NRF 2019

NRF’s annual Big Show was overwhelming, as the Worlds’ largest winter retail event should be. Over 40,000 attendees, including 700 exhibitors and more than 200 sessions — the equivalent of over than 100 hours of content, notes Retail Info Systems.

TrueCommerce was there in force, with Ross Elliott, our president, and Haitham Ghadiry, senior vice president, sales and marketing, at the helm of our booth #1531. Although talking with customers and prospect required undivided attention, we still had time to look around.

Some takes:

1. Traditional retail is very much alive. Many of our major trading partners were there in force, attracting huge traffic. Even Amazon, the online retail king, showcases brick-and-mortar options, along with web-based capabilities.
2. Technology is everywhere. In fact, if you look from our Bronze Sponsors row, it is a technology of retail event, rather than retail plus technology show. A recent IDC prediction says that this year “50% of retailers will plan to implement a digital “core” platform by year-end 2019, which will enable faster innovation, continuously utilizing insights to drive intelligent actions.” Right on the mark — this was obvious at Big Show.
3. Omnichannel is becoming omnipresent. I really like the way Forbes contributor Daniel Newman worded it in his event story Top Five Digital Transformation Trends At NRF 2019: “2019 will bring us significantly closer to the types of seamless omnichannel experiences that retailers like Starbucks and Capital One have been dying to deliver for their customers for nearly a decade.”

It was encouraging to see that the industry media is noticing TrueCommerce riding this wave. The Retail Info Systems editors dedicated a special section of their event report to our recent customer win, finding it a compelling trend illustration. Specialty retailer Lolli and Pops, notes the story Best of NRF 2019: Top 10 Takeaways, has adopted TrueCommerce‘s OneTime supplier enablement solution to power new omnichannel initiatives. “The platform, integrated with Oracle Fusion and NCR Counterpoint business systems, will help Lolli and Pops expand relationships with suppliers and leading wholesalers,” says the article.

In fact, booth #1531 enjoyed healthy media and analyst attention (the fact that we were recently recognized by IDC as a MarketScape Leader, and by Gartner a Magic Quadrant Challenger helped a lot). We spoke with MSDynamicsWorld.com, Supply Chain Magazine, Internet Retailing Media, Gartner, IDC, Forrester and other firms.

Looking forward to their fresh takes on the event and our strategy!