Industry Information

Shop.org, the National Retail Federation’s digital division, is bringing together thought leading digital retail executives and solution providers to tackle some of the industry’s top challenges. The Shop.org Think Tank collaborates to identify and develop points of view on trends, business models, technologies and strategies that will shape the future of online retail and the role of digital in retail.

A change in federal tax law that decreased the take-home pay of many working Americans is impacting household budgets. According to NRF’s 2013 Tax Returns Survey conducted by BIGinsight, nearly three-quarters (73.3%) of those polled say their spending plans are taking a hit.

Shop.org is launching today a multi-part initiative to engage the industry in examining how retailers are integrating all things “digital” into their business structures.

The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), the National Retail Federation’s technology standards division, today announced the release of three diverse standards for the retail technology community, all of which will be available for review in the ARTS Pavilion, booth 2253, at Retail’s BIG Show.

As shoppers become increasingly connected, online retailers in 2013 will get back to basics, focusing on strategies and tactics to improve the customer experience and increase web conversion and loyalty across all devices

Bringing together the world’s leading retailers and their business partners, Retail’s BIG Show is set to commence next week, offering a speaker lineup never seen before. The four-day convention, held January 13-16, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, will feature topics ranging from digital and mobile retailing to corporate and social responsibility to economic and consumer trends in the new year.

The Dream BIG scholarship will award 10 current retail employees with full tuition at any University of Phoenix program, providing them the opportunity to pair education with work experience and ambitions to pursue a wide-array of career opportunities within the retail industry.

According to NRF’s latest holiday survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average person has completed 56.5 percent of their shopping, up from the 46.5 percent this time last year and the highest percentage in the survey’s 10-year history.

The National Retail Federation announced today that Kofi Annan, formerly Secretary-General of the United Nations will keynote Retail’s BIG Show, January 13-16, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. Annan’s keynote, “Building Strong Nations: The Three Pillars to a Prosperous Society,” is scheduled for Monday, January 14, 2013 at 8:45 a.m.

Though millions of holiday packages are crossing the country right now en route to their intended doorsteps, many Americans may choose to wait until the last minute to finish their holiday shopping. In 2010 and 2011 the average person still had half of their shopping lists to complete as of mid-December.

Christmas came early for 24 college students when they learned they were recipients of a $5,000 scholarship through the NRF Foundation’s Ray M. Greenly Scholarship fund. Each student, nominated by educators at their schools based on their high scholastic achievements and passion for retail, will receive a $5,000 scholarship to cover educational costs and a stipend to attend Retail’s BIG Show in January.

The New England Patriots and the Washington Redskins weren’t the only winners this Thanksgiving Day as more than 35 million Americans visited retailers’ stores and websites Thursday – up from 29 million last year – scoring deals on everything from hot electronic items to cashmere sweaters and toys. According to a National Retail Federation survey conducted by BIGinsight over the weekend, traffic and spending grew over the entire weekend*.

Despite record levels of online spending over the Black Friday weekend, savvy shoppers still have plenty of appetite for one-day only deals that retailers have lined up for Cyber Monday, as 129.2 million shoppers say they’ll head to retailers’ websites on Cyber Monday.

Children’s wish lists this holiday season are full of the latest gadgets such as Apple iPads and the Nintendo Wii U, but there’s still demand for some classic gifts like LEGOs, dolls and toy cars according to NRF’s 2012 Top Toys survey conducted by BIGinsight.

According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, up to 147 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a slight decrease from the 152 million who planned to do so last year.

With retailers providing increasingly creative ways for gift cards to be personalized and delivered, NRF’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight shows that 81.1 percent of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history.

According to the National Retail Federation’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, 52.8 percent of Americans have already started their holiday shopping, up from 51.4 percent last year.