Best of NRF 2012: Top 10 Takeaways


Logo of the National Retail Federation
RIS News via HP did a pretty good job summarizing NRF this year. Interesting to see the clients and the POS systems. RiteAID going cloud-based, new HP POS tablet offering, Marks&Spencer going NCR way, Family Dollar & Kronos, Tyco platform, Tesco, Urban Outfitters getting analytics, Target & NCR, 
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1. President Bill Clinton Emphasizes a Global 'Future Business' in Keynote

In his keynote speech "Embracing Our Common Humanity," President Bill Clinton discussed the state of the global economy and how nations need to respectfully work together in order to get out of financial trouble. Clinton emphasized how companies need to start investing in the future: "We've got to get America back in the future business," he said, adding that other countries need to do the same. Part of that "future business" includes retail reinventing itself along with ever-changing technology. However, Clinton also pointed out that retailers can enjoy positives in the present. "We are slowly recovering from the economic crisis. Last year, the retail industry grew by almost five percent, compared to the overall U.S. economy, which grew by only two percent. That's good news for all of you. As you know, retail makes up almost 20% of our GDP, and supports about 25% of our jobs."

2. Adidas Virtual Footwear Wall Supercharges Product Launch

An interactive video wall that created a "countdown effect" as each pair of a limited number of soon-to-launch high performance Adidas shoes was pre-ordered provided the footwear manufacturer and retailer with a supercharged product launch. The virtual footwear wall, displayed as part of the Intel's multi-partner booth (other participants included Macy's, Rite Aid, HSN and Kraft), was deployed in Adidas' Oxford Street store in London and "stocked" with 250 pairs of the Adizero f50 Micoach high-tech shoes. As each pair was ordered prior to the launch date, its image was grayed out on the touchscreen, providing customers with a visual guide to how many pairs of shoes were still available for sale. The 3-D graphics also provided customers with visual cues to help them understand the shoes' features, as well as live Twitter feeds about the product. The psychology of scarcity apparently worked. Comparing this launch to previous ones, Adidas' Chris Aubrey said the single store's sales performance over a two-week period was equivalent to the performance of three separate stores over a six-week period.

3. NRF CEO Shay Reports Record-High Attendance at Big Show 2012

In his opening address, NRF CEO Matthew Shay shared some positive predictions for retail in 2012. This year's Big Show hosted 24,000 attendees, the most in its 101-year history. Shay focused on the NRF's "Retail Means Jobs" effort, noting that one in four U.S. jobs are in the retail sector, translating to 42 million jobs -- more than any other industry sector. Shay also revealed that there are 3.6 million retail locations in the U.S. and that 96% of those retailers operate only one location. Shay also identified three key trends to look out for in 2012: 1) Cross-channel: 70% of shoppers shop online or on mobile devices; 2) Empowered consumers who are more knowledgeable than ever before, causing retailers to carefully examine how their employees are trained and informed; and 3) New markets: Shay pointed to global retail growth, especially in China and India, that retailers need to take advantage of.

4. Super Saturday Raises $350,000 for Retail ROI

The third annual Super Saturday event drew more than 200 of the retail industry's top executives to a content-rich symposium held on Saturday, January 14, the day before the opening of the 2012 NRF Big Show. According to Greg Buzek of IHL Group, who is also the executive director of the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI), "We are on track to raise $350,000 in the next few days for RetailROI to help support those who are most in need and least able to help themselves." A stellar lineup of keynote speakers included: financial analyst Gary Williams of wRatings, retail analyst Paul D'Alessandro of PwC, retail technology analyst Jeff Roster of Gartner, and financial analyst Richard Hastings of Global Hunter Securities. One of the major highlights of the event was a surprise offer to get a backstage tour of the world's newest and largest Apple store at Grand Central Station, arranged by Kronos. Another highlight was a panel of retailers moderated by financial analyst Deborah Weinswig of Citi Investment Research that included Dave Finnegan of Build-a-Bear Workshop (which partnered with Oracle to donate proceeds from the sale of special teddy bears), David Levitt of The Children's Place, Todd Michaud of the Power of Thinking Media (and Focus Brands restaurants) and Ed Martin of Hershey's. Another highlight was the panel that reported back from a trip to set up a computer lab for a school in Honduras. The panel was led by Andy Lehman of LifeSong for Orphans and included Vicki Cantrell of the National Retail Federation, Randy Cucerzan of Genesco, Cory McDermaid of Genesco, Cathy Marder of RIS News and Amy James of Mixed Events. A heart-tugging video tribute to industry veteran "Jonni" Kennedy was shown to honor her much-too-short life.

5. MicroStrategy Solves What to Do with a Facebook Like

"Historically, retailers have looked at the number of Likes on Facebook as the end game, but they are worth zero unless you do something with them," says Dave Martin of Hershey's. MicroStrategy unveiled a package of applications that let retailers do something big with Facebook Likes. The three-pronged suite includes Gateway, which converts Facebook data into a relational database; Wisdom, which is a BI dashboard that supports detailed filtering and analysis of CRM data; and Alert, which lets retailers broadcast personalized messages to targeted customer segments. To demonstrate some of these Facebook capabilities MicroStrategy has made Wisdom available to anyone for testing. Just go to Wisdom.com and begin playing around with the tool. I did a filter of Victoria's Secret fans and found that 78% are female, 73% live in urban areas, 42% are single, 27% are in a relationship and 59% have a college education. I also found out that they have a high affinity for following soccer star David Beckham, love MTV and Family Guy, are fans of the Twilight Saga movies, hate getting texts that only say "k", follow Playboy magazine and People.com, and are big fans of Xbox and Texas Hold 'em Poker. The tool is amazing.

