IGC and iHunt4 were fortunate enough to be selected for the exclusive start-up zone at the 2022 NRF ( National Retailer Federation) trade show. It is the largest retail show in the world and it is estimated has 20,000- 30,000 attendees. Here are some of the takeaways:
- The retailers who attended the IGC booth were global. The first hour on the first day the first 30 pitches were all to retailers from Brazil. The remainder of the show the attendees came from Europe, South America, Asia, United States and beyond.
- We managed to get a lot of attention by being in the special start-up zone. Many of the larger tech players did not show up due to Covid this meant that our booth position was always bustling and attracted some of the largest brands in the world.
- Many of the retailers wanted to learn about the metaverse. Retailers explained to me that they were confused by some of the booths who claimed to be metaverse. Where we explained we were an easy entry level metaverse technology.
- Retailers were excited and interested to learn about NFTs. Much more than we expected. We hit the key words right on the banner “cryptocurrency and metaverse”
- Types of brands we presented to included: Fireworks (lol), pharmacies, pizza, sun glasses, jeans, perfumes and cosmetics, apparel, agriculture, soft drinks, hamburgers, integration companies, research companies, press, high end fashion, department stores, video game shops, Shoes, payment gateways, magazines, lingerie, electrical and more.
- We performed several hundred pitches over the course of the show. We have been receiving inbound sales calls from the brands that we presented to. We had Ammad on standby helping to align some on the spot changes we performed with the demos.
- We are currently following up pages of leads from amazing global brand and booking demonstrations. The show validated our product and technology. Since the show we have been invited back due to the demand and have been asked to participate in two innovation awards.
- Shortly after the NRF show we received the exciting news from Ripple about the XRPL grant selection. We are very excited for the future of IGC and iHunt4 stay tuned for more updates.
