Insights into insights on tap next week

Cindy Davis, Walmart’s EVP global customer insights and analytics, is set to headline the second annual SHOP conference next week presented by MARS Advertising and the Center for Retailing Excellence in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.



The event will be held Thursday, May 10 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development in Fayetteville, Ark., from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Along with Davis, who leads a newly created team designed to help Walmart and Sam’s Club provide insight into customers’ needs across the world and create advanced analytical tools to support the business, also scheduled to speak is John Burbank, president of strategic initiatives with The Nielsen Company.



Comments from Davis and Burbank are especially relevant and very timely considering it was a little less than a year ago that Walmart announced it would resume sharing its point of sale information with Nielsen after a 10 year hiatus. As Nielsen CEO David Calhoun noted during the company’s second quarter conference call on April 25, the integration of Walmart data is going well and on track for a late second quarter delivery.



Burbank is the Nielsen executive responsible for the company’s innovation and new business opportunities across online and e-commerce and for two years prior to his current role he led the company’s global Internet measurement business.



In addition to Davis and Burbank, other speakers scheduled to participate include Fern Grant, SVP strategic planning with MARS Advertising, Phillip Chambers, SVP global insights at PepsiCo and Anne Zybowski, director of retail insights for Kantar Retail.



“Those who attend the event can expect to come away with a richer understanding of the trends and tendencies of shoppers along with indicators of future behaviors and insights into designing the optimal shopper experience,” said Claudia Mobley, director of the Center for Retailing Excellence.



To learn more or register visit http://cre.uark.edu/884.asp or contact Pam Styles at (479) 575-6812.