Editorial
Research Report
The 2026 State of CX Outsourcing
The Gist
- Déjà vu, but different. NRF 2026 feels like a return to retail’s roots—human connection, in-store presence and emotional experience—reimagined through modern tools like AI.
- AI as an intimacy engine, not a replacement. Retail leaders emphasize AI’s role in empowering employees and deepening customer relationships, not removing the human element from commerce.
- Closer matters—physically and emotionally. From store design to leadership philosophy, the strongest signals from NRF point toward brands getting nearer to customers, rebuilding trust, and creating moments that genuinely make people smile.
NEW YORK CITY — What do you know about Déjà vu? You know, those Groundhog Day moments where something feels familiar, memorable — as if you’ve lived it before, it almost evokes a sense of subtle nostalgia. The feeling that a situation, an experience, a conversation has occurred before.
Ironically, this was a feeling that stuck with me throughout the entire NRF Big Show in New York City this week. It was a feeling of the new, inspired by the old.
Let me explain.
Every January, over 40,000 eager, excited and exuberant retailers and vendors make the journey to the big apple to learn, listen and engage in strategies that will set them apart from the competition by creating experiences that inspire purchase.
This year (like many before it) had all of that, but something a little unexpected. Something I didn’t quite see coming. And, of course, it had to do with (you guessed it) AI.
Table of Contents
- Where AI Meets Customer Experience
- Top Sessions at NRF Big Show 2026
- Top Conversation at NRF Big Show 2026
- Top Innovation at NRF Big Show 2026
- Top Experience at NRF Big Show 2026
Where AI Meets Customer Experience
While AI was a focus this year, it wasn’t in the way you would think. Many retailers who took the stage discussed that while AI was important and something they would leverage, it would never replace their employees. Instead, AI would be used as a tool to deliver closer, more intimate experiences between customer and brand — something that I personally, as customer experience nerd, absolutely loved to hear.
Something else I also noticed as being familiar was the resounding buzz and push around in-store shopping experiences, something that you could visually see in the mainstage speaker room. This year, attendees got a closer view and proximity to the stage. Subtle, intentional and ironically relevant to how retailers should be thinking about their customers of the future: getting closer, bringing them back into sight and back into stores. (More on this later).
In my typical NRF recap fashion, I’m going to bring you my "tops" of the past week. Things I saw, people I spoke with, experiences I had. My hope (as always) is that this inspires you, your teams and more importantly you brand to leverage 2026 as a foundational springboard into the future of what exceptional retail will likely look like.
Related Article: The Absolute Top Moments From NRF 2025: Retail's Big Show
Let’s dive in.
Top Sessions at NRF Big Show 2026
The Ever-Changing Consumer Expectation, Ed Stack – Dick's Sporting Goods
Want to know a guy who just GETS it? Look no further than Dick's Sporting Goods Executive Chairmen, Ed Stack. It’s rare that I leave a session feeling both personally and professionally inspired, but Ed delivered on both fronts.
At 13, Ed’s dad (the founder of Dick's) put him to work in a store. While Ed had no interest in returning post college, he ended up doing so and ultimately ended up purchasing the franchise from his father in 1984, and, as Ed said, “Somewhere along the line, I just fell in love with it.”
Fast forward some 40 odd years later, Dick’s is now reinventing sports retail with something they call “House of Sport,” a fully immersive shopping experience where consumers can try more products, have access to live fields and take part in true community (all centered around sport, of course).
“House of sport started eight years ago. We wanted to build the store of the future, the store that if it opened next to our traditional retail setting, would put us out of business,” Ed explained.
Wait a second, you mean to tell me a retail storefront that is about people driving to a store, not a screen? YES. In fact 61% of Gen Z’ers prefer to discover products in store. With younger generations demanding exceptional in-store experience, a resurgence of in person retail is no doubting upon us.
But Ed isn’t just thinking about the customer; he also is intimately involved with his colleagues. “Our Org chart is diamond shaped, and I’m at the bottom. At the top is the customer (athlete) and you must live that org chart. The culture is built around the people on your team, and we don’t tolerate brilliant jerks."
We love to hear that, Ed.
What makes Ed even more authentic is his ability to cut straight through noise and focus his team on what matters. “We have the most competitive team members, but we must always remember the competition is outside, not inside," he said. "I like to describe our team like Emmitt Smith, when he would score he would drop the ball in the end zone and move forward.”
What struck me most about Ed and his session was his personality: who he is, and what he stands for; something that no doubt translates through every team member in his organization. Which, at the end of the day, benefits the consumer. Shoppers can feel authenticity, excitement, and Dick’s Sporting Goods team members embrace all of those skillsets to ensure they are delivering true moments of joy and connection to their athletes (customers).
A true master class in what exceptional leadership and experience should and will look like.
The Future of the US Economy: David Tinsley, Senior Economist, Bank of America Institute, and Michael Pearce, Chief US Economist, Oxford Economies
Not only was I lucky enough to be in the room with what I would argue is two of the smartest people I’ve ever had the opportunity to listen to, but they also discussed the future of our economy. Here’s the long and the short of it.
