Harding+ has invited its brand partners to play a bigger role in creating guest demand, building on recent years’ momentum, at its annual Supplier Conference.

Under the theme “Raising the bar”, CEO Jeremy Fennell outlined to Harding+ product and brand partners how closer collaboration can make more of cruise retail’s distinctive opportunities to deliver stronger commercial results and make shopping a more rewarding and integral part of a guest’s holiday.

“Our guests don’t pass through us for a few minutes. They can be with us for three, seven, sometimes fourteen days or more. That gives us an opportunity to engage, tell stories, demonstrate products, run events, create theatre and build relationships in a way very few retail environments can,” said Fennell. “And that’s where I’d really like our suppliers to lean in with us.”

Fennell described a three-way partnership between the cruise line, the supplier and Harding+, with the guest at the center.

He said Harding+ wants deeper partnerships built on shared insight, joint business plans and clear commercial goals, with both sides investing in guest demand and in equipping shipboard teams to bring brands to life.

“Bring us your best ideas as well as your best products,” Fennell continued. “Let’s test them, learn quickly and scale the things that work.”

“We’ve spent the past few years building a much stronger platform for growth in terms of ranges, availability and experiences. The opportunity now is to make that capability work harder and more consistently across the fleet,” said Chief Commercial Officer Linzi Walker.

Harding+ said in a press release that it is matching that ambition with further investment in its own retail capability.

Technology and process improvements have freed up over 25 percent more time for shipboard colleagues to spend with guests, and a new fleetwide selling model is rolling out to help teams turn brand knowledge into more relevant recommendations.

“The investment here is bigger and bolder than anything we have done in the last 20 years,” said Chief Operating Officer Mark Birnie. “We truly are doubling down on our colleagues.”

Harding+ expects to deliver around 300 activations across more than 40 ships in 2026, each tailored to onboard guests and the destinations they visit.