What to Expect at Retail’s Big Show: NRF 2026
The National Retail Federation’s Big Show is back, and the theme, The Next Now, perfectly captures the urgency and opportunity facing retailers and industry players today.
This year, the Big Show is pleased to partner with celebrity entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds to discuss the trends that are transforming the industry and how businesses can make strategic, operational decisions required to succeed right now.
NRF 2026 is built around three core pillars, all centered on modernizing efficiencies and operational strategies:
- Making priceless connections: Forging valuable partnerships and peer-to-peer relationships.
- Gaining practical education: Accessing data-driven insights and actionable strategies.
- Exploring futuristic solutions: Discovering the innovative technology powering retail’s next chapter.
With 175+ sessions and thousands of exhibitors, here’s what you can’t miss.
Featured session—Future under pressure: Inside the moves retailers are making for 2026 with SPS Commerce
The path to profitability in modern retail is defined by supply chain performance, automation, and efficiency.
Retailers are navigating a period of unprecedented pressure, forcing a complete rethinking of operating models. Leaders in the retail world from Canadian Tire, RONA, and Spreetail will provide an unfiltered view of the operational decisions they are making to thrive under four distinct forces. The conversation will focus heavily on how these organizations are eliminating friction and leveraging modern solutions to stay ahead.
The four critical forces shaping the session include:
1. Instant commerce expectations
- The Pressure: Consumer demand for speed (same-day, next-day, instant pickup) is rising faster than retail economics. The core challenge of instant commerce is achieving this speed not just quickly, but profitably and predictably. This requires organizations to move away from slow, sequential processes to instant, synchronized data exchanges across networks.
- Modernization Focus: Meeting these expectations requires a dramatic increase in supply chain visibility and automated processes. This pressure drives the need for smarter inventory placement, rapid partner-to-partner data exchange, and predictive analytics to ensure fulfillment costs don’t erode margins.
- Tie-in to NRF 2026: Solutions for achieving instant commerce are heavily featured in the NRF Innovators Showcase, where new logistics and fulfillment technologies are being unveiled.
2. The great rewiring of trade
- The Pressure: Global volatility, trade shifts, and risk are forcing organizations to abandon fragile, just-in-time operating assumptions. Redundancy is becoming resilience. Every player in the ecosystem is being forced to rethink sourcing, diversification, and the routing of products. This demands the type of systems that can manage complexity and risk without manual intervention.
- Modernization Focus: Leaders are digitally rewiring their global trade routes. This massive shift requires high-fidelity, real-time data, and collaborative systems that can manage complex cross-border logistics and rapidly reposition inventory. This proactive approach ensures a resilient supply chain that can pivot when volatility strikes.
- Tie-in to NRF 2026: The need for resilient leadership and value-driven supply chains directly aligns with the keynote message from Mary Beth Laughton (President & CEO, REI Co-op), who discusses building trust and strong operational foundations in a changing world.
3. Removing friction (automation everywhere)
- The Pressure: Friction in the form of manual processes, bad data, reconciliation errors, and inconsistent signals is the silent killer of efficiency, blocking capacity for growth. Every time a human touches a process that a machine could handle, profit is lost and speed is sacrificed. Eliminating this friction creates the capacity necessary for scalable growth.
- Modernization Focus: Removing friction means automating data flow end-to-end, standardizing data exchange with partners, and letting machines handle the repetitive task of transaction validation. This focus on automation (the “everywhere” aspect) is the core strategy for building a leaner, more efficient retail ecosystem.
- Tie-in to NRF 2026: The Innovators Showcase is filled with technology (AI, machine learning, automation) specifically designed to eliminate these points of friction. The dedicated All-New AI Stage offers practical, actionable sessions on implementing these technologies to drive capacity for growth.
4. Retail’s footprint revolution
- The Pressure: The physical store is no longer just a place to shop; it is increasingly a dual-purpose asset serving as an experience center and a micro-fulfillment hub (buy online, pick up in store; ship from store). This fundamentally changes assumptions about inventory placement, labor models, and supplier replenishment.
- Modernization Focus: Leaders must rewrite operational assumptions about how inventory is distributed and leveraged across this hybrid network. This revolution requires flexible logistics solutions, smart store technology for rapid fulfillment, and the ability to view all inventory (in the warehouse, on the shelf, in transit) as a single, available resource.
- Tie-in to NRF 2026: Solutions for managing the complex, multi-purpose footprint are featured across the main Expo floor and in specialized areas like the Foodservice Innovation Zone, which showcase operational excellence in high-urgency fulfillment within a rapidly evolving physical network.
Keynote speakers: leadership, branding, and purpose
Beyond operational execution, the Big Show keynotes offer inspiration on brand building, leadership, and customer trust.
| Session | Speaker(s) | Key Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Building Brands That Win | Ryan Reynolds, Entrepreneur, and Ethan Tandowsky, CFO, Adyen | Discover how Reynolds used authenticity and humor to scale challenger brands like Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile in the age of the empowered consumer. |
| Leading with Purpose | Mary Beth Laughton, President & CEO, REI Co-op | Learn how REI is revitalizing its co-op model through member feedback, community engagement, and innovation while staying true to its core values. |
The Expo: where innovation powers efficiency
For retailers, suppliers, and 3PLs focused on modernization and efficiency, the Expo floor is the ultimate destination for discovering Futuristic Solutions.
- The All-New AI Stage: Dedicated to practical education, this is your central hub for integrating AI, agentic AI, and other advanced technologies. Move beyond theory and find actionable insights for embedding AI into your business strategies today.
- The Innovators Showcase: NRF hand-picks 50 cutting-edge companies featuring immersive and interactive experiences in technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, and more. This is where you see “The Next Now” on full display.
- The Startup Hub: Meet the newest and most agile companies shaking up the retail industry. If you are looking for a groundbreaking technology partner or an unexpected solution to a supply chain challenge, the Startup Hub is where the disruption begins.
- Food Service Innovation Zone: As retail and food service convergence continues, this dedicated area focuses on specialized technologies transforming quick service and food retail. Explore the latest in order fulfillment, kitchen automation, and the modern experience.
Look for us at NRF!
Whether you’re a retailer, a supplier, or a logistics provider, we have solutions designed specifically to help modernize your business and improve your profit margins.
We’re looking forward to meeting you. Find us at booth #6357 or schedule a 15-minute meeting with our experts. Anyone who signs up for a meeting is entered for a chance to win a $1,000 gift card. Come say hello!
- What to Expect at Retail’s Big Show: NRF 2026 - December 17, 2025
- SPS Commerce Named #1 IT Infrastructure Software by G2 - February 25, 2025
- Optimizing RTV: The key to smarter supply chain management - January 6, 2025
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