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Customer experience is still at the center of retail despite what we have seen in the last 12 months around AI. Looking through the agenda at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference coming up on January 14-16 in New York City, AI does top the list of topics – mentioned in 24 sessions. But a very close 2nd is Customer (22 sessions), 3rd is Experience (19), and Transformation (as in digital!) looks like the 4th most popular topic. All of this is good news because AI does not do anything on its own – it must be harnessed to meet a business need, and thankfully customer experience is still king in retail. While NRF is a general retail conference, it has huge benefits for online retailers or those considering adding an online channel. RSM will be there at booth #910 – stop by or reach out in advance to set up a demo of our latest e-commerce accelerators. Read on for how to get the most out of this conference.
Choose a Pass Type
This really comes down to whether you want to see the keynote presentations or not. The Expo Pass lets you see exhibitor presentations and meet exhibitors and peers on the floor – and is free for retailers whether you’re an NRF member or not! The All-Access pass lets you see the keynote presentations – those that are not 100% sponsored by vendors.
Put another way – if you’re just evaluating vendors and technology solutions, an Expo pass is fine. If you want to see some of the “Keynote Sessions” listed on the NRF Agenda, then you want an All-access pass. Both keynotes and vendor sessions will dive into customer experience and digital transformation topics.
Read the Agenda in Advance
The NRF Agenda has keynotes and exhibitor sessions. The keynote sessions require the All-access pass and are organized by NRF (and I’m sure there’s some sponsoring going on too!). Vendors sponsor the “exhibitor sessions,” but they are still worth seeing. For just these sessions (but no timings), check out exhibitor sessions. Like I mentioned above, there are plenty of topics around customer experience and all sorts of relevant trends. It is not just the big retailers and vendors who are presenting, so I think there will be some real actionable tips coming out of this show, not just the “look what this multibillion-dollar company was able to do with a huge budget.”
Make a short list of vendors
This conference is giant and there are a ton of vendors. You are not going to just “bump into” a vendor you are considering for your business. So, check out the Exhibitors list, then look at the NRF event map. Keep in mind there are multiple levels – booth #0-2900 are on level 1, and #3000-6000 are on level 3. Find the vendors you want to see and go talk to them.
Talk to peers
There will be people who have your same job but do it slightly differently. And they’ll be watching some of the same sessions you are. Don’t be a stranger, introduce yourself. This is definitely the hardest part of conferences for me, but building relationships can be very rewarding.
Hopefully these are some helpful tips so you can make the most of a trip to this giant conference. And if you are going, let us know! We will be at booth #910 and are happy to schedule something in advance. Reach out today at RSMUS E-commerce. You can also subscribe to
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Lawrence Walters
Lawrence Walters leads the Salesforce Commerce Cloud practice helping retailers achieve digital commerce success through faster growth, improved omnichannel experiences, international expansion and streamlined digital marketing operations on the leading cloud based ecommerce platform for medium to large retailers. RSM’s practice provides both implementations for clients new to the platform as well as consulting and managed services for those already on Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
