January 2019, we couldn’t have a better beginning of a new year for us at Byond.
Coming back from the holidays, we had to roll up our sleeves and get after it.
We had CES in the first week in Vegas and then NRF on the 2nd week in New York- it was a wild ride!
CES is the biggest technology event in the world. Originally for Consumer electronics, but now, everyone is in there!
We’ve seen jaw-dropping gadgets and every third booth puts up a fiery show, camera crews, and reporters running from one end to another trying to capture everything this show has to offer – it looked like one big party with glimpses to the future.
NRF, retail’s big show – The National Retail Federation hosts a yearly show in NYC – it’s the biggest and longest event for the retail industry in the world (100+ years).
This year more than 60K people participated.
It was a productive learning experience and one that helped us understand, XR retail, Vr retail, 3D retail, whatever you want to call it – works. And it’s here to stay.
We’ve learned that retailers are looking for new solutions that will help them stand-out. They want to try new directions and new innovations, the term “experiential retail” has evolved and now is in the ranks of the immersive technologies which have, really, one goal – to enhance the experience on a different level
The acceptance and embracement were overwhelming – all the biggest brands which once could have been considered conservative – are knee deep in trying new things.
Not because it’s just cool and fun, its because they have realized it has become a necessity. It has become a real demand by old and new generations who are now in the midst of a technological breakthrough, and they will not go back in standards, oh no, they are here to explore, they want MORE.
Many came with great new ideas and flashy products which can take businesses to the next level, we came to take them byond 🙂
A few highlighted insights we’ve seen on the shows :
- Retailers are laser-focused on what will help them survive and strive, they have to, competition is too fierce.
- E-commerce is relevant as always but physical retail is really out there – trying to reinvent itself in every way, deploying experiential retail tactics to sharpen their competitive edge.
- Everyone agrees that the retail is going through a major shift, but it’s not all bad – many new opportunities arise and new solutions are just around the corner.
- The 3D user journey and other immersive experiences such as “digital visual merchandising” are real things for retailers, some are more advanced than others but all are relevant, they all understand very well that it is all going in one direction.
Two busy events, lots of amazing feedback which kept the smile on our face and our engines going. Lots of validations and new business opportunities.
It was successful, to say the least 🙂
