With more than 700 guests attending the 56th MMM Congress, the event once again proved to be a sell-out. Under the banner of ‘PEOPLE – this is future!’, the MMM-Club 2018 put people at the heart of its discussions. Leading lights from the sector and beyond brought the Congress theme to life and included personalities from retail such as Lionel Souque (REWE), Markus Kaser (INTERSPAR), Petra Hesser (Ikea Group until 12/17) and John Allan (TESCO); from politics, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff and Dr. Norbert Lammert; fascinating start-up entrepreneurs and progressive thinkers such as Prof. Dr. Markus Hengstschläger, Dirk Steffens or Tim Leberecht (see Programme). In reference to the Congress theme, MMM President Simone Krah stressed the point that in the age of digitisation, “we all must step up our role as identity creators, promote a sense of community, carry people along with us in our goals, and ultimately find an answer to the deep-rooted desire for orientation, stability and home.” This is important if we want to help shape future and drive a responsible retail sector.