NRF: New York welcomes back the big boys of retail IT

Start spreading the news, the IT bosses of three of the four biggest retailers in the world have been spotted at the National Retail Federation conference and show in New York this week; and that says something about the role technology will play in the industry’s recovery from recession.

The chief information officers of both Walmart and Carrefour, as well as Tesco’s worldwide head of operations development and IT Mike McNamara were all at the show. I’ve not yet had a confirmed sighting of Metro’s CIO, but if you were there and you saw him let me know.

While this might not score maximum celebrity-spotting points (that prize goes to Oracle Retail’s team, who managed to bump into Sir Philip Green and George Clooney while they were Stateside - well done ladies), it highlights that innovation is firmly on the agenda for the most successful retailers on the planet.

After last year’s subdued NRF show, the crowds were back this week, and the mood was buzzing. No one thinks that IT budgets are suddenly going to jump to 5% of their turnover, but there is pent up demand in businesses for the projects that have had to be put on hold for the past 18 months.

IT departments have spent the recession cutting their own costs, and helping the rest of the business attack the low-hanging fruit for better operational efficiency. A lot of what was being discussed at the show this year moves that story on.

There was much talk of smaller tactical developments, especially of technologies that could help retailers interact better with their customers. And more major business change programmes supported by technology will be necessary for retailers to successfully face the new reality of the economic conditions likely to be seen in the next five to 10 years.

As at all technology trade shows, there was once again lots of flash demonstrations of supposedly sexy technology to be witnessed out on the show floor. But if there is one trend the recession has catalysed, it is the change in what catches the eye of the technologists within retail’s biggest businesses.

Rollin Ford, CIO of the biggest and arguably most successful retailer there has ever been, Walmart, said it best: “Our innovation starts with the customer, leads to a business strategy, and then gets enabled by technology.”