6. Gesture-Driven Digital Technology Debuts


NRF aisle-walkers may have noticed other attendees waving their arms around as they stared at oversized screens. These people were not learning referee signals or practicing how to direct traffic. They were trying out gesture-driven technology that allows users to virtually try on apparel items without actually having to unzip, unbutton or unlace. The Cisco StyleMe Virtual Fashion Mirror is currently in the proof of concept phase. The user can select from an "endless aisle" of both men's and women's apparel, mixing, matching and layering a variety of looks and outfits. Pilot programs are planned at two U.K. retailers, John Lewis and Tesco. Microsoft also displayed a range of gesture-controlled technologies, including its FaceCake virtual try-on mirror using its Kinect technology to display 3-D images. Microsoft also showed off the next generation of its Surface gesture-controlled technology for horizontal surfaces. Customers can view product images and get deeper information and product reviews. They can also place their smartphone on a Surface-equipped table and "drag" images of the products they want to purchase onto their phone's display, creating a mobile commerce shopping cart.

7. Passion Reigns at Rock & Roll Retail 

Passion. A word often overused but a word that career retailers often use to describe what they do. After all, why else would they all put the number of hours they put in if there wasn't some passion in regards to the work? And of course, we've all read from some management or leadership guru to "love what you do." I would argue that part of that love has to do with the sense of community that exists in the industry. This is why a show like NRF is important. There happens to be another "little" industry where passion and community reigns supreme: music. And so it went on Monday, January 16 at B.B. Kings blues club, where 250 industry executives gathered to hear an unbelievable array of songs spanning five decades of rock music. Four bands made up of retailers, solution providers, and analysts shed their "vendor" or "retailer" titles and let music define them. The fun and passion that came through in songs ranging from Buddy Holly's "Oh, Boy" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Radiohead's "Creep" as well as 20 others had the audience dancing and having fun throughout the night. With some online collaboration and one hour of rehearsal the bands are onstage performing their sets. Even after three years of doing this, the sound that is produced never ceases to amaze me. A testament to the passion that these part-time musicians and full-time professionals have for what they do. As someone who has a deep passion for music and the talent that is required to do it well (something I realized long ago I didn't have) I only wish more of the industry had the opportunity to experience what 250 others did. From this point forward the passion of retail and the passion of music will ever be intertwined. See you next year.--Dave Weinand

8. Key Retail Technology Deployments

· Aarons has deployed Aruba Mobile Virtual Enterprise architecture at 1,800-plus stores
· C. Wonder is using VeriFone GlobalBay Mobile POS as its exclusive point-of-sale system, with no fixed POS terminals in any stores
· Family Dollar is deploying Kronos WFM suite at 7,000 stores
· Marks & Spencer is working with NCR to pilot new multimedia zones in stores that include digital touchscreens and video walls
· Rite Aid is using cloud-based WorkPlace OnLine scheduling at 4,700 stores
· Target will implement a Teradata Active Data Warehouse to manage complex user queries on large data volumes across the enterprise
· Tesco will begin deploying Retalix 10 Store Suite in stores worldwide
· Urban Outfitters has selected QuantiSense Decision Orchestration Platform for BI and analytics

9. Multiple Data Sources Feed Real-Time Execution Platform


A retail store management platform that not only pulls event data from multiple sources but then suggests specific actions to take based on these real-time events was announced at NRF. For example, if a high-value customer is identified entering the store, the system would not only inform the store manager of this fact but also identify the most experienced sales associate working at that particular time. The Reflexis Adaptive Real-Time Execution Platform operates in 15-minute increments and brings together traffic counting data provided by Irisys, inventory visibility and traffic intelligence from Tyco Retail Solutions, social media analytics from Impetus and business intelligence from MicroStrategy. Retailers can also assign tasks in response to metrics-based alerts, such as an impending out-of-stock of a highly promoted item.


10. Major New Technology Announcements at NRF

· Digby Localpoint links location-based mobile marketing, analytics and commerce for retail-branded mobile apps
· ECR Software debuted its mobile Catapult POS solution, which is a highly flexible and feature- packed Java-based mobile POS solution
· Epicor introduced its Retail Clienteling mobile app, designed for tablet devices and optimized for the iPad, and also introduced the Epicor Eagle Release 21 business management system for small to medium sized businesses
· HP announced the release of the HP mobile POS solution based on the HP Slate 2 tablet running on the Microsoft Windows operating environment, which combines a barcode scanner and magnetic stripe reader
• JDA Customer Engagement is a cloud-based solution that addresses omni-channel commerce and optimization logic in real time
· KWI delivers mobile POS as a cloud-based service via KWI Cloud 9 Mobile POS
· Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail 2012 offers cross-channel capabilities, social and mobile commerce, point-of-sale and merchandising enhancement
· Monetate launched the Agility Suite, a comprehensive set of products that includes TestLab for A/B or multivariate testing, LiveTarget to leverage real-time data about in-session customer behavior, Touchpoints for cross-channel marketing and more
· NCR unveiled a cloud-based POS software platform that enables independent retailers to manage transactions, track sales and inventory, process credit cards and market to customers on both POS touchscreen terminals and Apple mobile devices
· PivotLink's SaaS-delivered Customer Performance Management application helps retailers improve customers' lifetime value
• QuantiSense's latest version of its Decision Orchestration Platform features Q Tag exceptions that allow personnel to see store-specific merchandising needs more clearly
· Retalix 10 Store Suite of retail solutions, which was released for general availability last year, is now available as an on-demand, cloud-based service
· Starmount Connect shopper engagement platform unifies online data from multiple sources
· Tyco Integrated Store Performance Platform combines vendors' store performance and security solutions


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