- The short: the economy is in a good place (not great) and will likely continue that way for the rest of the year.
- The long: brands should lean in heavy on a few areas.
Let me break it down for you.
First, many consumers are in a state of "gripping while swiping." Essentially, they aren’t super happy about some of the purchases they are making because of tariff-driven higher prices and other external factors. So while they need products, the experience isn’t the best as they are stretching their wallets.
OPPORTUNITY: While brands of course do all they can to not raise prices, sometimes it's inevitable. However, I see a larger opportunity for brands to build experiences and connections that could deepen relationships. What brands can control are in fact, the experiences their customers interact with. I talk a LOT about anthropomorphism, the idea that a brand can and should take on human-like characteristics to build deep psychological and emotional connections with customers.
While times for consumers might be challenging in the current environment, it offers up a fantastic opportunity for brands to explore agentic solutions to humanize the experience. As AI and agentic continues to progress, elements of empathy and understanding can’t go overlooked as key experience levers that brands can pull to strengthen emotional connections with customers; this is something I feel will pay dividends in the long term.
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Second, both economists discussed AI’s role, but warned: it’s still quite early. As many organizations lean in heavy within this space, we see high stock market gains and elevated positions. But the real question remains: is AI a bubble?
In simple terms, sort of – there likely will be consolidation and winners and losers, but both economists feel that AI is an area that all brands need to be exploring and investing in. What ACTUALLY comes of this over the next five years is a bit unknown, but as I’ve said before: you can’t spell retail without AI; just make sure your brand is remaining close to your customers and finding ways to leverage AI through experiences in ways that resonate most.
Top Conversation at NRF Big Show 2026
Brendan Witcher, Ex-Forrester VP Analyst
I know a little something about back to back; honestly, I’m a big fan. From my New England Patriots to being honored as a multiple-winning CMSWire Contributor of the Year, I have a soft spot for repeats.
Which is why it just made sense to have Brendan Witcher as back to back top conversations.
As I’m in the press room having a conversation with another journalist, I hear from across the room, “How much are you paying them to keep giving you contributor of the year?!”
Instantly, I knew the voice, the smile and handshake I was about to receive.
Brendan recently left Forrester, but his passion for retailers (of all sizes) is something that you can feel in his heart and soul. Brendan and I chatted briefly about how smaller retailers have the ability and opportunity to do something truly special, an area that he is extremely passionate about.
And it reminded me that even the largest retailers all had their start on a corner or in a garage, and that the brands we see today, while large, should always remember that humble beginnings are the foundation for future growth. But growth isn’t given; it’s earned through delight, joy and belief that products and services can make the world a better place when done right, something I know that wherever Brendan lands, will be one of his top focuses.
Related Article: OpenAI's ChatGPT Instant Checkout: The Dawn of Conversational Commerce CX
Top Innovation at NRF Big Show 2026
Google, Universal Commerce Protocol and Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience
Commerce today will look much different two years from now, and Google is on a mission to make sure they are part of this transformation.
This week, they unveiled two key areas that will re-shape we as consumers and brands operate in the future.
First, Google partnered with industry leading retailers and partners to announce Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a new way to allow consumers to shop directly within a Gemini-powered commerce session. UCP takes a page from the retail wisdom of the past, be where your customers are, and let them purchase within that channel intuitively.
Additionally, UCP will support conversational commerce and promotional discounts directly in agentic chat forms, giving customers the ability to ask hard questions around products, and reward them with discounts where appropriate.
This innovation from Google will synthesize the research to purchase phase, removing boundaries and giving customers the ability to make faster decisions, something that I feel will exponentially improve the customer experience.
UCP lays the foundation for Google's second announcement, Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience. A digitally concierge if you will, GE for CX will give customers the ability to organize, coordinate and purchase all within chat-based, conversational communication, something that should help elevate brand experience and customer sentiment.
Top Experience at NRF Big Show 2026
Smiles. Lots of Smiles.
My favorite thing about the retail space has, and always will be, one simple, yet vitally important thing: smiles.
Smiles are something that are contagious, and this week, I sure saw a lot of smiles. From retailers to vendors to NRF staff, folks seemed happy and excited about the show week. Now, not to say this hasn’t been the case in past years.
But this year, the smile stuck with me. And it reminded me why we all love this space so much. As someone who worked in a golf store retail environment through high school, there’s nothing better than witnessing the power of product and its ability to bring happiness, joy and smiles to consumers faces.
Retail experiences have the power to change the world, turn a sad day into a bright day, and, in my opinion, bring our large, scattered world a little bit closer together.
While retail's shape and form is always evolving, moving from in store to digital to back to store again, the one thing that will always remain are the customers who interact with the brands they love.
As Bill Murray said so eloquently in the movie Groundhog Day, “I know your face so well, I could have done it with my eyes closed. ... Today is tomorrow, it happened, you’re here.”
The next is here now, today is tomorrow. And because you know your customers so well, do them a favor: give them a reason to smile today.
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