A multistakeholder platform for retail leaders to shape inclusive, resilient, and future-ready ecosystems through collaboration, innovation, and policy engagement.

Launched at the sidelines of the 2025 RLC Annual Forum, the International Retail Council (IRC) marks a new chapter in global retail collaboration. Rooted in years of dialogue and deep engagement with leaders across the industry, the IRC answers a persistent call for a structured, multistakeholder platform—one designed to convert vision into action.

As retail faces systemic shifts, the IRC extends the Forum’s momentum into sustained, cross-sector engagement. It is built to move the industry from conversation to coordinated action, through strategic dialogue, leadership development, and long-term collaboration.

Designed for
systemic impact

Retail is at an inflection point. Annual summits are no longer enough. The International Retail Council provides the infrastructure for year-round leadership, where senior decision-makers align on challenges, define shared priorities, and implement strategies for long-term resilience and growth.

Guided by a Steering Committee representing global retail stakeholders, the Council operates through expert working groups, research partnerships, and public-private collaboration, ensuring that its work remains inclusive, agile, and grounded in industry needs.

Institutionalizing
purpose-driven
collaboration

In a world of accelerating complexity, it is clear that no single organization can lead the sector’s transformation alone. The IRC was created to align leadership around a shared agenda—favoring purpose over competition, and long-term progress over short-term reaction.

The Council invites senior leaders from business, policy, and academia to help shape this collective vision by contributing expertise, influencing priorities, and advancing systemic solutions that benefit the industry in its entirety.

Strategic Priorities

The International Retail Council focuses on four strategic domains that reflect critical intersections of disruption and opportunity. These areas will evolve annually, based on the Council’s research agenda, working group outcomes, and feedback from across the sector, ensuring relevance and responsiveness to global retail dynamics.

These areas will evolve annually, based on the Council’s research agenda, working group outcomes, and feedback from across the sector, ensuring relevance and responsiveness to global retail dynamics.

4 Drivers for Industry-wide Change

Built for strategic alignment and collective impact, the International Retail Council operates through four core principles that shape its year-round work, ensuring relevance, accountability, and measurable influence across the global retail sector. These drivers reflect the IRC’s commitment to convening diverse stakeholders, generating forward-looking intelligence, translating shared priorities into tangible outcomes, and advancing best practices and standards that support long-term industry transformation.

Fostering high-impact partnerships and cross-border cooperation to solve shared challenges.

Delivering exclusive access to research, trend analysis, and data that supports confident, evidence-based decision making.

Using structured dialogue and working groups to define priorities that accelerate innovation and progress.

Shaping policy, guiding regulation, and positioning the retail sector for inclusive, sustainable growth.

Key Activities

Research and
Insights

> Conducting comprehensive research on emerging trends, consumer behaviors, and technological advancements in retail.

> Publishing reports, white papers, and case studies to disseminate valuable insights and data-driven strategies.

Best Practices
and Standards

> Identifying and promoting best practices in retail operations, customer experience, and sustainability.

> Establishing industry standards and benchmarks to guide retailers in achieving operational excellence.

Collaboration
and Partnerships

> Facilitating partnerships and collaborations among retailers, technology providers, academic institutions, and other stakeholders.

> Launching joint initiatives and pilot projects to test and scale innovative solutions.

Conferences
and Events

> Organizing annual international conferences, regional forums, and thematic workshops to facilitate knowledge exchange and networking.

> Hosting webinars and panel discussions on critical retail topics, such as e-commerce, sustainability, and supply chain innovation.

The IRC was born out of a clear and urgent need. It reflects our commitment to building a year-round platform where leaders can engage in meaningful dialogue and drive actionable solutions. This is about shaping the future of retail—not simply reacting to it.
Panos Linardos
Chairman, RLC Global Forum
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