Shop.org, 24 Hours Later

Arise joined NRF/Shop.org just in time for the Retail Digital Summit in Dallas.

Here’s my three pluses and three "even better ifs" 24-hours after the show closed.

Pluses

Style: Informal, family-style kick-off: whether you’re meeting old friends, new friends, or just watching an armadillo race (yeah), the opening night delivered. I was pleased to meet some very cool startups in the apparel space aimed at helping brick-and-click retailers ward off Amazon.

Substance: core retailers delivered real-world lessons (JC Penney and Ulta were two of my favorites), tech giants Google and Amazon were around every corner, and the start-ups (GrubHub rocked) showed real chops. And frictionless – word was buzzing, starting with Michio Kaku and echoing from there.

Respect: at a breakout session, I watched potential competitors go badges-off and really dig into tough issues facing e-com, branding, segmentation, returns, and marketplace economics. Hat-tip to Puma’s e-com leader, Chris Hardisty, for facilitating a discussion that ran over… and no one left, even during happy hour and free beer.

Even Better If's

Care: More on customer care, and the human elements underlying it. Selling and decision support were everywhere – how to help people with complaints, concerns, or just needing guidance got glossed a bit. It’s part of Cx, and there are some great case studies.

Competition: Amazon came up, but not in detail. “Beat Amazon” isn’t a strategy or a guiding principle, but knowing what they’re doing is important and worth unpacking.

Stores: Recognition that stores still command 90+ of sales was broad-based, as was their importance as venues for buying and fulfillment (JCP, again, really nailed it). What came up less was practical impact on store labor and associate enablement.

Overall, great show, worth the time and investment, and less overwhelming in scale than the NYC Big Show or some of the vendor confabs.

Proud to be part of this industry.