Retail Summit 2025 program

The presentation will focus on three key areas of innovation that are currently taking place intensively in retail – innovations in product assortment, technology, and sustainability. It will describe and explain the causes of current trends that cut across these categories. Can we expect an increased customer demand for organic foods and plant-based alternatives in the future? How are technologies in retail changing the customer experience and assisting retailers in optimally managing their businesses? Why will the drive to decarbonize the economy be one of the key challenges that retail will face in the coming years? The presentation will not only explain these developments but also other trends in the field of retail innovation, placing everything into a broader context and interconnections.

From buzzwords and emerging concepts to the creation of actual trends—every consumer trend has its origins. Before it materializes, it is widely discussed, and time ultimately determines its impact on consumer behavior. Let’s explore together which of these talked-about trends are shaping purchasing behavior in the Czech FMCG market.

What innovations are technologies bringing to retail? Digitalization and technologies like IoT enable more efficient goods distribution, inventory optimization, and reduced operational costs. They enhance personalized offers, analyze customer preferences, and create dynamic pricing models that adapt to current trends and consumer behavior — all with a strong emphasis on data and identity protection. Thanks to these technologies, the customer experience improves, and new opportunities emerge, including fully autonomous stores operating 24/7 without staff.

The presentation will focus on the challenges the beer category faces today and how we are responding with innovations. We will look at three key areas: product, packaging, and retail spaces. How can we revitalize a traditional category that remains crucial for retail while adapting to the changing demands of the market? What steps are we taking to modernize beer on the shelves, and how can retailers help restore beer to its well-deserved position in the sales area? We will introduce specific initiatives that we are serious about, and through which we believe beer will remain attractive and relevant for future generations.

The competition showcase of three nominated projects will be presented by Martin Dolejš, Business Development Director CZ/SK, Mastercard

Festival Forests: Connecting Experiences with Sustainability

Václav Jaroš, CEO and Chairman of the Board, NFCtron

Festival Forests, with the help of the NFCtron app, offer visitors the opportunity to symbolically plant a virtual tree through a financial contribution—either independently within the app or as part of a ticket purchase. Launched in the summer of 2024, the project connects sustainability with the emotions of festival experiences. Over the past year, more than 700,000 visitors at 496 events have used NFCtron’s services. Festivals now offer not only cultural programs but also support for the Priceless Planet Coalition initiative. The project enhances visitor engagement with the festival beyond its location and date. Organizers can turn visitors who contribute to their Festival Forest into loyal fans by rewarding them, for example, with discounted tickets.

Penny & Nesnězeno: Sustainable Retail in Practice

Petr Baudyš, Director of Quality, Penny Market ČR
Jakub Henni, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Nesnězeno

In 2023, we at Nesnězeno partnered with the PENNY chain to offer a solution that makes sense for both customers and the environment. Thanks to this initiative, customers can purchase packages of fresh food via the Nesnězeno mobile app. These products are still within their valid shelf life but are approaching their expiration date. This means high-quality food at a better price while also reducing food waste.

For PENNY, this is not just an ecological project—it is also an excellent way to reach a new group of customers who value sustainability and smart shopping. Thanks to positive customer feedback and outstanding results, PENNY has decided to expand this form of cooperation to all of its more than 430 stores starting July 1, 2025. By the end of 2024, we had saved over 468 tons of food, which translates to more than 270,000 packages, reduced CO₂ emissions by 5.6 megatons, and achieved a 90% sales success rate.

Our collaboration demonstrates that innovation and sustainability can go hand in hand, delivering tangible benefits—to customers, retailers, and our planet. Starting July 2025, this win-win project will be available in all PENNY stores, helping even more people shop smart and sustainably.

Revolution in Urban Logistics

Ondřej Krátký, CEO & Founder, Grid.online

Grid.online is a globally unique urban transport network based on a spot market platform. E-commerce players, retailers, and logistics companies can flexibly purchase additional transport capacity, optimizing delivery speed, fixed costs, and profitability. Couriers from various industries (food, grocery, taxi) use Grid to sell their available capacity, increasing their earnings by up to 40%. The platform introduces innovations, including GP Tom payments. Within three years, Grid aims to handle 2 million shipments annually and engage 4,000 active couriers per month. The Czech urban logistics model is set for European expansion and aims to revolutionize last-mile delivery.

The ever-expanding product portfolio of e-shops presents a challenge for customers trying to find the ideal product. In this lecture, we will focus on why today's e-shop is often unfriendly to customers and how the online shopping experience may change in the coming years. We will present specific examples and outline what the future of e-commerce could look like.

Artificial intelligence brings not only greater accuracy and efficiency to supply chains but also concrete solutions for reducing waste—from better inventory planning to transportation optimization. In this lecture, we will demonstrate how AI can help companies save costs, support sustainability, and simultaneously improve the customer experience. Through real-world examples, we will explore how technology is transforming the approach to modern logistics.

Lukáš Havlásek has been active in the e-commerce industry for over 17 years. During this time, he has worked on dozens of major e-commerce projects, both B2C and B2B. He has helped launch and improve online stores for companies such as Sconto, SuperZoo, OfficeDepot, Okay, Mountfield, Prusa3D, and many others. In recent years, as a board member at Notino, he has been responsible for revenue growth strategy, e-shop development, mobile applications, omnichannel integration, and all aspects of customer experience across the 27 countries where the company operates.

Decathlon is not just a retailer but also a manufacturer of its own brand equipment. Globally, it holds over 900 patents for products it has developed. Smart and innovative products at affordable prices are key to its business model. Get inspired by how Decathlon approaches product development.

Coop Italy managed to improve dramatically the market share of its own private label by relaunching its products in a revolutionary way. The second biggest player in Italian large-scale retail followed an innovative methodology, beating some of the classic cognitive biases that usually affect retailers.

In this dynamic and engaging session, we explore how AI and data science are revolutionizing promotion forecasting in the consumer goods value chain. Best practices are evolving rapidly, enabling businesses to optimize their value chains, improve demand prediction, and drive efficiency.

This will be no ordinary presentation—it’s designed as an interactive conversation! The slides will be in English, with Kinga leading the discussion and posing questions in English, while Jarosław will provide insights and answers in Czech. The unique bilingual format will add an extra layer of engagement, ensuring an insightful and lively discussion.

At UGO, we believe in a life of balance, and in everything we do, we strive to combine the best of nature and ourselves. Ingredients are the foundation of our products, which is why we always use carefully selected fresh ingredients in both our restaurants and retail offerings. UGO fresh juice is made differently from conventional fruit drinks. Following our philosophy of "From Orchard to Bottle," we press fresh fruit, fill the bottles, and preserve them using high pressure instead of traditional heat pasteurization. Our commitment to high-quality ingredients has even led Kofola Group to the fields. In 2024, the family-owned beverage company acquired apple orchards, whose fruit is used not only for retail sales and as ingredients in UGO Salad Bars but also in bottled UGO juices. In the modern beverage industry, the greatest innovation is not just new technologies and production methods—it’s also a return to our roots and honest, high-quality ingredients.

At NIQ, we believe in data and measure what and how Czechs shop. In this post, we will summarize everything you need to know about the Czech retail market and the shopping behavior of Czech consumers. We will focus on three key phenomena covered in this program block: private labels, promotions, and innovations. The discussion will not only cover the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market but will also explore the world of electronics and durable goods (Tech & Durables). The key data on these topics will be presented right here.