Are you attending NRF 2022 this year? Retail’s big show is the ultimate opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and accelerate your business into the future.
NRF’s 2022 sessions are packed with insights into what’s working and what’s next for the retail industry. With industry challenges from supply chain issues and omnichannel data management to learning how to update your business model for yet another unprecedented year, there’s plenty to talk about.
We’ve combed through each session and selected five you won’t want to miss this year.
How can you leverage platforms like TikTok to make meaningful connections with your customers? Experts American Eagle and Target have the answers.
Sunday Sessions (January 16, 2022)
1. Community before product: How Target and American Eagle are ushering in a new era of engagement and brand loyalty through TikTok
When & Where: 12:00-12:30pm, Javits North, Level 4, Room 406, Riskified Stage
Speakers:
Matt Cleary, Vertical Director, Retail & Restaurants, TikTok
Jill Manoff, Editor-in-Chief, Glossy
Aimee Roesler, Sr Director, Social & Brand Safety, Target
Ashley Schapiro, VP, Marketing, Media, Performance & Engagement, American Eagle
Session Summary: By now we’re all familiar with how TikTok can galvanize millions of consumers into stores to buy the latest viral product or try the latest branded challenge. Some brands are taking it one step further by building communities around nontraditional call to actions that are unheard of in the retail world. Through organic and paid presences, Target and American Eagle have built authentic connections with their communities that drive users to participate and engage with the brands on and off TikTok. Learn more about this session here.
Why we like it: Ashley Schapiro (who was recently named on Brand Innovators Women to Watch Class of 2021 list) has led the way American Eagle engages with their audience across the plethora of platforms out there. Marketers work within an extraordinarily complicated and constantly changing data ecosystem and we’re curious to hear how brands like American Eagle are measuring the impact of these types of upper-funnel marketing programs and the impact they have to metrics like Customer Lifetime Value.
Monday Sessions (January 17, 2022)
2. How Walmart and Adobe are tackling omnichannel fulfillment (produced by Adobe)
When: 3:25-3:45pm | Expo, Level 3, Expo Stage 3
Speakers:
Tory Brunker, Director, Commerce, Adobe
Keith Menezes, Director, Commercialization, Walmart
Enterprise powerhouses Adobe and Walmart will teach you how to follow best practices for omnichannel fulfillment amongst growing demands.
Session Summary: Consumer expectations continue to rise when it comes to speed and accuracy of order fulfillment. These expectations put operational systems to the test in order to meet these growing demands. According to the Adobe Holiday Forecast, BOPIS orders increased 40% during the 2020 Holiday Season and will continue to increase again this year. In this session, learn best practices for omnichannel fulfillment and how Adobe and Walmart are coming together to solve this critical industry challenge. Learn more about this session here.
Why we like it: We love the concept of helping small- and medium-sized businesses think and act like Fortune 100 retailers (in fact, that’s precisely why we partnered with Google Cloud Platform) and this is exactly the mission of Adobe and Walmart’s partnership, announced earlier this year. The amount of data available to Adobe and Walmart is nothing short of astounding, so it’s fascinating to look at how these two data-driven companies are partnering to better serve changing customer preferences.
Understanding your data is only the first step to leveraging it intelligently. PacSun has mastered the art of data intelligence, and we can’t wait to hear how they did it.
3. Omnichannel-aware Allocation: How PacSun improved profitability with intelligent allocation and replenishment (produced by Antuia)
When: 9:15-9:45am | Expo, Level 1, Expo Stage 1
Speaker: Mike Relich, Co-CEO, PacSun
Session Summary: To be customer-centric and profitable in today’s omnichannel world, retailers must optimize inventory by placing inventory in the right places in their network, at the right time. To do so requires leveraging granular forecasting for online fulfillment and store sales demand, while taking returns into account. Hear from Mike Relich of PacSun on how they partnered with antuit.ai and doubled their ship completes during the holiday season by better anticipating online demand and intelligently leveraging their stores as online fulfillment centers. Learn more about this session here.
