NACDS CEO: Event reflects state and direction of chain drug industry

A successful trade association reflects the membership. That is certainly the case with National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ programming related to innovation and technology utilization at retail.

The NACDS Total Store Expo highlights the state of the industry as well as the direction of the industry — because the industry itself is NACDS’ guide.

Steve Anderson, NACDS president and CEO

In one example of NACDS’ work to foster collaboration and innovation among retailers and suppliers, this spring the NACDS Retail Advisory Board conducted a market immersion in Seattle.

The NACDS Retail Advisory Board reports to the NACDS Board of Directors on programming related to front-end issues — and plays a tremendous role in shaping NACDS meetings and conferences.

In Seattle, the NACDS Retail Advisory Board talked with amazing leaders from local technology companies who are shaping health care, store operations and consumers’ in-store experiences. We learned about emerging technologies that can solve some of today’s biggest retail challenges. We explored solutions related to inventory management, tracking consumer movement, loss prevention, showrooms, store design and more.

The Seattle market immersion is just one of the sources that NACDS utilizes to identify what’s new and what’s on the move in the industry.

NACDS has made it a priority to glean insights from these and other sources, to view them through the practical and discerning eyes of highly engaged NACDS members, and to translate them into programming at the NACDS Total Store Expo that helps retailers and suppliers stay ahead of the curve.

Several Insight Sessions at this year’s NACDS Total Store Expo will offer retailers and suppliers perspectives on topics including:

• Beauty and the Millennials (Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m.).
• The Future of Retail Has Arrived. Ready or Not? (Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m.).
• The Collision of Digital Health, the Consumer and Wearables (Monday, August 24, 8 a.m.).
• Welcome to Retail’s Emotional Economy — Analog, Digital, Sensory and Sound — How It All Comes Together for Emotional Retail (Monday, August 24, 8 a.m.).

In addition, the NACDS Total Store Expo’s Vision 2026 exhibit should not be missed. This is a special attraction in the exhibit hall that has evolved over the course of three years now. Eight retail and health supplier companies will demonstrate their visions on how to market to customers in innovative ways in the next decade. Participants include:

• Global retail merchandising and technology thought leader Kantar Retail.
• Health research leader Kantar Health.
• Global software technology company IBM Watson.
• Interactive display technology company Provision Interactive Technologies.
• Corrugated and plastic packaging manufacturer Menasha Packaging (with Shelfbucks).
• Experts in virtual reality merchandising Red Dot Square.
• Refrigerated display case manufacturer Anthony Int’l.
• Beacon platform developer inMarket.

Vision 2026 will offer attendees a glimpse of “what comes next” in the industry, including technology platforms, displays and interactive experiences.

The NACDS Total Store Expo will also include a special location to learn the results of A.T. Kearney’s second annual digital marketing survey. A leading global management consulting firm, A.T. Kearney, in collaboration with the Outreach and Business Development Board of the NACDS Retail Advisory Board, will release new findings to complement last year’s presentation.

This year’s research will be presented during the “Winning With Digital” Insight Session (Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m.), illustrating the use of digital marketing by consumer product and pharmaceutical manufacturers to drive awareness and sales.

Again, the common thread among all of these aspects and topics of the NACDS Total Store Expo is that they have been validated by NACDS members as truly valuable program elements. In many ways, this show is crafted for the industry, by the industry.

The NACDS Total Store Expo will be held August 22 through August 25 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. For more information, visit the website tse.nacds.org. We look forward to seeing you at the show and at all of the events and opportunities that it has to offer.

Steve Anderson is president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.