NEW YORK—The 2022 Vision Monday Leadership Summit will examine the dizzying pace of megatrends, shaped by the global pandemic, that are transforming retail and healthcare. At the first live, in-person VM Summit in two years, which will take place in New York City on March 30 at The Times Center, retail and healthcare experts will explore the theme, “Discover & Recalibrate! Trends, Ideas and Tactics for Confronting Radical Change.” They will offer glimpses of the near future, where disruption remains constant, and consumers are one step ahead.

Summit attendees will learn about the new purpose of a store, how brands are being built, how the tech titans are targeting vision and innovators are creating new pathways to patient-centric care.
 
“Our Summit speakers will point the way to actionable insights and strategic tactics that you can share with your optical business and vision care team,” said Marge Axelrad, senior vice president and editorial director at Vision Monday/Jobson Optical Group. “The industry’s can’t-miss event delivers new ideas and tactics to help your practice or business grow and succeed in the face of constant, radical change.”
 
The VM Summit program will examine these megatrends:

  • Retail Is the New Media Channel—Social commerce takes on a greater role. Livestreaming emerges. Lines further blur between click and brick. The store emerges as a new media channel. Consumers connect with brands and services via new technologies inside and outside the store. Omnichannel is essential but must be personalized to specific consumers. Examples of how optical is bridging brick and click.
     
  • Brand-Building, Rewired—New brands are springing forth from all directions capturing lucrative sales and passionate fans among traditional consumers and digital natives. Both emerging and legacy brands are propelled by pop culture, sports, designers, entertainers and indie creators and amplified by social media. Influencers are playing an outsized role in building an audience. And artificial intelligence is often powering these changes.

  • Vision-Tech Convergence—Tech titans (Apple, Meta, Amazon, Google and Microsoft) are now setting their sights on vision. From increased accessibility to advanced technologies, they are making eyewear and eyecare more central to their platforms.

  • New Access Points and Routes to Care—Driven by a pandemic that reshaped consumer attitudes, powerful retail store drug chains and electronic specialists (Best Buy, CVS, Walmart, Walgreens) are amping up their presence in healthcare, both onsite and via in-home monitoring.
For 15 years, the Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit has attracted senior industry executives, optical retailers, leading eyecare professionals, suppliers and key opinion leaders from the worldwide optical industry. It has become the place for face-to-face networking, a dynamic exchange of ideas and thought-provoking discussion. Speaker information and program details,along with registration information, along with registration information, will be posted soon.
 
On-Demand access to Vision Monday's 2021 four virtual VM Summit Sessions are still active for registered 2021 attendees and open to free registration for eyecare professionals through Dec. 31. The virtual VM Leadership Summit is now available on-demand for registered Summit attendees. Also available on the exclusive VM Summit platform are many resources from featured VM Summit speakers. Details and highlights of those are posted here on Vision Monday's site.