Why we like it: For most retailers, finding a balance between meeting modern shopper expectations (like 2-day shipping or free returns) and turning a profit feel mutually exclusive, if not impossible. The complexity, cost and time required to see the big picture across granular data points can seem insurmountable. PacSun is a SoundCommerce customer, and we’ve seen first-hand the fantastic job they’ve done at balancing these pressures. We can’t wait to hear them share real-world examples of exactly how they do it.
Tuesday Sessions (January 18)
4. Building diversity and inclusion into your organization’s DNA
When: 10:30-11:00am | Special Events Hall, Level 1, FQ Equality Lounge
Speakers:
Shawn Outler, Chief Diversity Officer Macy’s Inc
Kristen Harris, VP, D&I, Hallmark Cards, Inc
Jennifer McLaughlin, SVP, Retail & Consumer Goods, Salesforce
Bahja Johnson, Head of Customer and Community Belonging, Growth & Enablement, Gap Inc
This powerhouse panel’s results speak for themselves. You won’t want to miss this incredible conversation about how to truly transform your company’s D&I strategies to make a real impact.
Session Summary: Diversity and inclusion are more than buzzwords — they are differentiators. The workforce of today is driven by a sense of purpose and belonging. How do we create cultures of representation where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued? In this conversation, leaders share best practices for making sure diversity and inclusion are part of an organization’s DNA. Learn more about this session here.
Why we like it: We’re so excited to hear from this powerhouse panel about truly transforming your company culture to be D&I-driven. These D&I leaders have produced results that speak for themselves:
- Panelist Shawn Outler led Macy’s to amplify their commitment to diversity by taking the 15 Percent Pledge this year, committing 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses.
- Kristen Harris’ work at Hallmark also produced incredible results: she led the company to a 100% score on the annual Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index.
- Bahja Johnson re-invented the word “nude” and operationalized inclusion at Banana Republic with the launch of the True Hues line earlier this year.
- Finally, Jennifer McLaughlin has spent almost 20 years at Salesforce, an early adopter of taking ESG metrics beyond surface-level claims and using tools like a diversity scorecard, as well as publishing an annual Equity Report.
We can’t wait to see these incredible leaders on the stage together!
Signet has repeatedly been ahead of the curve when it comes to data intelligence and predictive analysis. Join their session to discover how they used data-driven insights to get their product in stores before the holidays despite supply chain issues.
5. Digital and omnichannel innovation: Building resilience for a changing retail landscape (produced by Google)
When: 2:00-2:30pm | Expo, Level 1, Expo Stage 1
Speaker: Jochen Heck, VP, Sales, Google
Session Summary: Consumer shopping behaviors continue to change, and every retailer needs an omnichannel strategy to keep up. By taking incremental steps, retailers can get their businesses ready to drive results today and build resilience for tomorrow. In this session, you’ll hear directly from Signet Jewelers on how they’ve improved their digital experience for shoppers to drive impact online and in-store. Learn more about this session here.
Why we like it: If anyone can help us learn to prepare for the future, it’s Signet. Despite the recent widespread supply chain issues, Signet used their data months ago to predict that customers would be in the market earlier this holiday season and adjusting their marketing strategy accordingly. It paid off, as they told Jim Cramer on “Mad Money” and they had the right product in the right stores when customers showed up. We want to know more!
About SoundCommerce
SoundCommerce is a Retail Data Platform that accelerates business and data maturity so you can make decisions that lead to profitable growth. Built for retailers of any size or complexity, SoundCommerce transforms your unique data infrastructure into an easy-to-use, no-code environment that’s accessible to everyone — no engineering degree required. Best of all, you have the option to take action natively from within SoundCommerce or transport data to any apps you already use.
With SoundCommerce, retailers have confidence that every decision and dollar drives profitable growth.
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