Reflections on NRF ‘17: Observations from this year’s BIG Show
Last week, our team participated in this year’s NRF Retail’s BIG Show in New York City, sharing our story among 35,000 participants from across the globe. During 3 days at Javits Conference Center (a world in of itself, with miles of technology, exhibitors, and food vendors), we captured a few takeaways from our conversations, sessions attended, and observations.
Draw a circle around yourself
I know, this draws comparison to a certain head of state wanting to build a wall at his country’s border, but hear me out …
Like a lot of people, I was really excited to hear from Sir Richard Branson, hoping to glean some of the knowledge, courage, and love for life he’s demonstrated over the years leading Virgin. Beyond recounting tales of his various adventures (interesting fact: he’s been rescued out of water 5 times), what resonated most with me was his viewpoint on what’s made him and Virgin successful. Using the analogy of drawing a circle around yourself, he encouraged attendees to get the things closest to us — our health, our family and friends — right first, then draw a bigger circle to extend your attention to other things (our community, our neighbours) next. Eventually, circles will overlap, covering shared challenges that multiple people or companies can work on together to address or solve. Sir Branson’s view of capitalism, that it’s more than “just a money making machine,” reflects that, encouraging companies to adopt a problem and use their entrepreneurial skills to solve it.
Stop having first dates with your customers
Jeannie Baik, CEO and founder of Orchard Mile, talked about the need for retailers to move past one way, standalone conversations with shoppers, using technology and better information to deliver 1:1 communication and product offerings that align directly to shoppers’ needs. By understanding shoppers, what they want and what they’re willing to pay, companies like Uber have leveraged marketplace technology to recreate their industries and reduce the emphasis on discounting.
Leverage technology to drive human connection
Despite all the technological advances on display at this year’s show, everything from augmented reality to robot shopping assistants, I was reminded that at its core, retail is about human relationships. Miguel Almeida, EVP of Digital at lululemon athletica, looked at digital transformation at his company a bit differently than others, challenging his team to use technology to build a digital platform that amplifies human experiences, relationships, and connections.
What does that look like? Machine learning to improve CRM practices, structured programming or algorithms to understand data patterns recognized by humans. For him, technology amplifies what lululemon stands for, building authentic guest relationships across store, mobile, and sweat (their free in-store yoga sessions) interactions.
Why do it? Because guests who are engaged at multiple touchpoints along their shopping journey are 10x more valuable!
Digital transformation from front to back
Compared to prior years, I heard a lot more discussion at this year’s session on digital transformation. That wasn’t news in and of itself; what was interesting was to hear how the conversation around topics like data and machine learning revolved around shopper engagement (e.g., chatbots to service shoppers), but also opportunities to drive operational efficiency through supply chain optimisation and in-store associate support. Also interesting to note that while a lot of companies are talking digital transformation, they’re at all stages of that process. Some, like 7-Eleven, are still in the crawl phase, focused on capturing basic KPIs, while others, like Uber, are using it to drive dynamic pricing (otherwise known as surge to us Uber riders) pricing.
Thanks to our friends at Business France (especially Joanna, Antoine, and Florence) and SES-imagotag for their partnership at this year’s show. Looking forward to NRF 2018!
Some interesting quotes from the week:
“With a name like Virgin, I hope your airline goes all the way”
“Lies, damn lies, and analytics”
“No one cares about your sales cycle”
Check out these other NRF 2017 recaps:
#nrf17
About Alkemics
Alkemics connects retailers and CPG manufacturers to market and sell their products everywhere. Our SaaS platform helps them collect, enrich, and share data across the retail ecosystem. Visit www.alkemics.com to learn more.
