Episode Details

Products that are sharable are all the rage - in part 1 of our recap of NRF we come to you live from the show floor and talk about how retailers are using customer engagement to shape how their product assortment and marketing are crafted. Listen now!

Main Takeaways:

• Walmart is stepping up its technology game in a serious way.

• 2018 really was the year of open source, and sneakers, and content.

• Content continues to be king of community creation, and retailers are finally picking up the mantle.

• Behind-the-scenes ingredient brands are going mainstream

• A 2019 Future Commerce prediction episode is coming up: What will Philip and Brian forecast?

Walmart Is Making Moves: Can They Beat Out Amazon?

• Walmart was well-represented at NRF by CTO Jeremy King, and it seems that Walmart is working to keep his promise (when he started at Walmart) of Walmart's tech stack becoming 100% open source.

• Brian mentions the-company-not-to-be-named (which starts with the letter A) less than 5 minutes into the show.

• Walmart Technology has come a long way, especially since they started on their acquisition shopping-spree.

• Brian is super excited about Walmart in every way, especially with how they are expanding their tech team by the thousands this year.

• In news that should shock literally no one who hasn't been living under a rock: 50% percent of all digital retail transactions in 2018 happened on Amazon.

• The real question remains: Who will win in the battle of the massive retailer?

Commerce 2040: Looking Ahead to Retail's Future:

• Euromonitor International has put out a report that looks at what the future of commerce will look like, and the future looks a whole lot like Future Commerce predicted.

• Drones will continue to be popular in the future, which means that Pizza delivery drones could become a reality in the United States.

• And It seems that the term "experiential retail" is going to be around forever, and retailers will find new ways to engage consumers.

• Also: Luxury retail spares no detail, Canada Goose is using freezer-esque dressing rooms so customers can test outwear against the elements. This is taking experiential retail up a few degrees (or down a hundred degrees).

• Phillip and Brian conclude that while Macklemore would probably wear one of Canada Goose's winter jackets in a music video, he'd probably of purchased it second-hand.

Practical AR Was Big at NRF: Next Step is Running in Virtual Shoes?

• Practical AR was everywhere at NRF: With Augmented Reality being able to help consumers and retailers in everyday-life.

• Unity3D had a really cool sneaker demo that was nearly photo-