J.D. Associates Retail POS Solutions Blog

Retail POS Systems on Steriods Survive - and Thrive

 Twitter |  Facebook |   Google Buzz |  digg it |   delicious |   StumbleUpon |   LinkedIn |  reddit 

Last week before I went to the NRF Big Show in New York, I ran into a friend and customer at the grocery store.  I told her that I was exhibiting at NRF, and she asked me if I would jot down a couple of my observations on the mood of the vendors and retailers in light of the Great Recession. 

Upon arriving at the Javits Center on Sunday, which is set-up day, I noticed that the show seemed larger than last year, although not as large as some of the shows in the past.   The "Big Show" isn't typically known for producing immediate sales, but most of the world's largest retail technology vendors attend if for nothing more than to make sure another vendor doesn't steal their customer.

As for the mood in the hall, most attendees including vendors and retailers expressed cautious and reserved optimism (optimism being the key word).  Having been "beat up" for the past two years, most felt they were better off this year that they had been last year and felt the worst was probably over.  Neither vendor nor retailer was jumping for joy because they felt business was fabulous.  But neither vendor nor retailer was expressing the devastating pessimism of last year.

This year it was obvious that technology companies have kicked it up a notch and were not only displaying point of sale systems on steroids, but were also placing  a strong emphasis on planning tools, video surveillance, traffic counting, customer loyalty programs, and business intelligence.  It appeared that both vendors and retailers realized that in order to flourish and not merely survive in the new economy, innovative and more sophisticated tools were essential.    

So, when the Big Show was over, I walked away knowing that I had met the survivors of the Great Recession and all of them were collectively looking for a better future.