Let's look at a compilation of insights from NRF 2024, the global retail showcase that took place in New York from January 14th to 16th. This year the event came with the theme Make it Matter , translating literally, Make it Matter , or as some friends put it, How to Make Things Have Value .
The NRF is the global epicenter of trends, a catalyst for strategy. The Expo also takes place during the days, where various solutions for retail are presented. Some numbers from NRF 2024:
40,000 people participating in the NRF;
+6,200 brands represented at the event;
+100 countries - it is important to note that Brazil has been one of the largest delegations at the event;
+1,000 exhibitors at the Expo;
+450 speakers over the 3 days;
I was following some friends who were in person at the event and tried to compile the insights that were shared. Let’s look at the main themes of NRF 2024:
PEOPLE
Another year, the theme of creating CULTURE within companies, treating people well and making those within the organization feel so good that they pass it on to those outside the organization is highly valued. We need to understand that before talking about FIGITAL we have to remember that Retail is Physical, Human and Digital, in other words, PHIGITAL.
The people theme is always very strong in NRF editions, remembering how important it is to have the right people in the right places and the appreciation of TALENT within our companies.
In the 2023 NRF, Retail in the USA was experiencing serious problems in search of labor, I remember seeing friends Caio Camargo and Fred Alecrim display several WE HAVE VACANCIES signs in New York stores. Now in 2024, we have a totally different scenario, but of course, it's not a surprise. That's why it's important once again to treat PEOPLE with their TALENTs within retail. New York, as an example, today increased the salaries of those who work in retail by around 30%.
PEOPLE are the main ASSETS within companies!!!
AI
A really cool insight I saw from Gabriel, CEO of Intelliger
Each year the topic has gained more strength, AI has served to relieve people of repetitive tasks and, thus, optimize their work. In the case of retail, solutions need to be useful to the consumer and no longer pyrotechnics.
The tip seen in the talks for those thinking about developing solutions with AI is: Start small, do it quickly and develop simple things that are useful for the consumer.
The AI topic is very broad, there is a great possibility of things to be done, and we will see through the insights covered here.
Retail Media
The NRF comes with a strong Retail Media footprint, that is, the use of digitized spaces within retail to promote brands and the industry itself. Physical Retail is the new TV. A great opportunity to ATTRACT new REVENUE and help partners promote and convert products more.
We have a great opportunity here. Your spaces are worth money, we need to know how to monetize them in the best way. According to estimates, the market went from US$18 billion in 2022 to US$30 billion in 2023.
The Retail Media theme extends to much more than digital panels in stores, I will soon bring a new post focused on the topic, follow it here.
Automation
A subject that was talked about a lot during the NRF and with many solutions presented at the Expo. American Retail was concerned about the lack of labor seen last year and as a result the demand for automation grew. Many robots were being presented as solutions for warehousing and distribution.
Now, food retail is also going through this automation and we can see, not today but for some time, robots in coffee shops and pizzerias replacing PEOPLE.
Interesting is the CASE of the Bot Bater Coffe coffee shop in New York, it has a barista robot called Adam. The store is often visited to see what's new, this year friends Caio Camargo and Fred Alecrim from VarejoCast were visiting and when they spoke directly to Sammy Lee, owner of the store, about how business is going, he said: "I don't I sell coffee, I'm here to sell the robot"
He has been learning from the store and developing a new business model, where as a robot barista he will sell more of Adam's features, such as pizza maker and bartender.
The theme is really cool, the main idea is to make automation work with those repetitive tasks and let the Human work on what really matters. Once again, combine automation with Artificial Intelligence and we have a world of possibilities.
Consumer Experience
The topic has gained more and more prominence over the years, showing the importance of worrying about each experience your customer will have within your physical and digital store. Lee Peterson brought up in his talk about Varejo Raiz how much customers don't value retail due to the lack of emotion and then the questions arise: What makes your customer leave their home for your store? What emotion will he experience inside your store?
This point draws a little from the 2023 theme of Back to Basics, the return of Retail to Basics and we can see the Physical Store theme being talked about a lot at the NRF. We need to bring to the store an experience that impacts the consumer, that really makes them leave the house to live this experience.
Let's also remember that the same emotion and experience needs to be seen on Digital. Online shoppers expect much more from e-commerce experiences. They are looking for a more intuitive and personified website for them. At this point, the use of Data and Technology, such as AI, can help a lot.
Now, talking about the Journey, we need to pay close attention to Generation Z, and here it is worth an insight from Kate Ancketill's talk, one of the most talked about NRF talks among the people I followed for this survey.
"While you've been busy thinking about your omnichannel, generation Z has always been app first, lives and spends the equivalent of Iceland's GDP on TikTok and has embraced Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for a long time"
Generation Z in 2030 will represent, together with Generation Alpha, 50% of the world's population, in less than 10 years they will have greater purchasing power than Millennials and Boomers combined. The TikTok Economy, as has been said, social platforms growing alongside authentic retailers.
Live Commerce is a big bet as a trend in retail and it brings a totally different experience to the consumer.
The End of the Era of Waste
One of the trends in 2024 for digital consumption is the end of the era of waste, favoring the Circular Economy in the world. ReCommerce 2.0 comes with the concern of continuous digitalization with a great concern for sustainability.
Recommerce is reverse commerce, the sale of previously owned products, new or used. Generation Z has been dictating growth a lot, as they want to save money to use their money for other things.
We need to stop being a Consumer and become a Keeper , that is, everything I buy I will use with utmost care and then pass it on or sell it to someone else.
This topic has been growing a lot within Brazil, we can see several cases such as the Cresci Perdi stores that have been gaining prominence in recent months. Now, once again I will use the insights of Caio and Fred who visited the Nudie Jeans store in New York. Nudie has been working with some cool strategies to help consumers become keepers, examples:
Lifetime fit guarantee: the customer who buys your jeans can go to the store whenever they want and have their clothes adjusted.
Discount when purchasing a new one: customers who bring a used Nudie piece, in good condition, will have a 20% discount on a new piece. Nudie takes this used piece, adjusts it as necessary and offers it for sale as a RESALE .
Here are some retail terms that we are starting to see in stores:
ReSale - a sale of an already used product
PreOned - a product that was parked and is now being sold
PreLoved - that product that has already been loved by someone, pre-loved, and is looking for new love.
Here are some more terms seen during the NRF and which will certainly appear throughout this year in content and lectures from many people.
Shrinkage - The term comes from shrinkage , but is being used in several solutions proposed during the Expo, raising the issue regarding loss of money due to theft, administrative errors and product expiration dates. In other words, we are talking about more accurate inventory management and category management within retail.
Composable - No longer MultiCanal or OminiChannel, no longer UniFied Commerce. Now everything is Composable Marketing, Composable Experience, Composable Commerce, Composable Modular or combinable, in other words, it's the same thing, but with a new term that enters the market.
Revamped Returns - Create a hassle-free purchase returns experience. However, here is an insight from Edmour Saiani: Shouldn't we worry first about not having returns?
Power By AI - Everything powered by Artificial Intelligence. We don't even need to say much, because it's already everywhere.
Finally, I will leave here the friends I followed during these days to collect all this content. You will be able to find a lot of NRF content on each profile.
Caio Camargo - Varejocast Host
Edmour Saiani - CEO of Ponto de Reference
Elifas de Vargas - Creative Marketing Host
Fernanda Dalben - Marketing Director at Rede Dalben
Fred Alecrim - Varejocast Host
Jorge Inafuco - Managing Partner at LeaderLabs
Tiago Mello - Marketing Director at Stone
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