The Hive Café is our online only, drop in conversation format. Join informal chats on community hot topics and priority lists. Share stories, ask questions and collaborate for sustained change with a group of trusted peers. As always with our Hive Cafés, come armed with a cup of coffee and an open mind.
Check out our upcoming schedule and get involved below!
Your Peer Group Is Your Secret Source – Closed Doors, Open Minds, Chatham House Rule Applies.
Greening the Final Mile
15th January 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- Customer experience: what customers want/ expect. What are the risks of a greener customer promise?
- Offering choice to customers: how do/would your customers react to greener delivery options?
- Sustainable fleet: weighing the environmental benefits of low carbon vehicles
- Transparency & accuracy
Personalised eCommerce
22nd January 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- Zero party data collection: what works!
- Shaping up your data handling to build a single view
- The data customer data value exchange: what’s a given, what’s considered acceptable, and what is considered intrusive?
- Customer login: what are others doing and what has been the experience?
- What are the metrics of successful personalisation?
Social Commerce
29th January 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- Real life examples of standing out in crowded social feeds.
- Turning customer enthusiasm into consistent, high-quality social proof
- Maintaining credibility across multiple platforms, each with its own expectations around tone, transparency and community behaviour.
- Boldly breaking into new channels
Optimising the Middle Mile
5th February 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- Network design: how to be sufficiently optimised for today and agile enough for tomorrow
- Minimising LTL stock movements
- Balancing inventory shifting with the customer promise
- Cutting the cost of returns – what is working?
Automating CX
12th February 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- What does your customer base want – and how are customer expectations changing?
- WISMO and other routine enquiries: ripe for automation?
- Can you automate CX when data is siloed and systems are unlinked?
- A picture of generational divide: expectation by customer segment
Agentic Commerce – Lunch & Learn
19th February 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- What does agentic commerce mean for your approach to search and product data?
- Indicators that agentic commerce is taking off
- What to do to be prepared, and when
- Threats and opportunities of agentic: how to ensure you are not left behind
Returns Logistics
5th March 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- Free vs. chargeable returns
- Omnichannel returns: pros and cons
- How can you improve the speed of processing returns
- Sustainable options to resell, repair, or donate stock
- Returns labels and packaging considerations
Discovery Commerce
19th March 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 pm (GMT)
- How discovery commerce affects assortment planning, content operations, and attribution.
- Working with influencers – what are the tips for success?
- Retail Media: opportunities around shoppable media, and editorial focused journeys.