By: Jim Roddy, President & CEO at the RSPA
One year ago I walked away from the NRF Big Show with a tinge of disappointment because I discovered little substance underneath the surface of the retail industry’s AI hype. (From NRF 2024: AI Is Everywhere But It Ain’t Everything)
My #1 goal this year at NRF’s 2025 Big Show, held Jan. 12-14 in New York City, was to learn if AI had moved beyond the bluster to practical business applications for retailers. My conclusion: Yes we have – even though we’re barely past the starting line of seeing AI’s soon-to-be-significant impact on retail at the enterprise and SMB levels.
Check out this list of 10 AI-powered, retailer-implemented applications I gathered from Big Show presentations and conversations:
- As a robot cleans store aisles overnight, it takes photos and videos to inventory merchandise on the shelves. It then cross-checks that data with the back-room inventory and directs associates where to get and put the products when they arrive in the morning.
- An AI program ties together active retailer marketing campaigns with recent sales and inventory levels. This helps the retailer determine the effectiveness of past marketing efforts and helps them better predict future campaign performance.
- Another marketing tool uses AI to generate personalized imagery and videos, including personalized video messages from life-like celebrity avatars.
- AI reviews lengthy company documents and then delivers succinct insights to customers and associates. “AI is providing consistent knowledge throughout the business,” a retail CIO said.
- AI reviews retailer data to identify trends – and also indicates where more data is needed. “AI exposed tremendous holes in our data,” one retail executive said.
- Associates use voice technology to explain a situation to an AI bot; the bot then reviews company documents to inform the associate if a standard operating procedure is applicable to the situation. “AI can break down complex problems and then show you how it got there,” said one presenter.
- An AI agent answers questions for customers based on company documents, reports, inventory, and other data. One retailer said in 2024 its AI agent handled over 1 million contacts.
- After a customer is identified as a member of the retailer’s loyalty program, AI can review their past purchases, planned purchases, and current retailer inventory and then deliver suggestions and real-time coupons at the transaction point. “The AI engine compiles data, personalizes the shopping experience, and provides more savings to the shopper,” one speaker said.
- AI-aided computer vision scanners identify potential theft and alert store associates to investigate.
- Retailers with extra square footage use AI-generated graphics to create 4D video in those areas, attracting visitors to their store.
The volume and quality of applications showcased at NRF 2025 exceeded my expectations. In just one year, AI has leapt from mostly sound and fury to a useful tool that positively impacts retailers’ customer experience, speed of service, operations, labor management, and more.
NRF presenters and solution provider attendees expect AI to produce even more significant gains over the next 12 months:
- “This is the year of realizing the business value.”
- “The improvements to the business have been marginal so far. But the technology is revolutionary. Transformation is possible in 2025.”
- “Forget about running pilots. Give your associates an AI tool and you’ll be surprised what they do with it.”
- “This is going to be the most creative period of retail ever.”
Another comment I heard was, “The key questions about AI now are ‘how?’ and ‘who?’” That’s where I think RSPA members come in, especially VARs and ISVs, if they move quickly. Retailers are faced with a dizzying array of tech options; a trusted retail IT advisor will help them separate the AI BS from the AI ROI. High-initiative RSPA members will be the “who” mapping out the “how” for merchants.
The margins that solutions providers will reap from offering AI tools to their merchants are still uncertain. But the downside of not advising your clients on AI is crystal clear: somebody else will, and when you are pushed aside, your current revenue stream will take a big hit.
If VARs and ISVs think about AI as another recurring managed service, it becomes easier for them to wrap their brain around. Take the example I shared earlier where an AI agent answers customer and associate questions. I know for sure at least one RSPA member who specializes in that service (agent design, implementation, personalization, updates, etc.). Integrate that service into your offering, and resell it just like you do cellular failover or remote monitoring.
You don’t have to become an AI genius. You just need to find the right partners and integrate their genius with your solution. A longtime channel executive I sat down with at NRF noted that the most successful solution providers his company works with today take a more “hands off” approach than they did in the past. Their role now is akin to the conductor of an orchestra, not a one-man band attempting to play every instrument.
My final thought on AI coming out of NRF 2025 is that while the technology and applications are new, the principles behind wringing maximum value out of it are not. The first key principle is the power of the right partnerships which I just alluded to. I found in my conversations with executives at NRF a greater willingness to explore new partnerships. For years (decades even), VARs and ISVs were locked into past partnerships and hesitant to explore other options. But when COVID disrupted the supply chain everything, solution providers were forced to work with anybody who was able to fulfill merchant request.
The second principle is what I call “try, test, measure, adapt.” New solutions aren’t going to implement themselves; channel leaders need to step away from their current day-to-day duties to run experiments. Speaking at RETHINK Retail’s AI In Retail Conference held Monday night during NRF, 1-800-FLOWERS.com CIO Arnie Leap shared his organization’s AI journey and implored the audience to act.
“We have to try a couple things – and the time to do that is now,” he said. “You have to be curious. Ask a couple questions, get a couple answers, try again. Nothing has to be a large decision. It just has to be a decision.”
Retail merchants and consumers have decided AI will be part of their future. The question is will you choose to be part of theirs as well?
What Else I Learned, Heard, and Observed at NRF 2025
- While AI generated the loudest buzz, the technology I heard about second most often was kiosks. I saw a range of them in several booths – traditional, double-sided, countertop, mobile, thin, wide, large, small. Since COVID, implementation of any “self”-related technology has increased. If the NRF expo hall is any indication, kiosks will be a big seller in 2025. If you’re not offering kiosks now, several RSPA members can help you find the right products for your merchants. Our Member Services Team is happy to help you connect with the right members.
- “Ignorance around data leaves dollars on the table.” Tracee Ellis Ross, actress, producer, and CEO/Founder of PATTERN Beauty during her Monday keynote
- “When you hear ‘no,’ you have to understand if it’s your messaging or if you do not have the correct solution for your customers.” Ross
- “Nobody cares if you used AI. They just care about the ROI.” Kate Ancketill, CEO and Founder, GDR Creative Intelligence
- “This is seen as a technology show but it’s really an innovation show.” Matthew Shay, NRF President & CEO
- Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon said during his Tuesday global economy keynote that he expects 2025 to be “a cocktail of change.” The elements he noted were a fragile economy (“we need labor growth and immigration to keep driving our economy”), deregulation (“should lead to additional investment”), and anticipated tax cuts in the U.S.
- Remember the retail apocalypse that had most everybody in our industry fretting several years ago? I heard that phrase only once at the show, and it was followed by words that if texted would equal “LOL.” I’ve attended NRF for years, and this was the busiest show I’ve ever experienced. NRF hasn’t released final numbers, but Shay did say on the main stage that 1,100 exhibitors participated.
