Footwear Insight

4 • Footwear Insight ~ January/February 2025 footwearinsight.com T he National Retail Federation's "NRF '25 - Retail's Big Show" was held in New York City in January. As I mentioned in my letter last year, the show continues to be big. Really big. Wall-to-wall booths filled with technology, people, seminars and conversations designed to make you see, think and discuss what's possible. As you would expect, the key talking point at the NRF '25 was Artificial Intelligence (AI). Experts in the field say, "Get started with AI. Get out of your comfort zone and think big." ey used terms like "AI Agents" that can help with customer service or warehouse logistics. One example was the use of smart cameras deep in the warehouse that monitor traffic flow. For example, if a shelf collapses, spilling the boxes into the aisle blocking the path, AI sends out a message redirecting the forkli operators (or self-operating ones) to a new path averting disruptions. e question is, can AI help me sell more? And if it can, how best to deliver it in a frictionless manner? According to Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight (no relation) who spoke about how to leverage AI in a competitive environment, "It's the product stupid." As he said, "Give me a product that I want, when I want it, where I want it, or I will find it somewhere else." Other ideas for AI included adding a value score to product (1 -10), which would correspond to a metric correlated to an outcome resulting in a what products are best to offer. Using consumer data, AI can help in the discussion of "make more of this and less of that." For retailers, AI can also help in suggestive selling… if you are interested in this item, you might want to think about (insert product idea). Another good point, AI strengthens your forward-looking ability based on current data. A few of the seminars that I had attended at NRF '25 focused on customer engagement and more specifically, store loyalty programs. e overarching theme? Keep it simple. Keep it fun. Keep it focused. Loyalty Program Tips Don't simply focus on giving away margin, which is aer the sale and easy, we were told. Or to put it another way, don't just do it for the transaction. Find programs that help you get out onto the sales floor to engage with the consumer while they are on their shopping journey. Where do you meet your customers? How do you get them to change their behavior? You want them to be part of the "club." Loyalty programs are the connection points. ere is also the multi- generational shi. Friends and Family save 25%... remember that? at was good. We need better. Create tiers, such as Bronze/Silver/Gold, with Gold allowing for the best access to limited products. Other suggestions were to create an experiential award, for in-store activations. Create programs that earn points through non-transactional events. ere was talk about gamifications and aspirational tiers that enable you to reward different customers, differently, with the end goal to "level up" with rewards such as "choose your own sales day." I liked that. inking out loud here, for the higher level tiers consider offering a shoe protection plan that covers accidental damage…if a customer buys a pair of shoes, offer a discount on related products like insoles, socks, or shoe care products…offer rewards based on seasons, birthdays or the anniversary of their last purchase…offer a program where customers can use their rewards for charity. e key is to design the loyalty program so that it feels rewarding without putting too much strain on customers who may not buy oen. You want to keep your program low-effort but high-reward, so it feels that it KNOW ME. SHOW ME. REWARD ME. JEFF NOTT, PUBLISHER LETTER

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