NRF

New York -- NRF president Matthew Shay told attendees of retail’s Big Show in New York City this week that the industry is well positioned for 2015 – with support from Washington, D.C.

New York -- The National Retail Federation announced that The Container Store chairman and CEO Kip Tindell has been elected chairman of the NRF board of directors and chairman of its executive committee, succeeding Stephen I. Sadove, retired chairman and CEO of Saks, Inc.  

Tindell was elected at the Board of Directors meeting held Sunday during NRF’s 104th Annual Convention and EXPO, Retail’s BIG Show.

New York -- At the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention & EXPO on Monday, Microsoft Corp. and CKE Restaurants Inc. (parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.) showcased a self-order kiosk solution running on Windows 8 devices that enables Hardee’s customers to customize and place their own orders.

NRF president Matthew Shay told attendees of retail’s Big Show in New York City this week that the industry is well-positioned for 2015 – with a little help from friends in Washington, D.C.

There have been many bold predictions about retail trends, but not as many predictions about trends when it comes to the future of retail payments in the digital age. Well, for PayPal, it seems as though the future is now.

Retailers loking to take retail innovation to the next level may want to look at GameStop and its new omnichannel partnership with Microsoft.

The video game retailer announced Monday at NRF’s Big Show that it will use Microsoft's Azure cloud-powered network "enhance the in-store engagement of its customers in interactive, informative, and entertaining ways."

GameStop will be one of the first retailers to use Azure to stream video game and promotional content direct to customer and store associate mobile devices.

The National Retail Federation’s Big Show 2015 is a prime opportunity to demo the latest tech advancements from leading retail solution providers. The Oracle Retail team will be onsite with a small army of product experts, partners and customers to showcase its new 14.1 innovations, combined with powerful new functionality through the acquisition of MICROS.

To simplify retailers’ IT environments while helping them deliver the commerce anywhere experience consumers expect, Oracle unveiled enhancements to its retail portfolio with the launch of Oracle Retail Release14.1. This release builds on Oracle’s strategy for the combination of Oracle and MICROS, as well as its retail offerings in the cloud.

Another January, another NRF “Big Show” in New York. The annual meeting officially kicks off on Sunday. Here’s my early take on what to expect from exhibitors at the show:

1. More Cooperation With Retailers

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation has expressed its strong support for H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act, a bill that would restore the traditional 40-hour workweek standard for health benefits under the Affordable Care Act. The NRF sent a letter to each and every House office stating that all votes related to the bill would be considered “key votes” and factored into its annual legislative scorecard.