This document summarizes key issues and trends from the 2017 National Retail Federation conference. The main topics discussed include authenticity and consistency in branding, the importance of social media and analytics, focusing on local communities, improving the associate experience, creating an omnichannel shopping experience, personalization, and making retail more personality-driven. Authenticity, transparency, and building trust with customers are emphasized as important strategies for retailers.

1. Andrea Puerari #NRF17
A selec'on of main issues and trends from
Retail's Big Show 2017

2. AUTHENTICITY ONLY THROUGH CONSISTENCY
SOCIAL MEDIA & ANALYTICS
LOCAL COMMUNITY: RETAIL IS LOCAL
ASSOCIATE EXPERIENCE
OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE
• PERSONALIZATION
• MAKING RETAIL WITH PERSONALITY

3. AUTHENTICITY ONLY
THROUGH CONSISTENCY

4. It’s not about how many followers a poten'al influencer has,
it’s about whether or not your brand will resonate with their
audience;
Before working with an influencer, define your own goals to
make sure that person is a fit for your brand;
Authen'city is crucial: Let influencers have some crea've
power because they know their audience best;
The most effec've brands are the ones that create a human
rela'onship with a consumer and empower your employees
to become brand ambassadors, or influencers, for your
company.
Social And The Art Of The Influencer
h#p://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/news-briefs/nrf17-sessions-the-benefits-of-radical-retailing

5. it is that no maOer which technologies a retailer chooses to
engage customers, it's essen'al to first establish trust and
authen'city, by building an authen'c, tribal culture for brands.
authen'city, personaliza'on, and the need to make customers
feel as though they are part of a tribal experience
A brand is ‘authen'c’ when it loudly and openly ar'culates its
unique point of view (point of difference) and values with a
strong level of commitment and consistency.”
connect consumers with a sense of shared values, purpose and
iden'ty.
Create A 'Tribal Culture'
of Brand Authen'city

6. Authen'city
TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY REQUIRE EXTRA EFFORT
Transparency is essenNal to earning and maintaining
customers’ trusT; his openness is especially valuable for
a#racNng Millennial customers.
These consumers, an increasingly important segment for
retailers, “expect transparency, and are more likely to trust
companies that are honest about their social responsibility
efforts,”

7. Fonte: h#ps://medium.com/nrf-events/influencing-authenNcity-8169537a6d0c#.9kjbl8yd8
Lars Petersson, president at IKEA
U.S. Christopher Gavigan, co-founder of The Honest Company
CULTIVATING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
IKEA’s goal of transforming its stores into valuable community members.
“It’s very important to us that our stores are good neighbors in their local
communiNes,” Petersson says. “
Together, community-focused engagement, transparency and a consistent
commitment to acNng on core values create a comprehensive appeal for
socially conscious consumers.
Consumers have used social for authenNcity and relaNonship on an
individual basis, so they now expect brands to do the sameInfluencers can
help.
Authen'city

8. Don’t talk about your product, talk about its purpose
Consistency and commitment are vital,
be accountable for what you're doing;,
transparency is cri'cal for consumers
your standard will help you stand apart and try to create a
beOer everyday life for everyone.
h#p://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/news-briefs/nrf17-sessions-the-benefits-of-radical-retailing
Authen'city

9. In order to create a memorable shopping experience,
it’s crucial to optimize and create new relationships
to engage a shopper’s visit to store or site.
AUTHENTIC
STORIES
brand stories with
emotional power
+ =
MEMORABLE
EXPERIENCES
branded moments
of delight
SIGNATURE
MOMENTS OF
DELIGHT
make stories
memorable and
experiences unique

10. SOCIAL MEDIA & ANALYTICS

11. Social Media to Make Smarter Decisions
Consumers are looking for experience
and personalisaNon
Experience needs to be tailored to the
local community and individuals to
ensure conNnued relevance

12. Consumers wield more power and influence than ever,
and retailers that listen and engage can find opportuni'es
for business growth.
“We view social as the ‘reality department,'" said Panus.
“It’s not informa'on you can make up. There’s complete
transparency because the customer is telling us what they
think in real 'me every day.”
Sarah Panus, Senior Manager of Social, SEO for Select Comfort,
Social Media to Make Smarter Decisions

