NRF 2026 Highlights - Enterprise Connectivity (Indirectly) Becomes Cool Again as AI Takes Center Stage

This IDC Market Note looks at the National Retail Federation's (NRF's) 2026 flagship event, Retail's Big Show, which took place on January 11-13, 2026, in New York City, that brought an extensive ecosystem of technology players together, highlighted AI-enabled digital retail as a consistent theme, and indirectly highlighted that connectivity is now both "cool" and mission critical."While the overarching theme at NRF was AI-driven automation and digitalization, there was a silent winner," noted Paul Hughes, research director, Future Enterprise Connectivity Strategies, IDC. "AI cannot work without a resilient connectivity strategy in place, thus increasing the importance of a robust relationship with the connectivity provider to ensure that business goals are aligned with network capabilities."