Mobile and eCommerce Insights from The National Retail Federation’s Big Show – Dan Hodges

The National Retail Federation’s Big Show was held in New York City in mid-January. A record 32,000 people attended. The annual event – at which retailers gather to network, share innovation ideas and discuss the future -- attracts industry executives from around the world.

The mobile breakout sessions at the Big Show offered attendees a unique view of mobile’s role in the new retail experience. I moderated “Mastering the Technological Mobile Roadmap on the New Customer Journey.” Our panel was focused on answering the question, How do you prioritize reaching shoppers and making an impact on them wherever they are?

“Change must occur if retailers are to remain innovative,” offered Faisal Masud, Executive Vice President, Global E-Commerce at Staples. “It’s the structural challenges in retail that prohibit retailers to grow in the omnichannel sense.”

Ryan Craver, former Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Lord & Taylor, spoke about overall industry disruption and how retail must respond. “Anyone in this room has infinite computing power at their fingertips,” Craver told attendees. “We all have the ability to share, consume and create content in different ways.”

Frank Zimmerman, CEO of arvato Systems North America said, “Retailers need to focus on simplification, both of their internal structures and as it relates to consumers in terms of simplifying the buying, browsing and researching process. Simplification will definitely be something important, and mobile can help with that.”

Julie Ask, Vice President, Principal Analyst at Forrester and John Hazen, Vice President, Omnichannel Commerce & Digital Innovation at True Religion Apparel discussed how using mobile moments and proximity targeting can influence and drive retail sales.

One of the highlights of the event for me was “Design and the Future of Retail,” a panel moderated by Gillian Tett, U.S. Managing Editor of the Financial Times. A distinguished group of industry experts provided their thoughts on the subject of design:

Debbie Kiederer, Founder of ChalkDust Consulting and one of Luxury Daily's 2015 Women to Watch in the luxury industry, was one of the featured speakers. Kiederer’s key takeaways regarding design were:

1) “Design isn't just about pretty, it's about function and form.”
2) “Retailers should view a consumer-driven versus dictatorial approach as the key to omni-channel success.”
3) “Take calculated risks -- don’t be paralyzed by fear or confusion.”

Billy May, Group Vice President, eCommerce, Digital and Direct-to-Consumer at Abercrombie and Fitch, offered these thoughts:

1) “Understand the customer journey and focus on solving pain points knowing the ‘use’ case will evolve.”
2) “Mobile isn't a channel; it's an experience strategy, and one that requires cross-functional support and buy-in.”
3) “Start small, focus on iterative development, and ensure there's a measurement plan.”

Richard Ting, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Experience Officer at R/GA, said the following were of special importance:

1) The Holistic Customer Journey. “When designing for commerce, think about the holistic customer journey and not just a website experience, or a mobile app experience, or a retail experience. Weave together a customer journey for commerce that integrates every touch point as well as the before, during and after moments of a transaction.”
2) Audience Segmentation. “Gain a deeper understanding of your customer and develop logical audience segments so that you can serve each segment with more personalized and valuable content, offers, deals and experiences.”
3) Create Value. “Only develop commerce experiences across the customer journey that make a consumer's life better, easier and more efficient.”

I would highly recommend The NRF’s Big Show for anyone who wants to understand the dynamically changing customer journey. The selection of the topics and the featured speakers make this a must attend event for anyone who wants to understand the future of retail.

Dan Hodges is CEO and Founder, Consumers in Motion LLC. He can be reached at dan@consumersinmotion.com

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