More than 20 speakers from Hong Kong and abroad have confirmed to speak at the event, being organised by Inside Retail as part of the StartmeupHK Festival next week, overseen by InvestHK.

Carson McKelvey, a speaker and one of the founders of technology company Tofugear, the event’s platinum sponsor, has a strong message for retailers: “Innovation is now”.

“That needs to be the message looking forward into 2018,” he says in the video, which can be viewed below.

“Innovation is not a new technology, it is not a new business model, it is not a brand strategy. It is being active, it is moving, it is changing, it is being agile. That is being innovative.”

Retail speakers at Retail’s Cutting Edge on January 31 include Vincenzo Troia, country manager with Yoox Net-A-Porter group; Ravel Lai, regional IT & digital director with Jardine Restaurant Group (Pizza Hut); Cherry Gu, market director with J.Crew; Lui Tong, COO of Strawberrynet; Sarah Chessis, founder and MD of Isabella Wren; Benoit Lavaud, group digital director with Bluebell Group; and Leza Parker, founder of SC Beauty.

Niamh Given, chief growth officer with startup incubator Nest, who also launched her own online retail startup, will open the day’s agenda with an overview of top retail trends driving innovation in the sector, while McKelvey will dive down into the generational shift influencing change, with special focus on millennials.

The full agenda can be viewed online here.

Besides the mainstage program, Retail’s Cutting Edge will include a startup+retail tech fair, short pitches from six startups with unique ideas for the retail industry, an Inside Retail Marketing Class, Workshop, and a networking cocktail function.

Tickets to the event are still available online for HKD1500.