While some of the major themes were familiar from years past (we’re looking at it here, omnichannel), our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian shares four new insights from this year’s National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show.

1. The economy was not the most important thing

Davidkhanian said that while attendees talked about inflation and the recession, it wasn’t the backbone of every presentation how COVID-19 was at last year’s NRF Big Show or how the cost of living was. on Shoptalk Europe last June. Why? There was more news, and good news too.

2. Goodbye, metaverse. Hello Web3

“I imagine we would hear a lot more about the metaverse if Meta didn’t do so badly,” Davidkhanian said. “I think [the company is] dragging the whole idea”. Instead, he said the presenters focused on Web3, and especially technology that helps reduce friction in the customer experience.

Brands boasted things like holograms that allow shoppers to see how an outfit or makeup would look on them without leaving their home or having the physical product in hand.

Another example was Tommy Hilfiger’s use of mixed worlds at New York Fashion Week last September. The company’s physical show was streamed live on Roblox, which also featured avatars walking the runway.

3. It’s time to really pay attention to environmental issues

If you are a retailer, you no longer have the option of thinking about the environment. “It’s impacting the supply chain,” Davidkhanian said. With droughts, floods, famines and fires, everyone feels the ripple effects on the availability of products.

Demand is also on the consumer’s side. While they have long said they are concerned about the environment, Davidkhanian pointed to an April 2022 IBM Institute for Business Value study that found that 51% of consumers say environmental sustainability is more important to them than it was a year ago and 49% are willing to pay more for organic products. While the numbers are not huge, they are growing.

4. Social networks become more personalized and people have more FOLO

What is FOLO? FOLO squared, a term coined by a presenter, equals fear of logging in and fear of logging out. Logging in brings the anxiety of facing a deluge of bad news. But if you don’t sign in, you could miss the next big event. For retailers who market on social media (which should be all of you), please understand this user behavior and know that you will have to work much harder to reach consumers, Davidkhanian said.

As an antidote to FOLO, other presenters said that social platforms would become more isolated around generations and behaviors. “It will be even more segmented and specialized that you will specifically go to a platform where the conversation feels super authentic to you or [has] small community groups,” Davidkhanian said. “I guess it’s going to look a bit like Reddit or the next iteration of that.”

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