Why We Didn’t Attend NRF 2025
The NRF big show has been a standard on the Retail calendar for quite some time. Arguably taking over the role that the World Retail Congress had – and giving retailers and suppliers the opportunity to connect and learn about ideas outside of their own country. In the early years of attending this was definitely the case. In past years we saw Sir Richard Branson talk about culture, we heard Richard Liu the CEO at the time of JD.com talk about incredible innovation in last mile delivery, we saw Walmart CEO John Furner talk about how to run big box, and we saw Target CEO Brian Cornell talk about their turnaround strategy.
That said, over the last few years (since COVID) we’ve seen repeating topics or even a regression in themes - noticeably sustainability was off the table last year. It feels as though the innovation and progression we were hearing about in the early years of the Big Show was no longer there, in fact we were getting more from store visits and the personal connections we have with retailers in New York than we were from the actual conference. It felt as though the Big Show had moved from being a library of new information, to being heavily weighted towards the supplier funded expo - a little like what we hear the world economic forum has become aka more 'Tech Bros' selling their goods than true debate or mental stimulation.
So, after 12 years of attendance we made the hard decision late last year to not attend - and that meant not running our annual BIG Breakfast. This wasn’t a decision we took lightly but rather one we deliberated and internally debated, realising that our focus needed to be on innovation and progression. That doesn’t mean were not looking overseas, it means we’re simply not looking in the places that the rest of Retail are. We believe the future of Retail can be found in inspiration from the global south, on TikTok through the eyes of Gen Z, in immersing ourselves in the innovations coming out of China, in political movements that are creating the future of our societies (particularly when they bring frustration to mainstream media), and finally in the smaller diverse retailers that are popping up in our own neighbourhood in Australia.
As the old AdAge goes, "you evolve or you die"...and this applies to us too. If we are to continue to be Australia’s leading consumer facing retail consultancy we have to keep being ahead of the game. This is something we have endeavoured to do as a part of our culture. For example, we’re the first retail consultancy to become a certified B Corp in Australia – we did this because we saw the future in retail as one based in sustainability. We know that evolution involves risk and that’s what the focus of this year is for us.
So, what next?
We’re breaking with the tradition we created for ourselves and starting to explore these new avenues for understanding Retail as well as the consumer.
As a part of this will be kicking off the year with a bunch of small local retailer tours looking at categories like home, well-being, and luxury. Speaking with these retailers, getting immersed in inspiration and helping to share these with our Retail community.
Will also be running a sustainability dinner to workshop new approaches to responsible Retail as well as share knowledge that isn’t readily accessible through the Internet or conferences.
Later this year - next year will be looking at running a tour in China and Asia as a means to explore new delivery technology, sustainability, and ways of approaching consumer lead decisions.
One final thought…
The one thing that is guaranteed in life and in Retail is that every day is different. And this is true of the world we’re in at this point in time where the superpowers of the world are changing, generational change is taking place, political unrest is abound, and therefore new approaches to Retail need to be considered. We’ve been listening to the market and to the consumer - so we’re adapting too.