IADS Recap: Retail’s Big show 2022 – National Retail Federation

Books & Conferences

Jan 2022

New York

What: A selection of interesting conferences that the IADS attended for the 2022 Retail Big Show held in New York.

Why it is important: We focused on 2 increasingly hot topics: sustainability, and digital (especially the Metaverse).

This non exhaustive selection of conferences that the IADS attended in New York includes:

A conversation with the CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, who thinks that the most interesting outcome of the Covid-19 related crisis is the new corporate culture and cohesion that was created, and which is now an asset in the operations of the company,
A exchange between the new NRF VP for Sustainability and the Senior Director for Sustainability at Walmart, on how to develop a sustainable mindset in companies. 2 hints: at the operational level, go for medium-range targets which are actionable, practical, and emphasize on the business advantages they will create. At the corporate level, consider implementing a Sustainable Board of Director composed of experts from outside the company, if not the industry
A presentation of a selection of innovative concepts from GDR UK, where she talks about the store becoming increasingly a discovery and e-commerce fulfilment space, the “alt-commerce” replacing e-commerce, composed of entertainment, gamification, community, socialising and collaboration, and the Metaverse which could be very well a new channel,
A presentation of the 8 top trends in retail as identified by Kantar
A presentation on the promises of the Metaverse for retailers made by Wunderman Thompson Intellilgence where we have spotted an actionable and quick way for department stores to monetize their real estate assets: why not sell the “airspace” in stores for AR advertising, now that Shapchat has created Arcadia, a new division dedicated to this activity?