Retail in 2019: What we've learned from NRF Big Show pre-event PR

The NRF 2019 Big Show kicks off on Sunday, and it promises a fresh look at the retail technology priorities of enterprise software vendors and service providers.

Microsoft is a top sponsor this year, offering what should be one of the biggest and busiest exhibition spaces at the event, alongside other big spenders like IBM, SAP, and PwC. Microsoft will be hosting a range of their partners and clients, letting them show off tech that relies on Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, hardware, and more.

As PR professionals kicked their solicitation efforts into high gear over the last two weeks, our editorial team got a chance to sample a wide range of announcements around the event. Some are relevant to MSDW's editorial focus, others less so. Before the event begins ,let's review some of the notables, from the Microsoft ecosystem and beyond. They break down roughly into five technology areas beyond Microsoft-specific topics: shopping, VR/AR, RFID, mobility & communications, and other enterprise solutions.

Microsoft and its partners

Some of the key Dynamics 365-related stories at NRF this year include wins for:

• Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona, using Dynamics 365 for retail management and Point of Sale (POS);
• Luxury brand Stefano Ricci, using a Dynamics 365 customer experience solution; and
• Gourmet food and gifts creator Hickory Farms, which is expected to offer an update on their progress with Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.

Microsoft customer Kroger has also become a technology partner in earnest, parlaying its customer experience and IoT technology investments for ...