Key Takeaways from NRF 2025: How to Get the Most from Retail’s Big Show

In retail, the only constant is change. Because our industry is always evolving.

“You cannot rest ... The bar is going to continue to go up, and your competitors are going to continue to raise the bar.” - Mary Dillon, President and CEO, Foot Locker (Retail Dive)

For retailers that want to stay ahead of the game, one trade show stands apart from the rest.

And that’s why we went to NRF Retail’s Big Show 2025 in January. So now that we’re back home, we’ve had some time to reflect on how the show went, what we could do better next year, and our overall thoughts on the value of attending such a massive retail show.

Now, we'd like to share a bit about our experience at NRF with you.

In this post, we’ll give you the top 3 reasons you should attend (for exhibitors and retailers) and share our take on the biggest topic trending at NRF this year: Artificial Intelligence (AI). And we’ll let you know where you can find us next!

(PS. If you attended the show, we have a special discount for you! Check out our NRF 2025 show specials here.)

Our Experience at NRF 2025

We’ll be honest with you. This was our first year with a booth at Retail’s Big Show.

And we went in with an open mind and a mission.

We were determined to get the absolute most out of the experience. We loaded up our humble 10x10 booth on Level 1 with our POS terminals, devices, branded merch, and literature and got ready to demo our retail software. Make no mistake, this growing tech company from Maine makes a big impact on mid-market retail operations (we’re the only unified commerce platform built on Lean Retail principles, after all!), and we were ready to showcase it at the Big Show.

But we weren’t just headed there to talk about our product. NRF offers so much more than that.

And so, seven people went to New York to represent FieldStack at NRF 2025. We sent a mix across departments – Leadership, Client Success, Product, and Marketing. We knew a diverse team would experience the trade show from different perspectives.

We left NRF with takeaways specific to our areas of expertise to bring back to the broader team. And we also went home with a deeper appreciation for the importance of this trade show for the retail industry.

Top 3 Reasons Everyone in the Retail Industry Should Attend NRF

The influence of this trade show on retail is well known.

But as an exhibitor or a retailer, is it worth attending? Absolutely. We’re confident that everyone in retail will find something of value that applies to their business or role at the Big Show.

And we’ll give you three reasons why. Plus, our advice for approaching each one.

1. New Technologies

Our advice: “Make a short list of tech providers to visit, but don’t limit yourself.”

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of reasons to attend NRF is all the new technologies. And you’re right. There’s no shortage of new tech at the Big Show.

Which means it’s the perfect place to browse or find your next software solution.

In fact, we were among the exhibitors rolling out new tech at the show. The timing lined up perfectly with our launch of FlexOrder^™, our tokenized payment and flexible fulfillment function.

Learn more in our FlexOrder^™ press release on RetailWire.

For exhibitors, NRF gives you access to research the trends that will influence your own products. It gives you a platform for meeting with potential clients and showcasing your technology in a live setting. You get to have meaningful conversations in person.

And for retailers, you get to explore different options all in one place. If a certain tech solution doesn’t fit your criteria, you can step on down to the next booth and start up another conversation. You get to ask all your questions in person, see live demos, and get a feel for the company.

But fair warning: The trade show will be packed.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Multiple floors are crammed with flashy displays and buzzing with the energy of thousands of people. No matter your goals for exploring the tech solutions at NRF, it helps to stay focused by making a short list of tech providers you’d like to visit ahead of time. We highly recommend downloading the NRF Events app for this reason. Then, you’ll know where to find their booths once you hit the floor. But don’t limit yourself. There will be solutions you didn’t consider that pop up as you walk around. NRF is an innovation hub. Who knows what you’ll find!

2. Expert Knowledge Base

Our advice: “Treat every interaction as a learning opportunity – the speakers aren’t the only experts.”

The folks at NRF have done an exceptional job putting together a value-packed lineup of sessions, panelists, and keynote speakers from leading retail brands and providers.

Of course, these are worth attending. We went to quite a few ourselves.

(Psstt… Here’s the NRF 2025 Exhibitor Big Ideas Replay if you missed a session!)

But if you want to soak up as much knowledge as possible, we recommend not sticking to the show agenda.

This show brings people from every corner of the retail world together. There are experts everywhere you look. You can learn about any retail topic imaginable from retailers and exhibitors alike.

So, we suggest you get out there and mingle.

Walk the floor. Stop at the booths that interest you (even the ones that don’t seem relevant to your business). Go to the happy hours. Take advantage of the networking events. Introduce yourself to other attendees and ask them what brings them to the show. And most importantly, listen.

Of all the people who stopped at our booth to chat, one group stood out as a little different than the rest. They weren’t retailers. Or exhibitors. They were college students. Interested in logistics, they were simply there to learn from software providers and see firsthand the countless directions their careers could go.

