NRF 2023: 7 insights from the biggest retail show in the world

After three years in an online or reduced format, the biggest global retail event is back in great style. From January 14 to 19, NRF 2023 Retail’s Big Show featured over 180 panels and brought together nearly a thousand exhibitors around top trends in the retail industry.

We were happy not only about attending that great show, but also being part of the BTR-Varese committee and exchanging a number of ideas with industry experts about some of the trends seen at NRF 2023.

In this article, we’ll share the top insights from that great immersion in the future of retailcompany. Check it out!

7 insights from NRF 2023

Based on the insights from our team at the event and the content shared BTR-Varese by after NRF, we’ve gathered the most relevant topics that should drive retail in Latin America below.

1. Entertainment in retail

The future of the physical store is a recurring subject among retail trends that figure on the NRF agenda. And this year was no different: much was said about the need for a point of sale that is more focused on the consumer's experience.

Therefore, Retailtainment—the strategy of combining physical and digital experiences in order to build a retail experience that is also entertaining – was a recurring concept at NRF 2023.

This approach was at the heart of the talk with Martin Urrutia Isla, Global Head of Retail Experience at LEGO. The executive spoke about the need to develop new experiences and platforms that engage buyers and consumers at different retail touchpoints. LEGOLAND – the brand's chain of theme parks – is an example of this connection with entertainment.

Read also | Open X: What’s next after Open Finance? 

Learn more about the brand experience promoted by LEO in this video:

2. Frictionless retail

Frictionless retailing, or frictionless retail, goes through the idea that the purchase process in the physical store needs to be as practical as in e-commerce. The strategy, therefore, involves self-checkout, payment by biometrics and other features that simplify the customer experience.

According to Alberto Serrentino, at Varese Retail, streamlining the journey at a brick-and-mortar store is important for various aspects in order to offer a frictionless experience.

"Reinventing the store means to rethink the business, redefining indicators, management model and organizational design. It impacts on the layout, merchandising, customer service and embedded technology supporting operational processes at brick-and-mortar stores”, he says.

An often-cited example of frictionless retailing is the Amazon Go Store is a frictionless retail example, which is very popular in the industry, whereas we also have a success case that is very interesting in Brazil: Learn about Muffato GO:

3. Web 3.0 turn in the NRF 2023 agenda

While the metaverse was the ‘hot topic’ at NRF Retail's Big Show last year, it was Web XNUMX turn to take the spotlight.

In addition to the possibility of increasingly interactive trading platforms, much has been said about the power of blockchain – one of the main characteristics of Web 3.0 – of enhance security for online transactions and pave the way for greater flow of cryptocurrencies.

This third wave of the Internet is part of a variety of emerging technologies that are becoming more accessible and popular each year. In that context, we can’t leave out technologies such as RFID and Computer Visions and their impact on retail.

At the same time, the metaverse shouldn’t be overlooked, no matter if it is still maturing. A lot of interesting things are under production and development, so companies in the industry need to keep a close eye on potential opportunities.

Read also | Crypto as a Service: Engine to unlock financial solutions for cryptocurrencies? 

4. 3D Commerce

There is a new way to go digital shopping, and that revolution revolves around 3D Commerce. This strategy consists of transforming traditional e-commerce by providing interactive images for products, shown in three dimensions.

According to Eduardo Terra, from BTR Educação e Consultoria, it is a more viable agenda than the metaverse, which is capable of significantly improving conversion rates.

When analyzing that trend addressed at NRF 2023, Terra mentioned the Alpha 3D study, which shows that 61% of consumers in the US prefer to buy from brands offering Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) resources.

Learn about 3D Commerce examples in this video showing experiences for brands like Amazon and GAP:

5. Digital First

In order to build a real connection with consumers, retail needs to be ‘Digital First’. That approach has been mentioned, for instance, in talks with the CEO at Saks OFF 5th Paige Thomas and the CEO at Macy’s Jeff Gennettee.

Going beyond the concept of ‘having to adapt to the digital’, today it has evolved to ‘going digital whenever possible’. That means taking advantage of all opportunities: everything that can be done digitally should be a priority.

