This edition of NRF Big Show is devoted to the reinvention of physical retail and artificial intelligence to smooth the customer journey with resilience as the watchword.

“An incredible event, with exhibitors presenting innovations that will be talked about throughout 2023”, exclaimed James Prebil, Retail Manager at MarketScale and presenter of the podcast Point of Scale, on his return from NRF Big Show. It has to be said that the big retail event was especially rich this year in technologies and solutions designed to improve the customer experience throughout the purchase cycle, with giants Google and Microsoft leading the way. A 2023 edition under the banner of innovation which also heralds, still according to Prebil, an imminent return to grace of the physical store.

At the same time, another big topic of conversation was artificial intelligence and (once again) resilience. Faced with increased demand for high-performance and very smooth digital experiences from customers using phones, websites and social media for browsing, distributors are using artificial intelligence as a tool to better understand their behaviour. 

To this end, Google Cloud, for example, has unveiled new solutions to create smoother online experiences, optimise stocks and improve profits, while also meeting new customer expectations. Browse AI, in particular, uses machine learning to optimise e-commerce product ordering once the user has chosen a specific product category, thus infinitely personalising the online purchasing experience.

Microsoft, for its part, has placed the accent on resilience, with the promise of helping retailers excel in this area. Its Smart Store Analytics solution, which provides analysis tools for points of sale, makes it possible, for example, to track customer behaviour throughout the store, from the product discovery to the checkout. 

A system that will enable store employees to access all of the operational information from the point of sale so as to make quick decisions and respond to organisational needs in real time, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the customer experience. 

Dick’s Sporting Goods, meanwhile, the US number one in the sale of sporting goods, which talked about the three years of major progress in its customer relationship management at NFR Big Show, has a message of encouragement for everyone: “It’s OK to start small, and it’s OK for the test not to always work out.”