Big show, bigger ideas. Innovation moves at a blistering pace, and as such, there’s not a moment to waste during NRF’s Big Show 2019 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan where retailers, brands, solution providers and industry stakeholders convene to share ideas, hear from thought leaders and see the latest technologies.
Here, WWD vetted a list of more than 20 “fashtech” solution providers who will be showcasing technologies Jan. 13 through Jan. 15 at this year’s event. These are companies offering retailers and brands solutions and technologies aimed at elevating the in-store and online shopping experience, streamlining e-commerce capabilities and taking customer engagement to higher levels via artificial intelligence, data analytics, RFID, machine learning and more.
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Avery Dennison
Avery Dennison offers “intelligent solutions” for the retail industry. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of digital identity solutions including radio frequency identification that enable brands and retailers to increase visibility across their supply chains, improve efficiency, reduce waste and ultimately enhance the consumer experience.
RFID has seen adoption take hold in the apparel industry where consumers demand an omnichannel shopping experience. RFID adoption is now expanding into new markets including beauty and food, where there is a key need for item-level visibility. For food, RFID also enables improved safety by increasing visibility of food freshness and expiry dates.
“We believe in a future where every item will have a unique digital identity and digital life, enabling businesses to improve visibility and efficiency across the supply chain, to ultimately enhance the consumer experience and improve retail margins.”
Chargebacks911
Chargebacks911 helps merchants recover revenue, reduce costs and ensure sustainability through fully managed chargeback mitigation. The company deploys their own Intelligent Source Detection technology to identify chargebacks by their source such as merchant error, criminal fraud or friendly fraud. Chargebacks911’s dedicated specialists then implement a customized, ROI-guaranteed strategy based around the individual merchant’s needs, including merchant compliance, chargeback alerts, tactical representation and affiliate fraud protection.
“My main frustration, even beyond the chargebacks themselves, was the lack of real solutions available to help. So, we took those experiences and started Chargebacks911 in 2011 with a specific goal in mind: help merchants reduce and eliminate chargebacks.”
Custora
Custora is a customer intelligence platform that helps retail marketers quickly bring advanced analytics and machine learning into their retail organization. Custora unifies customer data, enhances it with predictive insights, delivers curated analytics and distributes data to every team and customer touchpoint.
“Custora helps retailers overcome these challenges with a user-friendly, cloud-based platform that automates the entire customer analytics life cycle. This frees up retailers to focus on what they do best — asking the right questions and designing customer-centric programs — while Custora focuses on the rest.”
Cymbio
Cymbio is a business-to-business automation platform that streamlines product, inventory, order and billing information between commercial partners to support product injection, in-store drop-ship and reorders and ship-from-store.
“Retailers increase product offerings for consumers, while both brands and retailers realize incremental sales from the same marketing efforts and achieve higher operating margins due to mutual brand/retailer savings on order processing and shipping. Consumers also win, as the goods ship faster, and in many cases, operational savings, translates to better pricing.”
Emarsys
Emarsys positions itself as the “largest independent marketing platform company in the world.” Emarsys’ software enables “truly personalized, one-to-one interactions between marketers and customers across all channels — building loyalty, enriching the customer journey and increasing revenue.” This enables companies to scale marketing decisions and actions far beyond human capabilities.
The Emarsys Marketing Platform provides turnkey and natively integrated industry solutions that are easily adopted and drive results aligned with your individual business objectives. The Emarsys AI Platform allows you to understand each contact as an individual customer and execute highly personalized campaigns at scale.
“Each day, we deliver more than 350 million personalized interactions across e-mail, mobile, social and web, leading to millions of daily purchase events on our software. The focus on highly targeted communications helps brands to derive profitability, and Emarsys’ dedicated account team supports businesses as they adopt more predictive insights to enhance the whole customer experience.”
EnVista
EnVista markets itself as a “leading, global software solutions and consulting firm” enabling enterprise commerce through its Unified Commerce Platform, as well as its ability to consult, implement and operate solutions.
The company markets itself as “the only, single platform to encompass all omnichannel solutions that companies require to enable buy, fulfill and return anywhere commerce.” The platform’s set of solutions can operate as independent services or even better together as a complete platform suite.
The platform’s omnichannel solutions include enterprise order management, point of sale, product information management, omnichannel fulfillment — buy online, pick up in store; ship from store, and ship to store — vendor drop ship, electronic data interchange, e-commerce, retail consulting and the merge of digital and physical.
“Today’s commerce has moved beyond just brand access and into “new retailing” — delighting the customer with unique experiences and managing customer expectations by operationally delivering on retailer-made promises.”
Gerber Technology
Gerber’s software supports the entire product life cycle from conceptual design and development through pattern design, virtual sampling through production to virtual try on that “enables consumers to buy with confidence.”
