NEW YORK - Retailers had a lot on their minds during the National Retail Federation's annual conference last week: the weak economy, overseas expansion, Internet sales taxes. But for some executives, one particular image came into focus: the actor Tom Cruise.
More specifically, the character Cruise played in the 2002 sci-fi movie "Minority Report," directed by Steven Spielberg. In one scene, Cruise walks into a Gap and after a computer scans his retina, a holographic image appears and offers him a deal on clothing based on his past purchases.
"I thought that was kind of creepy," said David Jaffe, CEO of Ascena Retail Group Inc., which owns Duluth-based women's apparel store Maurices.
Conversely, David Lauren, the executive vice president of advertising and marketing for Ralph Lauren Corp., was impressed with the futuristic technology, in particular a smart window of various images and data Cruise could manipulate via sensors attached to a special glove. He liked it so much that Ralph Lauren actually created one.
"Spielberg called and asked how we built it," Lauren boasted.
In some ways, the two keynote speakers' contrasting takes on the film reflect retailers' ambivalence toward the latest gizmos and gadgets. Despite the explosive growth of mobile devices and online sales, retailers have waded only gingerly into digital technology, experts say.
Nowhere was that conflict more on display than the NRF gathering, where attendees pondered how to best integrate websites and social media into old fashioned brick and mortar stores.
"Retailers are starting to get cautious" about spending big money on high tech, said Alison Paul, vice chairman and U.S. retail and distribution leader for consulting firm Deloitte. "Just because the guy next door is going to give his sales associates tablets doesn't necessarily mean it will work with your store and customers. Every new, expensive technology is not going to fit in with the brand experience."