At Macy’s, for instance, the pandemic drove potential for that strategy. The company took a solid bet on the use of data to learn even more about their customer behavior during a phase that was totally unexpected and new. From there, they managed to tailor their digital space to their user preferences.

In the same context, Saks OFF 5th bets on a retail industry that is willing to understand and identify customer behavior by leveraging digital channels, and then designing an improved experience to serve those customers.

Read also | Open Data: Is it the future for Open Finance?

6. The search for purpose

Growing at any cost is no longer an option. It is increasingly necessary to think of a retail industry that adds value to society.

Among the companies properly addressing that issue at NRF 2023, we see Chobani, a yogurt brand that took on the mission of including refugees in their workforce.

Phil Wahba, from Fortune Magazine, discusses with Hamdi Ulukaya, from Chobani, the positive impact of having refugees as company associates.

Another panel shedding light on purposeful retail included Hollister, a clothing brand, which highlighted their great experience with an empowering program for their younger audiences.

While also reinforcing the consensus that retail needs to work for a better society, it was clear that such work needs to be done in a simpler manner.

That means it is time to come up with streamlined strategies that have a practical effect. According to the CEO at Dock Antonio Soares, the Brazilian retail industry have managed to play that role very well when it comes to financial service access.

"Retail in Brazil plays an important role in promoting the Financial inclusion. Much of the credit granted today in the country comes from retailers' portfolios. THEcreditmuch in retail assuming its leading role and creating more and more financial products that are more sustainable”, analyzed Antonio.

7. A new moment for retail

The challenges the retail industry have faced in the past few years, such as the pandemic, the high inflation and the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, set the tone of the panel featuring John Furner, the CEO at Walmart and board chair at NRF.

Although it is a more promising outlook than two years ago, with signs of economic recovery in some countries, the scenario is still very uncertain for retailers. So, there was a lot of talk at NRF 2023 at a time of reorganization, aimed at a more tactical agenda, focusing on fundamentals and short-term actions.

However, there must be a balance, since what lies ahead, on the long term, can’t be avoided. Therefore, it is essential to keep incorporating the innovations required for your business so that you don’t risk becoming an obsolete company and losing your edge.

In order to provide a better understanding of how companies are operating in an era of great uncertainty, we suggest a reading shared by Dock with the BTR-Varese committee: the book "CEO Excellence” is a result from a study conducted by McKinsey, which identified a group of CEOs whose companies evidently became healthier during their administration.

Read also | Buy Now, Pay Later: a model with huge potential in Latin America. And opportunities for your business!

Back from NRF 2023: Expectations on a more coopetitive retail

Back from NRF 2023, we were excited about the activities resumed in global retail and all the learning we’ve brought from there. Also, we were obviously very happy about being part of the BTR-Varese committee once again and conducting a great exchange of experiences with leading representatives in the Brazilian retail industry.

It was so great to see the way that emerging technologies keep building the future of retail along with an agenda around organizational culture and ESG. Now we’re even more motivated to develop solutions enabling a more purposeful retail, which produces positive results for society as a whole.

And that certainly implies in a more coopetitive industry, combining collaboration and competition to deliver better solutions , which contribute to advances in the industry and true financial inclusion.

Learn more about how we drive businesses to achieve anything they want by leveraging our platform Dock One: 

NRF 2023 insights: what you saw in this article

• From January 14 to 19, NRF 2023 Retail’s Big Show featured over 180 panels and brought together nearly a thousand exhibitors around top trends in the retail industry.
• Retailtainment—the strategy which consists of combining physical and digital experiences in order to build a retail that is also entertaining—was a recurring concept at NRF 2023.
• Another important topic at NRF 2023 was frictionless retail, which relies on a purchasing process that is as convenient as it is in e-commerce. The strategy goes through self-checkout, biometric payment and other resources streamlining the customer experience.
• Apart from talks about a commerce platform increasingly interactive, there were a lot of discussions around the power of blockchain—a key feature in Web 2023—in expanding security for online transactions and leading the way to a higher cryptocurrency flow.
• Growing at any cost is no longer an option. It is increasingly necessary to think of a retail industry that adds value to society, which implies in increasingly more retailers taking the main role and building more sustainable financial products.

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