“Retailers and brands need to be agile in their development processes so they can respond quickly to sustain the relationship they have with their consumers. But they also need to manage data effectively to mitigate inventory risks and high levels of consumer returns from online purchases. Gerber is addressing these challenges by providing cloud-based integrated solutions giving teams access to data to get new products to market quickly and stay on trend.”
Inspectorio
Inspectorio offers “an unmatched quality” inspection and compliance verification Software-as-a-Service platform, empowering “unparalleled, efficiency, transparency and accuracy,” the company noted, adding that it “accelerates the seamless transition of forward-thinking organizations” to a digital, interconnected and empowered production chain.
“Inspectorio’s platform vision is to revolutionize apparel manufacturing by combining AI, predictive analytics, machine learning and mobile technologies on a cloud-based inspection platform, delivering prescriptive insights in seconds anywhere in the world, anytime.”
Intel
Intel technology is powering “Project NGAGE,” the world’s first public demonstration of how gamified digital objects built on blockchain can deliver more engaging customer experiences. Working with BLOCKv, Project NGAGE will bring to life a virtual treasure hunt during NRF and across midtown Manhattan, where people can capture virtual butterflies and other objects on their mobile devices. The butterflies and digital objects can be found and grabbed on a map or captured in augmented reality. Each will carry unexpected prizes to reward and delight NRF attendees.
“Today’s digitally savvy retail customer expects a seamless shopping experience. Conventional forms of engagement — coupons, digital banners — are static tactics that lack the ability to connect personally and meaningfully. With the help of BLOCKv, retailers can now create digital objects built on blockchain to generate one-to-one experiences and create new levels of engagement for customers.”
JDA Software
JDA’s solutions help companies provide “a superior, seamless customer experience by enabling them to better empower their workforce, transform their product delivery, deliver optimized merchandising and inventory strategies, and better predict and shape demand.”
JDA’s Luminate solutions, which embrace leading AI and ML technologies from Blue Yonder, enable retailers to connect their supply chains and stores from end to end, “delivering complete supply chain visibility and predictive and prescriptive recommendations that power more profitable business decisions.”
“With JDA Luminate, we allow retailers to harness market-leading AI and ML technology to better empower their workforce, transform product delivery and optimize their merchandising and inventory.”
LiveArea
LiveArea specializes in commerce solutions and services across four key areas including strategy, design, technology and digital marketing.
Digital transformation is imperative for retailers and brands, today, the company noted. The complexity and speed of this transformation “require broad expertise and an array of solutions and services in commerce strategy, design, technology and digital marketing.”
“LiveArea brings insight and creativity to every engagement — not just artful design, but trend-setting strategy and technology, and unmatched experience.”
Manhattan Associates
Manhattan Associates is positioned as “a technology leader in supply chain and omnichannel commerce.” The company said it unites information “across the enterprise, converging front-end sales with back-end supply chain execution. Our software, platform technology and unmatched experience help drive both top-line growth and bottom-line profitability for our customers.”
Manhattan Associates designs, builds and delivers “leading-edge cloud and on-premises solutions so that across the store, through your network or from your fulfillment center, you are ready to reap the rewards of the omnichannel marketplace.”
“Manhattan’s solutions are built for the connected commerce world and deliver on speed, efficiency and visibility across the retail network.”
Mood Media
Mood Media describes itself as the “world’s leading in-store media solutions company dedicated to elevating the customer experience.” The company said it creates greater emotional connections between brands and consumers through the right combination of sight, sound, scent, social and systems solutions — “from music programming to overhead and on-hold messaging, digital signage, Mood TV, backend sound and AV systems, scent marketing and more.”
Mood’s clients include businesses of all sizes and market sectors, from the world’s most recognized retailers and hotels to quick-service restaurants, banks and automotive dealerships, including thousands of small businesses.
“Mood Media’s solutions help businesses create customized, elevated in-store customer experiences through a variety of sensorial marketing components, all of which lead to increased dwell times, enhanced brand loyalty, more repeat visits and greater sales.”
My Size Inc.
MySizeID is a smart mobile measurement solution for retailers that allows a consumer to take accurate body measurements and then receive sizing recommendations for correct fitting apparel from any retailer, removing the guesswork from online shopping.
“By providing accurate size recommendations using MySizeID, retailers can increase purchase orders and decrease costs associated with unnecessary returns — all while providing the inclusive and personal shopping experience consumers crave.”
Narvar
Narvar is a customer engagement platform that helps retailers inspire long-term customer loyalty by enabling seamless post-purchase experiences that “retain, engage and delight customers — from cart to doorstep, and beyond.”
“With effortless order tracking, proactive communications and seamless returns, Narvar applies machine learning across billions of interactions to simplify the everyday lives of consumers. In fact, over 70 percent of U.S. adults have experienced better retail through Narvar,” the company said.
“Whether it’s shopping online, through AI-powered chatbots or voice assistants — consumers increasingly expect brands to provide personalized, engaging interactions at every touchpoint. Narvar is uniquely positioned to empower the most innovative retailers to cement customer loyalty throughout the shopping journey.”
