful contacts.

The general partner of RAU Expo 2021 was the company “Innovative Insurance Capital”, the general IT-partner was Consulting for Retail, the official partner was Supplier plus, and the exclusive partner was Robota.ua. Automotive partner – Audi Center Vipos, innovation partner – Secnet, technology partner – Bizerba, lighting partner – Diodika, construction partner – Synergy Construction, technical partner – Expomedia, legal partner – Sayenko Kharenko, logistics partner – Meest. Also Budhouse group, Linden Luxury Residence, JDE Professional, iPost, CKS and others are among partners of the event.

The organizer of the event, Oksana Prykhodko, CEO Ukrainian Retail Association, noted:

“The Retail Association of Ukraine is holding RAU Expo for the fifth time, and in every sense it is the largest retail event in Ukraine – the main meeting point for the entire market. This year, despite the quarantine, the exhibition gathered a record number of participants, speakers and exhibitors in all years of its holding. Representatives from about 500 companies were on one site: from spheres of retail, development, banking and from investment companies. Every year, it is here, at the NSC Olimpiyskiy, we gather once a year to exchange experience and networking, listen to speeches of Owners and top-managers of leading International and Ukrainian companies, make joint decisions on how to develop the trade sector and what changes it needs to develop business. All conditions have been created at RAU Expo for retailers to present their products, projects, developments, find answers to questions and choose business-partners”.