If anyone understands the past and future of department stores, it's Mark Cohen. As former CEO of Sears Canada and as a 40-year veteran of the industry, Cohen boasts key insights into the challenges and opportunities department stores face. Many of these are the same opportunities and challenges retailers in general are struggling to grapple.

In this conversation, Cohen provides key lessons all retailers can apply in order to remain competitive in a changing industry. In particular, Cohen says that retail executives must be flexible and anticipate that trends today may not exist tomorrow. Executives must constantly assess their markets and use up-to-date and even predictive analytics to stay ahead of the curve.