Big events bring important trends and reflections. This time, NRF 2025, held at the Javits Convention Center in New York, showed that despite the digital strength, physical stores remain the heart of local retail, integrated with the most advanced technologies to meet sector demands. Discussions during the event focused on topics such as technology, personalization, social commerce, and the reinvention of physical stores, transforming them into unique and unforgettable experiences for consumers.
Considered the largest and most influential fair in the sector, NRF, organized by the National Retail Federation, gathers market giants, visionary startups, and technology experts every year to discuss the future of commerce. For César Baleco, CEO of Grupo IRRAH, a Paranaense group present at the event and serving 70 countries with digital solutions for fashion and retail, participating in the event was an opportunity to bring innovations that truly make a difference in people’s daily lives.
“Unique experiences, community connection, and online integration are the keys to transforming retail. Our commitment is to continue innovating to amaze and facilitate the customer’s journey”, he states.
Among the main trends presented, César highlights four highlights that caught attention during the event and how they work in practice:
Customer-centered technology: Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming retail, enabling personalization at scale and experiences that reduce consumer effort. The secret, according to experts, is to dream big, start small, and act fast.
In practice, the application of AI in retail involves collecting customer data to create personalized real-time experiences, such as product recommendations and automated interactions by chatbots. It also allows optimizing the purchasing process, making it more efficient and intuitive, and helping in the creation of personalized marketing campaigns.
The key is to start with simple solutions, conduct rapid tests, and continuously improve based on feedback received, ensuring continuous personalization that better meets customer needs and creates a frictionless experience. This means offering customers a simple, smooth, and obstacle-free process throughout the entire brand interaction journey, whether in physical stores, online, or through other channels.
“The idea is to minimize or eliminate any barriers that may cause dissatisfaction, delays, or difficulty for consumers through an intuitive website or application, fast navigation, reducing queues with self-checkouts, for example, or even implementing efficient chatbots or virtual assistants,” comments César Baleco.
Stores as connection hubs: Transforming physical stores into connection hubs means creating immersive and interactive spaces that go beyond simple product purchases, offering experiences that establish emotional connections between customers and the brand, strengthening loyalty. Examples like IKEA and LEGO perfectly illustrate this approach, by creating environments full of storytelling and design that enchant consumers.
Social commerce on the rise: Social commerce brings the convenience of buying directly on social media, using influencers to create an authentic and engaging experience, as well as leveraging features like live shopping to boost sales. It transforms how consumers discover and purchase products, creating new opportunities for engagement and loyalty.
Sustainability here to stay: It means offering products that are durable and ethical, and adopting responsible business practices. By aligning with values of environmental preservation and social justice, brands can retain conscious consumers who seek to make a difference through their purchasing choices.
According to IRRAH’s director, NRF 2025 made it clear that the future of retail needs to balance technological innovation with a strong human connection, reinforcing the vision of always putting the customer first. “We are attentive to market transformations, but above all, we seek solutions that truly positively impact the lives of our consumers,” said Baleco. And he concludes: “With these trends that were widely discussed and highlighted during the NRF, the Group remains aligned with the changes shaping retail, investing in technology and purpose to continue surprising and delighting its customers.”
