2010 Retail Outlook: Top 3 themes of last week's NRF

Despite last year’s harsh playing field for retail, I was amazed by how many turned out in New York for NRF’s BIG Show last week. Then again, now is probably the best time for retailers and vendors to assemble and share ideas for a better 2010.

As I bounced around between educational sessions and booth “show-and-tells,” I met many people from all over the country—each giving similar testimonies of the same basic challenges. Many of these discussions intrigued me, but there were 3 distinct themes to take away:

1. All the Right Players Go Mobile.
2. Sustainability Underscores Everything.
3. The Giants Are Embracing Social Media.

Essentially, technology is king this year, especially in the areas of mobile retail management and solutions that will help retailers ride out the economic tidal wave. We also saw great validation of social media as a powerful strategy to monitor and stir the pot of opportunity, even among the big players.

There was a great article by Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief, Retail Solutions Online/Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine this week on these key themes. Check it out and share your comments – What are your thoughts? Your predictions? Will social media ever lose its buzz? What other trends are coming down the pike?

New year, new look

Goodbye, 2009. Hello, 2010! With the Tiger as the new Chinese symbol we are all hoping to start out the year with a ROAR! Well, at least we can still hunt for deals. We’ve just returned from the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York City and all signs are pointing to a better year for mobility solutions.

Many executives we talked to said they were going to invest in key enterprise mobility projects and that innovation and execution by their vendors were critical - (check out this article about Home Depot on Bloomberg’s Web site). It’s all about extending the power of mobile computing to the associates who touch your customer.

We’ve just launched a new branding and market position for 2010: “Delivering Mobility. Driving Results.” via our Web site, which focuses on how we help our customers achieve success related to mobile applications and end-to-end mobility projects.

Our new and existing Fortune 500 customers can attest; we’ve been delivering solid mobility solutions for a very long time. Twenty-six years, to be exact. Now we’ve added our new Stratix Mobile software to deliver Field Sales and Field Service applications with true flexibility. This highly configurable rules-based software provides an unprecedented degree of flexibility in deploying business process change without the expense or lengthy engineering cycles of a custom mobile application. Check it out; we’ll be announcing some new customers shortly.

Our goal for the Blog this year is to provide you with a destination to learn more about how others are using mobility to drive results and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly in enterprise mobility.

Here’s to a great New Year!

See You in New York!

Visit the NRF’s “Retail’s BIG Show 2010” Convention & EXPO
New York City
Jan. 10-13

After a year like 2009, it’s a perfect time for retailers to join together and share valuable strategies for doing more with less. Join Stratix on Jan. 11 & 12 in the Motorola Booth #1623 at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Retail’s BIG Show 2010, where we will discuss how mobile technology can effectively drive down TCO, accelerate speed to market, and improve compliance and best practices for customer service.


Retail’s BIG Show brings together some of retail’s savviest executives, including IBM, Bank of America, Deloitte, SAP, Wal-Mart, Saks, Dunkin Brands and HSN, to discuss relevant and forward-looking topics for the retail industry. You’ll also learn about state-of-the-art technologies and services, including store design and planning in the NRF DESiGN STUDiO – a dedicated offering of education, networking and ideas for retailers, store designers, and visual merchandisers.


For event information click here. We hope to see you there!