What Were the Main Talking Points at NRF 2025?
This year’s NRF was the busiest ever, with over 40,000 people in attendance, something you could really feel on the ground.
At the same time, more people than ever were splitting their time between the show and side events organized by tech companies, including breakfasts, dinners, presentations and tours.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was still a major talking point, but the conversation has moved on since last year. In 2024, companies were desperately adding AI to their company name or strapline. This year, tech companies and start-ups are more aware that we’ve moved beyond the AI hype.
Instead, they were focused on reminding retailers what they do and the problems they solve and then talking about AI as part of that.
The big buzzword of this year’s big retail show was Agentic AI. Everyone – from tech companies to keynotes – were talking about it. However, they were mostly talking about it without any clear, general definition of Agentic AI or explanation to why they were talking about it. This is a recurring problem that the industry seems to consistently have with new, hyped concepts.
Among all the exciting and interesting tech that was on display, Lee Peterson’s (WD Partners) keynote was a practical reality check for retailers. His consumer research looked at why online shoppers didn’t visit physical stores instead. Top reasons included messy stores, an inability to find what they needed, and unhelpful store associates. It was a good reminder that one of the reasons that online retail continues to do well is because stores often aren’t that great.
At the same time, for all the possibilities tech offers, many problems that retailers have with their stores are fixable by going back to basics.
Where Does Retail Tech Feel like It’s Making an Impact?
We’re at a point with checkout and self-checkout technology where there are now loads of genuinely good options available to retailers.
This includes companies like Diebold Nixdorf who can build and customize everything related to checkout, to software companies like Sitoo, Shopreme and NewStore.
The maturity of the technology is starting to benefit retailers, and we’re also seeing this in the clienteling space where there are tons of great options that are proven to work in stores.
On the other hand, NRF 2025 offered a lot of examples of the technologically enhanced shopping cart, typified by Amazon’s Dash Cart. This feels like an example of tech that has been created without a real-world problem to solve.
Part of this comes down to an obsession with integration, particularly omnichannel and multi-channel data collection. Retailers feel that they have to find a way to link the in-store customer to the online experience - but maybe not everything has to be linked or can be linked.
I think retailers need to be asking themselves whether the data is valuable enough and worth the cost to acquire. How will they use that data once connected? How does it benefit their business?
What Were the Big Retail Store Trends You Saw in New York?
New York City has loads of brilliant examples of pop-up stores that are designed and operated as a marketing exercise. As a result, brands are really committing to the execution of these spaces.
A great example was the pop-up from Harry Styles’ unisex beauty and lifestyle brand, Pleasing. Another was Gymshark’s fantastic pop-up, which has just been extended. That pop-up was the busiest space I visited during my time in The Big Apple.
With a permanent NYC store on the way, Gymshark’s pop-up shows that community-focused retail – when done right – still works. As the brand starts to scale with more stores globally, it will be interesting to see whether the concept continues to succeed.
One trend that has been led by brands like Dyson, is using the store as a place to demonstrate the product. Easyplant is a great example of this in New York.
The brand was selling perfectly well online but has chosen a permanent store to tell its brand story. The store is essentially a physical advert, and it feels exactly like that in terms of store design and merchandising. It’s clearly working well as Easyplant has two more stores in NYC on the way.
There were also plenty of examples of the premiumization of the mass market. Banana Republic on Broadway felt like a luxury store in a big, bold, maximalist way. H&M is revamping all its stores to make them more premium. Crate & Barrel’s Flatiron flagship store is an incredible space that sells affordable products in an exclusive setting.
NRF 2025 and the streets of New York showcased the perfect blend of innovation and practicality shaping the future of retail.
From the evolution of AI to the rise of Agentic AI discussions, the event emphasized meaningful solutions over hype. Practical insights reminded retailers with physical stores of the power of going back to basics. Meanwhile, New York City’s pop-up culture highlighted how community focus, product demonstration and premiumization are redefining physical retail.
Together, these trends underscore that customer-centric experiences and operational excellence are at the heart of retail success.
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