NRF 2026: What Retail Leaders Are Prioritizing Right Now
Last week at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in New York City, one message came up again and again across the show floor, breakout sessions, and private conversations: retail has entered a move-now phase.
While this isn’t our first time in the mobile wallet software space, it is the first time we were able to clearly showcase how wallets + AI can work together to help brands and retailers deliver smarter promotions and loyalty rewards—in ways that actually match how consumers behave today.
The keynotes reinforced that momentum. From Ryan Reynolds on brand-building brilliance, to Gary Vaynerchuk on storytelling and conviction, to Michael Del Pozzo’s laser focus on commercial excellence—there was no shortage of practical wisdom shared over the week.
All of it pointed to the same conclusion: retail leaders aren’t theorizing anymore. They’re acting.
Below are the biggest priorities we heard from retail leaders—and why they matter heading into the year ahead.
1. Decision-Makers Can’t Afford to Wait Anymore
Speed and storytelling impact now matters as much as scale.
Retail teams are under pressure to prove value quickly. Long implementation cycles, bloated tech stacks, and “we’ll get to it later” strategies are no longer viable.
What brands want:
Faster deployment
Clear ROI early
Solutions that integrate without months of lift
In 2026, how quickly you can drive results is just as important as how big you can scale.
2. Friction at the Moment of Action Kills Performance
If an incentive takes effort, it gets abandoned.
This came up repeatedly: consumers are willing to engage, but only if it’s effortless. Every extra step between discovery and redemption increases drop-off.
Brands are actively rethinking:
App downloads
Logins and passwords
Buried email offers
Complicated redemption flows
The takeaway is simple: if an incentive isn’t instantly accessible at checkout, it’s not working hard enough.
3. Promotions Must Drive Repeat Behavior
The shift is from one-off campaigns to repeatable incentive journeys.
Retail leaders aren’t just chasing redemptions anymore. They’re focused on:
Retention
Habit formation
Long-term customer value
Instead of isolated promotions, brands want incentive strategies that bring shoppers back—again and again—without rebuilding from scratch each time.
4. First-Party Data Only Matters If It’s Actionable
Unused data is no longer acceptable.
Everyone is collecting first-party data. Far fewer brands are using it well.
What we heard:
Data must be real-time
Insights need to connect directly to behavior
Teams want visibility they can act on—not dashboards that sit untouched
In 2026, first-party data isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a performance requirement.
How Brands Are Responding
Zenivize at the NRF Startup Hub
These trends are exactly why we were at NRF.
At the Startup Hub, we spoke with brands about delivering incentives through Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, placing offers directly where consumers already go when they’re ready to act.
What resonated most with retail leaders:
No app downloads
Instant access at checkout
Real-time incentive updates
Clear, first-party engagement data brands can actually use
The message was consistent: brands want less friction, faster execution, and incentives that live where action happens—not where they get forgotten.
Also, be on the lookout for our Shoptalk recap coming in March! We’ll be heading out to Las Vegas meeting the partners and visionaries powering retail’s next wave of growth.
