*This post originally appeared on the Wavelink blog prior to the rebrand in January 2017, when Wavelink, LANDESK, Shavlik, AppSense, and HEAT Software merged under the new name Ivanti.

The National Retail Federation puts on a great show. Every year in January, the industry gathers in New York City to see where the market is going and to compare the direction versus a year back. As we ready for NRF2016, here are some reflections from last year’s show and what I’m looking forward to next week.

  • Mobile Payment, and really, payment in general: EMV payment was expected to reach the United States and there was a lot to consider in order to be ready. Surprisingly, through a number of implementation challenges, this is still slowly rolling out. After the October target passed, articles were circulating suggesting only about 40 percent of consumers actually had received chip-embedded credit/debit cards. While most of my preferred retailers haven’t yet made the switch procedurally, they seem to be hardware-ready. I ask store associates in stores have gone live about their experience, and aside from the consumer learning curve (don’t remove your card from the reader until the system tells you to do so!), the implementations seem to have gone well. At this year’s show, I look forward to see more design options for POS, both fixed and mobile, that support this.
  • Rugged and Consumer mobility: This is a battle that has been going for several years now, and I think many businesses are starting to recognize the use cases within which consumer mobile devices might work, versus those where the rugged mobile computer remains the only viable option. As rugged device manufacturers such as Zebra, Honeywell, Datalogic and others have been bringing Android into their portfolio, it has changed the discussion quite a bit. However, aside from the physical durability of the rugged devices, they also continue to provide the safety of Microsoft operating systems for businesses that still aren’t sold on the long-term viability of consumer OSes in vertical use cases. Here, I am excited to see the rugged manufacturers share their Android and Windows-based devices – especially the devices that are available with your choice between the two.
  • The Always-Exciting Announcements: The last few years, M&A seemed to be almost as popular as new product announcements. During 2015, we continued to see acquisition activity – especially among Supply Chain Management system providers. However, new product announcements are always timed with this show. Zebra has already announced its TC8000 mobile computer – and staked a claim to saving an hour per worker, per shift. Wavelink is excited by this news, as Zebra includes All-Touch Terminal Emulation, powered by Wavelink, on this new generation of mobile computers. It will be fun to see the latest mobility offerings across vendors.
  • Modernization: The trend toward modernized mobility in retail is gaining momentum. In our booth, we will be demonstrating Velocity, showing how modernizing the mobile experience is critical to mobile productivity. Zebra’s announcement, referenced above, is another signpost along this path to modernization. I look forward to seeing how the whole retail industry is modernizing – as consumers are clearly changing the way they shop for goods and services.

NRF is always a great show. If you’re planning to attend, stop by Wavelink at booth #1310. We would love to hear your perspectives on the show, and the mobility challenges you’re looking solve in your business. You can also follow Wavelink (@Wavelink) and me (@rob_destefano) on twitter for live tweets from the show. Hope to see you in New York City!