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Digital Retailing: One ticket, three shows

This year's Digital Retailing Expo is part of Retail Week, a trio of events that cover retail construction and planning in addition to cutting-edge digital signage.

May 9, 2006 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Visitors to the third installment of the Digital Retailing Expo will see all the requisite plasma displays and dynamic signage in various shapes and sizes. But they'll also have access to two other shows as part of the "Retail Week" promotion, Retail Interiors Expo and Retail Construction Expo.

The former focuses on store planning, design and visual merchandising; the latter to building retail stores from the ground up. Together, they represent a trifecta of valuable information for retailers.

"These three shows are at the same convention center in three separate halls, all sharing the same main lobby," said Chris Gibbs, executive vice president for ExpoNation LLC, which owns the shows. "An attendee of any one of them can go to any of the others for free. So it should definitely increase our attendance."

Gibbs said the Digital Retailing show began in the fall of 2004, boasting 40 exhibitors across 11,000 square feet. The next year, it grew to 82 exhibitors in 24,000 square feet.

Currently, Gibbs said his company has signed up 95 exhibitors, and are mapped out for 28,000 square feet. But both of those numbers are likely to go up between now and opening day, May 17.

The exhibitor list so far reads like a "who's who" of the digital signage industry, with major players like 3M, Bloomberg, Convergent, Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba all showing off their wares. Gibbs said he's especially interested in seeing the Innovative Markets booth, which will showcase the Skyview "balloon," an 11-foot floating display with a 100-inch digital display, surrounded by a wealth of static ad space.

Nanonation will be bringing its video wall that turned heads at KioskCom, as well as its RFID smart shelf and an interactive digital signage system that allows users to control the screen with their cell phone.

ADFLOW Networks will take a different approach with its space - setting up a meeting room to sit down with attendees in a consultative fashion. The company will be demonstrating its Dynamic Messaging System, which integrates RFID and data mining. The solution has recently been implemented by OfficeMax, West 49 and Rogers Communications.

(For a comprehensive list of exhibitors, visit the Digital Retailing Expo Web site.)

"This show is typically a bleeding-edge show," Gibbs said. "It's not only traditional retail but other places where digital retailing takes place - which could be a subway, or a bank or on a cruise ship."

In addition to the show floor, DRE '06 boasts three tracks of educational sessions, broken into "Overview and Basic," "Advanced Topics" and "Marketing and Advertising."

Speakers for the basic session will include Paddy Karve, manager of architectural services for Borders Group, and Robin Johnson, director of marketing and brand development for Food Lion.

Of special interest on this first track will be a panel Q&A featuring executives from leading retail brands like Lowe's, The Limited and Nieman Marcus.

For the advanced track, Kevin Massey of aka.tv will discuss metrics; Jeff Porter of Scala will talk about content development; Mike Asbury of SunTrust Bank will stress the importance of choosing the right vendors; and Platt Retail Institute director Steven Keith Platt will explore best practices for using digital signage in financial institutions.

Attendees visiting the third track will hear Dr. David Szymanski of Texas A&M University talk about branding; Stuart Armstrong of Digital View will discuss store integration; and Circuit City vice president Ed Petterson will talk about his company's efforts to "realign its customers" to digital.

Retail Week takes place May 17-18 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, five minutes from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. For more information, visit the Digital Retailing Expo Web site.

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