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Inc., called retail an "exciting, dynamic and important uses for analytics and create stores of the future. Retailers
industry in the U.S.," that employs one out of every are already using virtual reality (VR) to create immersive
four American workers. He acknowledged industry retail experiences for consumers in stores and in their
stakeholders reshaping retail's future and "visionaries homes, he added.
from every conceivable field who are redefining the in-
store experience." VR technologies enable customers to control their
experience while giving merchants more insights,
NRF President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Shay Krzanich said, adding that consumers "could be sitting in
observed the show had a "global feel" and praised the NRF your store and feeling like they're at home, or sitting at
Foundation's fundraising gala that raised $2.1 million. home and feeling like they're in your store, while you're
Proceeds will fund scholarships and the Retail Industry getting all that data."
Skills & Education program (RISE Up), a retail industry
credentialing initiative designed to help applicants of From omnichannel to unified commerce
all educational and economic backgrounds acquire the A new report, Building the Business Case for a Unified
necessary skills to enter the retail workforce and advance Commerce Platform – Optimize the Consumer Experience, co-
in retail careers, Shay stated. authored by the NRF, Ecommerce Europe and Demandware
Widespread opportunities, disruption Inc., surveyed 300 retail business owners and technology
executives in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Shay encouraged visitors to walk the NRF show floor, Most respondents were involved in rebuilding their retail
where numerous exhibits reflected solutions to retail's infrastructure, architecture, and applications in response
daily challenges, opportunities and disruptions. He noted to evolving consumer behavior, the report authors noted.
the term disruption comes from Latin, meaning to break
asunder or shatter to pieces. "Disruption doesn't always "Retailers are rethinking their technology approach to
feel like a good thing, but we need it," he said. "When a better serve connected consumers," the authors wrote.
technology disrupts a product, it makes it better, stronger "Retailer expectations for the benefits of a unified
and more efficient than before." commerce platform are high, including margin, revenue
and brand value."
Disruption affects many industries and sectors, including
sports, culture and the recent presidential election, which The theme of unified commerce was also reflected in
disrupted Washington in a big way, Shay added. "You NRF exhibits, presentations and breakout sessions.
might like what you see; you might hate what you see," Henry Helgeson, CEO and co-founder of Cayan LLC, said
he said. "But the reality is that disruption is here, and it's unified commerce enables POS hardware vendors to sign
inescapable." up ecommerce merchants and enhance loyalty, analytics
and co-branded service offerings. "Omnichannel was a
Data, the new oil powerful concept in 2016, especially the ability to offer a

Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich said the retail industry consistent consumer experience across multiple channels,"
has arrived at a new juncture, where smart and connected he said. "Unified commerce expands on that theme, with
technologies are transforming the way we shop and enjoy enhanced capabilities and analytics that retailers love."
products. "In the last century, oil transformed the world,"
he said. "In this century, data is that transforming engine Nathan Casper, Director of Marketing at Shift4 Corp.,
that is changing the very definition of a retail store." said, "There is no place in [a retail] enterprise for a one-
size-fits-all approach to technology and hardware. As
Krzanich additionally noted that the industry's virtual merchant advocates, we will work with retailers to ensure
cycle of growth will build on itself as devices become their payment systems are secure and compliant." Shift4 is
increasingly connected, from smart watches that monitor a payments industry gateway that prides itself on having
the body to smart POS systems and equipment. As these created payment card tokenization.
devices become connected, more data is unleashed, he
said. "Our theme is 'payments solved; payments evolved,'"
added Jeremy Fried, Systems Architect at Shift4. "Unified
"Artificial intelligence and machine learning can now be commerce is the next evolution of omnichannel, where
applied and pushed down into these devices to predict data from multiple, disparate systems is aggregated into
what's next," Krzanich added. "Every industry will be a single hub."
transformed by this, and Intel will use this to deliver
amazing experiences." Reflecting upon the tremendous evolution of payments
through the years, Coy Christensen, Vice President of
Krzanich further predicted emerging technologies will Product Management at Vantiv Inc., said unified commerce
have three major impacts on retail: they will enable is "the endpoint we've been pursuing for the past 15 years
retailers to reinvent the in-store experience, identify new but didn't have the technology to support, until now."

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