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Omnichannel
February 11, 2019

NRF 2019: a closer look at past retail trends

Generix Group’s teams are back again for the NRF Retail Big Show. During the event, they’ll offer an analysis of the latest retail trends observed at the Javits Center in New York. The 108th edition was aimed at analysis of sales locations, omni-channel and customer data, and presented several innovations brought to market by major players in retail and their partners, many of them start-ups. In this article, we go through 2019’s major trends in connected retail.

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Emerging AI technologies still at the forefront and increasingly geared towards customer experience

Robots present at sales locations

Mobile robots—self-operating or associated with a preparer—are very present in warehouses, particularly during the order preparation phase. These machines enable accelerated automation of logistic channels and reduced processing time. As they are now deployed in-store, they can pick up on and indicate missing products to ensure they are restocked and use visual recognition to perform inventory. Some are even able to fill stocks in aisles automatically.

A visual and a voice to make ordering easier

Voice search and visual recognition offer advantages for order placement, as they are omnipresent in the halls of the trade show. In the US alone, 20% to 25% of searches are performed using voice. Voice assistants are increasingly present in all areas of daily life (smartphones, computers, cars, and so on), and even though Google Home and Amazon Echo have not yet fully penetrated the retail market, they will undoubtedly spread to the sector soon enough.

Many start-ups currently occupy the promoter and visual recognition position. The technology is particularly appreciated in the home and fashion industries, where taking a picture of an article for a search engine can return similar references in a seller’s catalogue.

Artificial intelligence in all its forms

From automatic linear label update to customer analysis, AI is at the heart of recent retail trends. Using intelligent cameras and RFID sensors, automatic registration of products picked up in stores will help eliminate long lines at the register.

Start-ups are continually seeking out innovation, competing to come up with a register-free retail solution. And since artificial intelligence is omnipresent in sales points in many forms, it can help with the transformation and make the customer journey smoother.

MANQUE LE LIEN >> For further reading: Collection: a more customer-focused front office

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