In 2026, competitive advantage will shift from catalog breadth to intelligent orchestration, where AI transforms the endless aisle from inventory workaround into seamless journeys that anticipate customer needs before they're expressed.

In today's fast-moving markets, competitive advantage belongs to organizations that can eliminate friction between data and decision, transforming unified intelligence into coordinated action.

I know there are a million NRF summaries and takeaways floating around, but after being roughly 24 of these shows deep, I figured I’d throw my thoughts into the mix. Consider this less of a recap and more of a “what actually stuck with me once the feet stopped hurting.”

Retailers are moving beyond cloud adoption toward ecosystem-led execution, using partnerships to transform infrastructure scale into operational and customer impact.

AI-powered inventory systems and unified workflows are transforming how frontline retail workers operate, driving growth while reducing attrition.