ECRM, a provider of end-to-end product sourcing solutions for retailers, announces its lineup of more than 25 presenters for its 2021 Global Market: Fall Experience, including keynotes from Kevin O’ Leary, “Mr. Wonderful” from Shark Tank, and Wendy Liebmann from WSL Strategic Retail, as well as presentations from Bed, Bath & Beyond, CVS Health, The Giant Co., Peapod, Petco, Sam’s Club, Walgreens and Walmart.
The digital experience will bring together retail buyers and product suppliers from around the world across food and beverage, health and beauty and select general merchandise categories to meet virtually Oct. 18 to 22. 
“The speaker lineup at our Global Market: Fall Experience, assembled by our SVP of Retail Wayne Bennett, is unlike any we have done before,” said Greg Farrar, CEO of ECRM. “Buyers and suppliers will learn trends and insights on a huge variety of topics from the most forward-thinking leaders in the industry.”
ECRM kicks off its Global Market: Fall Experience educational lineup with two keynotes: The first is a fireside chat featuring O’Leary that will cover key topics of interest to retailers and brands. O’Leary is the chairman of O’Shares Investments, and in addition to his regular appearances as one of the “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, he is a regular contributor on ABC, CNBC and CTV, and a bestselling author of two books.
For the second keynote, Liebmann, CEO and chief shopper at WSL Strategic Retail, will share WSL’s latest shopper and retail research and insights on the fast growing, quickly evolving big business of “well.” Liebmann is recognized as an innovator of shopper insights who helps clients anticipate and activate change through innovative shopper-led retail strategies.
The full roster of speakers includes:
Retail presenters
- Joe Hartsig, EVP and chief merchandising officer of Bed Bath & Beyond, and president of Harmon Stores Inc.;
- Brian Eason, VP of consumer health and wellness, and Andrea Harrison, DMM – beauty and personal care for CVS Health;
- Rebecca Lupfer, VP of center store merchandising for The Giant Co.;
- John N. Shaw, senior director, lead – sourcing support, international sourcing, imports, trends and contracts for Peapod Digital Labs;
- Nick Konat, chief merchandising officer at Petco;
- Sean Jackson, SVP of consumables and HBA/OTC, and Jennifer Cowell, VP of HBA, OTC, baby, Sam’s Club (Retail Deep Dive);
- Shaun Jones, director of supplier diversity for Walgreens; and
- Musab Bubale, VP of beauty for Walmart.
Thought leadership presenters
- Ken Fenyo, president of research and advisory for Coresight Research;
- Pablo Merheb, industry lead – global marketing solutions, and Dominique Murray, CPG and retail leader – global marketing group, for Facebook;
- Jasmine Glasheen, principal wWriter and CEO for Jasmine Glasheen & Associates;
- Jason English, managing director – equity research at Goldman Sachs;
- Stewart Samuel, IGD;
- Dan Mack, founder and managing partner at Mack Elevation;
- Bryan Gildenberg, SVP of commerce for Omnicom Commerce Group;
- Dave Knox, author of “Predicting the Turn: The High Stakes Game of Business Between Startups & Blue Chips;”
- Julie McPeek and Kate Jones, partners in, Provisor Marketing;
- Slava Leykind, partner, and Teddie Townsend, director, at Sawaya Partners;
- Jason Smith, managing director USA at Shopper Intelligence; and
- Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle.
“I’m looking forward to ECRM’s educational lineup at its Global Market: Fall Experience,” said Gayle Young, category manager of OTC at Giant Eagle. “It will be a great experience to have the opportunity to engage suppliers around product discovery, attend sessions to learn from industry experts on how they reacted to the pandemic and to join in thought leadership around possible future trends and roadmaps as we all move forward in this new retail landscape.”
Buyers begin discovering products and scheduling meetings Aug. 23 through Oct.r 18. During this time, buyers can browse relevant brands and products within their respective categories on RangeMe, and with the click of a button, request a meeting with those brands they find interesting.
All meetings will be held virtually on ECRM Connect. Scheduled meetings and educational sessions will be held Oct. 18-22 on ECRM Connect and will run 24 hours a day to accommodate global participants.
“I’m really looking forward to the retailer presentations,” said Joe Wallington, chief revenue officer of Ark Naturals. “Understanding their goals and objectives will help us to better position our products to better serve their customer base.”
To register or learn more about ECRM’s 2021 Global Market: Fall Experience, click here.
