Prior to this year, I had never attended the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show (http://bigshow16.nrf.com/recap), which is held annually at the Javits Center in New York City. I decided to spend a few days seeing what is new in the world of retail, and learning how RFID as well as printed electronics are playing a role in the future. I wasn’t alone, as more than 35,000 attendees came to see the show.
 
Without a doubt, the BIG Show opened my eyes.
 
RFID is a huge part of the retail field, particularly in the apparel segment. In alphabetical order, Alien Technology, Checkpoint Systems, Cybra, Impinj, Invengo, Smartrac, Tyco and Zebra Technologies all brought new technologies to the show. Concepts old (tagging jeans) and new (smart fitting rooms and smart tables) alike were highlighted; I’ll cover these in a separate blog post.
 
What was equally impressive is seeing the attendance at these booths, as visitors were genuinely interested in what is new in the field of RFID. No longer is RFID an inventory play; now it provides rich veins of data for retailers to study.
 
I also saw two printed electronics leaders on hand, showing their capabilities in the booths of industry mainstays. T+Ink  was part of the jammed Intel both, which required reservations just to get in to walk around. T+Ink, along with consumer packaging powerhouse WestRock and Intel, a company which requires no introduction, were showing a brand-new solution for smart shelves, using a printed sensor embedded on a smart peg, with packages containing printed sensors hanging from the pegs. It has much promise for inventory.
 
Thin Film Electronics was also on the show floor, working with new partner Tata Consultancy Services and showing its NFC capabilities. Tata is connected to many top retailers, and is showing Thinfilm’s capabilities to its customers; the BIG Show was an ideal starting point.
 
The NRF’s BIG Show is a tremendously interesting show, and I figure it is only a matter of time before we start seeing technologies such as smart fitting rooms and tables at mainstream stores.