COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Global Market Development Center (GMDC) plans to hold the 2015 GMDC General Merchandise Marketing Conference (GM15) on May 28 to June 1 at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Fla.

GMCD said the event provides a venue for retail decision makers and suppliers to connect and collaborate on sales ideas in 10- to 20-minute prescheduled and impromptu meetings, or “speed dates.” More than 11,000 speed dates are expected to take place during the conference.

Retail and wholesale attendees at GM15 are slated to include Ahold USA, AmerisourceBergen, Bashas’, Big Y Foods, Buehler’s Food Markets, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Giant Eagle, H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Kinney Drugs, Kroger Co., L&R Distributors, Sobeys Inc., Southeastern Grocers (formerly Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie), SpartanNash, Supervalu, Tops Markets, Wakefern, Wegmans and Weis Markets, among others.

“GMDC is all about connectivity, so our goal for GM15 is to create an atmosphere where retailers and suppliers can collaborate,” stated Dave McConnell, chief executive officer of GMDC, a global trade association serving general merchandise, health, beauty and wellness retailers, wholesalers and suppliers. “We invented the corporate speed-dating concept to allow maximum touch points between hundreds of attendees, instantly sparking what may turn into long-term business relationships.”

In the conference’s showcase area, suppliers and service providers will present their latest offerings to retailers and wholesalers, including new products, promotions and merchandising innovations. Retailers and wholesalers will be able to use their mobile devices to scan items of interest and instantly relay that information to suppliers, sparking on-site discussions and post-conference sales leads, according to GMDC.

On May 29, keynote speaker Dan O’Connor, president and CEO of the RetailNet Group, will provide some insight on the future of pricing and promotion, e-commerce marketplaces and emerging digital business models. A thought leader in the retail industry, O’Connor is a board member of Coinstar and previously served on the boards of Premier Retail Network, Emak Worldwide and other venture companies.

“GM15 is a platform for sharing industry education, fostering supplier and retailer innovation and creating inspiration for industry leaders,” commented Patrick Spear, GMDC’s president. “Attendees benefit from product discovery and best practice solutions, speaker insights and the powerful atmosphere of the conference. This all translates to expanding and growing general merchandise sales for retailers.”

In addition, GMDC will unveil its latest research and retail insights in pet merchandising. The study, “Why Pet Products Matter,” validates the high-gross margin of pet food and nonfood products for grocery and drug stores, describes opportunities for these stores to expand their offerings, and looks at how brick-and-mortar retailers can use savvy marketing to compete against the growing world of Internet specialty retailers, GMDC said.