Next Retail Group

What Next Retail Group does

Next Retail Group, LLC is a private retail technology consulting firm headquartered at 920 Carnoustie Circle, Cary, North Carolina. The firm provides strategic intelligence, project analysis, market research, and advisory services to the retail industry, with a stated mission to help leading retailers and their partners leverage relentless change in technology, consumer lifestyles, and shopping behaviors. It operates as a professional services boutique with 1-10 employees, anchored by co-founders Hollis Posey (Chairman and COO, former IBM Distinguished Engineer and CTO of IBM Retail Store Solutions, original architect of the IBM 4680/4690 POS system, founder of the JavaPOS standard, and holder of multiple distributed-computing patents) and Daniel Hopping (President, global technology futurist with 40+ years of retail experience and former IBM retail executive consultant).

The firm's portfolio comprises four consulting service lines: Executive and Leadership Education (seminars, workshops, alternatives generation, and keynote presentations); Challenges Assessment Services (business model, organizational structure, and IT systems assessment, troubled project analysis, gap analysis, front-end optimization, ergonomics, and human factors); Opportunities and Strategic Planning Services (market research, retail trends analysis, strategic planning, and 'Store of the Future' projects); and Store of the Future engagements that integrate emerging technologies with consumer experience innovation. Underlying capabilities include proprietary methodologies such as the Retail Landscape Analysis Framework and the Store of the Future methodology, supplemented by a partner network for scaled project delivery across all retail segments.

Revenue is generated through quote-based advisory engagements on a sales-led go-to-market motion, with no public pricing and no software product. The firm markets primarily through thought leadership content (published articles), keynote presentations at premier retail industry conferences (NRF, FMI, NACS, APLA, CCFA, EHI, Euroshop, WLA, and university MBA programs globally), and direct enterprise engagement. Named clients span Walmart, Kroger, IKEA, CHANEL Fashion, PVH, Scheel's, IBM, Gerber Technologies, TC2, Infogenesis, Softechnics, Chase Payments, CheckFree, Norse Tipping, Dinamo, Bizzerba, Compass, NACS, and EHI, covering retailers, retail technology suppliers, payments providers, and retail associations across all segments, channels, and geographies.

Name

Next Retail Group

Legal name

Next Retail Group, LLC

Website

https://nextretailgroup.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Next Retail Group is a private Cary, NC-based retail technology consulting firm offering strategic intelligence, project analysis, market research, and Store of the Future advisory services to retailers, retail technology suppliers, payments providers, and retail associations worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Consulting Services

akta.pro primary industry

Market, Shopper & Category Insights / Research Services (CRAOAOAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Shopper & Retail Insights (In-Store/Path-to-Purchase, Category Insights) (MPAAALAJ)

Keywords

• Retail consulting services
• Retail technology advisory
• Store of the future
• POS system consulting
• Retail strategic intelligence

Headquarters

HQ city

Cary

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Advisory and consulting services spanning strategic intelligence, project analysis, business model assessment, organizational structure evaluation, and IT systems analysis for retailers and their partners

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Next Retail Group is a consulting firm that provides strategic intelligence, project analysis, IT systems assessment, market research, and advisory services to the retail industry. The firm helps retailers and their partners interpret, anticipate, and navigate rapid technology change, evolving consumer lifestyles, and shifting shopping behaviors through seminars, assessment engagements, strategic planning, and Store of the Future projects, supported by a partner network for scaled delivery.

Product overview

Next Retail Group is a consulting firm offering strategic intelligence and advisory services to the retail industry. Their portfolio comprises four main service areas: Executive and Leadership Education (seminars, workshops, and keynote presentations), Challenges Assessment Services (business model, organizational, and IT systems assessment), Opportunities and Strategic Planning Services (market research, retail trends analysis, and strategic planning), and Store of the Future Projects. These services are delivered through consulting engagements rather than software products, supplemented by a partner network for project execution across all retail segments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive and Leadership Education

Named customers19 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Partner NetworkcoreOthersNext Retail Group maintains a partner network that can assist or take on large and small scale projects across all retail segments for retailers and the companies that serve them. The network supplements internal resources and expertise for both 'hard' technology projects and 'soft' organizational consulting engagements.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Accenture (Retail Practice): Accenture's retail industry group provides strategy, technology, and operations consulting to mass, grocery, specialty, and luxury retailers worldwide. Directly comparable because it sells Store of the Future-type advisory and implementation services to the same enterprise retail client base Next Retail Group serves.
• Capgemini Invent (Retail): Capgemini's retail consulting practice delivers digital store, customer experience, and supply chain transformation advisory to global retailers. Comparable as an alternative systems integrator and strategy advisor for the same enterprise retail transformation buyer.
• McKinsey & Company (Retail Practice): McKinsey's Consumer and Retail practice serves the same enterprise retail buyers on growth strategy, technology, and operating model transformation. Comparable as a competing provider of senior-level retail strategy advisory, though at much larger scale and broader scope.
• IBM Global Services: IBM's consulting arm and Next Retail Group's former employer of both principals. Directly comparable because it offers retail industry advisory, IT strategy, and large-scale transformation services across the same enterprise buyer set, including through IBM's Retail Store Solutions practice the founders helped build.
• Deloitte Digital (Retail): Deloitte's retail consulting practice delivers customer strategy, digital transformation, and technology advisory to large retailers. Comparable as a competing buyer of retail strategy work and as a credible alternative when retailers seek bundled advisory and implementation services Next Retail Group's boutique model cannot deliver.

Direct peers

• RSR Research: RSR Research is a retail-exclusive research and advisory firm producing benchmark reports and custom advisory for retailers and retail technology vendors. Comparable as a similarly sized, retail-only advisory boutique competing for the same enterprise research and strategy buyer.
• IHL Group: IHL Group is a research and advisory firm focused exclusively on retail technology and retail disruption. It is the closest direct peer because it sells market research, shopper insights, and advisory services to retailers and retail technology vendors in the same niche Next Retail Group occupies.
• Tompkins International: Tompkins International is a boutique supply chain and retail consulting firm focused on retail and consumer goods transformation. Comparable as a similarly sized specialist advisory boutique selling retail strategy, technology, and operational consulting to enterprise retail buyers.

Emerging players

• Forrester Research (Retail): Forrester's retail coverage produces syndicated research, advisory, and consulting engagements for retail technology buyers. Comparable as a research-and-advisory peer serving retailers and retail technology vendors, though broader in scope and primarily research-led.
• Gartner (Retail Industry Research): Gartner's retail industry research and advisory practice serves CIOs and technology leaders in retail with strategic research and advisory. Comparable as a research-driven advisory peer, though much larger, more diversified, and not retail-exclusive.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Next Retail Group