As well as increasing overall visitor head count by +28% year-on-year, the Retail Technology Show (RTS), the event that connects retail’s changemakers and cutting-edge technology providers, has revealed that the number of senior, decision-making retail attendees also grew in 2024, with over eight in ten visitors in senior level roles.
Retail Technology Show grows senior retailer audience numbers
Already known as the industry’s one-stop shop for innovation, the RTS delivered its biggest ever showcase in 2024, with almost 400 tech exhibitors on the show floor and 120+ industry luminaries and leaders speaking on its stages discussing the industry’s hottest topics. And this prompted both a significant uptick in attendees, but also helped to grow the proportion of senior level retailers attending the event.
As well as drawing an audience of almost 13,000 (12,752) retail professionals to the iconic two-day event, the RTS continued to draw a senior level audience in 2024, according to its latest Post Show Report. 82% of RTS attendees operate within C-Suite, Senior Management or ‘Head Of’ roles within their respective retail organisations, with the number of C-Level visitors growing by +2 percentage points compared to 2023.
This senior level of retail attendees also meant 83% of those retailers attending the RTS either influenced or authorised decisions on retail technology spend within their organisations, +1% higher than 2023, confirming the show as the key event platform that connects cutting-edge tech to the decision-making change-makers in retail.
Fashion and grocery remain top growth sectors among Retail Technology Show visitors
As with 2023, once again visitors to the RTS indexed highly among fashion and grocery retailers, with the highest number of attendees coming from the fashion and apparel sector (27%), up +6 percentage points year-on-year, followed by grocery (22%), which also grew +8 percentage points compared to last year. Other categories of retailer visitors included DIY, Home & Garden (9%), General Merchandise and Health & Beauty (both 5%).
Keeping ahead of the curve
One of the biggest draws for retailers attending the RTS was to stay ahead of industry trends and consumer insights (28%) – and with headline speakers including Charles Tyrwhitt’s Nick Wheeler OBE, Not On The High Street’s Founder, Holly Tucker MBE, and former chairman of ASOS and CEO of MATCHESFASHION, Nick Beighton, leading the conference programme, they weren’t left wanting. With 6 tracks covering key focus areas of retailers’ operations – from Ecommerce to AI and Data, Sustainability, Operations and Payments – a broad church of best practice and insights were discussed by leading brands including B&Q, adidas, Co-op, River Island and Max Mara.
Further motivations for attending RTS also included networking with peers and partners (27%) and seeking technology inspiration on the exhibition floor (26%).
Event Director, Matt Bradley, commented: “RTS 2024 was all about bringing the magic of retail to life and, for us, that meant creating meaningful opportunities to connect industry leaders, senior decision-makers and innovators. Whether it was walking the buzzing exhibition halls, hearing from retail disrupters on the session stages, or networking over drinks or at one of our satellite events or store tours – the industry needs those magic moments that connect the retail community, and we’re thrilled so many chose RTS as the event platform to do just that. With exciting plans already in the pipeline for 2025, we can’t wait to bring what promises to be an even bigger and better RTS for next year.”
RTS 2025 will take place on 02 and 03 April 2025 – to register your interest, sign-up here: https://www.retailtechnologyshow.com/register-interest-2025.
