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LAS VEGAS-“Nothing replaces the tangible experience of being inside a store,” said ICSC RECon 2013 keynote speaker Randi Zuckerberg, founder and creative director of Zuckerberg Media and former marketing director of Facebook, based in San Francisco. According to Zuckerberg, “the human social experience is irreplaceable.”

Having said that, Zuckerberg pointed out to the nearly 33,000 that attended the event here in Las Vegas, that “there are so many innovations in mobile and tech that can give a competitive advantage to retailers today.”

According to Zuckerberg, the following are trends in tech and social media happening today that can create opportunity for a retailer—“if you can figure out a way to capitalize on it.”

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*Luxury on Demand: According to Zuckerberg, there is a new type of consumer out there that wants luxury only some of the time, and is “ready to pay a premium for it.” She points to websites like Ubercar (renting a towncar), Rent the Runway (renting a designer dress), or Fancy Hands (personal assistant on demand) as examples, where consumers want to feel like a luxury consumer, but only some of the time.

*Mobile Everything, Everywhere: Payments will be one of the biggest trends with the mobile phone, says Zuckerberg. She points out that now days, cars and alarm systems can even be unlocked through a phone. “The companies that are doing mobile best are choosing one thing and nailing that thing.” An example she points to is the Chase banking app.

*The rise of the entre-ployee: “There is a lot of excitement around building your own company,” says Zuckerberg. “There is more competition now than ever before.” Google, for example, allow employees to spend 20% of their week work on something that isn't related to Google. “It helps keep employees,” she said. “Some companies even create an entrepreneurial job for an employee they think have been 'bitten by that bug.'”

*Big data in the cloud: One key trend is that the more data companies are gathering, the better experience. Zuckerberg points to things like Facebook's birthday reminders or TripAdvisor better knowing its customer. What could it all mean for retail? “When I go to Nordstrom.com, why doesn't the site know me? Or when I walk into the mall, the mall should know who I am from my phone, and know more information about me the more data I provide because of my phone,” she says. “It's about experience.”

*Fast, fun and easy retail: there arenew ways to engage with the customer. The rise of subscription shopping has increased over the past few years, she says. And sites that five inventive to be part of the social community are doing well. “Price comparison aps that help empower the consumer are key… The idea that a lot of retail brands are now media companies is innovative,” she says, pointing to Modcloth as an example, which has 50% of its shoppers return to their site every day—not to buy, but because they release a few products everyday so people have new things to see on the site rather than quarterly. “You are even seeing retail stores that are basically showrooms that instead turn you to actually buy online.”

*gamification of everything: The more you shop, the more rewards you get, she says. She points out that consumers are motivated by putting games to everyday events. She points to a weight scale that tweets out your weight as an incentive; or an alarm clock, where everytime you hit the snooze button, a dollar gets donated to charity. “It's about motivation.”

* Everyone can have a second job online: She points to sites like Taskrabbit, where you can get paid to run errands for people.

*cars are the new phone out in technology: “The car is the new frontier in development.”

*Etiquette and digital detox: “The modern consumer, modern living and the complicated tech savvy world we live in. people are so connected, that they are yearning to detox a little bit. “There are digital detox retreats, aps that force us to unplug, aps that send an auto-reply to texts when the phone senses you are driving and more.”

*people starting to really care where their products come from: According to Zuckerberg, people are starting to care more and more about the back-story of where their products come from “Think of socially conscious retail.” She points to Toms shoes as an example, which donates a pair of shoes with each buy. “Think about how you can give the back-story and show your community the positive impact you are having on that neighborhood by building that space.” She adds like people also like the one of a kind and handmade items like on etsy.com for example. “This about that when building your retail space. Think of how you can preserve that special feeling.”

She points to one example of a retailer in Brazil that took advantage of tech trends by displaying the number of “likes” a product got on Facebook right there on the hanger. “It gives you that extra approval to buy.”

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Natalie Dolce

Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.