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8 • Footwear Insight ~ January/February 2025 footwearinsight.com By Tom Ryan A t the NRF '25 Big Show, held in mid-January at New York City's Javits Center, technology again took center stage, with an emphasis on the myriad ways retailers can modernize their operations. In addition to AI and Social Commerce, the economy and sustainability were also key talking points. Here, five takeaways: AI Set To Reinvent Retail e majority of the education sessions at the NRF conference and expo focused or at least touched on the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform everything from supply chain functions to back office, inventory, customer experience and personalization. Doug Herrington, CEO, Worldwide Amazon Stores, believes the changes brought on by AI will be similar to those seen aer the internet arrived. He said, "It's going to lower costs, improve quality. It's going to help us develop new customer experiences. And it may even spawn new retail formats." David Roth, CEO of e Store, the WPP- backed global communications and public affairs consultancy, said AI "promises to be the most transformative leap in retail since the invention of coins and paper money." Azita Martin, VP and general manager of Nvidia, stated, "Is ChatGPT going to take away your job? No. But somebody using generative AI is going to take your job." AI Won't Replace Humans at Retail Amid concerns AI might take the jobs of humans, several sessions touched on the importance of human connections as part of the shopping experience. At the store level, AI has the potential to replace staff 's mundane tasks to free them up to better service customers. Suzanne Long, chief sustainability and transformation officer at the grocer Albertons, believes people "crave" human connections with so much time spent on mobile phones and computers. She further believes human interaction at physical stores is the core differential from the Amazon shopping experience. Long said, "It's about what service can you provide to create that human-to-human connection that would otherwise just be a transaction." "I think it's that balance b etween Key Takeaways From The NRF '25 Big Show ANALYSIS At the NRF '25 Big Show in NYC technology was a key talking point. THE FOOTWEAR EYE