The Event

NRF Retail's Big Show 2026 New York · Jan 11–13 2026

NRF's Big Show 2026 pulled more than 41,000 retail industry professionals into the Javits Center, and AI and agentic commerce dominated the keynote stages. It's the largest gathering of US retail leadership each year, and this edition made clear that AI has moved from pilot projects to core retail infrastructure.

The scale and breadth make this a valuable venue for brand visibility across categories, though the AI/agentic-commerce framing means tax, compliance and logistics topics aren't the default conversation in the room; readers interested in cross-border expansion may need to seek those conversations out directly.

View event site → What this means for EU expansion

The Room

Who was in the room at NRF Big Show

NRF's Big Show is the broadest retail leadership gathering in the US, drawing decision-makers from brands at every stage, alongside the technology vendors and retail media platforms selling into them. It skews senior: CEOs, Chief Digital Officers and Heads of Ecommerce come to set direction for the year, not just browse a show floor.

Retail & ecommerce executives Brand founders Technology vendors Investors Retail media platforms Cross-border & expansion strategists

For a growing brand seeking the next step up, was NRF Retail's Big Show 2026 a good fit?

Broad relevance across ecommerce categories, but the AI-heavy agenda means tax, compliance and 3PL topics aren't the headline conversation in the room.

Retail & Ecommerce Executives

Senior leaders setting technology and channel strategy for the year ahead.

Brand Founders

Scaling brands looking for what's next in retail technology and channels.

Technology & AI Vendors

Showing the platforms retailers are evaluating for the year's roadmap.

Investors & Analysts

Tracking which retail technology categories are attracting capital.

Programme

What NRF Big Show told us

Three signals from the keynote stages and show floor matter most for brands thinking about where retail is heading next.

Agentic commerce moved from concept to deployment

Sessions shifted from explaining what AI agents could do to showing retailers actually running them in production, across customer service, merchandising and pricing.

Supply chain resilience stayed a board-level topic

Tariff and channel volatility kept supply chain diversification on the agenda alongside AI, a signal that US retail leaders are actively hedging against single-market dependence.

Scale confirmed NRF's role as the US retail agenda-setter

With 41,000+ attendees, decisions and vendor relationships made at NRF tend to shape US retail strategy for the rest of the year, making it a useful early signal of where budgets are heading.

Live Intelligence

What's being said about NRF Big Show 2026

Coverage of NRF 2026 centered on AI's move from experimentation into everyday retail operations, alongside continued supply chain caution.

AI agents are running live retail operations, not just pilots

NRF 2026 PROGRAM · JAN 2026

Retailer case studies presented on the main stage described AI agents already handling customer service and merchandising decisions in production. For a growing brand, that raises the bar on what customers expect from every retailer they interact with, including one entering a new market.

US retail leaders are actively hedging against market concentration

NRF 2026 PROGRAM · JAN 2026

Supply chain and channel diversification sessions ran alongside the AI track, reflecting continued concern about depending too heavily on any single market or channel.

Events Intelligence flags the AI framing as a bridge, not a given

EVENT FORMAT · 2026

NRF's relevance is broad across ecommerce categories. But the agentic-commerce framing of the agenda means tax, compliance and 3PL fundamentals aren't the default topic in the room, so it's worth raising them directly rather than assuming they're already top of mind.

Expandly perspective

What NRF Big Show 2026 means for your expansion

NRF confirmed two things at once: AI is raising the operational bar for every retailer, and US brand leaders are actively looking to diversify beyond a single market. Those two signals point the same direction. Brands that are already thinking about reducing US-only dependence are exactly the ones who should be looking at Europe now, while the market is still less saturated than the US.

The diversification conversation at NRF is about channel and market risk, and Europe is the largest available market most US brands haven't structured for yet.
AI-raised customer expectations apply everywhere you sell, including a new European storefront or marketplace listing.
Marketplace expansion into Europe isn't automatic: local players like Bol and Zalando lead specific categories and countries ahead of Amazon.
VAT (value-added tax) and compliance setup is the unglamorous work behind any diversification strategy that actually reaches European customers.
NRF's scale makes it a valuable visibility venue overall, but the tax, compliance and logistics story isn't the default conversation here, so brands interested in those topics may need to seek them out directly.

Talking about diversification at a conference is easy. Operating in a second market means VAT registration, compliance filings, marketplace listings and stock that can actually reach European customers on time. That's the sequenced work Expandly takes on.

EU customs rules keep shifting

Recent changes to how low-value parcels are taxed at the EU border mean US brands shipping direct to European customers now face a per-order customs charge that didn't exist before.

A per-order customs charge now applies to direct-to-EU parcels

Amazon isn't automatically the right EU marketplace

Local marketplaces like Bol in the Netherlands and Zalando in fashion often outperform Amazon in their category, and each has its own listing and VAT implications.

Category-specific the right marketplace mix depends on your product category

One partner, not a stack of vendors

Retail brands juggling a VAT agent, a marketplace consultant and a fulfillment provider separately lose time to coordination. GEP™ runs it as one sequenced operation instead.

GEP™ one method, compliance to fulfillment

Good to Know

Questions about NRF Big Show 2026

What did NRF Retail's Big Show 2026 actually cover?

NRF 2026 drew 41,000+ retail professionals to New York's Javits Center. The dominant theme was AI and agentic commerce moving from pilot projects into live retail operations, alongside continued focus on supply chain and channel diversification.

Is NRF's Big Show worth attending for a US brand eyeing Europe?

NRF is a US-focused retail leadership event rather than a European sales channel, but its diversification and technology signals are directly useful for a brand weighing when and how to expand beyond the US market.

Who attends NRF's Big Show?

NRF draws senior retail and ecommerce executives, brand founders, technology and AI vendors, and investors. It's built around keynote stages and a large exhibition floor covering retail technology end to end.

Which marketplaces matter most for selling in Europe?

Amazon is not automatic across Europe. Amazon UK, Germany, and others are strong, but local marketplaces often lead: Bol dominates the Netherlands, Zalando leads fashion, and Allegro leads Poland. The right mix depends on your category and market, and stock entering a marketplace's local fulfillment triggers VAT (value-added tax) obligations there.

Why are US brands expanding into Europe now?

The main reasons are rising US advertising and acquisition costs, marketplace and tariff volatility, and the risk of depending on a single channel or market. Europe offers large, less-saturated markets as a growth and diversification play. The brands that succeed treat it as a structured operation, not a listings exercise.

Is NRF a strong venue for tax and compliance conversations specifically?

Not automatically. NRF's scale and seniority make it broadly relevant overall, but the agenda is framed around AI and agentic commerce, not international market entry. The tax, compliance and 3PL conversation isn't the default topic, so it's worth raising directly rather than assuming it's top of mind.

Make Your Move

Heard the diversification signal at NRF?

If NRF confirmed the case for reducing single-market dependence, the next question is how to structure a European launch properly rather than bolting on a listing and hoping it works.

Expandly handles the parts that hold US retail brands back: VAT (value-added tax) registration, compliance, marketplace listings across Amazon, our Recommended E2E Expansion Partner, and local platforms, and fulfillment from our Netherlands warehouse. It's one sequenced operation, built on the Global Expansion Pathway (GEP™), rather than five vendors to manage yourself. Want to talk through what a first European market would look like for your brand?