Tune in as Adrian Esquivel, founder and president of TECKpert, shares how medium-sized retailers can deliver timely, targeted and topical mobile solutions to gain immediate return.

Welcome back. I’m assuming you’ve read the Four Large Takeaways. At least I hope you did, because interactions between retailers and shoppers as well as those between retailers and manufacturers are important ones. You are now ready to graduate to the “Grande.” This final observation is of the “Do Not Pass Go” variety. There are a few golden rules in marketing, and this is one:

I had the pleasure of going on a retail leadership tour in New York earlier this week. I came home with a blown-up pair of Bass Weejuns and five takeaways that are important for any retailer looking to thrive. Well, sort of.  I should say that I came home with a single really big takeaway – one that you simply cannot live without – and four other important ones.  It’s like George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm: “Some animals are more equal than others.” Same goes for observations and the stores they came from.

Allowing brands to tell their story inside your store environment without compromising the retail experience can be a challenge. Learn how top retailer, Golfsmith, retains its own retail brand integrity while allowing other dominant brands to experience success. Matt Corey, CMO of Golfsmith, shares the secret of great sales – starting with a core purpose that is greater than your brand.

Day three at NRF’s 2012 BIG Show kicked off with a new term that will soon be common jargon among the retail industry: Boundaryless Retail.

Mindy Grossman, Chief Executive Officer, HSN, Inc. introduced the concept of boundaryless retail. It implies that through innovation and collaboration, companies can leverage the power of technology to create an engaging experience for customers. It goes beyond omnichannel strategy and marketing; it’s about creating stories that cross channels and media.

Day two of the NRF’s 2012 BIG Show, was just that, BIG. Attendance rose in 24 hours from 22,000 to 24,000 retailers – all rushing to snag a seat in the North Hall for the opening address by Matthew Shay, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation. Shay’s opening remarks on the role 2012 will play in the history of retail formalized the reported undertones of Day One (immediacy, impact, identity,  investment and innovation).

Promoting NRF’s ‘Retail Means Jobs’ campaign, Shay celebrated the successful outcomes of the retail challenges of 2011. The last 18 months of consecutive retail growth have been an appropriate statistic to place on the table before the announcement of the 2012 retail forecast: $2.5 trillion – up 2.4% from 2011.