Every year in January the NRF Retail’s Big Show, The grand Mass of Retail & Distribution in New York. At the Retailers, It is the place to be to get ahead of the curve and discover the industry’s major trends for the coming year.
For the 2022 edition from January 16 to 18, our special envoy and retail expert Raphaël Kattan you made it living in real time from New York the leading trends, phygital innovations and new consumer expectations.
Here is a «sneak preview» of the trends and issues to watch in retail in the coming months, through 12 concepts and key words. For a more complete overview, don't miss our NRF 2022 retail webinar !
This year, fewer participants (15,000 instead of the usual 40,000), very few exhibitors and representatives of French Tech... but conversely, many great bosses and quality stakeholders They brought their vision to the conferences, such as Brian Cornell from Target, John Furner from Walmart, Arvind Krishna from IBM, Marvin Ellisson from Lowe’s and many others.
DAY 1 |Sunday 16 January 2022
The day in 4 key words: optimism, agility, well-being, supply chain
1. OPTIMISM
Despite a rather gloomy and anxiety-inducing context linked to the Covid pandemic, the shortage of products and raw materials, the lack of workforce, especially in stores, inflation, etc., our American friends are optimistic… A mindset that we should draw inspiration from in France to see things from a positive perspective – without masking the difficulties – and seek growth!
2. SPEED
Agility, flexibility, adaptability are words that keep coming up at NRF 2022. Most major retailers have managed to adapt very quickly and plan to continue this year!
To illustrate this agility, the boss of Chewy It recommends questioning the evolution of consumer wishes every 60 days (!) and reinventing oneself at that bi-monthly frequency, while keeping the long-term goals in mind.
3. BEING WELL (serving performance)
« Business is business«And Steeve Williams, CEO of PepsiCo, He clearly reminds us that while it is good and important to take care of our employees, this is always done with the goal of improving performance and serving the company. business model : « We don’t have a business model without healthy people ».
4. SUPPLY CHAIN
The star of the year is undoubtedly the supply chain. Logistics and supply chain professionals are the backbone of retail From tomorrow. The challenges and opportunities of successfully supplying products to stores with high-traffic volumes promise a dynamic future for this sector! Let’s keep an eye on what the stores will implement this year to supply the retail outlets.
DAY 2 |Monday, January 17, 2022
The day in 4 key words: humility, psychology, dissonance, metaverse
1. HUMILITY
In these uncertain times, no one takes the risk of predicting what will happen in the coming months. For Vivek Sankaran, President and CEO of American supermarkets Albertsons, « This is the first time we can see more clearly what could happen in 2030 than in the coming months » !
It is also worth noting, to emphasize the sense of humility that is taking hold, the dominance of the «we» rather than the «I» among the major players in the retail sector. We realize that performance is collective…
Finally, humility for Corie Barry, CEO of electronics stores Best Buy, which recognizes that until today, omnichannel was in practice more of a «dual channel» (e-commerce OR offline).
2. PSYCHOLOGY (from the consumer)
Putting the consumer at the center is not a new concept in retail… but what matters today is understanding the psychological state of consumers in a volatile and uncertain context that can change from one day to the next. The number one priority in these troubled times is to serve the consumer and put them at the center of their concerns, rather than at the center of a data-driven marketing automation system.
3. DISSONANCES (between vision and execution)
Between the beautiful rhetoric and reality, there can be a gap, and some stores would do well to take a tour of their stores:
- Within the NRF itself, for example, one corner offered purchases with the «technology" just walk out »Amazon’s “scan and pay” service allows you to shop freely without going to the checkout, simply by scanning a QR code at the entrance of the store; this technology is smooth and perfect when everything works… but on January 17th, our special correspondent had to use his credit card to pay at the checkout, and type on a tablet full of germs to enter his email address and receive the ticket!
- A bad experience also at the famous Apple Store in New York: from the moment you enter, a rather unhelpful security guard, and then a salesperson inside, make you understand that if you are not there to buy, you can leave… a blatant example of poor communication in the context of the current health restrictions, for an unforgettable consumer experience!
4. METAVERS
Talking about a virtual and fictional world still makes one smile a little, but many are already interested in it, judging by the number of participants at conferences on the topic of metaverses and other NFTs (an acronym for the English « non-fungible token »non-fungible token). Although skepticism still prevails and it is prudent not to rush into things, some leaders like Patrice Louvet, President and CEO of Ralph Lauren believes in this idea and is already imagining dressing avatars with polo shirt-branded clothing.
DAY 3 |Tuesday 18 January 2022
The day in 4 key words: sustainability, talents, leadership, Technology
1. SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable development (sustainability) is undoubtedly the most important topic after taking care of customers and employees. In the future, companies have no choice but to rely on sustainable development to… endure. We are witnessing the same phenomenon as with digital technology a few years ago.
At a conference, Javier Quiñones, CEO and CSO at IKEA US, emphasized the importance of instilling a culture of sustainable development within the company. He advocates having a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) within the Codir, which puts pressure on all issues, and to bring convinced leaders on sustainability issues into the management committees. Finally, he advises having both « a long-term vision and short-term actions to avoid falling asleep and ensuring that the subjects progress » (the story does not say whether he already knows the OKR method).
2. TALENTS (this is war)
In the USA, and probably soon in France, there is a real challenge of manpower and talent to run the stores: sales people, warehouse workers, but also developers, employees committed to CSR, etc. The war is not just about wages; we also need to offer them meaning and prospects: train them, help them grow, and even possibly offer them a career for life within the group. Thus, the chain of stores Macy’s attracts and retains its best talent by offering degree programs (MBA, schools, university degrees…).
3. LEADERSHIP
The transformation of retail brands and, more generally, of companies will come through managers who embody leadership. Carla Harris, VP of the bank Morgan Stanley, describes in a very convincing way the 8 precepts of the true leader: embodying authenticity, creating a climate of trust, bringing clarity, developing other leaders to amplify their actions, supporting diversity to create innovation, developing feedback, To show audacity and courage… We will certainly return to this very inspiring vision!
4. TECHNOLOGY (nothing new…)
In terms of new technologies, there are few new developments… except for an acceleration in robotics with the automation of warehouses, exoskeletons, etc. Admittedly, there is a lot of talk about Blockchain, Metaverse, NFTs, but these technologies are not new anymore. As for data, nothing new either… The time is now for action and it is time to move from vision to execution by actually integrating the latest technologies, using the new tools effectively, applying the new methods truly, and properly implementing the transformations.
So, in a few concepts and key words, here is an overview of the major trends discovered at the NRF Retail’s Big Show. The year 2022 undoubtedly still holds surprises in store… but the main directions have already been announced. For a more complete overview of the key issues in the coming months, request now the replay of our NRF 2022 retail webinar !
Raphaël Kattan, senior account manager and Associate Advisor at talenco, is a retail specialist and special envoy of our team at the NRF Retail’s Big Show in New York since 2016.
Raphaël works with brands such as Camaïeu, Carrefour, celio, Intersport, Auchan, Leroy Merlin, Make Up For Ever, Nocibé, Sephora, Coopérative U…
Retail webinar «NRF 2022: The debrief»
The best of the trends in 60 minutes