We encourage you to go into NRF with an open mind – just like the students we met at the show.

You never know what you’ll learn that can apply to your own business.

3. Networking Opportunities

Our advice: “Make time for new connections, AND your current network.”

Roughly 40,000 people attended NRF 2025. That’s a networking goldmine.

As well as using NRF as an opportunity to learn from retail experts around the globe, you should also use it to forge and foster essential business relationships.

We used the opportunity to not just meet with new potential partners but also spend time in person with our existing ones. Some of us live across the country from each other, and getting together for an in-person meetup is rare.

But NRF makes it possible.

We were able to talk shop with our partners outside of our usual Teams or Zoom calls and emails. The innovation and energy at NRF were the catalysts for some exciting brainstorming sessions. Even small talk felt different with NRF as the backdrop.

In addition to our payment processor and touchscreen technology partners at the show, we were lucky to have our friends at Cambridge Retail Advisors just across the aisle from us. It made popping over for a quick chat or interview especially convenient.

And that’s how we got to sit down with them and talk about what the “hive mind of retail is thinking.”

Check out the resulting interview with Duncan Taylor, Senior Consultant at Cambridge Retail Advisors, and our very own Brett Wickard.

The Biggest Trending Topic at NRF 2025: Exploring AI in Retail

Want to discover the next big thing in retail? You’ll find it at NRF. This year, AI was the big topic on everyone's minds (and almost everyone's booth).

AI took center stage as folks buzzed and speculated about its role in the future of our industry. From the supply chain to checkout, AI is making an appearance in every part of retail.

But, with the words “AI” slapped onto so many products and services these days, it makes you wonder…

Is AI just another buzzword?

Or is there real potential there?

We asked FieldStack founder, CEO, and self-proclaimed tech-enthusiast Brett Wickard to weigh in.

Here’s his response to the question, “What does AI-powered mean to you?”

“All of us who have been in tech for a little while know that we have buzzwords that come each time, and they're often plastered on the things that aren't fully indicative of what they say. It used to be ‘cloud-based.’ Then it was ‘enterprise-class,’ and now it’s ‘AI’ everything.

And to me, the idea of AI, the potential is incredible. But retailers, we have to deal with the real world. We have to make it actually do stuff.

I see a lot of the potential AI out there and it's not wired in a way that would make sense to retailers. Because retailers don't have these other divisions handling things, and if they did, they're not going to get great actionable insights out of it anyway.

But do I think that AI is going to impact retail in the coming ten years?

Absolutely.

And because of the structure of our data, we are uniquely, out of almost any tech area, we are uniquely optimizable. But in order to do that, you've got to have the data. For folks who are in AI, there are things called training sets.

And so, if you're a unified platform like FieldStack, you're built on training sets. It's much more straightforward to build AI models around it.

One of the great things about AI, whether you're using a unified platform or not, is genuinely the ability to have something win-win. Like when you optimize in retail and you know you're getting the right goods in the right place at the right time, you're reducing your carbon footprint. You’re building your sales. You’re building long-term customers. So, there's a lot of potential there.”

Listen to the full interview below.

Want to learn more about the role AI played at NRF? Check out Retail Dive’s coverage of the Big Show’s hottest topic here: At NRF, 40,000 humans contemplate AI.

What’s Next for Us After NRF 2025?

At FieldStack, we have an entrepreneurial spirit.

It’s one of our core values for a reason.

That means we’re data-driven and solution-oriented. We’re always experimenting and looking for ways to improve our software and the service we provide our clients.

This is the approach we took with us to NRF.

Attending the big show wasn’t an expense for us. It was an investment in innovating our own offerings, developing and fostering partnerships, staying on top of evolving retail trends for our clients, and our team’s professional growth.

We came home with many takeaways from NRF. And we’ll be back in 2026 ready to learn new lessons and iterate all over again.

In the meantime, we’ll be getting ready for our next trade show: ShopTalk Fall in Chicago (September 17 – 19, 2025).

And until next year, we might just be taking bets on what the next big trend will be at NRF 2026.

Shoutouts and Gratitude

And now we’d like to give a big thank you to our entire team at FieldStack, our partners, our friends, and the dedicated organizers at the National Retail Federation and the Javits Center.

To our partners and friends who met with us at the show, it was a pleasure seeing you there! Thank you for your support and collaboration. If you didn’t get to meet them at NRF 2025, we encourage you to check out their websites:

• Fiserv – our Clover Connect payment processors
• Touch Dynamic – our touchscreen technology solution providers
• Cambridge Retail Advisors – our retail expert collaborators

And to every single person who stopped at our booth, we appreciate you and hope to chat with you again soon!

Save the Date for 2026

Now’s the time to mark your calendars for NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in NYC from January 11 – 13, 2026.

You’ll find us next year at Booth #2732.

See you there!