Successful innovation requires mastering the fundamentals first: NRF 2025’s Surprising Insights
About 40,000 retail leaders walked into New York’s Javits Center hunting for the next big thing. At National Retail Federation (NRF) 2025, they walked out with a clear vision: retail success hinges on purposeful innovation that truly serves the customer. Getting the basics brilliantly right doesn’t mean avoiding innovation — it’s ensuring every technology choice and store decision enhances the shopping experience without adding complexity.
Major retailers demonstrated this customer-first approach throughout the show. Starbucks emphasised how “tech should just work,” focusing on reliable solutions that serve its partners and customers. Meanwhile, Levi’s showcased how leveraging technology and data enables employees to deliver hyper-personalised customer service, driving ten consecutive quarters of growth. Even Amazon Stores CEO Doug Herrington reinforced this strategy, highlighting how innovation should focus on fundamental customer needs: better prices, broader selection, and improved convenience.
Collectively, this year’s insights point to retail triumph in 2025 being about thoughtful technology choices that enhance, not replace, human connections. Let’s explore how retailers are making this vision real through practical tech implementation, a renewed focus on store experiences, and strategic approaches to retail media.
Retailers Get Real About AI Technology
AI conversations shifted dramatically from NRF 2024 when retailers were still exploring AI’s vast potential and testing its boundaries. Last year’s discussions centred on what could be possible, as companies were just beginning to experiment with the technology. This year, after months of testing and learning, retailers shared concrete results from their AI implementations, displaying real solutions to real problems.
Amazon Stores led this practical push, applying AI to solve immediate customer challenges: better product reviews, smarter fit recommendations, and streamlined supply chains. These targeted applications prove that AI delivers the most value when addressing specific pain points rather than trying to update everything at once.
Image courtesy of nrfbigshow.nrf.com
The focus on tangible outcomes spread across the show floor. Starbucks championed this approach with its digital transformation strategy, emphasising value-driven solutions that prioritise outcomes over output. The company’s success shows how retailers can standardise technology while keeping customer experience consistent across thousands of locations.
Platform consolidation was another key trend this year, marking a shift from isolated tech solutions to integrated systems. Digital signage, which dominated 2024’s conversations, now fits into broader technology ecosystems. This integration trend is a major signal of which technologies will be most effective in retail environments — those that make existing operations work better together.
In short, effective AI implementation starts with identifying specific business challenges, measuring real results, and integrating solutions into existing operations. Technology should solve real problems, not create new ones.
The In-Store Experience Will Level Up
The death of brick-and-mortar retail was greatly exaggerated — just ask IKEA. “I cannot imagine a better place in the world than the IKEA store to go and smell and get inspired about home solutions,” shared CEO Javier Quiñones. The retail giant’s expansion into new formats, including a highly anticipated 5th Avenue location, signals that physical stores remain vital customer touchpoints.
This renewed focus on stores sparked a significant shift in retail strategy. Foot Locker’s store makeover, for example, includes dedicated spaces like Drop Zones for showcasing trending releases and Home Court areas where customers can test products and connect with basketball culture. These spaces convert stores from simple point-of-sale locations into community hubs where shoppers naturally gather, engage, and spend more time — proving that thoughtful store design directly impacts customer engagement.
This commitment to physical retail extends beyond any single sector. Sephora announced a $1 billion store redesign initiative at NRF, using heat mapping and shopping pattern analysis to reimagine their 700+ locations. Their modular approach allows stores to adapt quickly to changing consumer preferences, while early results show significant gains in key performance metrics.
These approaches to store design reflect a broader shift in retail thinking. The term “immersive,” which dominated NRF 2024, virtually disappeared from this year’s conversations. Instead, retailers discussed practical ways to enhance customer paths to purchase. Retail expert Ian Scott captured this shift perfectly through what he calls “store safari observations” — his systematic studies of customer behaviour in stores — noting that flourishing stores in 2025 prioritise removing friction over adding flashy features.
This insight sparked conversations across the show floor about tactical store design. Retailers now analyse customer navigation patterns, dwell time, and engagement points to create intuitive shopping experiences. They’re also rethinking traditional store elements like sonic strategy and background music, implementing adaptive audio systems that automatically adjust volume levels based on foot traffic and time of day. For example, quieter music during browsing hours and more energetic soundtracks during peak shopping times. This data-driven approach helps identify where technology enhances the experience through regional customisation, employee feedback, and customer behaviour analysis.
Retail Media Networks Are the Next Frontier
Retail media networks (RMNs) will claim 50% of total digital marketing spend by 2030, according to Bain & Company research presented at NRF. But conversations at the show centred on three critical success factors: contextual relevance, strategic placement, and shopper sentiment.
Retail media experts emphasised that physical stores are becoming the next major media channel, with potential for $20B in growth, according to the IAB’s In-Store Media Metrics presentation at NRF. Rather than focusing purely on digital displays, retailers discussed how to create meaningful engagement through contextually relevant messaging that enhances rather than interrupts the shopping experience.
This emphasis on context resonated across the speakers. Retailers now recognise that message effectiveness depends heavily on the customer’s mindset and location in the store. A shopper browsing casually might welcome detailed product education, while someone approaching checkout needs quick, clear information.
Walgreens and Albertsons backed this tactic with research showing that strategic media placement — aligned with store layout, traffic patterns, and typical dwell times — significantly boosts engagement. Understanding customer behaviour should drive RMN deployment.
The takeaway? Growth in retail media requires strategic balance. Retailers who prioritise customer experience over advertising volume will lead this space.
Retail media networks will claim 50% of total digital marketing spend by 2030.
What These Trends Mean for Retailers
NRF 2025’s emphasis on tactical innovation points to clear actions retailers should take to stay competitive.
Retailers must critically evaluate their technology stack. The push toward platform consolidation means evaluating current systems for redundancies and integration opportunities. Starbucks’ unified tech approach demonstrates how simplification improves both operations and customer experience.
Store design needs a behaviour-first mindset. IKEA and Foot Locker’s approach to physical retail shows that understanding customer movement patterns and natural gathering points matters more than flashy installations. Retailers should map their customers’ actual behaviour before making store layout decisions.
Community engagement drives loyalty. Kendra Scott has proven this by hosting 25,000 in-store events annually blending shopping with local philanthropy. Steve Madden takes a data-driven approach, using regional insights to curate location-specific assortments that resonate with local shoppers.
RMNs require careful calibration. Retailers must build strong data foundations before rushing to monetise their media channels. Understanding exactly when and where customers are receptive to messages prevents advertising fatigue.
Investment choices require a dual focus: perfecting fundamentals while nurturing innovation. As Amazon Stores demonstrated that they prioritise basic operations like pricing and logistics while maintaining what CEO Doug Herrington calls “a bias towards institutional yes” for bold ideas. Retailers should direct resources toward solving existing customer pain points while creating space for calculated risks.
Several emerging technologies are already showing practical value in addressing these pain points:
- AI-powered demographic insights: Analyse customer patterns in real-time to optimise store experiences while maintaining privacy.
- Dynamic content creation: Generate digital signage content automatically based on customer behaviour and store data.
- E-Ink digital display screens: Drive sustainability and update messaging instantly with new colour-capable display technology.
The retailers who thrive in 2025 will be those who embrace these shifts toward customer-centric approaches. Every technology choice and store decision must serve a clear purpose — enhancing the shopping experience without adding complexity.
Want to explore how these retail trends could shape your business strategy? Let’s talk about creating experiences that work for your brand and your customers. Contact us today.
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