The Next Now: Five Takeaways from NRF 2026
By Mark Donohue, GM of Retail Media, Placements.io
Fresh off CES, where the media world convenes to glimpse the future, NRF 2026's "The Next Now" theme delivered something different: a present that's already here, accelerating faster than most anticipated.
Walking the Javits Center floor from January 11-13, one thing became immediately clear: this wasn't another conference where AI gets mentioned in passing. It is the focus now, embedded into the operational fabric of retail itself, from inventory management and customer experience to transaction mechanics and in-store media infrastructure. The biggest players at NRF like Google, Salesforce, Amazon, Mastercard, Adobe, and Microsoft weren't showcasing what's coming; they were demonstrating what's already deployed.
AI Maturity: Beyond the Buzzword
The biggest shift from previous years? AI has moved from conference room aspiration to floor-level execution. But here's the nuance that matters: the loudest voices on AI weren't the retailers themselves; they were the technology and financial services providers building the infrastructure. The actual retailers are focused on partner tools to improve their tech stack.
This distinction matters. We're past the "AI washing" phase. Retailers are deploying AI-driven checkout systems, RFID smart store enablement, sensors for traffic flow and dwell times, and sophisticated media infrastructure for monetization and personalization. The spectrum of companies, from software and hardware to advertising and promotion infrastructure, were all deeply represented at NRF. They are showcasing solutions that solve real operational challenges in retail and ecommerce, not theoretical ones.
What CMSWire aptly called AI as an "intimacy engine" rings true. The technology isn't replacing the human element, it's amplifying it, letting the store be the star of the customer experience while running the computational heavy lifting behind the scenes with partners.
In-Store Retail's Resurgence
While CES appears to be retrenching to support the future interoperability of media channels, NRF is exploding with advancements in physical and digital retail optimization. In-store retail dominated NRF in ways we haven't seen in years. Smart fitting rooms, dynamic audio and visual displays, phone-based personalization, and multi-touch customer marketing have made the physical store a sophisticated media channel in its own right.
This convergence of physical and digital creates enormous opportunity, particularly as channel expansion accelerates beyond traditional retail boundaries. The retail media symposium, held prior to the main conference, showcased this hyper-growth: banks and financial services, travel and airlines, hospitality companies, traditional media and social platforms are all expanding to include retail media in their offerings.
The Retail Media Symposium: A Market Coming of Age
Speaking of the symposium, the growth here signals genuine market maturity. More participants are offering media to advertisers and suppliers. More media channels are being monetized, and most importantly, measured for attribution. More categories are bringing these offerings to endemic suppliers and non-endemic complementary products.
This expansion validates what we've been seeing at Placements.io: budgets spent by suppliers are increasingly drawing from both Branding and Trade spending. Why? Because retail media has achieved the trifecta that unlocks budget reallocation: maturity, transparency, and measurable return on spend with sales data attribution. When you can tie ad spend directly to sales outcomes, budget conversations change fundamentally.
The technology maturity required to deliver this level of transparency isn't trivial. It requires sophisticated order management systems, AI-powered optimization tools running natively within advertising platforms, and the operational infrastructure to execute at scale across hundreds or thousands of campaigns simultaneously.
The Ecosystem's Evolution
Another bellwether: the proliferation of coverage around retail media. From CPG Guys, Kiri Masters, Andrew Lipsman, FMCG Guys, Unlocked with Austin & Elizabeth, Path2Purchase, and Ascendant, consultancies McKinsey, BCG, KPMG, Accenture—everyone is rowing down the retail river together. Media agencies and holding companies are accelerating retail media and media automation at large. This level of ecosystem development doesn't happen around nascent markets. It happens when real money moves, when the channel proves it can deliver sustainable growth.
Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, captured the moment perfectly during his session: more billion-dollar brands will be built in the next 10 years than the last 100, driven by the removal of old barriers like distribution and capital. Retail media plays directly into this democratization; it's never been easier for brands to reach customers at the point of purchase, and it's never been more measurable.
What This Means for Operators
For retail media network operators and the agencies managing campaigns across these networks, the message from NRF 2026 is clear: the market has arrived, the infrastructure is maturing, and the competition for advertiser dollars is intensifying.
Success will require moving beyond basic display advertising to sophisticated, AI-powered campaign management that can handle the operational complexity of modern retail media. It means embracing the channel expansion into in-store media, audio, sensors, and emerging formats. And it means having the technology infrastructure to prove ROI with the kind of sales attribution that unlocks both brand and trade budgets.
The retailers poised to deliver this level of sophistication in media execution and sales attribution will unlock the powerhouse of potential in their stores and digital properties.
Let's Connect
The conversations happening at NRF signal we're entering a new phase for retail media, one defined by operational excellence, technological maturity, and proven business outcomes. If you're navigating these shifts and want to discuss what we're seeing in the market, I'd welcome the conversation. Connect with me on LinkedIn or reach out directly. I'm always eager to learn from others building in this space.
