Retailers will try to get a little closer to understanding what their customers want during a variety of consumer trend sessions at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 95th Annual Convention and EXPO, January 15-18 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. Educational sessions, guest speakers and special forums will explore such topics as how retailers can serve their 50+ shoppers, the emotional and functional drivers that influence consumer decisions, customer-centric merchandising, and techniques to improve shopper satisfaction.

Consumer-focused education opportunities at NRF's Annual Convention include:

Super Session: Aging Consumerism: The Future of Retail Spending

Sunday, January 15, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Due to dramatic demographic changes around the globe and the aging of the baby boomer market, retailers are being forced to focus on serving the needs of a very different type of consumer — one that is 50 or older with shifting biological, psychological, social and economic characteristics, needs and expectations. This session will examine the challenges companies face in creating a value proposition for the aging market and highlight the opportunities for companies to get ahead of this emerging trend.

Speakers: Alan Johnson, Chief Financial Officer, Forth & Towne, GAP Inc.; Pat Conroy, Vice Chairman and National Managing Principal Consumer Business Practice, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP; and Gretchen Addi, Senior Executive, IDEO

Customer-Centric Merchandising: Pricing and Promotions Based on Consumer Demand

Monday, January 16, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

HEB, an $11 billion supermarket chain headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is known for their customer-centric retailing strategy and best practices in serving their shoppers. Attendees will learn how HEB has transformed its pricing and promotion capabilities to be more proactive and in tune to customer needs in various markets.

Speaker: Mark Bradshaw, Director of Pricing, HEB Company

Visibility in the Demand Chain to Meet Customers’ Needs

Monday, January 16, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

With more than 3,800 stores and six retail brands, Limited Brands, Inc. continues to grow. As they develop the capabilities that will fuel the growth of a “family of the world’s best fashion brand,” Limited Brands, Inc. has undertaken a thorough overhaul of its information and technology systems and operating processes. This multi-year initiative focuses on becoming a nimble, customer-responsive specialty consumer products company that owns its channels of distribution.

Speakers: Nic LaHowchic, President & CEO, Limited Logistics, The Limited Distribution Services, and Paul Matthews, Senior Vice President, Limited Brands

Forum: Retail’s Dynamics and Trends: Unraveling the Data

Monday, January 16

Session #1- Ironing Out the Wrinkles for a Clear View of the Apparel, Footwear and Beauty Markets

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Technology’s role in apparel, footwear and beauty is undeniable. Anti-wrinkle and anti-aging products represent key trends in the apparel and beauty markets; in footwear, the story is trend migration and hybrid footwear. This session examines what’s happening, what’s next, and who’s poised to benefit from today’s hottest trends.

Speakers: Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst, The NPD Group, and Susan Towers

Vice President, Global Communications, Kiehl’s Since 1851

Session #2- The Search for Convenience and Fashion in the Home and Consumer Electronics Marketplace

2:45 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.

How will retail companies deliver on consumers’ increasing demands for convenient and fashionable products? Attendees will learn how factors in fashion and converged products are influencing consumers’ purchasing behavior in the home marketplace and will explore the new directions taking shape.

Speakers: James Damian, Senior Vice President, Experience, Development Group, Best Buy, and Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst, The NPD Group

Session #3- Caught on Camera: Consumers’ Shopping Experiences — Exposed!

3:25 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

What makes or breaks a shopping experience? How can little changes mean big differences in sales? There’s no better way to find out what consumers want, and what they’ll buy and why, than going straight to the customer themselves. Attendees will analyze shopping videos with retailing experts to explore in-store behavior.

Speaker: Paco Underhill, Founder and Managing Director, Envirosell

Super Session: Crack the Code – Deliver Superior Customer Experiences in a Multi-Cultural World

Tuesday, January 17, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

How do cultural attitudes affect buying patterns? How can retailers orchestrate a compelling shopping experience to capitalize on customer desires? IBM and noted psychiatrist and author Dr. G. Clotaire Rapaille will unlock cultural attitudes that determine why consumers buy. Learn how understanding these forces can help retailers ‘crack the code’ and build a lasting foundation for marketing, new product design, innovation, and communications.

Speaker: Dr. G. Clotaire Rapaille, President, Rapaille Institute

Super Session: A Shopper Named Desire

Wednesday, January 18, 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

How do consumers choose which retail channel best meets their shopping desires? Ground-breaking research from Adjoined Consulting and the NRF Foundation will leverage responses from over 6,000 real-life consumers to measure the emotional and functional drivers that influence shopper decisions. Discover key strategic insights into what retailers must do to better meet untapped desires that will increase revenues and market share and uncover how and why consumers make instant decisions that affect when and where they shop.

Speaker: Gary Williams, Managing Officer, Research Services, Adjoined Consulting

Winning through Delight: The Artful Science of Customer Experience

Wednesday, January 18, 3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Is it possible for a retail company to be passionately “customer-centric” and truly “profit-centric” at the same time? Over the past six months, NRF’s Associate Members have worked together to develop a framework and illustrative case studies to help retailers leverage the assets they already have. Attendees will hear what some retailers are doing to enhance the customer experience while boosting shareholder value.

Speakers: Daisy Chin-Lor, Senior Vice President and CMO, Henry Birks & Sons and Mayors Jewelers; Janet Murphy, President, Ogden Associates, Inc.; and Carlos Coda Nunziante, Group Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Henry Birks & Sons and Mayors Jewelers

The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.4 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 23 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2004 sales of $4.1 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations.