Brick-and-mortar may still account for 90 percent of retail sales in markets like the United States, but the growing popularity of eCommerce, the expectation of seamless customer experiences, and the need for brands to optimize their revenues have retailers of all stripes scrambling to leverage cutting-edge digital solutions.

This has proven a boon for Israel’s thriving retail tech sector, which is now comprised of more than 500 active startups, according to a recent report from ReTech and the venture capital firm Viola Ventures. These companies are innovating across a diverse range of areas, including conversational commerce, IoT, supply chain logistics, smart store technology, computer vision, and cybersecurity, harnessing Israel’s impressive human capital in these domains to develop a wide array of both customer-facing and B2B solutions.

Investors from across the globe have taken note: In 2018, they poured $6 billion into Israel’s retail tech sector, a 216 percent increase compared to $1.9 billion in retail tech investments in 2013, according to the ReTech/Viola report.

Industry insiders will have the opportunity to see some of the country’s top retail tech innovators at the upcoming NRF 2020 expo, which will be held in New York from Jan. 11-14, 2020. The event is projected to attract 38,000 attendees, 16,000 retailers, and 800 exhibitors, making it one of retail’s premier networking opportunities.

The Israeli delegation, led by the Foreign Trade Administration and the Israel Export Institute, will feature 19 unique companies, including the following:

  • Namogoo has developed the first-ever solution dedicated to preventing online journey hijacking – a phenomenon in which competitor sites inject unauthorized ads and promotions into consumer browsers, diverting web traffic and robbing retailers of between two to five percent of their annual revenue. Leading brands relying on Namogoo include Aasics, Office Depot, Glasses USA, Dollar Shave Club, and more.
  • Byond’s mixed reality eCommerce platform creates immersive experiences for top brands like Calvin Klein, Coca-Cola, P&G, Samsung, and KFC. The company’s solution makes it possible for users to offer 360 virtual shopping, 3D showrooms, and immersive advertising campaigns. Byond has offices in Tel Aviv, New York, London, and Seoul.
  • Riskified, a longstanding leader in the field of fraud prevention, enables retail brands to improve conversions and secure revenue by leveraging AI and machine learning to verify legitimate customers, bringing much-needed efficiency to order approvals and fulfillment. Customers include Canada Goose, Prada, Samsung, Mattel, Swarovski, and many more.

From these and other pioneering startups, to eCommerce giants like Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay, all of whom have established R&D centers in Israel, the Start-Up Nation is a hub of retail tech innovation – and NRF 2020 will offer tens of thousands of experts from around the world to see so for themselves.

To learn more about the Israeli delegation at NRF, please contact Noa Avrahami at noa@export.gov.il.