A few key thoughts about the recent NRF Big Show in NYC last week:

1.  It was big – over 15,000 attendees, which puts it back in the realm of record years of 2007 and 2008.

2. It was optimistic – conversations were rampant about "How can I get up and running on the projects I put on hold last year?" Attendees were very interested in making investments to grow their businesses, not just get through the slowdown.

3. It was forward-looking – attendees and presentations talked about the future, not about the past (very typical of retail in my experience).

Key topics:

1. Social – all about engaging the customer, employing their voice to drive your business
2. Mobile – mostly in the context of marketing, loyalty programs, payments and security
3. Multichannel – as always, integration, integration, integration.

The great news is that we in the Marketing Strategry Group at Forrester have outlined the key themes for 2010:

•          Invest in social media now for long-term benefits

•          Everyone needs a mobile strategy in 2010

•          Get serious about building multichannel customer relationships

Nice synergy. 

Specifically in eBusiness we will include additional reports on other key topics –

1. B2B
2. Globalization

Coming soon.