The retail industry once again came together for three action-packed days in a wintery New York. NRF: Retail's Big Show has become the curtain raiser for the year, where retailers, tech vendors, and general retail enthusiasts get an early look at what's coming over the next twelve months. 2025's edition, with a packed lineup of speaker sessions, thousands of exhibitors, and a performance from Flo Rida, did not disappoint. Here are the three key takeaways to carry forward.
Refocus around AI
AI dominated last year's show. Following the hype around ChatGPT's emergence in 2023, it was all anyone could talk about, though many of those conversations lacked substance, with brands rushing to announce AI plans before they'd fully worked out the use case. This year was different. The industry has learned more, and many exhibitors and speakers were noticeably more understated in their approach. NVIDIA, for one, demonstrated how it's using AI to help humans make better, faster decisions rather than replace them. AI is still coming, there's a huge amount of work happening behind the scenes, but brands now have a more realistic view of their actual use cases than they did a year ago.
RFID is taking retail by storm
RFID has been around for decades but only recently started to see real growth in adoption. Once viewed as an expensive deployment that struggled to deliver ROI, the technology is now proving its value well beyond pure inventory management, that was a clear theme at NRF 2025. With such a heavy focus on customer experience across the show floor, retailers are getting creative with how they use the high-quality stock data RFID provides. RFID-powered self-checkout was a particular area of interest, with Teamwork Commerce's own demonstration drawing steady traffic to its booth. As more brands RFID-tag products, the technology is becoming easier to integrate and its ROI case easier to make.
The right payment tech benefits both customer and retailer
Physical retail has proven it isn't going anywhere, and its resurgence since COVID-19 has come through a push toward experiential retail, making customers feel valued in-store in ways no other channel can replicate. Exhibitors at NRF 2025 had this on full display, spanning point of sale, personalization, and virtual displays, but it was payment technology that stole the show at New York's Javits Center. Financial technology provider Adyen hosted a panel with customers GUESS, Estée Lauder, and Patagonia, each detailing how they built fast, reliable checkout experiences without compromising business performance.
What's ahead in 2025?
The takeaway from a frosty week in New York: today's retail environment demands technology that improves both operations and customer experience, not one or the other. Retailers should weigh their entire operation when deploying new solutions, since there's no reason a modern integration shouldn't benefit both sides of the counter. With so much on display at NRF 2025, the year ahead promises plenty of experimentation. Maybe this is the year AI finally clicks.