Scheduled to run Jan. 15 to Jan. 18, NRF sponsored “Retail’s BIG Show” is already making industry headlines and appearing as the topic of many blog posts after its first couple days of presentations and networking. As NRF blogger, Jennifer Overstreet, explains, “From business intelligence to point of service, mobile to kiosks, customer experience revolutions to supply chain optimization, the floor is buzzing with more than 400 exhibitors.” So how does one give a small, succinct summary of Retail’s BIG Show, in order to cover all the important highlights of the EXPO. A three-minute video titled, “NRF Annual 2012 EXPO Floor Trends,” does it nicely. Here is what it revealed:
Retail Trends Revealed on EXPO Floor
Mobile application and mobile retail is a reality.
This is something the NRF, blog.wholesalecentral.com and any good retail industry resource has been pointing out over the past year, and it looks as if 2012 will be no different. As show attendee Andrew Paradise of AisleBuyer LLC reveals in the show summary clip, a survey conducted on site indicated that 14 percent of those retailers surveyed have mobile applications as part of their in-store experience. Of the remainder, 50 percent plan on investing in mobile in 2012.
Retailers are unanimous that the customer is important.
Attendees are seeing a large focus on customer experience and customer service. This doesn’t just mean when making a sale, but also includes the overall process from the point of acquiring the customer, getting them in-store, and leaving them with a satisfactory experience.
Retailers want their product in the right place at the right time.
Inventory visibility is another hot topic on the EXPO floor, as retailers analyze the best ways to stay on top of the supply chain. This includes understanding and possibly using item level RFID, UPC encoded tags, and other tools and techniques. Retailers are in agreement, however, that inventory visibility means an increase in sales and reduced out-of-stock items.