There’s no better way to kick off the ‘Roaring 20s’ than spending three days at the world’s largest retail show. Like each year before, the NRF Big Show at the Javits Center in New York was teeming with top brands and retailers from around the globe. From fashion runways to two-story booths to a first-ever activation on the top floor in the Crystal Palace, the show was filled with innovation and inspiration.
We took full advantage of this opportunity, greeting attendees across two separate booths at the show. We shared a new global research report on voice and discussed the critical importance of voice commerce. We presented on how to get started with Alexa and held a Q&A session with Adobe Magento. But the real event highlight for us was connecting with existing and prospective customers. Diving deep into our merchant’s challenges and presenting them with opportunities to grow is the best part of what we do at Amazon -- events like NRF give us the ability to do exactly that.
In case you missed it...
Connected commerce – welcome to the roaring 20s
Until six years ago, all that mattered in the world of commerce were three primary channels – brick and mortar stores, ecommerce, and m-commerce. With tens of millions of Alexa enabled devices, ‘voice’ is emerging as a powerful interface. Today, we can talk about living in the early stages of the third era of commerce, voice. This powerful medium has the potential to transform how we interact with brands and commerce. During NRF, we presented the latest findings on the future of voice from our new global study on Connected Commerce, revealing how shoppers feel about this new channel. Download the report here.
Getting started with Alexa and voice commerce
We are in the early stages of a new era: voice commerce and just like the disruptions before it, early adopters will win. During this session at NRF, Amazon Pay’s connected commerce team shared how voice commerce is giving customers the power to define when, where, and how they interact and transact. We shared insights on how to invent on behalf of your customers, with tips for designing and building unique voice commerce experiences for the modern consumer. Get started with Alexa and voice commerce.
How voice and other AI-powered experiences are reshaping retail
Understanding what drives connected journeys across converging channels, touchpoints, and experiences is what will deliver sustained growth and success for retailers in the modern era of commerce. AI-powered experiences are opening the doors to offer a seamless experience to customers across this connected journey, and ushering in a new era of commerce. Ecommerce solutions are increasingly using AI to engage with customers through voice, to remove friction for users and enable simpler, more intuitive interactions. Retailers that best understand how to use AI to meet their customers’ needs to be the first to lead customers to relevant content and solutions.
On Day 3, Patrick Gautheir, VP at Amazon Pay highlighted the ways in which voice is redefining the customer experience and how early adopters can use voice to establish a personal relationship with consumers. He also spoke about the innovations that are making it easier for retailers to connect with their customers ‘in the moment.’
Matthew Bakal, Co-Founder and Chairman of Atom Tickets, closed the session with an overview on how Atom is using voice to make the experience of purchasing movie tickets and (even concessions!) seamless.
Discovering what’s Possible with Pay: Adobe Magento
Merchants today are continuously exploring ways to create distinct digital retail experiences for their shoppers, while also staying ahead of innovation and trends they can leverage through trusted partners and platform providers. Amazon Pay and Adobe Magento shared the Magento Commerce Branded Stores for Amazon Sellers offering, and the powerful tools available to grow your business today.
A few of the common questions we received at the show:
- What is Amazon Pay? Learn more here
- How is it different than other checkout options? Meet Alexa
- How is Amazon Pay so fast? Watch this
- How do I integrate? Start here
- Can you tell me more about Delivery Notifications? Read this
Everyone loved…
Our swag! We showcased a few of our very own merchant’s in both booths: Hickies shoelaces and the Hero clip. Both were a huge hit.
What we loved…
Time with customers and new friends!