13. Retailers now use social media and analy'cs to extend a
sense of in'mate, human connec'on to every person in a
na'onal or global audience.
“Technology allows brands to connect with consumers in a
way that is scalable, yet s'll authen'c.
At no other point has it been possible to engage with
millions of your consumers all at the same 'me,” says
Marta Jamrozik, co-founder of fashion tech startup Claire.
Social Media to Make Smarter Decisions

14. Focus on the right analy'cs to drive
future success
Whether the focus is on inventory opNmizaNon,
shopper personalizaNon or last mile delivery, handling
the data effecNvely will drive future success.
It’s a priority today to capture data from a steadily
increasing number of sources — locaNon, weather,
social influencers
h#p://bit.ly/2kC2mE1

15. the most successful retailers out there today understand
that the experience of shopping is what drives success in
the current market
Understanding how consumers want to engage with
products through emergent devices and applica'ons as
well as through intelligent analy'cs is the next step in
providing retail experiences which will con'nue to aOract
customers that have developed their own 2020 vision.

16. Brands are global.
Retail is local.

17. Local
the importance of understanding local customs,
segmenNng shopper needs and offering the promise of
your brand when entering new internaNonal markets.
Regional, local, even family owned businesses can be
extremely compeNNve in internaNonal markets.
community retail. This third wave of globalizaNon is
challenging retailers to grow their internaNonal footprint
at the same Nme as they create local customer
relaNonships.
Find the local influencers and InsNll a frontline mentality

18. Retail AX
Associate Experience

19. Expecta'ons of Today’s Sales
Associate –
Not just stocking shelves, looking for products, ringing customers
up… they also have to be digitally-connected personal shoppers,
fulfillment specialists, brand champions, customer advocates, and
service agents.
How Bonobos is Driving the Omnichannel Vision with POS
and Clienteling
h#p://www.slideshare.net/NaNonalRetailFederaNon/how-bonobos-is-driving-the-
omnichannel-vision-with-mpos-and-clienteling

20. what’s the next evolu'on of
clienteling?
Extending the relaPonship
• Create an easier process to following up with customers
• Increase in-store and at-home conversions
• Enable “standardized” communicaNons with clients
Clienteling Key Features
1. Customer InformaNon: view past shopping
history, style preferences, and notes
2. Top Customer: view and access the last 100
customers captured
3. Client Follow-Ups: consolidated messaging
history and standardized best pracNces on
communicaNon cadences
4. Store Associate Performance: associate,
conversion, traffic, and loyalty metrics

21. The New Customer Experience EquaPon: Products, Services
And ExperPse
Sephora are empowering employees to make over customers and give
makeup classes. Sephora allows consumers to register for a makeover or
class, and share more details around their personal preferences,
situa'ons and goals.
h#p://bit.ly/2kC2mE1
Keeping Employees Happy
Personalized signage, interacPve robots could upgrade the
store experience
Emphasizing their associate-facing technologies and working improve the
customer-facing experience: personalized digital signs and displays
designed to interact with shoppers as they enter and browse the store.

22. OMNICHANNEL
EXPERIENCE

24. Unified buying experience to customers, is an absolute
necessity today.
The goal is delivering a connected and awesome
experience to customers across whatever channels they
choose to engage with you - in-store/mobile/e-commerce
and social.
h#ps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-digital-retail-look-through-lens-customer-
nick-reynolds
Adapt and fast

25. retailer Macy’s discovered that its omnichannel shoppers are eight
Nmes more valuable than those who shop in a single channel.
5 Ways Consumers Connect to Stores With
Mobile Shopping

26. Customers now ac'vely seek a variety of channels, physical and virtual, to
make buying decisions and purchases.
Omnichannel differs from the earlier mul'channel concept – it’s not
simply a selec'on of channels for customers to choose from, but a
blending of all channels to create a more cohesive customer experience.
“For me, what I want is a good service, whether I'm
at a store, shopping on the go from my smartphone,
having something delivered to my house, or buying
it online and picking it up in the store.” (*)
(*) Forbes contributor Harold Sirkin said recently that however you define omnichannel retail, it all just
comes back to the customer experience

27. Those retailers (such as Lowe’s, PetSmart and
Staples or Disney and Virgin ) who are winning the war for
the minds, hearts and wallets of customers are developing
omnichannel strategies and tac'cs to beOer synchronise
online and offline offerings.

