A Look at IBM at NRF 2022

IBM had a notable presence at this year’s NRF Retail’s Big Show Convention. Arguably one of the buzziest booths on the main floor, here’s a glimpse into what a booth tour entailed from product demos to impactful fire side chats in diversity and inclusion and the path towards accelerating decarbonization.?

The Four Pillars

As you take the journey around IBM there are four key pillars of focus: Store and Intelligent Commerce, Supply Chain, Sustainability and IT Operations. For the store, the backbone of fulfillment is critical for a consumer that expects to discover and shop seamlessly today. In partnership with Sterling, partners can have the tools to respond to demand changes with true agility- using insights and visibility to where the product lies. A year ago, I wrote about the package journey as a critical path to track and access in order to meet the customer on their journey and path to purchase and as BOPIS, BOSS and Curbside adoptions sticks, this level of visibility have become table stakes. By having insights that empower supply and demand forecasting, the brand or retailer becomes better positioned to meet consumers needs and wants in the exact moment of intent. Streamlined processes also empower the store associate to seamlessly do it all from handling returns to sales conversions and fulfillment in a way that delivers surprise, delight and gratification to their customers.?

As we interweave the growth of flexible fulfillment and the rise of hybrid shopping, we also gain more homework around the impact of the carbon footprint which drives the need for more responsible sourcing, traceability and provenance. With Carbon Impact Management and ESG Performance Reporting, brands and retailers are gaining insights to be more forward thinking about how they make more sustainable decisions and to look for help across their sustainability journey to support decision making and go beyond just the product in terms of the environmental impact they have on of fulfillment, transportation, and packaging.

All of this comes together as we orchestrate hybrid channel experiences and operations at scale.?It’s having the tools that enable order and inventory intelligence, store operations automation, ecosystem modernization and customer personalization. It’s a modernization of the enterprise approach with data and intelligence at the nucleus so we can fulfill an ever-moving target where customers have more options than ever before. Brands and retailers that thrive will be those that find authentic ways to deliver. This will take a transformation of operating models to stay relevant—and those that don’t adapt risk losing customer loyalty. The more agile and digitally enabled consumers become day to day, the more they will expect from those they shop from.???????????????????????????????????????????????????

Best practices that drive impact for diversity and inclusion

On Day 2, at a conversation led by Luq Niazi, Global Managing Director of consumer industries at IBM with Jonathan Mayes, Chief Diversity Officer at Albertsons the audience gained insights what the best practices are that drives impact. More so, it’s understanding that to create real impact you need to go beyond the guess work of what creates change. Data metrics have not only allowed Albertsons to determine how well they are doing today vs the past but illuminates insights and opportunities for how they might do better in the future. This action plan isn’t just based on metrics but informed and must be layered in with the internal culture being cultivated. With a challenge to the audience “Ask yourself today, what am I doing today? How can I be less biased? Recognize it and stop it.” The clear message is it gets better when me get better and that is a continuous effort and dedication that needs to be interweaved into the company fabric and culture.

The Path to Accelerate Decarbonization

On Day 3, Luq Niazi led another fireside chat alongside Bill Sisson of WBCSD and Jim Kelley at IBM with a message that the path goes beyond just on action - it’s a trifecta of Climate action, Nature and biodiversity action and Equity action. Consumers today want to know where they are putting their dollars is also making a difference, they want transparency into what makes a product sustainable, where products are sourced, produced, and manufactured, how to re-use, return, or recycle them and how their purchase will contribute to social responsibility or environmental sustainability. As a result of COVID, more consumers than ever see that sustainability and wellness go in hand in hand, and they see a lack of investment into slowing the ongoing environmental crisis is putting their lives at risk.

In 2022, roughly 4 in 5 consumers surveyed said sustainability and health and wellness benefits are important to them when choosing a brand. By using blockchain as part of a collective, companies are working to tell consumers a more comprehensive and accurate story about the products on offer but there is still a ways to go in terms of closing the gap on price, quality and selection. Tracing source materials and highlighting a product’s environmental impact is the transparency consumers are expecting today, but this information is only valuable if consumers can understand it and have clear grasp on what it means in terms of the choices they are making. Standardized, digestible product information with transparent verification from trust-worthy third parties help consumers make more confident choices. For success to get to the next level, brands and retailers need to collaborate across industry ecosystems, adopt unified metrics and terminologies that clearly communicate what product sustainability ratings really mean. “It’s not about being B2B or B2C, it’s about being B2P(people).” ?