In January, GS1 Sweden traveled to New York for this year’s edition of NRF Retail’s Big Show, a meeting place where trends, technology and thought leadership in global retail are set in motion. This year’s trip provided an unusually coherent picture of where the industry is heading: AI, agent-based e-commerce and the importance of clean, robust, credible and structured data.
At the same time, it was clear that sustainability issues, which have been central in the past, are now falling in priority – especially in the US. All this and more shaped several intense days of insights, networking and reflection.
The new era of AI: from search to shopping agents
One of the clearest common threads was how agent-based e-commerce is now taking shape in earnest. CEOs from both Walmart and Google described a reality where consumers increasingly begin their shopping journey with an AI model – 20% of all shopping journeys begin in a chatbot – and a future where the transaction happens directly in the AI platform. It also highlighted Google’s work with Universal Commerce Protocol, while retailers emphasized the need to retain control of the customer relationship through their own on-site agents.
Structured data – the foundation for everything
Regardless of the session, the same message emerged: clean, structured, credible data is essential for AI models to understand products, make decisions and build trust.
Stakeholders from both analytics and platform companies emphasized that data quality is now as central as channel strategy and brand positioning. They agreed that shortcomings in product flows risk rapidly undermining the agent-based e-commerce that is now emerging. From this perspective, the value of a common digital business language becomes clear; a foundation that ensures reliable information throughout the value chain and enables commerce to actually benefit from AI-driven innovation.
Other activities – from retail tour to reception at the Residence
In addition to the conference, the GS1 group participated in several activities that provided both in-depth and concrete perspectives. Epicenter’s “stay-awake drink” set the tone already on Thursday, followed by a full day with AWS where American and some Swedish players showed how quickly AI development is put into practice.
Saturday featured a popular program with Celonis, Zebra, Maze, GS1 Sweden and Fujitsu, where data quality was made tangible through real-life use cases. Scandinavian Minds’ Retail Innovation Talks also added a Nordic perspective on how data, AI and design are driving retail innovation, with insights from leaders at H&M Group, Lager 157 and Kappahl, as well as a focus on agentic commerce and the AI-mediated customer journey. A particular highlight was the retail tour of Manhattan, where GS1 standards could be seen in practical application and how data-driven retail is already transforming the store environment.
The week was rounded off with Business Sweden’s reception at the Swedish residence of Consul General Erik Ullenhag, where Scandinavian design and retail innovation were at the center of attention and provided space for fruitful conversations with Nordic and international actors.
An industry where customer relationships are renegotiated
Perhaps the most crucial conclusion from this year’s NRF is that the retail industry is facing a clear dividing line: between retailers who want to maintain direct customer contact and the increasingly capable AI models that are starting to take it over. As more and more shopping journeys start with external language models, retailers risk losing both the relationship and the insight into customer preferences – and by extension, one of their greatest assets.
For Europe, there is also a new challenge: that US AI models effectively become another middleman. They own the interface, they recommend the products – and they expect compensation when the transaction happens. In this shift, control over data flows, product information and the agent’s own strategy becomes crucial. This is where the battle for the future customer relationship will actually be fought.
Authors: Lena Coulibaly, Industry Portfolio Manager, GS1 Sweden and Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs, GS1 Sweden
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Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs, GS1 Sweden
