We’re just days away from NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show, kicking off Jan. 12 — and the new NRF Innovators Showcase will be a must-see exhibit of the event. Featuring 50 of the most impactful retail tech innovators, the Showcase highlights cutting-edge solutions that are redefining how retailers sell and consumers shop. This success builds on the Innovation Lab, which helped create over 350 new businesses.
The Showcase is the epicenter of game-changing technologies that solve some of the industry's most vexing problems. These companies were selected by the NRF Innovation Advisory Committee based on their potential to scale, their level of innovation and whether their solution was relevant to emerging trends.
Showcase highlights include AI-enabled smart carts, grab-and-go cabinets, 3D body scanning, autonomous robots and easy QR marketing. This is an opportunity to see firsthand what the future of retail might look like. The event will include live, interactive demonstrations in which attendees will have an opportunity to experience solutions that could shape the future of shopping.
Here is a final look at some of the themes and companies making up this year's Showcase.
Bricks-and-mortar stores are leveling up with technologies that enhance both customer interactions and operational efficiency, solving core pain points. For example, MTLAB’s DAVE is an AI-powered platform that transforms the in-store journey by improving navigation, streamlining checkout and delivering personalized customer interactions — making shopping faster, smoother and more engaging.
Beeats brings cutting-edge 3D body scanning to retail, offering personalized recommendations in seconds for everything from mattresses to fitness plans. Mira eliminates barcode scanning with AI-powered visual checkout systems, which identify products instantly, speeding up transactions, reducing fraud and boosting operational efficiency.
Artificial intelligence is transforming how retailers connect customers with the right products, setting new standards for discovery, engagement and efficiency. For example, GoCharlie.ai automates the creation of personalized content, enabling brands to scale campaigns and product descriptions in hours, not weeks.
Velou enhances product discovery with natural language AI, generating SEO-rich titles, descriptions and fit details to help customers quickly and accurately find what they need — boosting conversions and improving the shopping experience. Tolstoy is leading the rise of video-first shopping, helping retailers recreate TikTok-like experiences with interactive, shoppable videos that drive longer sessions and significantly higher conversion rates.
Modern supply chains must be smarter, leaner and more responsive to meet the demands of today’s market. Orderful streamlines connections between retailers and trading partners by modernizing EDI workflows, cutting delays and driving more efficient supply chain operations.
G2RL tackles the challenge of returns management with machine learning, helping retailers minimize costs, reduce waste and optimize recovery processes for returned goods. Sizeo delivers AI-driven inventory optimization, addressing stock inaccuracies and misalignments by aligning size- and location-based demand with supply. By getting the right products to the right place at the right time, Sizeo reduces waste, maximizes margins and ensures inventory precision.
Want to see these technologies in action? Join us at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show, Jan. 12-14, at the Javits Center in New York City. View a map of the Innovators Showcase here, and access further information here.