Modern Retail Podcast: Cautious optimism at NRF around AI and shopper sentiment in 2026
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This week, co-hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels are joined by senior reporter Julia Waldow to dive into takeaways from the National Retail Federation’s 2026 conference — it’s the retail industry’s biggest conference, and typically sets the tone for the year.
The mood at NRF was cautiously optimistic, with brands and retailers showing off their best use cases of agentic commerce and AI tools to help with checkout and discovery. Waldow explains that the week also saw announcements from the likes of Google and Microsoft about the tools they’re deploying for retailers to try. But at the same time, executives said there is still some friction, with many attendees themselves saying they don’t trust AI to do their shopping for them. Barkho shares that, beyond technology, brands discussed how to court today’s shoppers by focusing on value and the ways they’re looking to stay relevant.
Other key themes discussed on the show include:
- How AI in retail has shifted from hypothetical use cases to case studies of practical applications
- The far-fetched robotics and technologies seen on the NRF Expo Floor
- Brands becoming less vocal about tariffs and immigration-related challenges as they focus on growth in a complex landscape