Retailers Are Finally Embracing AI Shopping Bots — Here’s What They Announced at NRF

Retail Media Breakfast Club · Jan 23, 2026 · 10m · transcript

For the last decade, retailers have done everything they could to keep bots off their websites. But when I was at NRF earlier this month, I heard something very different from the biggest names in retail: bring on all the bots. In this episode, a recap of my recent article for The Drum, I break down why that shift is happening now (and what it actually looks like in practice).

At NRF I found a wide spectrum of approaches, from full-scale deployments to cautious experimentation, but also a surprising point of alignment. Listen to learn how six major retailers are thinking about AI shopping…