What's Keeping Retail CEOs Awake at Night in 2026? | World Retail Signals

World Retail Signals is a new global retail intelligence show co-produced by  The Retail Podcast and World Retail Congress — a monthly look at the top retail  narratives shaping executive thinking around the world. This prelude episode goes behind the scenes of World Retail Congress 2026,  happening in Berlin, April 2026. Host Alex Rezvan is joined by Ian McGarrigle,  founder and chair of World Retail Congress, to discuss: → Why Berlin was chosen as the 2026 host city (and what Zalando has to do with it) → The theme for WRC 2026: Retail's Roadmap to 2030 → How retail has shown extraordinary resilience across 20 years — financial     crash, e-commerce disruption, Covid, and now AI → What aspiring retail executives will take from the Congress → The short-term vs long-term pressures facing retail CEOs right now → Why geopolitics, inflation, and technology are converging in 2026 ⏱️ CHAPTERS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Introducing World Retail Signals 01:30 Who is Ian McGarrigle? 03:20 The origin story of World Retail Congress 06:10 20 years of retail: resilience as the constant 09:45 Why Berlin for WRC 2026? 13:00 What young retail executives will gain from the Congress 17:30 WRC's Accelerator Programme for rising leaders 20:45 Retail's Roadmap to 2030 — the theme for this year 24:30 What CEOs will leave Berlin thinking about 27:00 Preview of World Retail Signals weekly show 🗓️ World Retail Congress 2026 | Berlin | April 2026 https://www.worldretailcongress.com/ 💬 JOIN THE CONVERSATION Which trend discussed today do you think will impact the industry most? Let us know in the comments below! 🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO STAY AHEAD Don't miss the next update. Click here to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@theretailpodcast?sub_confirmation=1 ABOUT THIS CHANNEL Welcome to the official channel of The Retail Podcast, your hub for global retail intelligence. Whether you are an executive refining your strategy, a vendor connecting with major players, or an innovator tracking the latest tech, this channel connects you to the pulse of the industry. What to expect: Expert Analysis: Breaking down insights from major global conferences like NRF, Shoptalk, Web Summit, MAPIC; Euroshop and EuroCIS. Diverse Perspectives: Hosted by a rotation of industry veterans and regional experts (APAC, US, EU). Actionable Strategy: We move beyond the headlines to discuss real ROI, digital transformation, and the future of commerce—from AI agents to luxury fashion and grocery trends. As part of the RetailNews.AI ecosystem, we help you cut through the noise to find what actually works in modern retail. 🌐 GET MORE INSIGHTS Visit our knowledge hub: https://retailnews.ai/ 📲 CONNECT WITH US LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-retail-podcast/ Contact: [email protected] #RetailTrends #APACRetail #AIinRetail #FiveThingsFriday #TheRetailPodcast  #thefutureofretailguy