It is fascinating seeing innovation in other channels of retail. Take fashion, a big think at the National Retail Federation Expo here in New York this year is the virtual change room where a shopper can try on multiple items without leaving the store.

The lady in the photo is standing barely a metre from me and is wearing slacks and a top yet the image on the screen shows her wearing one of the dresses in the catalogue available from the demonstration store. Okay so the image on the screen does not look ideal. In the real world and with proper setup it would look much better.

The pitch from vendors of these facilities is that shoppers can try on more items without the time and inconvenience of lengthy trips to the change room. While some will want the change room experience of really trying items on, others will appreciate the time saving.

Major department stores like Macys are embracing this and other technology to reshape the fashion buying experience … and this technology is really only in its infancy. Indeed, Macys has made some excellent technology-driven moves, well beyond what I would expect from a large retailer.

I use this example to illustrate how much retail is changing and to highlight the need for us to change to remain relevant to shoppers who want this innovation. While there are shoppers who will not want change, I think that the momentum for change is and will continue to be such that we need to embrace change opportunities.

Soon, in store we will be able to walk past fashion displays and on a screen we will be able to see ourselves in the items on show almost without stopping.

This week I am in New York at the 10^th Annual Convention and Expo of the National Retail Federation. Here, with several thousand others and a couple of colleagues from my newsagency software company, I am learning about retail trends, hearing the latest economic forecasts, learning plenty about retail and discovering new opportunities.

Already today I sat in on a forum – Engaging with Shoppers in a World of Fragmentation and Change – which was fascinating in learning how some retailers are embracing, pursuing, change and making their own success ahead of the wave.

Size is not a barrier to being successful in this changing environment. While there are stories of success from majors as well as independent retailers, real success comes from critical mass.  This is where our channel faces a huge challenge. Even in the marketing groups there is a lack of consistency in enough business areas to challenge the ability to genuinely embrace the opportunities of change in today’s marketplace.

It is interesting to see how social media and mobile technology are being used by some very smart retailers.

The second session I attended today was a Global Retail Forum.  This started with an economic assessment from Deloittes followed by an analysis of this in the context for several geographic regions. This session was particularly useful in providing perspective of the economic challenges of 2012 and the next few years.  It was also useful to speak with several people about this and the context of operating in a space which is subject to significant technology driven disruption as is the case for print media related businesses … these challenges are beyond the disruption of online shopping to which all retailers are subject.

This morning is just the beginning of an excellent three and a half day event. In the agenda I see many sessions of value to newsagents.

Please forgive me but for commercial reasons I won’t be sharing here (at this stage) many of the insights.

President Obama has announced that the Head of the Small Business Administration will now be a Cabinet position, elevating the status of small business in government and providing greater attention to small business issues.

I’d like to see the Australian government elevate the position of small business oversight and government. For successive governments we have been let down.

Over the last couple of days at the CES show here in Las Vegas I have seen four companies selling cigarette alternatives. They are variously called chemical or electronic. While health professionals appear to be divided on the risks and benefits of these products,they are at the Consumer Electronics Show this week and being promoted as safe and healthy.

Given that tobacco products have such an important component for many newsagents over the years, not mine thankfully, and giving the new plain paper packaging laws, researching these electronic cigarettes might be a good move.

All of the companies I have spoken with are from China,  There is where the technology was developed around forty years ago. The products being offered now were first commercialised around seven years ago.

I’m not so sure they will take off. They look and feel weird and at least two I saw required the recharging of what looked like a chemical. They said it wash;t but could not tell me what it was. Odd.