EP 274: NRF Trade Talks: Four Unique Perspectives

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!Shelley caught up with four innovators at NRF 2026 to get their takes on the retail industry and an outlook for this year. Their conversations ranged from managing returns and geo-location insights to advanced tools for managing inventory.  Listen and learn from the experts. Tim Robinson has interesting insights on a significant challenge for retailers, especially, post-holiday: returns.  Ethan Chernofsky provides critical analytics to retailers on the implications of traffic patterns in physical stores.  He says, “Visit durations are down but the number of visits for every category per customer is going up. So, value, product, experience, and brand affinity have a lot more significance.” Jay Hakami has innovated a novel tech platform that is predictive and helps retailers manage inventories. He says, “Today, with Agentic AI, we're getting into the predictive side going into dynamic planning and allocation. So, we’re essentially setting up buyers and planners for absolute success.” George Shaw is also an expert on measuring consumer behavior stating, “Retailers don't want a bunch of dots moving around maps. They want the metrics that they actually care about. We give them a very simple, clean, clear dashboard that they can use operationally at scale.” Special Guests:Tim Robinson, Senior Vice President of Commerce, Blue YonderEthan Chernofsky, Chief Marketing Officer, Placer.aiJay Hakami, CEO and Founder, SkypadGeorge Shaw, Senior Vice President, Standard AI For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.