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Retail ’ s Big Show Showcases the Latest in Technology
By Jamie Grill-Goodman
If you want to know where technology is headed , there ’ s no better place to get a glimpse into the future than the National Retail Federation ’ s ( NRF ) annual convention .
NRF 2025 : Retail ’ s Big Show , held on January 12-14 at the Javits Center in New York City , NY , draws approximately 40,000 attendees from nearly 100 countries . The National Retail Federation , headquartered in Washington , D . C ., advocates for people , brands , and policies that help retail succeed . This year ’ s convention showcased more than 1,000 exhibitors and 450 speakers , giving attendees an exuberant look into the future of retail and technology .
As in recent years , artificial intelligence ( AI ) remained the top buzz word at the show . So much so that this year ’ s opening keynote on Sunday January 12 kicked the event off with a conversation between NRF Chairman and President and CEO of Walmart U . S ., John Furner , and Azita Martin , Vice President and General Manager , Retail & CPG , NVIDIA . The conversation centered on how AI is redefining what ’ s possible for consumers and businesses .
According to Martin , supply chain will benefit the most from AI in retail and the future of warehouse efficiency starts with having a digital twin , a virtual model of a physical space that taps real-time data to simulate scenarios . Lowe ’ s Home Improvement , Martin used as an example , has created digital twins of 1,700 stores and they are “ updating that several times a day with operational and inventory data , and as a result they ’ ve been able to simulate different layouts to really optimize how customers are shopping in stores , how to change the layout , and ultimately improve their sales and revenue ,” she said .
She also spoke about new NVIDIA AI Blueprints for building “ agentic AI ” applications . While many are familiar with AI chatbots , which use generative AI to provide responses based on questions , agentic AI uses reasoning and planning to autonomously solve complex , multi-step problems . With the blueprints , developers can build and deploy custom AI agents that can reason , plan and take action . She gave the example of an agentic AI agent that ’ s monitoring the weather and could give instructions to another AI agent to order additional snow shovels ahead of a snowstorm . Furner commented that “ the idea of an AI agent that can understand operations , see across silos ,” is pretty terrific .
Following the opening keynote , Pete Nordstrom , president of Nordstrom , sat down with Joshua Schulman , CEO of Burberry , for a live recording of Nordstrom ’ s podcast , The Nordy Pod . The two talked about their career history and working together , how Burberry is a blend of heritage and innovation , and more . You can catch the full conversation in episode 79 of The Nordy Pod , available January 27 .
Back on the show floor , exhibitors gathered to share the latest technology innovations and offerings . The following is a snapshot of a few new things in 2025 .
Celerant Technology
Headquartered in Iselin , NJ , retail software company Celerant Technology demonstrated its comprehensive retail management platform , including its new predictive site search functionality . This enhanced feature for e-commerce retail websites will help guide customers through both the shopping journey as well as make tailored recommendations based on the customer ’ s on-site behaviors and habits . Driving these suggestions are integrated AI-systems and machine learning to make it easier to discover the most suitable products with images , price , and color filters using AI and semantic queries .
Cognizant
Cognizant Technology Solutions World Headquarters is located in Teaneck , NJ , and has over 340,000 employees worldwide helping companies modernize technology , reimagine processes , and transform experiences across many industries , including banking , healthcare , insurance , manufacturing , and retail . Cognizant announced the launch of Stores 360 , a comprehensive retail solution designed to streamline store operations , enhance employee productivity , and improve customer experiences . Developed in collaboration with ServiceNow , the solution leverages the Cognizant Neuro ® AI platform and generative AI-powered Now Assist solution . Stores 360 is designed to elevate retail store operations and improve frontline employee productivity and customer experience with integrated , automated , predictive and gen AI capabilities . The solution comprises three sub-offerings designed to enable retailers to adopt and prioritize based on business needs : new store opening , store management , and store asset management .
NRF 2025 kicked off with a keynote session centered on artificial intelligence with John Furner , NRF Chairman and President and CEO of Walmart U . S ., and Azita Martin , VP and GM , Retail & CPG , NVIDIA ( shown here ).
Photo : Jamie Grill-Goodman
Diebold Nixdorf
Diebold Nixdorf , which automates and digitizes the way people bank and shop , showcased storewide AI technology use cases , such as combating shrink in the aisles , at the POS , and at the self-service checkout . On display was technolgy that speeds up the checkout process with multi-item recognition , quickly detects hazards across the store , and protects employees from dangerous situations . The extension of the AI technology use cases follows the launch of Diebold Nixdorf ’ s AI-powered solution Vynamic ® Smart Vision platform at the beginning of this year . The platform combines solutions to reduce the most common sources of loss and friction during fresh produce scanning and age verification for restricted sales . Diebold
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