What do Retailers expect from NRF 2020?

“Here we are at 2020, that enchanted perfect vision year that many prognosticated would deliver the future of retail. At the NRF Big Show, expect to see a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and enablement of exceptional shopping experiences.

I want to see more retailer brands at the core of innovation demonstrations. Greater focus on technology-enabled consumers/store associates as brand ambassadors. Continued innovation around my current three focus areas: AI applied to video, GPS inside stores, and facial recognition.

At the crossroads of new technology platforms and next-generation consumers, continuously expanding ‘retail renaissance’ shopping opportunities will emerge.”

Tony D’Onofrio

“Digital transformation and the store of the future are impossible without advanced data networks. Fortunately, broadband is evolving and the rollout of game-changing 5G will support next-generation retail services and in-store innovations.

Look for 5G, SD-WAN, 4G LTE and Gigabyte Class LTE networks to be prominently featured at NRF20.”

Joe Skorupa

“I’m looking forward to a fully functioning Jacob Havits Convention Center but as that won’t be the case, I’ll settle for a healthy dose of retail excitement, topped off with a rather fine accompaniment of retail relevance, pizzazz, and downright awesome retail inspiration.”

Andrew Busby

“I believe at NRF 2020, attendees will see a stronger focus on how sustainable actions are influencing every touchpoint of retail operations. From logistics to inventory management to packaging to customer marketing and more, I believe social good and sustainability, in general, will be a core conversation at NRF 2020.

Additionally, I think that retailers can expect to see more ways in which technology can bring clarity to their operational efforts, connectivity to their customer goals and conversion to their sales.”

Nicole Leinbach Reyhle

“Have retailers finally returned to the need to train their employees to create a branded shopping experience or are they still chasing ways to give more discounts and coupons?”

Bob Phibbs

“For 2020, I am looking forward to seeing where personalization can go. We are still just scratching the surface with knowing consumers on an individual level, especially as they interact and shop across channels.

I expect to see more robust opportunities not only for data capture but for analysis and more advance outputs.”

Melissa Gonzalez

“The gap between traditional retail stores & consumer behavior has never been so enormous. Consumers are shifting behavior to invest time & money in more meaningful experiences, so I expect NRF20 to showcase technologies, design and other tools that enable retailers to respond to consumers’ shift from procurement to engagement.”

Diane J. Brisebois

“Two years ago voice was the big thing and last year it was visual analytics taking the limelight so I wonder which of these two will come to the fore in 2020 – or maybe it will be something else.

I hope we will see a little less of artificial intelligence as a lot of the 2019 solutions were rather artificial in an intelligence sense. And I also look forward to the diverse, and plain odd, range of US snack products available in the press room.”

Glynn Davis

“Two things in service of each other: further evidence of the growth of shopping as experience, more reasons to visit; and I’d like to see more momentum behind the race to find much better analytics to identify what experience really means to customers, contextual to their shopping missions.”

Richard Hammond