The conference was kick started by Mr. Harish Bijoor’s, Chairman – Steering Committee, In-Store Asia 2009 problem solving session which proved ‘Every Marketing Problem has a Shopper – centric solution’. This was just the beginning, with time In-Store Asia 2009 had speakers from leading brands like Mr. Sandeep Kaul, SBU Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Ltd. Who gave the audience a taste of Shopper Marketing and its role in a success of a brand, giving the case study of Vivel. Mr. Sunil Sethi, Executive Director – Sales & Customer Development & Board Director, Cadbury India Ltd. shared the shopper-marketing journey of Cadbury and said, “For us at Cadbury Shopper is at the heart of everything we do”. Brands like Hindustan Unilever Ltd., emphasized on the importance of traditional retail and the science of shopper marketing to be used there.

Mr. Anand Singh, Director, Knowledge & Insights, Coca – Cola Inc and Indivar Kushari, GM Shopper Insights, The Coca – Cola Company etched the difference between a shopper and a consumer. Making the platter rich were the international faces of Retail Design and Visual Merchandising, Mr. Giorgio Borruso, Founder – Giorgio Borruso Design, Mr. Ken Nisch Chairman – JGA and Mr. Jose Maria Bustos, President/Creative Director, Visual Merchandising Asia Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Jose Maria Bustos compelled the audience to think on the significance of VM, with his simple statement “If the store is built, its too late for Visual Merchandising’. Representing the retail fraternity were speakers from brands like Spencer Retail Ltd. Reliance Retail, Mahindra Retail. This knowledge packed conference came to an end with an extremely absorbing Panel Discussion between Retail Design community and Retailers, on the topic ‘Is Retail Design getting its due’.