NRF: Retail’s Big Show 2024 Takeaways

This year’s NRF (National Retail Federation) Big Show once again lived up to its reputation of being BIG:

- 40,000 attendees from 75 countries at New York’s Javits Center from January 14th-16th

- 300,000 square feet (28,000 square meters) of exhibition space

- Keynotes from major retailers like John Furner, U.S. CEO of Walmart, and marquee stars like Drew Barrymore and Magic Johnson

VML Intelligence was there— walking the halls, absorbing the keynotes, hosting events and getting hands on with the tech. AI was the headline act, Retail Media was the supporting star and innovation was the feature player.

We’ve compiled some of the key highlights and takeaways, with thanks to input from VML attendees - Beth Ann Kaminkow, Josie Klafkowska, Todd Hudgens, WPP BAV’s David Roth and more.

#1 AI Baked into Retail

VML and WPP attendees at the NRF Big Show all agreed that “This is the year of AI.” (As VML Intelligence reported, AI was also ubiquitous at CES— the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.)

AI is quickly becoming a fundamental ingredient in retail and commerce— both front and back-end— in intelligent store applications, all aspects of digital, and through to supply chain and CPG manufacturing.

And while machine learning is not new, we now have interfaces that make it more accessible and useful. "We are at a major inflection point," said Beth Ann Kaminkow. A big discussion point at NRF was using AI to scale personalization and hyper personalization. Microsoft’s introduction of new AI-driven features of its Azure OpenAi Service was one of the big announcements of the week, bringing generative AI capability to elevate the overall shopping experience.

NRF brought this personalization to life with its AI-generated virtual assistants on screens (from start-up bitHuman), trained to answer questions from NRF attendees about all aspects of the Big Show.

NRF attendees interact with a bit Human AI generated virtual assistant — NRF attendees interact with a bitHuman AI-generated virtual assistant

#2 Connected Commerce Collaboration and Composable Tech Stacks

We are in a collaborative era. VML is a member of the MACH Alliance (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless). MACH technologies support composable tech stacks from best-of-breed suppliers, in which components are pluggable, scalable and replaceable. They can be continually improved or replaced to meet changing business requirements and better connect the customer journey.

While VML has been building composable solutions for over 10 years, the MACH Alliance is young and growing and was well represented at NRF by its members at the MACH Haus. The idea of composable tech stacks is, in itself, a partnership play. We saw it playout at the MACH Haus and elsewhere at NRF - whether that is between brands and creators, tech vendors and agencies or in new alliances between tech vendors. Notably, our tech partners are teaming up more and more with other vendors to provide better solutions and make the most of what AI can offer across those solutions.

Unified commerce was a major theme at NRF 2024. Image courtesy of David Roth

#3 Reducing Tech Costs Accelerate the Innovation Pipeline

VML and WPP attendees at NRF were not struck necessarily by brand new, breakthrough tech, but instead by how existing solutions were now being scaled because they have become readily affordable.

One example is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). RFID dates back 40 years, but it’s having its moment now. It could be a gamechanger in tracking what goes into shoppers’ baskets and enabling seamless checkout. For example, UNIQLO has implemented RFID checkout to allow shoppers to pay automatically by simply dropping their purchases into bins on exit. Additionally, BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) also seem to be taking off, now that costs have come down and is enabling retailers and receivers to keep track of everything from manufacturing to returns and recycling.

The use of robots is also rocketing, and one of the stars of NRF was Apollo, a humanoid robot. Designed by Austin-based tech startup Apptronik, Apollo has been making its rounds on the event circuit. While attendees were able to pop in the NRF Innovation Lab for a selfie with Apollo, the real highlight of this five-plus foot robot is its potential within the logistics and manufacturing industries.

Apollo a general purpose humanoid robot from Apptronik was featured in NRFs Innovation Lab — Apollo, a general purpose humanoid robot from Apptronik was featured in NRF’s Innovation Lab

#4 Experience Starts at the Store

As Beth Ann Kaminkow wrote about NRF in Forbes “the store is the epicenter of commerce. Rising generations (Gen Z and Alpha) love brick and mortar because of the brand experience and engagement that stores deliver.” H&M’s Linda Li agreed, sharing in a keynote that the GenZ customer “actually prefers to shop in stores”. But it’s not just about the acquisition, instead, retailers and brands are curators of experiences and the demand is only growing.

VML brought this concept to life in partnership with WPP at the Tiffany landmark store on Fifth Avenue. At an exclusive brand marketer experience, guests were taken on a tour of the flagship location. With its exceptional attention to detail and focus on the personalized customer journey, the store is an experience in itself.

But physical stores also play a central part in a retailer’s ecosystem as the hub of retail media networks and in fulfilment— such as Buy Online Pickup In Store. NRF proved it’s not just theatrics, the “smarts” in stores are just as critical in terms of matching online for targeting and trackability. The future rests in how you connect and deliver data-driven experiences across the omnichannel journey from physical to social, and everything in between.

Tiffany Landmark Store 5th Ave New York — Tiffany Landmark Store, 5th Ave New York

#5 Retail Media is More than a Story, it’s a Blockbuster

NRF devoted a full day to retail media and the room was packed (which speaks volumes to the interest in this area).

Beth Ann Kaminkow joined Albertson Media Collective, Evan Hovorka and Andy Murray to explore the total store communication architecture. Calling the retail store a “canvas to create on” the full funnel evolution is enabling both 1-to-1 and 1-to-many communication benefits with creativity a key differentiator in engaging audiences.

We are witnessing the boom of retail media with its ability to help brands tie an impression to a SKU-level sale. New retail media networks seem to be popping up every day, because, to quote Beth Ann “anyone with an audience is realizing they are in the ‘attention monetization business.’”

As reported by WARC, retail media will overtake linear TV within a few years, and spend in the U.S. is expected to increase 23% this year. One of the strengths of retail media is the increasing intelligence of in-store technology, which is more able to recognize shopper types and customize messaging. But it goes beyond its targeting capabilities. We predict this will be the year of “the store as medium”, with creativity the real superpower in both marketing and shopper marketing communications success.

VML on the NRF Stage and in Forbes

Since our partnerships are key to us enabling our clients to create world-class commerce experiences, we teamed up with them for some fantastic satellite events at NRF. BigCommerce and Vercel made our WPP Breakfast at Tiffany experience possible; we joined Shopify at Soho House for an inspirational fireside chat; Salesforce was our co-host for an ‘ask the expert’ session at the Porchlight and we teamed up with Stripe and Contentful for a podcast at the MACH Haus to answer the question on everyone’s lips at NRF, “How do I stop my customers from checking out before they check out?”. Finally, we were the sponsor at VTEX’s fantastic Connects event, featuring Magic Johnson. You can read more about those events here.

You can also read more on VML at NRF in Forbes - as Beth Ann summarizes her 6 Marketing Truths from what stood out at NRF, as well as January’s other major show, CES (the Consumer Electronics Show).

Launched at NRF: World’s Most Influential Retail Brands

WPP BAV launched the latest edition of a report about the “world’s most influential retail brands” at this year’s NRF.

Created in collaboration with VML, the report not only reveals the most influential retailers globally (as well as for Latin America, North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific), but also includes commentary from VML experts across the world.

Download your copy of the “World’s Most Influential Retail Brands” here.