Article

Retail's big show draws near

High-tech takes center stage at NRF expo.

December 27, 2006

A small city's worth of retailers, software and equipment manufacturers are about to converge on New York for the National Retail Federation's 96th Convention and Expo, to be held Jan. 14-17 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. High-tech retail in general will take center stage at the NRF show, including a large dose of self-service.

 

The big attraction at The Big Show will be its mammoth show floor; more than 40 companies will offer kiosk software and hardware solutions. Exhibits include the latest offerings from perennial self-service innovators like Nanonation and IBM, as well as new offerings from recent market entrants like Verifone and Retaligent.

 

NRF spokesman Scott Krugman said self-service consistently becomes more important at the show because retailers want to adopt it.

 

"Retailers are open and welcome to this technology to make things more user-friendly to the customer," Krugman said. "We liken it to the ATM. It took them a while to adopt the ATM, but now you can't get them into the bank branch. We think self-service has that potential, and more stores will integrate that."

 

KioskCom, the self-service industry's primary tradeshow, will sponsor a pavilion of eight self-service exhibitors including KING Products, MovieMate and Slabb.

 

"NRF is a tremendous opportunity for kiosk and self-service providers to meet with top-tier retail executives and showcase the solutions they offer the retailers," said Lawrence Dvorchik, KioskCom general manager. "This year, I would expect nothing but great things from the NRF Big Show and, as we continue to improve and expand the pavilion, greater success for participants in the KioskCom self-service pavilion."

 

This year's NRF Store of the Future will be the X07 Ultimate Pop-Up store, showcasing high-tech methods for pop-ups, the temporary concept stores often used as marketing tools to re-energize customer interest. Many pop-ups use kiosks and digital signage.

 

Netkey founder Alex Richardson, now managing director of Selling Machine Partners, said he has attended every NRF show for 15 years.

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"My sense is that you'll see a lot of the major players in retail enterprise technology vectoring towards the kiosk and digital merchandising space," Richardson said.

 

"Though e-commerce is a growing channel for retailers, the brick-and-mortar storefronts continue contributing nearly 94 percent of all the revenue for major retail channels. Retail CEOs want to connect their storefronts with their large investment in e-commerce and marketing, of which kiosks and digital signage are key vending and marketing points of presence," he said.

 

Other points of interest at the 2007 NRF Convention and Expo will include:

 

• Steven Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, will discuss business and technology trends that are expected to impact retailers in coming years. Kenneth Cole and Philip Schoonover, chief executive of Circuit City, are among other top-tier executives slated to speak at the show.
• The Networking Roundtable Lunch, Jan. 14 at noon, featuring the who's who of the retail industry.
• Retail's Biggest Party, Jan. 14 at 4:30 p.m. in Gotham Hall, which invites exhibitors and attendees to mingle with one another.
• Retail's Big Silent Auction, Jan. 16-17, featuring items donated by retailers, manufacturers and others. Proceeds go to NRF Foundation programs.