How Standards Advance Retail

Change Is the Way You Serve Your Customers

"It used to be that companies were built to last. Now they are built to change.” 

– Lori Mitchell-Keller, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Retail for SAP

The Association of Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) started with a concept: to simplify change at the point of sale (POS). Even the most basic alternations to software and equipment at the POS were extraordinarily painful and expensive. 

ARTS helps retailers stay ahead of the technology curve. It brings together passionate retail experts to network and share their experience to build new standards. Whether it’s enabling retailers’ POS devices to work together to standardizing an approach to RFPs, ARTS members have collaborated extensively to meet the IT needs of the industry. ARTS continues to be thought-leaders in the rapidly-changing world of retail technology. 

Dick Mader, Executive Director of the Association of Retail Standards, a division of the National Retail Federation, will be addressing How Standards Advance Retail, and he is also presenting as part of the Retail Technology Panel at ICBA 2014.

Dick Mader, How Standards Advance Retail, and the Retail Technology Panel are part of the Strategic Direction and Marketing Programs at ICBA 2014.

The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) of the National Retail Federation is an international membership organization dedicated to reducing the costs of technology through standards. Since 1993, ARTS has been delivering application standards exclusively to the retail industry. ARTS has four standards: The Standard Relational Data Model, UnifiedPOS, XML, and the Standard RFPs (in partnership with NRF). Membership is open to all members of the international technology community-- retailers from all industry segments, application developers and hardware companies.

Rebranding Our Store

Discovery Duck

“It’s not just a job; it’s a culture.” 
– Jim Williams, Duck Store GM 36 years, Retired

Arlyn Schaufler

As college stores redefine our business models, many are discovering a new identity. Rebranding is not just about changing your name, the store sign and logo because these are not your brand. They are symbols that represent your brand. Rebranding is about exploring who you are in the minds of your customers, administrators, faculty, and community. Brands are made of experiences and expectations. Your customer's experiences are created by your people through personal interaction either indirectly, or directly. 

Rod Miles

The Duck Store at the University of Oregon is among the ICBA members who will be sharing their experience as part of the Rebranding Our Store session at ICBA 2014.

Arlyn Schaufler, General Manager of The Duck Store, and Rod Miles, Partner of Cappelli Miles will share the journey of discovery that arrived at The Duck Store.

Cappelli Miles is a full-service brand 
alignment and communications firm with offices in Eugene, Portland, Denver and Seattle. Led by founders Bruce Cappelli and Rod Miles, the company has been working with forward-thinking organizations for more than 30 years, crafting insightful brand strategy as the foundation for long term, multiphase, multimedia communication campaigns. 


Rebranding Our Store is part of the Strategic Direction and Marketing tracks at ICBA 2014.

State of the Art Retail Developments

Bridging the POS Gap to the Store of the...Present 

Meet Delia, She's in Your Stuff

Joe Skorupa, is Editor-in-Chief of Retail Information Systems News. At the conclusion of Joe's presentation at ICBA 2013, store directors overwhelmingly requested for Joe to return. At ICBA 2014 Joe will be addressing State of the Art Retail Developments, and he is also moderating the Retail Technology Panel. 

From mobility to the cloud, POS is changing at the speed of technology and retailers are racing to keep their systems in line with consumer expectations. Fixed POS units need to be prepared to manage 2D barcodes displayed by shoppers on their mobile devices, digital coupons, special offers, loyalty card IDs, and enabled QR codes. Mobile POS is already at 75% of fixed POS capability. 

How can brick and mortar stores differentiate themselves from their online-only competitors? A survey of retail executives by EKN, a division of RIS parent company Edgell Communications, indicates stores should offer the following: 

• A unique customer experience in-store 83%
• Value-added experiences not available online 70%
• Immediate and convenient access to products 68%
• Knowledgeable sales staff 65%
• A local destination for shopping and community 62%

Joe Skorupa, State of the Art Retail Developments, and the Retail Technology Panel are part of the Strategic Direction and Marketing Programs at ICBA 2014.

Your Online Strategy 

IS Your Business Strategy

Marketing in the Age of Google

"I don’t understand people who don’t drink coffee." 

Vanessa Fox is the author of  Marketing in the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy (Wiley, 2nd edition, April 2012), which has been called the “first must-read-to-survive business book of the twenty-first century”

In today’s searching world, customers turn to online search engines first. Yet many companies simply don’t realize acquiring customers from search engines should be a core business strategy. Instead, they usually focus on narrow goals, such as boosting page rankings. These oversights leave a huge channel for engaging with potential customers largely untapped. Businesses that use data about how people search to inform their product strategy will reach customers before the competition.

Vanessa created Google’s Webmaster Central, which provides both tools and community support to help website owners improve their sites with an eye towards gaining more customers from organic search. She was instrumental in the sitemaps.org alliance of Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft Live Search. Fox has also been an entrepreneur-in-residence with Ignition Partners and has served as an advisor for several startups.

In 2013, she sold the company she founded, Nine By Blue, to digital agency RKG. She works with RKG as chief product officer to evolve Blueprint Search Analytics, which she created at Nine By Blue to help companies of all sizes better integrate search engine optimization (SEO) throughout their organizations– from product design and web development to audience engagement and conversion.

Vanessa Fox, Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy is a general session for all tracks at ICBA 2014.


Speaking of the Super Bowl...

"In 2010, we searched for information. In 2011, we went to Facebook and went to YouTube to see the videos again. In 2012, we talked about commercials on Twitter using hashtags. And, we didn’t replace one activity with another. We mostly added these new behaviors to what we were already doing. So, now we’re searching and Tweeting and Facebooking and YouTubing. What will we add this year? (I’m pretty sure we won’t start QR coding.)"

 - Vanessa Fox, The Lead Up To the Super Bowl: How Are We Searching?

The Naked Brand

Leading the Advertising Revolution

"The Naked Brand is a story about how the advertising industry can

help save the world one small step at a time."

Jeff Rosenblum is the founding partner of the Questus advertising agency, and co-writer and director of The Naked Brand film. When Jeff discovered that his behavior as a consumer was totally different than his behavior as a professional he began a deeper investigation into the fundamental assumptions and processes of marketing in light of our digital world of search, social and mobile. It is not just about old marketing models using new technology. His conclusion was that brands are defined on the basis of their behavior, not their advertising. By trying to answer the question, What does the future hold for advertising?, he discovered that the key to creating a break-through brand is to "be great, not just say you are great."

"Advertising can't bull#*!% anyone any more"

Porter Gale, CMO Virgin Brands

The Naked Brand film takes aim at traditional advertising and its future. With their constant use of technology and social media, today's consumers are smarter and more invested in what they buy and marketers are taking advantage of this newly empowered customer by creating transparent and positive stories about their companies and products.Retailers must also learn new ways to be great, transparent, and to tell our stories.

Jeff Rosenblum and The Naked Brand is a general session for all tracks at ICBA 2014.

Jeff Rosenblum is a pioneer, a disruptor, an innovator and an admitted pain in the ass. Widely regarded as one of the leading innovators in the field of digital marketing, Jeff focuses on developing processes that break down the boundaries that exist between research, strategy and creative. He regularly contributes to Ad Age, iMedia Connection, and has been featured in Newsweek Magazine and on Bloomberg TV. He presents at industry conferences, including iMedia, IAB, Shop.org, Webcom, Adweek and Game Changers. He has been a guest lecturer at NYU and The London Business School. 
Questus counts among their clients Capital One, General Mills, The NFL and Suzuki Motorcycles among others. Questus is the recipient of iMedia's Small Agency of the Year Award for two years running.