NRF '23: Top Five Takeaways, Reflections
NRF ‘23 wrapped Tuesday, and it’s safe to say, the Big Show is back.
Yes, retail faces tough economic and supply chain headwinds. Yes, big tech is cutting staff. And, yes, consumers remain fickle.
This backdrop actually makes the show more meaningful.
Here are my five distilled takeaways (if you care mostly about sustainability, skip to the last section).
Merchants back to being merchants.?
The themes of simplicity and back-to-basics were everywhere. Right products, right place, right price, wrappered in the right consumer experience (Cx). And Cx is the main competitive ground because consumers are the ones putting dollars into pockets. All other capabilities serve that end.
What else?:
Doing more with fewer (people).
Covid drove retailers to do more with fewer people because most couldn’t afford to maintain large armies of store associates. Now, they can’t hire them. The labor shortage is real, and most forecasters project it will continue for years. This is increasing pressure to simplify the lives of store associates while supplementing and/or supporting them with automation (example: Kroger Technology & Digital partnering with 谷歌 and Deloitte Digital for a suite of associate tools, announcement feat. Jim Clendenen >>> here).
How else is this showing up:
Roko’s BFF - AI as sidekick and supporter.
AI/ML was everywhere, from the (highly practical) Innovation Lab to the large tech vendors booth and Big Idea sessions ( Google Cloud 's Tuesday session is worth a rewatch for sheer vertical relevance). Related to the theme above around doing more with fewer people, most of these applications are designed to either augment human-driven processes (fresh produce management) or to concentrate human intervention into areas where it has comparative advantage (handling exceptions, dealing with very specific local context/timing). This drives a shift to relatively (not completely) touchless processes, where humans are brought in when the algo’s don’t have a high degree of confidence (internal uncertainty about being right) or when humans express a high degree of disagreement (external uncertainty about being wrong).
How is this showing up:
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Retailer-supplier collaboration revolution.
Covid and subsequent supply chains shocks have both (a) highlighted retailers’ utter dependence on suppliers to thrive/survive and (b) emphasized the need for mutually beneficial partnership and investment in supply chain resilience. In fact, one commentator predicts we’re at the start of a capability-driven investment cycle (the huge Salesforce + 沃尔玛 news underscores this), and moving out of a price-driven (ie, VC’s funding CAC, ie, free meal-kits and cut-rate Uber rides) acquisition cycle, in part because the ability to acquire customers is increasingly so dependent on capabilities.?
Much of this investment will benefit suppliers, in the form of:
In the other direction, part of the value exchange here will be suppliers sharing insights and best practices (around sustainability and other areas) with their retail partners, as well as data on products and shipments before they leave the supplier's custody (cool example here, check out OneThird and their food waste prevention solution, a connection I made courtesy of 凯捷咨询 ... again, fresh is ripe for innovation).
W(h)ither Sustainability?
Sustainability more or less limped into NRF ‘23, largely because of two things: the beating the apparel sector has taken over vague or flat out false claims that go far beyond greenwashing into outright lying coupled with skyrocketing return rates and the collapse of internal standards like the Higgs Index; and increasing confirmation that carbon offsets (a favorite go-to) generate little-to-no net benefit for the planet (Last Week Tonight, Guardian).
These are necessary developments, because they move retail beyond the making of hand-wavy, flimsy claims (to say nothing of the wasted investment and effort to clean up collateral damage) and into concrete, meaningful, and measurable steps - even if those are boring or unsexy.
Three NRF sessions nailed it.
Sustainability is the new digital. S. Ricardo, CEO, Holt Renfrew
Scot Case ’s closing session with Kal Penn really framed the issue echoing themes from the rest of the show: sustainability starts with supply chain, has to be reflected in concrete actions (how you handle specific items in specific places), and only advances when we celebrate wins (can’t just be negative).
So what other takeaways on sustainability? A few (and I'll be posting a longer missive next Wednesday or Thursday, Jan 25 or 26):
Last thought: it takes an industry (of people)
Retail is nothing without personal relationships, some spanning multiple decades and multiple companies. It was great to see (and in some cases meet for the first time) after years …. Rob Garf Brandon Rael Kirk Goldman Jamie McDonald Brad Ledy CASEY GOLDEN Gautham Vadakkepatt Nicole Hoffman Fredrik Carlegren Matt Miles Hector Rivera Manuel Monserrate Dustin Rash Hannah Jones Arvin Jawa Thomas J. Vosper Jeff Roster Jeff Mergy ShiSh S. Vicki Cantrell Brendan Proctor ?? Ricardo Belmar Erin Dorshorst Todd Scarpato Matthew Zeiler Katie Howard Shinae M. Liz Miller ... just to name a few.
Retired GVP, IDC Retail Insights at IDC I Top 30 Retail Influencer I Rethink Retail Top Retail Expert I Retail data and experience driven technology strategy expertise
2 年Nice summary Tadd Wilson #nrf2023 #retail
Tadd Wilson great insights as always! So great to see you at NRF!
Tadd great to see you and thank you for providing an insightful read but next time make sure you come and visit me on the GK Software booth! ??
Director of Marketing Enablement Programs at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions
2 年Always a great insight, glad to see you again!
Global Strategy Executive | 2024 RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert | Retail Geek | Entrepreneur | Innovation and Design Thinker | Shopping Addict | Golf Enthusiast | Girl Dad x2
2 年Extremely insightful Tadd Wilson Great to meet you and thanks for the inclusion! Good luck in 2023!