Leslie Hand

My favorite comment from a retail technology exec to my retirement news: “No no no! That's not the right timing Leslie. All your predictions and commentary are finally being realized! You want to live this in the middle of it!” But alas, I am ready for a break after 50 years of continuous work. I am calling my next adventure “slow travel” – no appointments, no deadlines, full of outdoor adventures and time spent with friends and family. “From Omnichannel to forward-reaching, autonomous and resilient” was the title of my last blog and perhaps my legacy. My predictions were always centered on simplifying business process and consumer engagement, as painful as the path to reducing complexity might be. Leveraging technology to provide visibility to products everywhere, making data driven decisions, connecting employees to actionable data and lighting up the IoT enabled digital shelf / the digital (physical) store were central themes. This has been a great run – 17 years of leadership at IDC and 28 years in tech and tech strategy roles at enterprise retailers. Heartfelt thanks to all who collaborated and supported me through the years.

Leading retail technology thought leader, influencer and strategist who analyzes trends and drives strategic change. Valued advisor of retail and technology companies, who knows and loves retail business and has a proven track record of driving business growth and profitability. A leader who relies on exceptional vision, intellect, intuition, empathy and drive to exceed business objectives. At IDC Retail Insights, I have driven double digit growth many years in a row by identifying and driving programs and strategies to grow business. I made the IDC Retail Insights organization a research and advisory firm to work with, and received personal recognition as the individual that coined the term omnichannel, which is now widely used to describe the seamless customer centric approach to converged physical-digital business. IDC recognized my remarkable contribution by awarding me the esteemed James Peacock Memorial Award for Research in 2013. I have been named a top 10 retail influencer 4 years in a row, and enjoy the opportunity to work with people at 100s of companies that are much smarter than me. But I also enjoy identifying exceptional talent and facilitating collaboration. It is through my teams research, rigorous analysis and strategic development that IDC Retail Insights has become the recognized leader of worldwide retail technology research and advisory firms.

As Research Director at IDC Retail Insights, I leveraged prior experience and new quantitative and qualitative data to research, inform and guide retailers and technology vendors on a number of Supply Chain, commerce and Merchandising topics including RFID, Global Sourcing, Retail PLM, Merchandise Planning (Financial, Assortment, Space), Master Data Management, Global Data Synchronization, Customer Intelligence, omnichannel commerce, Logistics and Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility.

Director of Global RFID Strategy for Ahold, the fourth largest global grocery retailer operating in the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic States, Central Europe and the United States. * Creating strategic vision for RFID enabled enterprise * Defining short term and long term strategy for RFID implementation * Program manager, RFID projects * Partnering with global RFID technology leaders to develop solutions