We’re well into day 3 at Retail’s BIG Show and very energized for the year ahead. We’ve already caught some inspiring sessions, explored the expo floor and enjoyed conversations with retailers and tech providers working to meet their customers where they are while inspiring them to rethink what’s possible in retail.
Here are some of the themes we see emerging so far.
Experience is king
@LeePeterson_WD says "Almost 8,000 stores closed last year. People don't have to go to stores anymore, they have to want to go to stores." Sounds like digital transformation technology is more important than ever! #NRF2019 @BizTechMagazine
— Brad Sowell (@BradSowell) January 13, 2019
"We don't go shopping, we are shopping"
— Andrew Busby - The Retail Influencer (@andrewbusby) January 14, 2019
"Amazon aren't killing retail, they're killing mediocre retail"@Natalie_Berg nails it @NRFBigShow #NRF2019 pic.twitter.com/MjPB5nJErP
Employees over robots
”Retailers are talking a big game about technology, but the focus — at least on the surface — seems to now be on their employees. This incongruity was on display at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show this week, where retail’s lip service for its employees is as front and center as its technology. Companies like Kroger, Target and Walmart used their time on stage to talk about innovation, including automation and robotics, but the focus was on people: How employees are benefiting from these developments and the emphasis on customer service improvements that comes with it.”
-Digiday
What you measure matters
#NRF2019 b8ta founder @vibhu says: coming into Macy’s legacy stores there is a lot of education that has to go on. Like trying to convince Macy’s that the “sales per sq foot metric isn’t the goal for physical retail” anymore pic.twitter.com/provTklMQx
— Lauren Thomas (@laurenthomasx3) January 15, 2019
Privacy is key
“There’s a lot of tension in the personalization landscape, and that tension is what consumers want, what they expect and ultimately how retailers are able to deliver against them,” said Kodali, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester. “A lot of consumers are very skeptical about the data that is being collected about them and how the data is being used.”
-Retail TouchPoints
People vote with their feet
It’s cold outside! 🥶 Come get your @DorTechnologies socks at booth #7021 ❤️💜❤️ #nrf2019 pic.twitter.com/efQTOMvnhQ
— Be'Anka Ashaolu (@beankaash) January 13, 2019
Swing by booth 7021 in the Startup Zone before heading out today -- it’s so easy to get started tracking foot traffic trends when you get back to work after the show, and we’d love to show you how.