The JDN brings you to the aisles of the NRF Retail’s Big Show 2023, the international retail show held in New York from January 15 to 17, 2023. After a year 2022 disrupted by the Covid, inflation invites itself to the ball.
The New York blizzard did not dampen visitors to NRF Retail’s Big Show 2023. The National Retail Federation (NRF) is banking on a return to normal for its 113th annual convention, which takes place from January 15 to 17, 2023 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the banks of the Hudson in Manhattan, after a 2022 edition disrupted by the multiplication of Covid cases in the United States. The bet seems to have been taken from the first day: the bays of the show were already crowded when the doors opened. In 2023, the NRF Retail’s Big Show intends to bring together 35,000 visitors of 75 nationalities over three days, around 1,000 exhibitors and 350 speakers.
In a turbulent international context, John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart US who opened the show, salutes “retailers who are standing up to challenges such as the pandemic, climate change. We think of our customers, of what they want, and we are accelerating to meet their expectations”. The customer experience, bringing better solutions to consumers, are at the heart of the concerns and innovations on the stands of the companies present on site. “Retail works this way: if the experience is not good, the customer will go elsewhere. It is important to continue to evolve”, continues John Furner.
Meet future clients
Among the companies present on site, the French delegation, 3rd international delegation, is ready. “After three years disrupted by the Covid pandemic, we have high expectations for this year. For us, it is one of the biggest events to meet key decision-makers, network and take an interest in market trends. Many of our clients Europeans also go there,” says Sébastien Lefébure, General Manager Southern Europe of Manhattan Associates, a software publisher specializing in logistics. “The NRF show is special. As a French technological solution, it is the only place where we can meet CEOs”, adds Dan Gomplewicz, the co-founder of Armis Tech, a SaaS solution for digitizing catalogs and commercial operations. .
Understand the US market
Others come to take the pulse of the American market. Guillaume Penot, head of sales at Revers.io, an after-sales management solution, still wonders about the 2023 edition: “This is the third time we’ve come. Retail is in crisis, the consumer behavior changes. Our goal for this year is to meet American customers because we plan to open in the United States”. For Pauline Omnes, head of PR and BtoC Strategy at Lizee, a platform aimed at brands wishing to set up second-hand and rental, and which has just raised 7 million euros, the objective is also to learn more about the American market. “We are pioneers with our second-hand and rental solution in France, while in the United States the market is a step ahead, with players like Rent The Runway. We come to meet players in the economy circular,” she says. The co-founder of Armis Tech, Dan Gomplewicz, judges that Manhattan has changed enormously and sees it as a taste of 2023 in France: “With telework, many people have left New York, we are not used to seeing so many sluggishness in the shops, so little energy. In an inflationary climate, with limited purchasing power, the year 2023 will be difficult. The lesson to be learned is that French retailers will have to show energy and fight to maintain their activity”.