NRF is the most famous retail industry event in the world. In a few weeks, Avanade will make its presence known there once again. As my team and I prepare for NRF 2019, I’m reminded of previous years and how our role at this event has evolved. Some of the retailers we work with have been so intrigued by what we’ve showcased at NRF that they come back and meet up with us year after year. That makes us both proud and grateful – proud that they continue to spend time with us learning about how we can help retailers innovate and grateful for the insights they have shared with us.

Our first NRF experience was in 2015 where we shared our initial digital customer scenarios and found retailers especially responsive. So much so, in fact, that we felt we had to step up: before the year was over, we made the conscious decision to establish a dedicated focus on retail. We started harvesting our experiences with clients into a comprehensive industry-specific offering.

By NRF 2016, we had Connected Retail, our end-to-end store and digital channel management offering that enables consistent, seamless, omnichannel customer experiences and retail operations. We’ve been implementing and evolving it with dozens of our clients ever since.

This past January, when we went to NRF 2018, digital workplace was emerging as a key new area for retail transformation. We announced the findings from the joint research we’d just completed with Microsoft around the issues facing retailers when it comes to their frontline workforce. Our research confirmed that empowering retail workers with mobility and analytic tools helps ensure a greater customer experience.

At NRF 2019, we’re expanding on the digital workplace theme by introducing our Workplace Experience for Retail proposition. This integrates a retail-specific business case and transformation blueprint with Avanade’s cross-industry Workplace Experience solution. Workplace Experience identifies that if organizations invest in workplace as a transformational proposition, they can realize significant gains over their competitors. Research from, for example, MIT CISR demonstrates that those organizations with best-in-class employee experience double customer satisfaction, achieve a significant uplift in profitability and achieve faster time to market around new products or services.

Workplace Experience for Retail builds on our work with clients such as Marks & Spencer’s in the UK, Itochu in Japan and many more across the world. It addresses stores, headquarters, contact centers and any other customer contact points.

So, come and visit us at NRF 2019! I look forward to meeting you in person and exchanging ideas on how we can work together to transform your Workplace Experience, empowering both delightful customer experiences and responsive, impactful Intelligent Enterprise operations. Drop by our lounge at your convenience. Even better: email me and let’s arrange a more in-depth discussion on Workplace Experience in Retail, and our broader retail offering.