Kathy Thomas

Chief Strategy Officer
Half Price Books

Kathy Doyle Thomas, chief strategy officer and chief marketing officer, joined Half Price Books in July 1989. Her responsibilities include developing national marketing efforts for the wholesale and retail divisions of the company, as well as overseeing all real estate purchases, store expansion criteria and site selection. She also heads the company's three website divisions. She is president of Half Price Books Community Services, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports various community programs. She currently serves on the Global Retail Marketing Association board and is a member of the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Integrated Mobile Initiative Task Force. She is also a former board chair of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA). NRF presented Thomas with the Silver Plaque award at Retail’s BIG Show in 2014.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Kathy.

Download The Latest Agenda

Main Conference Day One: Reimagining and Reinventing Retail

Tuesday, November 8th, 2016

15:25 Panel Discussion: Redefining Omni-Channel Retail Experiences: Marrying Digital And In-Store

This panel takes a detailed look at omni-channel – specifically how to become a fully integrated omni-channel organization that delivers upon that “omni-channel promise”. Find the means truly bring together your store and online channels after attending this dynamic session.

• What are the greatest challenges in creating an optimal omni-channel experience? To fully integrate in-store with your other channels?
• What are the key initiatives that you are focusing on with this integration, and why? What successes have you seen?
• How is mobile influencing the in-store experience? Has it enabled changes in your in-store experience?
• What impact does the digital footprint (web and mobile) have on in-store sales?

Main Conference Day Two: Online And Multi-Channel Growth Fundamentals

Tuesday, November 8th, 2016

09:05 Keynote Panel Discussion: Staying Ahead Of Consumer Expectations To Drive Engagement And Keep Your Brand Top Of Mind

As consumer expectations continue to change, how can ensure your brand remains top of mind? Customer retention is a huge challenge in retail today, as the number of marketing messages continues to grow. Our opening panel looks at the ways that retail brands are staying relevant with their customer bases and driving long term retention and engagement.

• Acknowledging that millenials and younger generations are completely different with their shopping behaviors and in the way that they interact with brands
• Ensuring your brand is where your customers are, no matter the touch point
• Comprehending usage and shopping patterns, in addition to what they are looking to get out of their shopping experiences
• Ensuring the store experience is a memorable in terms of being on trend and progressive even if the ROI may not be tangible
• Weighing whether more mass distribution approaches need to be used so that your brand is ever-present