April Tomlin, Global VP of Sales, SAP Emarsys

Exhibitor Experience:

SAP Emarsys Launches Rebranding at NRF 2025

At NRF 2025, SAP Emarsys had the exciting opportunity to showcase its new brand identity and latest innovations in omnichannel customer engagement. Our booth was a vibrant reflection of the rebranding, featuring our sleek new logo and messaging that emphasizes our commitment to empowering marketers with cutting-edge solutions. The reactions from clients, partners and prospects were overwhelmingly positive, recognizing the growing synergies between SAP and Emarsys and a clear move towards a unified platform bringing greater efficiency and personalization to brands’ marketing strategies.

Throughout the event, we engaged with attendees who were eager to learn more about how the SAP Emarsys ecosystem can help them deliver superior customer experiences. The buzz around our booth was palpable, especially when PUMA joined us on stage to share insights into our new AI tools, conversational messaging features, and the recent expansions to our omnichannel personalization tools. Attendees were particularly excited about the mobile wallet capabilities and how our platform could help them drive customer loyalty and connect their digital and in-store experiences.

Social commerce should be treated as a tactic within a broader omnichannel strategy, similar to traditional advertising or a company website. Companies must consider it as another tool in the marketing toolbox that drives measurable sales and helps boost brand equity by increasing visibility and engagement.

SAP Emarsys is redefining omnichannel engagement—bringing AI-driven personalization, seamless integrations, and real-time customer connections to the forefront of modern marketing.

Brands must have a clear strategy for their content, designing them to capture attention quickly and explain value within a few seconds, unlike TV commercials or website content, where brands can be more detailed and expansive.

One advantage of social commerce is its measurability. Unlike traditional advertisements, which lack direct attribution, social commerce campaigns often include integrated calls to action, where consumers can click and purchase within the platform. Tracking metrics like engagement, click-through rates, and conversions in real-time makes it easier to justify additional spending and assess ROI.

Ultimately, businesses must view social commerce as a brand-building tool, understanding that consistent exposure to social platforms can increase awareness and trust, even if purchases do not materialize immediately. Success in a dynamic e-commerce ecosystem is about crafting strategies that balance short-term conversions with long-term brand loyalty, making social commerce a game-changer for driving sustainable growth in the coming years.

MAR 2025

03/05/2025 18:15:06

What’s Now, What’s Next: Future Tech Beyond AI

NRF 2025: Discussing biometrics, computer vision and more with leaders from H&M, Qurate Retail Group and Tapestry

H&M's Ellen Svanström, Tapestry's Trang To, Qurate Retail Group's Karen Etzkorn and Forrester Research's Brendan Witcher speak at a panel at NRF 2025: Retail's Big Show.

In the midst of all things generative AI, a session at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show took things in another direction: forward. Forrester Research’s Brendan Witcher helmed the panel discussion that explored biometrics, computer vision and ambient intelligence, as well as ways GenAI is being combined with other technologies for efforts like hyper-personalization. He was joined by Karen Etzkorn, chief information officer for Qurate Retail Group; Trang To, vice president of omni at Tapestry; and Ellen Svanström, chief digital information officer with H&M.

Etzkorn dove in with her company’s recently announced growth strategy, a move to intensity its efforts in social, streaming and digital commerce. The “game-changing opportunity” is to use artificial intelligence to leverage live content for the creation of smaller snippets that can then sell product through social channels. The level of traction a host receives while on air is already apparent, she said; AI can help analyze that data in a much more efficient and useful way.

Tapestry’s To sees untapped opportunity in being able to leverage the same level of analytical rigor in the company’s stores as it can on its sites. “On our sites, I know what the consumer is clicking on, how much time she’s spending, her experience through checkout,” she said. “I have all of that information in the stores. But I’m not harnessing it in the same way.”

One of the most interesting things emerging, then, is computer vision, a type of AI that allows computers to analyze and understand visual content much in the way that a human would. The adoption of computer vision, To said, can provide information that “has the power to transform how we think about store design, merchandising, store associate training and even labor productivity.”

Svanström noted that H&M invested early in artificial intelligence and is now in its second wave of the journey, based on its learnings. She touched on connecting physical assets with digital through tools like ambient intelligence. Low-cost sensor technology — such as “good old RFID technology” — can be coupled with other connected products and amplified through AI to provide insights and data to colleagues. H&M is exploring sensor technology in a New York City store, helping associates not only better locate garments, but also make recommendations to help the sale. “We’re just scratching the surface,” Svanström said.

She also talked about the need for partnerships. With the pace of change, it’s important to be collaborative and to stay tapped into innovation to remain at the forefront. Investments in the data foundation and data platform will allow the company to be more flexible and agile.

Witcher also asked the panelists about natural language processing: Hot or hype? The group was divided.

For Qurate Retail Group, it will be critical in being able to connect with consumers, Etzkorn said. To, on the other hand, was “not so hot.” Natural language processing puts the onus on the customer to provide information, she said. “I think a lot of what hyper-personalization looks like is actually initiating the ‘unsaid’ things the consumer is saying.”

Source: NRF blog posts

MAR 2025

03/05/2025 18:15:06