Next week’s IRCE 2012 is one of the biggest events in online retailing. As we talked about in our recent newsletter, this year’s event promises to be the biggest ever.

The theme this year is “Connecting with the 21st Century Customer”, and we took this message to heart by including a theater-style area in our booth, where a bunch of our clients will be sharing their experiences with SLI Systems, and how site search allows them to connect with their consumers. These retailers are benefiting from the latest advances in site search and including non-product content on their eCommerce sites, such as videos, blogs posts, tweets and Facebook ‘likes’ in search results. Most are also delivering a complete experience for their consumers not only on traditional websites, but on mobile devices and tablets as well. The presentations will take place throughout 3-days and will include:

• Ian MacDonald – US Mattress/PartySuppliesDelivered.com/Furniture Crate

• Ben Quigley – Healthy Directions

• Laura Santos – Envelopes.com

• Chris Reighley – totes-ISOTONER

• Richard Sexton – Carolina Rustica

• Franck Ardourel – 24-Hour Fitness

• Don Carnes – Revival Animal Health

• Joshua Wood – Ozbo

• John Santora (SLI CSM) – on behalf of Abe’s of Maine

• Jeff Hefland – Monsterproducts.com

Along with our clients, Shaun Ryan our CEO and recognized search expert, will be connecting with retailers by sharing site search best practices for driving visitors to the search box, and getting more people to convert and increase their average order value. Come listen to Shaun on June 6, at 1:30pm in the E-Commerce Technology Theater, located in the Exhibit Hall of the McCormick Place.

Some interesting workshops and discussions are also planned. I recommend catching as many as you can from the following:

Technology Workshop – Tuesday, June 5

  • 8:30-8:45am – Bernadine Wu of our partner FitForCommerce will open the workshop with a discussion of what all e-retailers need to know about tomorrow’s technology
  • 1:15-2:15pm – Ben Quigley, Vice President, Internet Channels of SLI customer Healthy Directions will participate in a panel on “Product + Content + Asset Management: Tools that improve efficiency and the bottom line”

Wednesday, June 6

  • 11:15-11:45am (Retail Chains Track) – Forrester Research analyst Brian Walker will lead a discussion on “Leveraging a commerce platform in the era of the anywhere, anytime, any device consumer”
  • 2:30-3:15pm (Advanced E-Marketing Track) – SLI customer Ashley Harmeling, Director of Marketing, Rue LaLa will lead a talk on “How mobile maximizes marketing”
  • 1:30-2:30pm (E-Commerce Tech Theater) — SLI CEO Shaun Ryan will discuss using site search, navigation and merchandising to create a better user experience and increase revenue

Thursday, June 7

  • 1:45-2:30pm (Social Commerce Track) – “Making your product reviews do more” will be given by Nadim Hossain, Vice President, Marketing, PowerReviews
  • 3:45-4:15pm (Design & Merchandising Track) – “Refining site search to meet your company’s needs” will be presented by Chris Reighley, Director of E-commerce for SLI customer totes-ISOTONER

If you’re planning on attending IRCE next week, don’t be a stranger, please drop buy our booth. We at #501.

Cheers!