This was rather a good conversation about the future of retail in the digital era, at the European Economic Congress – a large affair which takes place annually in the Silesian city of Katowice. The other panellists came from the worlds of retail and finance, plus online commerce and consulting – a good mix, well moderated by the editor of a trade magazine.

All event organisers out there, please take heed: a half hour panel with eight people makes absolutely no sense. This one, with six, took an hour and a half, which was perfect. The conversation went in all sorts of directions, and everyone could expand on their ideas, comfortable in the knowledge that they were not stealing time from others.

Nice chatting to everybody, thank you.