It's a wrap on another holiday shopping season. The results are in: overall estimated retail sales during the holiday season rose 4%, beating National Retail Federation's (NRF) forecast of 3.6% -both of which are higher than that of last year (Wall Street Journal). Not surprisingly, this growth was primarily buoyed by online sales. So if you're a mall, shopping center, or boutique shop, how will you drive foot traffic and generate sales? How can you make the trip to the mall or store worth it for customers?

I'll admit, with an energetic and impatient 2-year-old vying for my attention, it can be challenging to leisurely shop at the mall or store, browsing racks and comparing products. What ultimately leads me to brave the crowds, parking wars, and long queues is the promise of a better shopping experience in-venue such as:

• Real-time, relevant coupons for products based on my purchase history
• Alerts for exclusive live events happening today
• Real-time navigation to find my favorite store that recently opened in the mall
• Nearby dining recommendations based on my preferences
• Purchasing always-in-stock products through virtual merchandising

How will you deliver this type of interactive, personalized service to demanding shoppers? It's possible with Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA), the foundation for digital transformation in retail. Cisco DNA makes it easy to roll out a retail network that is simple, secure, and intelligent, so that IT and business leaders can instead focus on innovating customer experiences.

Learn how you can stay ahead of the curve with Cisco DNA at NRF's retail technology conference, coming up January 15-17. Cisco will be at Booth 1963 with bells on, ready to guide you through an interactive, real-time customer journey and help you get hands-on with innovative retail solutions such as our Virtual Beacon Solution and Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) Analytics. On Tuesday, January 17, 1:30-2:30pm, don't miss a session with our VP of Enterprise Solutions Marketing, Inbar Lasser-Raab, and two major retailers. You'll hear how digital transformation helped these retailers achieve their business outcomes.

Comment below if you're attending, and don't hesitate to post a burning question for Inbar if you've got one!