Weee! Execs to Present at New GroceryTech Event
EMERGING GROCERY TECHNOLOGY DRIVING TRANSFORMATION
Thursday, July 13, 1:45 PM - 2:15 PM
Some grocery retailers are innovating faster than others. E-grocer Weee! is focused on increasing customer satisfaction and convenience, both through classic approaches and new ones enabled by technological advancements. This discussion will examine how Weee! is leveraging key technologies — think gamification, automation, video and user-generated content — to differentiate itself in an industry under rapid transformation.
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At a time of parallel consumer interest in multicultural foods and e-commerce, two leaders of ethnic e-grocer Weee! are sharing their insights at the inaugural GroceryTech event presented by Progressive Grocer and RIS News. Founder and CEO Larry Liu and Chief Merchandising Officer John Burry will speak on the topic of emerging grocery technologies that are driving transformation.
At Weee!, Liu and Burry have deployed both traditional and novel approaches powered by advanced technologies to differentiate their business in a competitive marketplace that has seen rapid scale-up and subsequent evolution. Their extensive backgrounds have enabled them to lead this charge at a pivotal time, as they leverage their respective experience and critical skills.
Liu is a visionary who created the only platform of its kind to offer a customized e-grocery experience across multiple cultures and cuisines, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Mexican and Indian. Weee! is a personal and professional venture for Liu, who emigrated to the United States nearly two decades ago as an engineer and came to realize that there was a gap in stores specializing in Asian foods with a joyful, discovery-centric shopping experience.
He launched his business in 2015 and built it to a company that is now valued at more than $4.1 billion and employs over 2,000 people. Liu continues to use his engineering and financial expertise gleaned through positions at firms including Intel, Brocade and Atmel as he navigates the complexities of e-commerce. He earned an engineering degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an MBA from UC Davis Graduate School of Management.
Likewise, Burry brings deep expertise and a passion for the industry as CMO of the Fremont, Calif.-based Weee!. His decades-long retail background includes a 20-year tenure at Tesco, PLC, where he served in high-level marketing, merchandising and general management roles.
Among other accomplishments at the world’s third-largest retailer, Burry is credited with building Tesco’s highly regarded private brand offer in the United Kingdom, spearheading its presence in Central Europe and leading the company’s first all-digital loyalty program. He also developed and ultimately sold Tesco’s retail business in the United States as chief commercial officer and chief customer officer. After leaving Tesco, Burry continued to make his mark in the retail sector, advising several brands, PE funds and early-stage businesses on acquisition, growth and general strategy.
More About the Event
Taking place July 12-14, at The Westin Cincinnati, GroceryTech aims to answer the question, “How can grocers replicate the ‘small neighborhood grocery store on the corner’ concept, while still operating profitably at scale?”
The event will bring together the combined PG and RIS community of business and technology grocery execs who are on the journey to modernize their technology infrastructure to support innovation.
The event’s theme, Scaling with Personalization, focuses on how grocery execs can build a technology infrastructure to profitably serve shoppers now and into the future.
Here's what you can expect at GroceryTech:
- Cracking the code on scaling with personalization: Collaboration stories showcasing how to build a technology infrastructure to profitably and personally serve shoppers.
- Creating a personalization roadmap: Proactively know and serve the shopper in the most personal way possible, while keeping an eye on the competition.
- Powering up forecasting: Forecasting is powering the modern workplace to better meet the needs of employees to increase productivity and retention.
- Category management tactics: New tools that manufacturers and retailers can use to improve omnichannel space planning and drive sales.
- Building data-enabled enterprises: Learn from the innovators what real-time inventory success looks like and how data synchronization throughout the enterprise ensures grocers are positioned to adapt to shifting shopper needs.
- Advancing sustainability initiatives: Operationalizing your sustainability roadmap for a brighter future for all.
- Capturing automation ROI: Spotlights on how companies have tweaked their business models with automation to increase efficiencies, reduce shrink, and improve ROI.
- Tackling AI- and ML-powered solutions: Learn how to build an artificial intelligence/machine learning strategy to serve shoppers now and into the future.
- Strategize talent and recruitment efforts: Examine topics such as labor of the future, recruiting tactics, and engaging associates for better retention.
- Optimizing shopper loyalty: Discover what it takes to put the customer at the center of the business and deliver an outstanding experience across the customer buying journey.
- And much more!
