NRF showcases 50 of the most forward-thinking companies with the latest and greatest in retail tech, learn more.
Heading into 2026, shoppers encounter more digital touchpoints than ever — and expectations continue to rise. Beyond fast checkout, consumers want ideas, guidance and moments that feel built around them. A new wave of intelligent tools is starting to meet those expectations and change how people search, compare and decide what to buy.
These changes are emerging rapidly as artificial intelligence and machine learning have matured from add-ons to core infrastructure. Search is becoming conversational, discovery is becoming visual and AI engine optimal, and post-purchase interactions are now crucial loyalty moments. With change accelerating, the NRF Innovators Showcase at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show will give retailers a first-hand look at what retail’s next chapter looks like in practice.
The momentum centers on personalization: Retailers are developing profiles rooted in individual consumer behavior instead of broad demographic segments. This affects recommendations, product order appearance and assortment presentation. A shopper who leans toward structured jackets and muted colors sees those first, while someone looking for a dress for an upcoming event gets options that match both style and intent.
Check out NRF's retail members-only working group focused on AI issues and the development of practices and guidelines for the use of AI within retail.
Discovery is also evolving. Visual search tools, AI stylists and on-device assistants allow consumers to explore products without relying solely on traditional grid layouts. Short-form video influences demand across fashion categories and retailers are investing in tools that can generate appropriate product content and variations at speed.
AI systems are changing the content lifecycle — brands can now create imagery and product concepts faster while maintaining consistency with less manual effort. Language models help clean and enrich product data and support demand forecasting, which in turn helps downstream tools perform more reliably.
During OpenAI’s Dev Day last month, the company announced a framework for agents that can support end-to-end shopping. Agents can search across retailers, compare products, interpret user preferences and complete purchases with participating merchants. For example, a shopper might ask for a tailored black dress under $200 for a winter event and the agent would return relevant options.
In parallel, OpenAI and Target announced a partnership to create a Target experience within ChatGPT. Customers can receive recommendations, build carts and check out through the interface. The partnership reflects a growing industry trend toward integrating artificial intelligence into personalization and shopping workflows. For retailers, the rise of agentic commerce highlights the need for accurate product data and clear pathways that agents can navigate from search to post-purchase care. Brands and retailers that prepare for this will be ready for a world where shoppers rely on agents to filter choices.
Featured as part of this year's NRF Innovators Showcase are four 2025 New York Fashion Tech Lab alumni.
Since 2014, the New York Fashion Tech Lab, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has partnered with leading retailers and brands to run programs for business-to-business fashion and retail tech startups led by women. These standout companies show how these ideas are taking shape across personalization, discovery and post-purchase engagement. Now, these companies are making their debut at the NRF Innovators Showcase.
Slip turns receipts into a clean digital experience that helps both shoppers and retailers. Customers get a simple purchase history they can access anytime, while retailers gain a channel that supports loyalty, service and targeted offers. Machine-readable receipts give intelligent systems the context needed to track orders, manage returns and deliver accurate follow-up recommendations.
Spangle focuses on what happens after someone clicks an ad or a piece of content. Instead of dropping shoppers on broad category pages, Spangle shapes landing experiences around the intent behind the click. A shopper who taps a look with wide leg trousers sees styles, fits and colors that match that interest. This cuts the drop off that often happens between inspiration and purchase and creates journeys that feel guided from the start.
Vody prepares product data for a world built around natural language search, conversational interfaces and agent-driven shopping. Catalogs are often inconsistent or incomplete, which makes it hard for AI to interpret them. Vody cleans, enriches and structures this data so comparisons are accurate, recommendations make sense and customer-facing tools stay reliable.
Athena Studio focuses on the flow of information across design, product and merchandising teams. The company has built an AI native operating system that replaces manual updates, scattered files and legacy PLM workflows with a system that keeps itself current. Athena pulls live updates from tools like spreadsheets, cloud drives and digital whiteboards, then unifies everything into a single view of a collection in development. It flags overdevelopment, surfaces risks and provides real time insights without requiring teams to adopt new processes.
These 2026 NRF Innovators are helping retailers at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show understand what it takes to integrate artificial intelligence, structured product data and early agentic commerce capabilities into day-to-day operations. Their inclusion in the New York Fashion Tech Lab highlights the program’s ongoing role in preparing practical, retail-ready solutions.
Across discovery, personalization and post-purchase engagement, fashion tech is aligning around a shared goal — to help shoppers confidently find what they want with less effort. As it’s achieved, retailers adopt better ways to show what makes their products stand out and it sets a precedent for an agentic shopping future.
The Innovation Advisory Committee advises NRF on engagement strategies to strengthen connections between the venture, technology and retail communities.
From the New York Fashion Tech Lab to the NRF Innovators Showcase, these ideas will move from concept to reality in January 2026. Retailers will be able to see Innovators like Slip, Spangle AI, Vody and Athena Studio in action along with many other companies defining what fashion and retail technology will look like in the year ahead.
Jackie Trebilcock is a member of the NRF Innovation Advisory Committee and is the Managing Director of the New York Fashion Tech Lab. 2026 New York Fashion Tech Lab Program details were just announced and are available here for retail tech startups.
