Latest / The Retail Podcast / NRF Big Show 2026 Breaks Records: 42,000 Attendees, Middle East Expansion & Retail Tech Trends

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NRF Big Show 2026 Breaks Records: 42,000 Attendees, Middle East Expansion & Retail Tech Trends · The Retail Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome back to another fantastic episode of the
• 0:03
  retail podcast, 5 Things Friday with the Fabulous Reef Quail.
• 0:22
  On shot. On shot.
• 0:23
  Thank you, Alex. Oh, my God.
• 0:25
  Look, look, this is this is closing.
• 0:27
  There's still millions of people around.
• 0:29
  No. One wants to leave.
• 0:30
  I mean, the show is finished, but people just want to mill
• 0:32
  around like us. It's like us.
• 0:34
  We, we can't leave. No, we.
• 0:35
  Can't leave. So, Ruth, I guess #1 how's the
• 0:39
  show been for you? Well, the show has been amazing.
• 0:43
  It's been to be honest with you. I found the whole thing after
• 0:47
  being coming for so many years, a little overwhelming.
• 0:49
  The show this year had 4142 thousand visitors.
• 0:53
  So in the past we talked about big show having 40,000.
• 0:57
  Yeah, so this is the biggest big show.
• 0:59
  On record, it really is the big show.
• 1:01
  And So what was really frustrating for me was anytime
• 1:05
  you want to sit down to have a meeting with someone or have a
• 1:07
  coffee or have some lunch, there was never a table.
• 1:09
  Yeah, in the past there was always.
• 1:11
  It was insane. We had a launch event for NRF
• 1:15
  International connect with AIPAC and European and we had over 350
• 1:20
  people attend. Oh wow, like that's about 100
• 1:22
  more than last year that. Was super cool.
• 1:23
  That was with the graffiti, right?
• 1:24
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:25
  So we had a huge, oh, I function at the start.
• 1:27
  Yeah, so and then walking around the halls today with the
• 1:31
  exhibitors even on the last day was super busy and the
• 1:35
  exhibitors are pumped. They are so happy.
• 1:38
  Yeah, because I talked to one big exhibit.
• 1:40
  He said. Well, we had 70 pre booked
• 1:43
  meetings before the show and they said we had over 200
• 1:46
  meetings of consequence on the Expo floor this year, which is
• 1:52
  you think to go that's ROI, that's amazing.
• 1:54
  So you know that and that's if all these shows that exhibition
• 1:58
  is the economic engine. Yeah.
• 1:59
  So to have exhibitors having probably giving us that
• 2:01
  feedback, Yeah, that's really awesome.
• 2:03
  Yeah, and there was a massive, massive, massive announcement
• 2:07
  about where the show's going next.
• 2:09
  Where's it going next? Well, apart from Singapore in
• 2:12
  June 2nd to 4th, which have you got your tickets yet?
• 2:14
  Make sure you get your ticket. Tickets are on sale now.
• 2:16
  Come to me and I'll give you a special price, but.
• 2:19
  Don't do that because I did actually go to him, he said.
• 2:22
  He can't give me a special prize for any.
• 2:23
  Hand, but no one. No, we don't we don't.
• 2:26
  We didn't I really didn't know you there now, but in March 2027
• 2:32
  we are launching NRF, the big retails, big show Middle East
• 2:38
  wow in Saudi Arabia so cool. Yeah.
• 2:40
  So now we'll have editions in New York in January, in Paris,
• 2:45
  in oh, sorry, sorry, in Singapore in June, in Paris in
• 2:48
  September, and obviously in March now with Saudi Arabia.
• 2:51
  Almost once a quarter, that's right, you'll get your your dose
• 2:55
  of NRF somewhere in the world. Exactly, exactly.
• 2:58
  And I think, and I think as as, as the whole thing expands, as
• 3:02
  you can see, it's really breathing.
• 3:05
  More than 1/3 of the attendees at this show are international.
