The National Retail Federation conference and expo kicks off in New York this week. We look at some of the highlights in part one of our preview.

US retail association the National Retail Federation (NRF) begins its global annual events programme with Retail’s Big Show from January 15-17 in its traditional New York location at the Javits Center.

It offers attendees a first chance to get to grips with the upcoming retail year and check out New York’s latest store concepts to boot.

Traditionally a technology event, Retail’s Big Show has evolved to be more all-encompassing in recent years, although tech and tech-inspired initiatives continue to drive the agenda. So what can we expect in 2017?

The NRF’s Big Show Expo Halls showcased technologies and services from more than 500 providers

While there’s more to Retail’s Big Show than technology, it would be remiss not to start with a few of the companies showcasing their wares in New York.

There is plenty going on in the tech market, not least after US online sales surged on Black Friday, with Amazon.com offering the steepest discounts among ecommerce sites as it set the agenda for what has traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year for bricks-and-mortar retailers.

In-store shopping did pick up in the afternoon, but the increase in customer traffic paled in comparison with the jump in online sales, analysts said.

The Macy’s website saw such heavy traffic that it had to delay customers from entering the site at three different times.

The NRF expects that once the numbers are crunched, total sales this holiday season will have increased by 3.6% to $655.8 billion, mainly due to the rise in online shopping.

Marxent and SRC

There are plenty of tech-based stands at the Javits, but Marxent is one of the few show exhibitors that specialises in augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) for retailers.

The company will be demonstrating “immersive 3D shopping and home design experiences” that will be rolled out in early 2017 with a top furniture retailer and a leading appliance manufacturer.

Both demos are examples of what Marxent believes to be the impending blending of physical and digital shopping experiences.

In one demo, users can put on a VR headset and enter a virtual living room with 3D products, changing paint colours, finishes and the vantage point from which the room is viewed.

Symphony Retail Cloud (SRC) promotes itself as the first end-to-end, customer-centric solution for retailers and manufacturers delivered via the convenience of the cloud.

The intelligent, role-based SRC solution is designed to optimise marketing, merchandising, supply chain and store operations through Symphony EYC’s customer-centric insights, plus Symphony’s Gold retail planning, optimisation and execution.

It also uses Simmons’ cross-channel consumer research, and Symphony Advanced Media’s real-time cross-media measurement.

The company claims SRC enables retailers and manufacturers to deliver more than 2% revenue growth by translating customer intelligence into insights and actions that drive bottom-line decisions.

Panasonic, Zensar and ACI

Panasonic will be announcing two new mobility devices for back-office, warehouse/delivery and retail kiosk applications at NRF 2017, showcasing its family of handhelds, tablets, and new 2-in-1 devices designed to increase efficiency and productivity across the retail ecosystem.

Zensar works with retail clients on digital transformation and will be showcasing in-store analytics that track customer behaviour and personalised in-store experiences.

It will also be showing off websites that use virtual shopping assistants to help customers find the right merchandise and put outfits together, and augmented reality and its ability to create a new level of customer engagement.

Powering electronic payments and banking for more than 5,000 financial institutions and 300-plus leading global retailers that transact $14tr each day, ACI Worldwide will be at NRF to provide details on a new partnership with a major international online payment platform.

More details are promised at the show.

The Innovation Lab

For any attendees looking to be inspired by innovative brands, products and technologies, look no further than The Innovation Lab.

This year, demand for more futuristic and creative technologies has been met with the lab focusing on six key areas:

  1. 3D printing
  2. AI
  3. AR/VR
  4. Robotics
  5. Smart technology
  6. Wearables

What was once a small booth tucked away on the expo floor will now take centre stage in the River Pavilion on level 4 of the Javits within the NRF Clubhouse.

You can check out the floorplan and list of participants by clicking here.

What not to miss

With plenty of headline speakers, it’s going to be tough to see all the major names appearing on the bill.

There’s lots on tech, from back-of-house to AI and wearables, but for those time-poor and diary-packed, we recommend:

Stephen Sadove kicks off NRF's Big Show 2015

NRF

Stephen Sadove kicked off NRF’s Big Show in 2015

January 15

HSNi CEO Mindy Grossman, Walmart US president and CEO Greg Foran and Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry Lungdren line up together at 8.40am to talk workforces.

At 10.45am, Hobbs CEO Meg Lustman and T2 Tea international director Darren Williams are part of a Going Global session.

Shoes of Prey co-founder Jodie Fox is on the 3.15pm customer experience panel.

January 16

The 9am keynote sees Sir Richard Branson talk disruption and reinvention.

Levi’s EVP Carrie Ask is up at 10am.

Target EVP and chief information and digital officer Mike McNamara talks technology transformation at 2.30pm.

January 17

Lars Petersson, president of IKEA US, is on the final panel, discussing socially aware consumers.

The details

What: The National Retail Federation’s Retail’s Big Show

Where: Javits Center, Hell’s Kitchen, New York

When: January 15-17

Why: This former retail tech-fest is now much more than a geek shop, featuring heavyweight keynotes, a diverse retail mix and the chance to check out New York’s latest chic store concepts.

Details: nrfbigshow.nrf.com

  • Part two of Retail Week’s NRF preview comes out on January 11 – check it out for highlights of some of the ground-breaking New York stores inspiring retailers worldwide, plus NRF by numbers.