The National Retail Federation (NRF) and ICR Conferences in January are two of the most important conferences serving the retail industry. The NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association. This year’s annual conference, “Accelerate,” was an in-person event. ICR is one of the leading strategic communications and advisory firms in the United States with a heritage in the retail industry. Its annual conference, held virtually this year because of pandemic concerns, is designed for — and limited to — the investment community.
In a recent Retail Marketing Society webinar, four Retail Market Society (RMS) members provided attendees with a recap of some of the highlights from these two events.
Five Trends that Matter
“Despite supply chain issues and Omicron, attendees at both NRF and ICR were surprisingly upbeat,” observed Jan Rogers Kniffen, J. Rogers Kniffen WWE. There was also no consensus as to when the higher cost of goods might subside. In part, that’s because no one thinks labor costs will subside. Normalization is at least six months away.
Kniffen identified these five key trends:
1) Safety is defined by both the customer and the associate.
2) Convenience defined by the customer, i.e. in store pickup or curbside pickup on items that could be delivered tomorrow.
3) Fulfill the digital experiential expectations. That’s the magic.
4) Employee associates are in control, so just live with it. Make sure the people in your organization know you’re not only empathetic but that you’re there for them, and you’re putting your money where your mouth is.
5) Data, data, data — it’s the new currency.
Changing Selling Models
Marie Driscoll, Coresight Research, observed that control has gone back to the human element: Workers are really making a difference, and retailers are listening to them and to the consumer. Additionally, COVID-19 was an “off switch.” As we come back, there’s no “on switch;” therefore, the comeback will be gradual. Driscoll also predicted that consumers will switch from buying products to planning vacations.
How stores do business is changing in many ways. Live streaming is not a tool; it’s a platform. V-commerce will be the new e-commerce. Retailers should not drag their feet about this because it will be adopted more quickly than e-commerce was. And the pandemic has also changed the promotional level. Markdowns are a good example of this change, as retailers are no longer going to offer 25% to 50% to 70% off. Forty percent seems to be it.
Advances in Technology Are Key
Robert Salerno, consultant and adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), noted that foreign attendance was up at NRF, while U.S. attendance was down. Other countries — he particularly cited retailers from Great Britain, Australia, France, Chile, Mexico and Ecuador — see the United States market as very innovative, particularly on the grocery level, which is a change from even a few years ago.
Salerno’s second takeaway was the number of exhibitors and conversations surrounding technology. That part of the industry is still trying to develop ways to make the online experience equal to the human touch or somehow try to leverage the store staff. Communication is key to every part of the process — from the greet- ing to the checkout and everything in between — and will aid to tying a store’s staff to the consumer’s purchase journey.
Smaller Companies Are Rising to the Challenges
Faye Landes, Landes Advisors, pointed out that, “Although it is still a challenge for them, when it comes to supply chain issues, smaller companies can adapt better than larger ones. It is often easier for them to move orders around. They may be sourcing domestically, and they are not dealing with massive quantities. Smaller companies have an opportunity to carve out a lot of market share and growth, in effect, taking it away from the bigger companies.”
She also shared some comments on the cur- rent apparel climate. “If people are buying clothes, they want fashion at this point. They’ve been wearing basics for a long time, and they’ve gotten bored. Shoes, surprisingly, are selling really well,” she said.
And several of the participants brought up an observation by John Furner, CEO, Walmart, U.S.: “Loyalty is just the absence of anything better.”
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