New vertical market IT solutions, digital services and technology partnerships are surfacing at this week's National Retail Federation (NRF) 2020 conference in New York. Stay tuned to this live blog for ongoing updates.
The conference comes as some retailers continue to struggle in the cloud, mobile and e-commerce eras. To wit, Macy's is set to close 28 stores, and big names like Kohl's and JC Penney delivered weak November and December 2019 sales figures.
Still, plenty of retailers are riding the digital transformation wave -- transforming their retail locations into delivery points for online shoppers, leveraging robots in warehouses and retail aisles, and plenty more.
The winners include Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot -- which are "effectively using tech to stave off the likes of Amazon and return to growth," according to The Motley fool.
NRF 2020: Technology Industry News
So how are technology firms enabling retailers for the digital, data and robotics era? Here's a sampling of news from NRF 2020. Keep checking back for more updates.
6. Microsoft and Big Data: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella described how his company will help retail customers gather, manage and monetize their data.
5. VMware Retail Solutions: Chemist Warehouse, Chow Sang Sang, Migros and OFS are leveraging VMware solutions to build a "digital foundation for modern retail experiences," the companies said.
4. Walmart and Sam's Club Digital Strategy: Some details from Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner surfaced here.
3. Samsung Retail Innovations: Samsung Display, Mobile and Behavior-Sensing products and solutions surfaced at the conference.
2. Point of Sale: KWI, which develops real-time cloud technology for luxury and specialty retailers, unveiled Cloud POS (point of sale) platform updates. The effort includes:
- a single app incorporating POS/clienteling/recommendation engine;
- embedded business intelligence;
- integrated global payments;
- an omni-channel dashboard; and
- a proof of concept with CLEAR (a biometric identity and security platform) to provide retailers an easy, quick, and secure way to verify their identity.
1. Share Your News: Send me your NFR 2020-related news announcements -- [email protected]. We'll keep the info in mind for potential mention or coverage from the show.
