When 18,500 attendees gathered in New York in January at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Annual Convention & Expo, they were all hoping to hear that the retail industry was ready to emerge from the economic doldrums. In an effort to inspire retailers worn down by the economy, and to boost their acceptance of some of the latest retail technologies, NRF debuted its Innovation Station, a dedicated 4,800-square-foot area on the expo floor that highlighted 12 technology solutions for retailers, and offered recorded words of wisdom and advice from top retail executives.

For the five previous years, NRF has implemented some type of hands-on technology area, where retailer attendees could experience technology solutions outside of a regular booth. For instance, one year NRF created a pop-up boutique on the show floor to showcase new technologies. “We try to create an environment that’s visually stimulating and exciting and try to get people to see things in a new perspective, to allow retailers to experience technologies in a way that helps them visualize it in their own stores,” says Susan Newman, Vice President of Conferences at NRF. “But this year, it was more difficult than in the past.”

With so much economic turmoil in the industry, NRF organizers decided to incorporate an inspirational, motivational component to the technology showcase. The result, Innovation Station, was a huge hit. The area tied together technology solutions with thought leadership from top retail executives, Newman says. In six different pods in the Station’s Central Hub, recorded interviews with CEOs, CIOs and CMOs from top retail corporations played. In the interviews, the industry leaders talked about the biggest challenges they’d faced during the past year, their favorite technologies, the changes they’re planning to make for the coming year and their thoughts about the future of retail.

“People really enjoy hearing from people like Terry Lundgren, the CEO of Macy’s,” Newman says. From the experts’ interviews, NRF organizers gleaned six “blades,” or greatest areas of focus for the leading retailers. Those blades included topics like delivering the bottom line, connecting with your customer, cross-channel integration, creating customer experience, building customer loyalty and maximizing mobile retailing. Each of the 12 hand-picked sponsors participating in the Innovation Station were asked to choose the blade most related to their technology, and on the large monitors, they were given opportunities to demonstrate how their technology solves related retail problems.

Some of the featured technologies included social media tracking, customer kiosks, virtual dressing room platforms, ROI analytics, RFID tools, in-store marketing solutions, electronic shelf labels, mobile applications, loyalty programs, mobile concierge and product review technology.

While most of the technologies featured in the Innovation Station were also exhibited on the show floor, sponsorship of the Innovation Station was completely separate from purchasing exhibit space. Sponsorship for a spot in the Innovation Station cost companies more than a regular booth on the expo floor.

To market the concept area, NRF undertook a separate marketing campaign. A dedicated space on exhibitor marketing materials detailed the Innovation Station and its purpose. Companies that were interested in sponsoring the Station had to be approved by show management to ensure that the area maintained its focus on the newest technologies that help solve current retail issues.

And even though many of the concepts on display in the Innovation Station were also located in booths throughout the exhibit floor, “people love seeing things that aren’t in a booth,” Newman says. “The area became a destination and received a huge amount of press.”

During the two days of the conference, between 6,000 and 7,000 people visited the Innovation Station. Because it was situated toward the back of the expo floor, the area was a huge traffic driver, Newman says.

NRF’s Strategy

GOAL: To allow retailers to experience technologies in a way that enables them to visualize it in their own stores and to motivate them to adopt new technologies even during a tough economy.

STRATEGY: Create Innovation Station, a dedicated area of the show floor that brings together retailers, technology solution providers, and offers a hands-on look at retail technologies.

RESULTS: The Innovation Station included 12 hand-picked solutions providers and became a hot destination during NRF’s 2009 show. During the two days of the show, between 6,000 and 7,000 attendees visited the area.