The innovators driving the future of retail

Change is a constant in retail and innovation is the cornerstone of the industry. 

We’re joined by Seth Webb, executive vice president of Tusk Strategies, and Sucharita Kodali, vice president and principal analyst of Forrester Research, who both work on the Innovation Advisory Committee for NRF. They were responsible for helping curate the Innovators Showcase at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show. 

In this episode, we discuss the transformative trends, cutting-edge technologies and emerging solution providers that are shaping the future of retail. We explore generative and autonomous AI, robotics, resale and more top-of-mind topics. 

Showcasing retail innovation and technology 

In choosing companies to be featured at the Innovators Showcase, Webb, Kodali, and their committee scour applications to find those that are changing the future of retail through cutting-edge tech solutions. 

“We try to answer the massive questions that the media and members have every year: What’s new? What’s next? What's driving this tech transformation of our industry?” Webb says. “The advisory committee, which is representative of venture capitalists, tech accelerators,and retail experts, created a series of criteria. We look for companies that are solving significant issues for retailers that they must be addressing, like a real pain point that they've leveraged the latest advancements to solve. Whether it's AI extended reality, machine learning, facial recognition, robotics,or something else, we want to see that they've actually exhibited market fit.”

AI’s far-reaching impact on the retail industry 

We can’t talk about transformative technologies without bringing up artificial intelligence. “It’s impacting every portion of the industry,” Webb says; it touches everything from supply chain and retail operations to personalization components and regulatory compliance. 

Kodali notes that while AI isn’t new, retail was one of the earlier industries to leverage it. “Retail is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Many verticals within retail are extremely low margin like grocery,” she says. “So when you have data from suppliers or you have pricing, store or consumer data, you are at a competitive advantage if you can figure out ways to drive incremental revenue. As a result of having this data and its competitive nature, I think retail has been earlier to adopt AI than other sectors.” 

The role of robotics in retail 

The use of robots in warehouses and stores is also becoming more prevalent. Examples include roaming robots and drones that restock products, monitor inventory and scan customer reactions. 

“There's no question that more store experiences in the future will be more automated and self-serve. What does that do for our labor force? That's a great question,” Kodali says. “There may come a day when we have a philosophical conundrum ahead of us that has been raised by Nobel Prize winners and think tanks: Do we eventually tax the robots because they're actually taking jobs away? I don’t know. These are interesting questions.” 

The importance of prioritizing retail 

Another important question both Webb and Kodali raise is how to balance growing the retail industry while reducing waste. Both are big proponents of resale and the circular economy. 

“We definitely have a climate crisis that we are in the middle of, and yet retail is a sector that has unfortunately created a lot of waste and disposable goods,” Kodali says. “I think that the challenge in the next couple of decades and sooner is how do you balance our need for products that may improve our lives and reconcile that with creating as little waste as possible. Resale is definitely one of the solutions to generate that.” 

Listen to the full episode to learn more about exciting solutions that will revolutionize retail. 

Episode chapters

(00:00:00) Leaders in innovation and technology 

• How vendors are chosen for the Innovators Showcase at Retail’sBig Show 

• How the types of innovators have evolved over the years 

• International companies driving innovation 

(00:00:00) The most transformative trends for the retail industry 

• Showcasing robots and wearables at Retail’s Big Show 

• Consumer and field worker facing innovations 

(00:00:00) AI’s profound impact on retail 

• How AI touches every corner of the industry 

• Unlocking new revenue opportunities with AI

• How technology can enhance the workforce, not replace it 

• Generative and agentic AI solutions 

• Privacy and data security concerns 

(00:00:00) The role of robotics in retail 

• Robot use cases in stores and warehouses 

• The future of automated and self-serve in-store experiences 

• Do we tax the robots? 

(00:00:00) What excites them about the future of retail 

• The evolution of autonomous AI 

• Resale and the circular economy 

• Reducing waste while encouraging retail 

Resources:

• NRF 2025 Innovators Showcase 

• Learn more about Retail’s Big Show in NYC

• Become an NRF member and join the world’s largest retail trade association

• Learn about retail advocacy at nrf.com/advocacy

• Find more episodes at retailgetsreal.com