We’ve been talking about the digital transformation of the channel for years, and we’ve been working on it as well. However, the conversation at trade conferences tends to focus solely on technology, platforms, automation, Retail Media, and data.

What is rarely said out loud is that behind every purchasing decision, every margin negotiation, and every piece of data that a retailer shares—or chooses not to share—with a manufacturer, there remains a business relationship that no algorithm has yet resolved.

China is the market where this tension has already played out on an industrial scale. JD.com, Alibaba, and Pinduoduo (TEMU) automated the channel faster than anyone else. And yet, the relationship between manufacturers, platforms, and retailers remains the bottleneck that determines who wins and who loses on the digital shelf.

This presentation builds on that tension to offer the audience a number of insights, including:

1. An overview of what has actually changed in the industry with the advent of AI and data, and what remains the same as it was twenty years ago.

2. The Chinese Market vs. Spain: How Global Brands and Digital Retailers Are Currently Balancing Automation and Customer Relationships, with Specific Examples from Retail Media, 1P Models, and Sell-Out Data Management.

3. An actionable framework: what to automate now, what to protect, and why—for example, the fact that JD.com is entering Europe with its Chinese 1P model is a sign that time is running out.