• 3:09
  Yeah, definitely. So it really this is and this is
• 3:13
  a domestic show. We're we're all international
• 3:17
  passengers. We're I'm Australian for the
• 3:19
  shows in Asia Pacific, in the Middle East and in for in
• 3:23
  Europe. They're pan regional shows.
• 3:25
  So it's about learning, bringing the community together, but also
• 3:28
  helping retailers and businesses come from outside the region to
• 3:30
  do business in the region. So it's pretty exciting.
• 3:33
  Final question, yes, I, I interviewed, we did Jill earlier
• 3:37
  in our five things Friday. USI asked her this.
• 3:39
  It's a tough question. One thing that you would leave
• 3:43
  at NRF and one thing you will take back to what do.
• 3:46
  You mean by leave? As in one thing, maybe
• 3:48
  potentially you don't want to export, I don't know, it wasn't
• 3:51
  the thing that you liked the most, or.
• 3:54
  There's there's so much here. Yeah, from from things I want to
• 3:58
  take them here. I think for me this year we saw
• 4:00
  a really amazing innovative showcase.
• 4:03
  Yeah, we're expanding. So Asia Pacific will be the same
• 4:05
  size. Oh, wow.
• 4:06
  OK. As New York.
• 4:07
  Yeah, OK. And we're going to see things
• 4:09
  like we're looking at food innovation zone where you've
• 4:12
  probably saw the go karts. Absolutely, but it's.
• 4:14
  Incredible. Yeah, we're hoping to do that.
• 4:16
  In case you you're not here, they're they're bound there
• 4:18
  somewhere. There is a section called
• 4:20
  enough. I think it was for fast food
• 4:22
  where you go on your go Kart to order some food.
• 4:24
  You're. Actually in a go Kart, yeah.
• 4:26
  And you drive through, drive through.
• 4:28
  You order through voice recognition.
• 4:30
  Yeah. You pay.
• 4:31
  Yeah. And then you go in and pick up
• 4:32
  your product on the other side, of course, all screen driven,
• 4:35
  all driven by AI. Yeah.
• 4:36
  And you do it in a car like you're doing it, but in a go
• 4:39
  Kart and a. Go.
• 4:39
  Kart, No, you don't get to go very fast.
• 4:41
  No, but that's OK. OK.
• 4:43
  It wasn't about the speed I wanted to, but those sort of
• 4:49
  things. It's just that every year you
• 4:51
  see new stuff. Yeah, there's always new stuff.
• 4:53
  Well, I'd love this. Holograms all over the Expo.
• 4:56
  I saw lots of the robots and holograms.
• 4:58
  Yeah, that's a really cool one. Out the front of Honeywell,
• 5:01
  actually. Yeah, most really neat robot.
• 5:03
  And then there was some stuff in the innovative showcase, which
• 5:05
  was like store in a box, Yeah, which is out of Singapore,
• 5:08
  actually, where you could order like a vending machine.
• 5:11
  It would take these items out of the fridge or out of the
• 5:14
  different things within it. So it was all up there.
• 5:15
  Up there in the river provision. Yeah.
• 5:18
  And then it was just the regular people.
• 5:19
  Like, you know, I saw a lot of Advisory Board members.
• 5:22
  Yeah. A lot of folks from I.
• 5:24
  Think that's the thing that surprised me the most, yeah.
• 5:26
  The amount of people from APEC that have.
• 5:28
  Travelled. Yeah, Yeah, there was a lot.
• 5:29
  So we probably had our, I reckon ten of our 30 Advisory Board
• 5:34
  members here and and some of our Advisory Board members and, and,
• 5:38
  and retailers was on stage here, fair prices on stage here as
• 5:41
  well. So that's really cool.
• 5:42
  You and was on stage. Yeah, you and was on stage too.
• 5:44
  Such really neat to have, you know, the best of Asia Pacific
• 5:48
  retail being spotlighted in New York.
• 5:51
  Yeah, that's wonderful, Reef. Thank you so much, my friend.
• 5:54
  Thank. You, Alec.