While many wondered "who" would actually show up to the National Retail Federation's Annual "Big Show" last week in New York City, I was much more interested in "why" people would be there. I had little doubt that the traditional show attendees would find reasons to attend (some more social than business). While attendance appeared to be down (at least visually) there was good participation in sessions, relatively steady Expo Hall traffic, and high quality retailer interest in a few key areas:
Meetings with retailers clearly indicated a renewed focus on investments that have clear ROI. Most projects that have clear ROI still maintain executive support. Smaller, focused teams from retail organizations were very interested in exploring their projects with vendor organizations.