By Doug Stephens
If you’ve never attended the National Retail Federation conference in New York it’s truly a unique experience. A three day retail-a-thon, where delegates from around the globe gather to trade ideas, concepts and technologies to keep up (or at least try to keep up) with the rapidly evolving consumer.
But just as the best theatre in New York is often found off Broadway, the best retail thinking at the “Big Show” is frequently not in the general sessions, keynotes or break-outs but rather in the hallways, coffee shops and lounges.
This year Retail Prophet decided to attend the show in a very different way than in previous years. We attended the programmed sessions only to get a feel for the buzz-words that were used and the high-level ideas being conveyed, to “take the temperature” of the industry so to speak. But we also arranged interviews with key people and technology providers who in our minds were truly pioneering new and futuristic ways of thinking. Some weren’t even part of the show but happened to be in attendance.
For example, we talked with Joel Rubinson of Rubinson Partners, Inc. on why much of the traditional marketing model is now defunct and why marketers need to increasingly invest in building consumer relationships downstream of the purchase. We also spoke with Caitlin Kelly, Author of the book Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail on why if retailers really view sales associates as their most valuable asset, so many are woefully untrained, poorly paid and generally mistreated and what this means for the industry going forward. We managed with to speak with people like Bernie Brennan and Lori Schaefer, co-authors of Branded! about why even the CEO’s who publicly espouse the value of social media don’t engage in it personally and if they really need to anyway.
On the tech side, we identified companies both large and small that are moving the needle and truly leading the way to the future. Companies like AisleBuyer, with technology that allows customers to scan, review and purchase goods in the aisle of your store and not simply use your store as Amazon’s showroom . Or Intel who is not only talking about connecting the virtual and physical shopping experiences but actually doing it. Or M2Sys, who envisions a future where our credit card won’t just be in the palm of our hand, it will be the palm of our hand.
Over the coming days and weeks we’ll be posting videos of our interviews with these great minds and more from Retail’s Big Show, the National Retail Federation Conference 2011.
Stay tuned!