Every shift counts: NRF 2026 on why readiness is the real retail strategy

Walking the floor at NRF this year, one thing stood out.

Retail is moving faster than ever, but the margin for error is shrinking. Customers expect more. Associates are juggling more. And every missed handoff between strategy and execution shows up immediately—in the customer experience, in performance and in revenue.

That’s why readiness came up again and again. Not as a buzzword, but as a requirement for competing in the current retail environment.

Every shift really does count

Our Big Ideas session, Every Shift Counts: Turning Execution into Revenue, brought that reality to life.

Kyle Eynon, Director Training & Development at Sprouts Farmers Market, shared how they think about readiness not as a training event, but as a daily operating discipline. For Sprouts, readiness means associates walk into every shift confident, informed and able to help customers in the moments that matter—not weeks after onboarding or buried in memorization.

What stood out most was how clearly readiness tied to revenue. Faster time to competency. Higher confidence. Better customer conversations. Lower turnover.

Those outcomes don’t come from more content or more tools. They come from consistent execution, reinforced every day.

That conversation echoed what we hear across retail: when teams are ready, execution improves. And when execution improves, revenue follows.

The real role of AI on the frontline

AI was everywhere at NRF and not always in helpful ways. What cut through the noise were the stories grounded in real work.

Across multiple sessions at NRF—and reinforced by conversations we’ve had well beyond the show floor—one principle came through clearly: AI only matters when it helps people make better decisions in the moment.

We’ve seen that play out firsthand with brands like Lowe’s. In a recent conversation, Rich Lima, head of Enterprise Learning at Lowe’s, shared how their AI assistant supports associates during real customer interactions—not by replacing expertise, but by delivering the right information exactly when it’s needed.

When an associate is face to face with a customer, that moment matters. AI works when it shows up there instantly and in service of better execution.

The most compelling AI examples aren’t about automation for its own sake. They’re about helping associates answer a specific question, resolve an issue or know what to prioritize next, without stepping away from the customer.

When AI works, it fades into the background. It supports execution without adding friction or complexity.

That’s the opportunity ahead for retail. Not replacing human judgment, but amplifying it.

From learning to readiness

One of the most important shifts at NRF was language.

Retail leaders aren’t talking about “learning programs” anymore. They’re talking about readiness. Confidence. Execution. Performance.

Kyle described moving away from rote memorization and toward short, targeted reinforcement designed to support what associates actually do on the floor. Three to five minutes. Built for the flow of work. Reinforced over time. Measured by confidence and execution, not completion.

That shift matters because it reflects how retail actually works today. Associates are spending more time with customers than ever before. They don’t have time to search for information or recall what they learned weeks ago.

They need clarity in the moment.

Readiness is what allows strategy to survive contact with the store.

What NRF reinforced for us at Axonify

NRF 2026 didn’t change our perspective—it validated it.

Every great retail strategy depends on one thing: readiness. When people, priorities and performance are connected, execution becomes consistent. When execution is consistent, customer experiences improve. And when customer experiences improve, growth follows.

That’s why Axonify continues to focus on helping organizations turn daily work into a performance advantage, not by adding more systems, but by making execution simpler, clearer and more visible.

NRF reminded us that the future of retail isn’t about choosing between technology and people. It’s about designing systems that help people perform at their best, every shift.

Because in today’s environment, every shift really does count.

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