Retail

  As a retailer, when it comes to the month of January, there is only one thing on your mind – that’s Javits Center with thousands of people who want to know what the future of the industry will be all about. NRF Big Show 2025 came true to its word once again this year. And anyone who had been to the show floor or attended one of the keynote addresses would have surely realized the same thing that everyone else did – AI is no longer a buzzword. It has become the new normal for retailers everywhere. AI Stopped Being a Side Project For a while, AI at retail conferences meant a pilot program somewhere — a chatbot on a website, maybe a recommendation widget. That era is over. Nobody on stage this year was debating whether to adopt AI. The conversations had already moved on to the harder question: how do you roll it out across merchandising, inventory, customer service, and marketing without everything falling apart? Joe Dela Cruz , who's been coming to NRF for more than a decade in va...

  Most retail calendars fill up faster than anyone plans for. A national convention here, a regional trade show there, and somewhere in between, a stack of retail webinars invites nobody's had time to sort through. None of that is really the problem, though. The problem is that attending and on the calendar aren't the same thing, and most teams never stop to separate the two. So that's what this is — a way to think through retail webinars , retail trade shows , and retail conventions before you commit a day, a week, or a travel budget to one of them. A few things worth knowing up front Retail webinars are usually the fastest way to catch up on something that changed since the last big event — AI tools, omnichannel logistics, a shift in how people shop. Trade shows for retailers still earn their spot on the calendar for a different reason: you can't really replace standing in front of a product or having an unplanned conversation with a vendor rep. Retail technology...