National Retail Federation’s 99th Annual Convention and EXPO

NEW YORK, NY— January 13, 2010 —  "Shake off the doldrums, uncurl yourself from that fetal position, and snap out of that catatonic stupor," says NRF's President and CEO, Tracy Mullin, in her address to a packed auditorium on the opening day of the National Retail Federation's 99th Annual Convention & Expo at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center.

NRF is once again buzzing with energy and excitement coming off the uncertainty hanging over last year’s conference. Attendance on the tradeshow floor and conference sessions was noticeably higher. Major exhibitors such as Intel, Microsoft, and NCR made major announcements with a strategic focus on digital signage initiatives.

Optimistic Outlooks and Fundamental Shifts

“The economy today is measurably better than it was a year ago, and it will be measurably better a year from now,” said Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s Economy.com. Mr. Zandi was part of panel on Recasting Retail: New Rules—and Opportunities—of the Global Economy. The panel, moderated by Stacy Janiak, Vice Chairman and US Retail Leader at Deloitte, included Howard Levine, Chairman and CEO of Family Dollar Stores, and Alan Questrom, former CEO of J.C. Penney and Federated Department Stores.

“We’re on the cusp of a turn-around,” said Mr. Zandi who credited the economic stimulus package for the improvement and predicted that all major sectors should be adding to payroll by this time next year. That’s good news for the digital signage business, which has seen many deployments postponed or cancelled due to the current state of the economy.

“Retail is about people feeling good, it’s a business based on optimism,” said Mr. Questrom. Coming out of the bubble we are seeing consumers who are cautious and they have become highly value oriented. Retailers have made great strides at controlling inventory and removing risk. “We won’t see the excessive markdowns that we’ve seen in 2009,” said Mr. Questrom.

To be successful in this environment retailers need to focus on staying relevant to consumers and invest in technology that helps them understand and respond to consumer trends. “We’ve spent more money in the last 18 months than we have in the preceding 10 years,” said Mr. Levine, responding to a question on lessons learned from the recession. “We’ve seen a fundamental shift in consumer spending that is focused on value. This shift is here to stay. It will take generations for this to shift back to the old way of buying.”

Where should retailers be looking to expand their brand? “Emerging world markets such as China, India, and Brazil are growing fast and have higher rates of savings,” said Mr. Zandi. “It’s a matter of figuring out how to sell to these markets.”
 
Big Technology Players Change the Landscape

Intel, Microsoft, and NCR commanded much of the attention at this year’s NRF with major announcements and product demonstrations focused on digital signage for retail.

Microsoft

Microsoft announced a strategic alliance with Intel. The partnership aims to deliver a validated and optimized platform for the digital signage industry using the Windows 7-based, Windows-Embedded Standard 2011 Operating System and powered by Intel's Core micro-architecture. The Microsoft-Intel initiative is an effort to standardize the digital signage market around a single modular platform and speed the time to market for new solutions. The digital signage market is currently dominated by proprietary, non-standards-based platforms that can present a barrier to adoption.

“Developing digital signage platforms that will break down silos of proprietary solutions and enable faster time to market and greater return on investment is a foundational pillar of our overall embedded market strategy,” said Joe Jensen, general manager of the Embedded Computing Division at Intel. “We look forward to working with industry leaders such as Microsoft to create new design opportunities for innovative device-makers and partners, while giving them the tools and technologies they need to create smarter, interactive retail customer experiences.”

Intel

Intel’s vision for retail was on display across the entire tradeshow floor at NRF.  Intel demonstrated a new retail digital signage concept that incorporates an interactive LCD touchscreen combined with a holographic display.  The concept was designed to demonstrate how consumers can interact with digital signage technology that uses intelligent multi-touch applications to improve the retail experience.

The prototype uses built-in camera technology that analyzes data such as gender, age, audience composition, and time-of-day. The data captured by the system enables the display to tailor content based on the estimated demographics. The system is capable of providing consumers with way-finding information and product information that includes augmented reality-based content.

Another solution introduced by Intel is their Active Manage-ment Technology, which gives systems administrators the ability to manage signage networks remotely even when powered down. This has the potential to reduce operational costs and increase energy savings. There is a significant advantage for the SMB market to lower the cost of network administration and thereby reduce the total cost of ownership for a signage network.

Intel’s self-service kiosk concepts were also on display. At the NCR booth, a self-service concept showed how optical scanning technology could be used in place of bar codes for grocery self-service checkout lines.

NCR

NCR had several announcements that included the introduction of the NCR Netkey Digital Signage SmartStart program, a special promotion that helps businesses identify ways in which they can benefit from digital signage and quickly install it in their stores or facilities.

NCR also announced that Hot Topic, a mall and Web-based specialty retailer of apparel and accessories, has deployed almost 1500 NCR Netkey self-service kiosk and digital signs across their retail locations. Hot Topic’s customers can use the NCR Netkey self-service kiosks to listen to music, sign up for Hot Topic's HT+1 loyalty program, and also check their loyalty status.

NCR is also utilizing the Microsoft-Intel platform. “The industry-leading features and functionality enabled through Microsoft and Intel technology allow us to quickly build the cutting-edge digital signage and self-service applications our customers demand to reach consumers in a more personalized and compelling manner,” said Dusty Lutz, general manager of NCR Netkey. “This optimized platform provides us with streamlined access to superior technology.”

Smaller Players Make Noise of Their Own

While large companies dominated much of the news coming out of NRF, several new digital signage products were introduced by other companies that include Nanonation, Starmount Systems, Stratacache, Reflect Systems, GestureTek, Retail Path Networks, EuroTouch Kiosk, C-nario,, and YCD Multimedia.

Nanonation

Nanonation demonstrated a preview release of its new FrameWorks DS software. FrameWorks DS provides small-to-medium size businesses with a streamlined, sophisticated, digital signage solution with a robust blend of features while maintaining simplicity and ease of use.

I had the opportunity to see FrameWorks DS first hand and was impressed. The user interface is very polished and includes the ability to drag-and-drop multiple media sources into a timeline. The software includes several well-designed templates along with the ability to easily format messages into multiple zones. It's ideal for driving menu boards, retail displays, lobby signs, tradeshow exhibits, and employee messaging.

Starmount

Starmount Systems launched a new retail digital signage solution called Marquis. Marquis is a platform-independent, Java-based, full-function digital signage solution for retailers that directly integrates with in-store point-of-sale solutions.

Starmount is an Oracle Retail/360Commerce professional services company focused on the integration of digital signage networks with in-store systems such as point-of-sale, inventory management, back office, mobile point-of-service, and human resource management. Starmount's Application Framework integrates into new and existing in-store systems by offering retailers the opportunity to enhance the shopping experience, and present a unified view for retailers across multiple platforms.

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