NRF 2020: Where the Future of Retail Embraces Partnership and Innovation

Every year at NRF: Retail’s Big Show, I am in awe of the power of partnerships and innovation in the retail industry. Breakthrough experiences are predicting and mitigating problems long before they ever happen. Employees and consumers are connecting in ways that are inspiring the delivery of meaningful products and services. Even more engaging buying journeys that cut across various segments and industries are turning like into love as first-time shoppers become customers for life.

This momentum of retail’s transformation is only accelerating – especially after we announced our expanding partnership with Microsoft in October. Now more than ever, our retail customers are exploring new ways to simplify and modernize their journeys to the cloud as they transition into intelligent enterprises.

Personally, I can’t wait to come to NRF 2020 to discuss the latest innovations for our retail customers. In Hall 1E, adjacent to the NRF keynote area, we’re especially pleased to showcase with Microsoft our interactive wall, aptly named The Future of Retail.  This 20 by 8-foot customer experience features four innovation scenarios, i.e. examples of what can be achieved with the combination of SAP and Microsoft technologies. These use cases represent concepts that are top of mind for most retailers and consumers, and we’re proud of the fact that our partnership lays the foundation for their creation.

Can’t wait for NRF to find out what some of these use cases are? Here’s a sneak preview of what we have in store for you.

Use case 1: Traceability

Follow the production process of fair-trade chocolate bars from cocoa farms in Africa – from bean to factory to consumer. Our story details how blockchain technology helps ensure the accountability, integrity, and reliability of the supply chain by combatting the widespread presence of child labor and slavery as well as unsustainable practices such as deforestation.

Use case 2: The Last Mile Challenge

Check out how cloud-based data and machine learning can help retailers elevate the e-commerce experience. Retailers can manage their inventory in smarter ways for faster, more transparent delivery with lower warehousing costs, smaller inventory footprints, and more satisfied customers.

Use case 3: From showrooming to innovating

Visualize how retailers are creating a seamless customer experience, while freeing up inventory space to lower store overhead. This use case for augmented reality and personalization is setting the foundation for a showrooming model that is helping shoppers get comfortable with making large purchases such as furniture and enabling retailers to convert the experience into sales.

Use case 4: Wow customers from start to 360o

Take this opportunity to evaluate how your business can create personal profiles for each of your customers to increase lifetime value and sales per customer. The animated journey starts with the first interactions and moves all the way to building lifetime customer relationships with advanced analytics, machine learning, and cloud technology. You can also discover best practices for creating revenue streams, including the innovation of business models that fit the needs of the customer base.

Interested? Visit us at NRF 2020

With the latest innovations in intelligent technology, it’s never been easier to create stand-out retail experiences. But what wins the heart and minds of customers is a brand that generates feelings of positivity and satisfaction. However, listening to feedback and sentiments is not enough. You must understand what, when, and why things are happening, and take the right action at the right moment.

For many of our retail customers, the use cases we are featuring at NRF are just some of the innovations they seek in their own organizations. Please join us at The Future of Retail in Hall 1E to see them in action, or schedule your appointment with us at the SAP booth (#4221) to hear more about your scenario, answer your questions and help map your unique journey.