NewStore
The NewStore Omnichannel Cloud is positioned in the market as “the first integrated cloud order management system and mobile POS.”
Solutions are delivered via intuitive store associate apps and include “endless aisle, mobile checkout, store fulfillment, real-time inventory management and clienteling, as well as other omnichannel cornerstones such as BOPIS, buy online return in store [BORIS], ship from store and more,” the company said.
With an API-first architecture and an expansive partner ecosystem, the NewStore platform connects into major e-commerce platforms and integrates with the industry’s latest technologies.
“NewStore helps retailers migrate away from point solutions and onto a cloud platform. Because platforms are extensible, customizable and integratable, retailers can quickly scale and innovate, turning omnichannel into a revenue growth strategy. With today’s mobile-first world in mind, NewStore allows retailers to run their stores on iPhones, delivering personalized and convenient shopping experiences across the entire customer journey.”
Optimove
Optimove implements a systematic approach to planning, executing, measuring and optimizing a complete, highly personalized customer marketing plan. The Relationship Marketing Hub is comprised of three main solutions: insight, engagement and the optimization bot. It collects customer data and tracks marketing campaigns and can orchestrate communications and campaigns to potential clients via cross-channel marketing distributions. The company’s marketing optimization bot uses machine learning to autonomously optimize campaign performance and discover opportunities to boost performance in the data.
“We take the marketer’s first-party data, organizing and segmenting it so that it becomes the marketer’s best friend, a super-powered tool in their arsenal to create hyperpersonalized, emotionally intelligent communications. From there, we leverage the power of sophisticated AI to help brands create campaigns designed to send the right message at the right time, maximizing loyalty and engagement.”
Optoro
Reverse logistics, the process of handling returned and excess inventory, is becoming a priority for retailers and brands. Optoro helps retailers by providing the industry’s most innovative cloud-based system to power the entire reverse supply chain. When brands receive returns today, they often don’t have systems in place to efficiently process the inventory thus they destroy it or liquidate it in bulk for pennies on the dollar.
Optoro’s technology is designed to help brands make better decisions about how to handle these products, the company said. By combining cost analysis, recovery potential analysis and a cultivated audience of buyers, “Optoro’s software finds the proper channel for all types and qualities of inventory.”
“Our returns optimization platform uses machine learning and data science to determine the most profitable channel for every single returned item — whether it be to a secondary market like BLINQ or BULQ, a recycling center, or even donating. We work with top U.S. retailers and brands to ensure sustainable, profitable returns and also to advocate for a more circular economy.”
SAP
SAP Commerce Cloud is touted as a “comprehensive commerce platform for retailers to engage and transact with customers anywhere, at any time, and on any device with the built-in omnichannel versatility offered by SAP’s B2B and B2C commerce software.”
SAP S/4HANA Retail for merchandise management enables retailers to meet the demands of a digital economy with support for all core retail processes. With S/4HANA, retailers can gain insights into operational retail data and provide users with contextual, real-time information and a simple user interface to make faster decisions and deliver a better consumer experience.
“SAP helps brands pursue new and innovative business models by building a consumer-centered intelligent enterprise, unlocking new business value with digital technology.”
StoreAdvise
StoreAdvise is a suite of “smart software tools” for retailers that use technology to create a connected shopping, sales and store management experience. The company leverages a combination of modern hardware, software and services to gather data, “using the insights to optimize inventory visibility and product movement as related to customer behavior, streamline store associate tasks and improve conversions,” the company said.
StoreAdvise recommends, designs and deploys tailored digital solutions and smart fitting rooms leveraging the StoreAdvise platform, Internet of Things systems, devices, RFID labels and more. By integrating and connecting systems, StoreAdvise allows retailers to use robust data-driven insights to improve store performance.
“Just as digital stores rely on data to better understand shopper behavior and how it relates to store performance, so should physical stores. StoreAdvise solutions are designed by leading retail technologists to uncover and expand a retailer’s customer value, enabling stores to function more effectively and profitably while offering a better shopping experience.”
True Fit
True Fit’s True Personalization Platform is a data-driven personalization platform for footwear and apparel retailers that decodes style, fit and size for every consumer. The Fashion Genome, which is powered by the True Personalization Platform, connects manufacturing design data from thousands of leading apparel and footwear brands, anonymized consumer order data from hundreds of top retailers, and personal preference data from millions of registered True Fit users.
“This rich data set allows retailers and brands to provide consumers with unparalleled personalization via software-as-a-service, APIs and data-as-a-service, including consumer preference data, style rankings, fit ratings, size recommendations and merchandising analytics,” the company stated.
“Arming our retailers with a 360-degree view of each shopper’s personal fit and style preferences enables brands and retailers to design, produce, merchandise, assort and market in a way that is more relevant to their shoppers. By helping retailers and brands truly ‘know’ their customers, they create more engaged, more profitable and more loyal customers.”