Matt’s Quick Takeaways
- The 2025 “Trust” Lesson: Tech reliability beats “basement-built” apps.
- NRF’s 2026 Retail’s Big Show Strategy: Focusing on next-generation hardware.
- The 2026 AI Evolution: Technology transitioning from “fad” to functional sidekick.
What is the biggest lesson or takeaway from 2025?
The defining lesson was that while the tech landscape is moving fast, the human element is our anchor. We saw a lot of “apps” popping up—solutions built by someone in a basement who can code but can’t provide the infrastructure. Our win this year was proving that reliability and professional, in-house support are what retailers actually value when a system goes down. You can’t outsource the trust that comes with answering the phone in under 20 seconds.
What are the trends you’ll be looking for at NRF this year?
I’m focused on the “Next Now.” I want to see what the big players like NCR and Toshiba are doing with next-gen hardware. Still, I’m also looking at the practical stuff: more economical mobile units for line-busting and warehouse management. I’m also keeping an eye on RFID and drones for inventory. The tech is incredible, but I’m looking for that tipping point where the price becomes realistic for our mid-tier specialty market.
How do you see AI impacting retail in 2026?
It’s moving from a fad to a workhorse. I see AI becoming the “Sidekick” for management. Instead of a store manager spending hours digging through dashboards, they’ll use conversational AI to get instant answers: “What were my earnings last night?” or “Who is on the schedule?” We’re also embedding image recognition into our processing tools to automatically generate descriptions and pricing, removing the manual “grunt work” from the listing process.