28. In this hybrid of channels and op'ons for delivering
best-possible customer experiences, bricks and mortar
retail is far from dead. A.T. Kearney reports that 90% of
all retail transac'ons today are s'll in-store purchases.
Online-only retailers such as Amazon and Kogan.com are
opening physical and pop-up stores to give customers
greater purchasing op'ons.

29. To win in retail, obsess about the customer
I believe there is a cri'cal step in aOaining the correct strategy:
become a customer-obsessed organisa'on
So let customer-obsession guide your retail strategy, technology
choices, and approach to systems and processes.
The understanding and applica'on of customer intelligence data will
be the key to unlocking and delivering the right digital and
omnichannel retail customer experience
Whatever digital retail strategies you integrate, make sure customer
obsession is your guiding principle, and loyalty will follow.
customer-obsessed strategy

30. Here are some steps you can consider for achieving
be#er omnichannel customer-centricity
• Map out the op'mal buying experience and journey for your customers to pinpoint
what’s working and what’s missing in delivering a unified experience across different
channels
• Consider the customer pain points and priori'se which require ac'on
• Iden'fy which technologies are right for your organisa'on’s omnichannel strategy
• Partner with the right retail tech specialists to help you achieve your omnichannel goals
• Invest in people, 'me and technology to unify systems and processes across different
channels
• Build greater data capabili'es and get to know your customers more
• Use advanced analy'cs to uncover new opportuni'es and communicate to them
throughout their journey during the customer lifecycle
• Explore ways to blend physical, virtual, and community-based customer experiences
via in-store, mobile and social plamorms

31. PERSONALIZATION

32. Highly personalized experiences and interac'ons between
consumers and retailers
it’s no longer about “personaliza'on” as much as it is about “individualiza'on.”
Retailers can no longer treat customers as a segment; they need to go beyond that and
provide personaliza'on that’s singled out to the individual shopper. Naturally, that’s no
easy feat.
Some e-Commerce examples include:
- personalized promo'ons on the home page;
- targeted recommenda'ons on product pages;
- and product recommenda'on on shopping cart pages.
Leveraging data to deliver these recommenda'ons is crucial to hipng the mark.
[ A cool example of personaliza'on — this 'me in a brick-and-mortar sepng — was demonstrated at the Adobe
booth. The company unveiled a new partnership with Memomi, to provide retailers with the ability to deliver
customized content to shoppers via interac've mirrors ]
IndividualizaNon is the new personalizaNon

33. MAKING RETAIL
WITH PERSONALITY

34. Making retail with personality
• Make the shopping experience unique and personal for the customer.
• IdenNfy a way to select and merchandise products that deliver a
personalized experience.
• Create a unique personality of the owner and the store into the
community and to the customers.
• success is less about what you sell, and more about how you sell it
( power of person-to- person retail , make it personal )
• Retail is first a “people business”: what meaningful, memorable
experiences do you deliver your special people?
• how are you maximizing your “neighbor memory opportuniNes” ? know
them when you see them , create them ,every customer contact has its
potenNal
h#p://www.slideshare.net/NaNonalRetailFederaNon/your-secret-weapon-making-retail-with-personality/1

35. Examples

36. Shoes of Prey, which launched seven years ago, allows shoppers to
design their own shoes using digital tools that show how different
materials, toe shapes, heels and other components can be combined to
create a unique item. Indochino lets shoppers purchase custom suits just
by inpupng their measurements and choosing styles and fabrics. The
suits are delivered to customers’ doors in just a few weeks for a lower
cost than a tradi'onal custom suit.

37. Passion, personality and place: reviving
the in-store experience
What makes the memorable?
How can you develop a meaningful connecNon with your customer?
The core of our culture and “DNA”
To inspire creaNve expression
Art and commerce come together.
An emoNonal connecNon drives
customer loyalty.
CREATIVITY: OUR “RAISON D’ETRE

38. Virtual Reality
Quality of the content that will be available through the device;
there's also an opportunity for retailers to use VR to show off products, or to
allow product purchase through games and other content relaNonships.
virtual reality triggers an
emoPonal response for
consumers.
This is a great way to
generate impulse sales
Retail applicaPon: Showcasing
products and allowing users to
'test drive' them in a virtual
context, ecommerce sales.