NRF 2023 Quick Hits

1/19/2023

Image credit: NRF/Jason Dixson Photography

The CGT team was on the scene for several days at the annual National Retail Federation (NRF) trade show in New York this week. While our sister brand RIS News blows the doors off NRF recaps with their Top 10 Takeaways, we’ve pulled together just a few tech highlights for consumer goods companies.

Get a glimpse below, and head over to RIS News for everything you need to know about NRF 2023.

Tech Announcements

The show is a hotbed of tech announcements, and so here are just a handful of the ones that cut through the noise.

Digital services and consulting company Infosys launched Infosys Equinox Studio to help retailers shape, integrate, publish, and manage next-generation composable, computational commerce experiences from a single low- or no-code, cloud-native platform. Using the platform, retailers can manage their digital experiences across channels and integrate any cloud-based, service-oriented applications.

SAS deployed its Intelligent Planning Cloud, intended to provide retailers and consumer goods companies with precise demand planning. The tech is available on SAS Cloud powered by Microsoft Azure and allows companies to react in near-real time to operational and market conditions and model future-state scenarios.

Amazon’s Buy with Prime DTC offering for merchants’ own online stores was on display. The company just revealed the wide availability of its services and an upcoming integration with BigCommerce, the first e-commerce platform to integrate with Buy with Prime. Previously available to retailers by invitation only, Buy with Prime will be widely available to all U.S.-based merchants by January 31.

Google's shelf-scanning technology

Google Cloud launched a new shelf-checking AI solution built on its Vertex AI vision platform. Currently available in preview with Giant Eagle as an early partner, the technology enables retailers to recognize billions of products to improve on-shelf availability. It can identify products from a variety of image types taken at different angles and vantage points via fixed cameras, aisle-roaming robots, or handheld devices.

Computer-vision and artificial intelligence company Everseen has expanded its suite of end-to-end computer vision AI technologies, which are designed for the checkout through the shop floor, to the back of the store and more. Capabilities include increased insights for loss prevention and supported inventory management.

Ottonomy.IO exhibited the Ottobot Yeti, an autonomous delivery robot capable of unattended deliveries. The robot can make multiple deliveries in a single trip, using four-wheel drive and four-steering wheels to enable a zero radius turn and navigate tight spaces.

Innovation Lab

More than 50 innovative companies were showcasing the latest developments in the retail tech space in this dedicated area. Among them:

Hivery: Co-developed with the Australian national science agency, Hivery’s AI-powered applied mathematics algorithms are reinventing the world of retail assortment strategy simulation, demand planning, and optimization solutions.

Lucky: This platform integrates with brand’s DTC websites and inventory data to connect customers with the swiftest options to purchase from the store closest to them. Lucky injects data from retailers such as Sephora and Target to streamline BOPIS and delivery services.

Eon: This product digitization platform brings together digital IDs for physical objects, linking to corresponding customer experiences by connecting to different use cases and making the whole process more traceable and interactive.

Consumer Product Showcase

New this year, the area featured 50-plus diverse small businesses showcasing products across multiple categories. The majority (84%) of the products were from minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, disability-owned or LGBTQ+-owned companies, with the aim to help retailers diversify their suppliers and connect with innovative products in categories such as food and beverage, fashion and apparel, beauty and home, and kitchen and pet.