1. Europe's answer to the New York giant
When Sundar Pichai of Google unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol — an open communication standard for AI agents in retail — on the NRF stage in New York in January 2026, it was clear the same signals would reach Paris. The NRF Retail's Big Show Europe 2026 program is the most ambitious agenda European retail has seen in years.
More than 500 exhibitors across five thematic zones — retail IT, e-logistics and supply chain, payment solutions, Retail Tech, and Marketing, Data and Customer Relations — will present the full spectrum of technologies defining the next wave of transformation. Organizers expect 12,000 participants from 63 markets — an increase on the successful inaugural edition in 2025, which drew 12,500 people from 58 countries.
New this year is the CEOs Only keynote program with closed sessions for the most senior executives, along with the inaugural Retail's Big Show Awards — nine prizes for the best retail solutions. Among the CEOs Only speakers is Tomasz Blicharski of Żabka Group, who will talk about the Polish chain's expansion from a local player into a European convenience leader. It is a strong Polish presence on the Paris stage.
Notably, organizers have introduced free AI-powered simultaneous interpretation into nine languages, including Polish — a signal that NRF is targeting a broad, multi-market European audience rather than only a French-speaking one. It is also a practical tool for Polish managers who want to take full part in the international conversation without a language barrier.
"A rich experience: bringing together current and future partners, conferences focused on today's trends and emerging or future technologies, and a wealth of experiences to turn ideas into projects and accelerate ambitions."
— Sébastien Bernard, Omnichannel Project Development Manager, CARREFOUR
2. Five trends that will define European retail in 2027
The New York edition of NRF (January 2026) set an agenda that will be continued and deepened in Paris. Five areas deserve particular attention from Polish decision-makers.
Agentic AI — from prediction to autonomy
The leap from predictive analytics to autonomous agents making decisions in real time is the most important trend of the year. Google unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) — an open standard that lets AI agents operate across the entire shopping journey. UCP partners include Shopify, Walmart, Etsy, Wayfair and Target. Home Depot showed "Magic Apron", Ralph Lauren — "Ask Ralph". Lowe's and Walmart (with Google Gemini) prove that retailers are not waiting for vendors — they are building their own AI assistants. According to Gartner, by the end of 2026 40% of enterprise applications will contain task-specific AI agents.
Retail Media Networks 2.0
The retail media model is moving from e-commerce into physical stores. Vusion, Samsung and Toshiba are presenting digital shelf-edge solutions with dynamic promotions that react to time of day, stock status and customer profile. Target, Best Buy and Nordstrom treat retail media as a strategic asset that links data, loyalty and the shopping experience. RMN margins are higher than traditional retail revenues — this is a business imperative.
Hyperpersonalization in the physical store
The store is becoming a "living data ecosystem". Samsung Smart Displays recognize customers through loyalty data, showing offers tailored to their purchase history. Biometrics (facial and palm scanning) removes friction from checkout. Smart AI carts (Machyna) identify products on their own — the customer simply walks out of the store.
Frictionless Commerce and employee support
Checkout is becoming "invisible". Computer vision, RFID and smart fitting rooms are reshaping the shopping experience. The employee dimension matters just as much: Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Verizon Business are presenting AI agents that support store staff in real time — from product recommendations to inventory management. Against the background of Polish labor shortages, this is a key argument for investment.
"Reach without relevance is worthless. Only a true connection to your community builds long-lasting brand loyalty. The more relevant and authentic you are to your community, the more results will follow."
— Dennis Schröder, CEO, SNIPES
From transactions to ecosystems
The deepest change is structural: a shift from optimizing a single channel to ecosystem thinking — media, merchandising, loyalty and customer experience as one coherent whole. Success is measured not by transaction size but by customer participation in the ecosystem. This is a paradigm that demands an entirely new organizational architecture — and data.
3. Polish retail at a crossroads — opportunity or threat?
The Polish market — relatively resilient at the macroeconomic level, yet grappling with cost pressure and a shortage of skilled workers — faces a difficult reckoning. The trends presented in Paris will reach Poland with a delay, but their driving force will be just as strong.
AI readiness. Most domestic players, beyond the leaders (Allegro, LPP, Żabka), are still at the pilot stage. Agentic AI requires clean, integrated data — and that remains a sore point for Polish organizations. The risk is obvious: a widening gap between leaders and the rest of the market. Those who invest in data governance and AI architecture in 2027 will be playing in a different league.
Retail media potential. Retail chains — Żabka, Lidl, Biedronka — have enormous potential to build their own retail media networks. Their foot traffic and loyalty data are comparable to European counterparts. What is missing is the technology platform and a monetization strategy. NRF shows the window is closing fast: players who launch an RMN in 2027 will build an advantage before the market saturates.
Physical experience. Polish consumers are used to high availability and low prices. Investment in in-store technology — smart shelves, digital signage, personalization — could be a key differentiator in the fight for customers as price differences between discounters narrow. In Poland, the physical store still generates more than 70% of sales. Its transformation is not a whim — it is margin defense.
Unfinished omnichannel. Hybrid models — click-and-collect, ship-from-store — are underdeveloped in Poland. NRF shows that technology enables scaling them without a proportional rise in costs. For Polish players with a dispersed store network, this is a particular opportunity.
"As retailers, it's our job to answer the question, 'What desire can we fulfill for customers?'"
— Kai-Ulrich Deissner, CEO, MediaMarktSaturn
4. Action plan — five steps for Polish boards
NRF Paris 2026 is not an event you can simply "visit". It is a trend radar and a source of concrete technology partnerships. Here are recommendations for the boards of retail chains and e-commerce companies.
- Build an AI roadmap in 90 days. Don't wait for ready-made platforms — identify 2–3 agentic AI use cases with the highest ROI: customer service, merchandising, demand forecasting. Implement them by the end of Q1 2027.
- Launch a Retail Media Network pilot in Q4 2026. Leverage existing foot traffic and loyalty data. RMN margins are 2–3× higher than traditional retail revenues. A technology partnership with a digital signage provider (Samsung, Vusion) is the fastest route to revenue.
- Invest in data integration — not another siloed system. Without a unified customer profile, agentic AI will not work. Data governance is a strategic project, not an IT one. Without clean data, no algorithm will deliver value.
- Prepare a "store-as-a-media-channel" strategy. The physical store in Polish conditions still generates >70% of sales. Turning it into an intelligent experience hub — with digital signage, personalization and checkout-free retail — is the biggest opportunity to defend margins in 2027+.
- Send teams to NRF Paris 2026 (15–17 September). Priority: the Exhibitor Big Ideas sessions, the Startup Hub and Retail Store Tours. The goal is to find 2–3 technology partners for 2027 pilots. Send a cross-functional team: IT, marketing, operations.
NRF Paris 2026 is the moment when European retail defines its future. For Polish retail chains it is an alarm signal and a roadmap in one. Those who make decisions within the next 90 days will be in time to seize the momentum. Those who put them off until 2027 will be chasing — up a steep slope.
DF4R will be present at NRF Paris 2026 — we plan a series of analyses and recommendations for Polish clients after the event. If you want your team to get the most out of attending the trade fair — get in touch.