Speakers, must-see retail tech, and strategies for clienteling in 2026

The biggest retail event of the year, NRF 2026, is almost here, bringing together retailers from all over the world in New York City to figure out the next big thing for the industry.

Want to know the one strategy every successful retailer and CEO will be talking about? It’s clienteling.

Clienteling is much more than just good customer service. It’s about transforming your store staff into super-powered personal shoppers who build genuine relationships with customers, making them feel special, and keeping them coming back.

This guide is your starting point for everything clienteling at NRF 2026. We’ll show you why this practice is the future of retail sales, what new technology (like AI) is making it more accessible, and which sessions you absolutely can’t miss.

Why clienteling will dominate NRF 2026: The essential strategy for modern retailers

Clienteling isn’t a temporary trend; it’s the survival strategy for stores in the future. 

The core problem clienteling solves is the customer’s desire for an easy, personalized shopping experience. People are tired of feeling like just a number. Clienteling is how you deliver both true personalization and efficient service. Everyone at NRF 2026 will be focused on giving store associates the right clienteling tools to build those amazing, high-value connections.

The big problem: Why retailers urgently need a unified commerce change

Lately, customers expect more and more from retailers. They want a connected experience: checking stock online, buying in-store, and getting a personalized text about a product they love.

Clienteling fixes the biggest retail challenge: the disconnect between in-store and online.

By making clienteling the main focus, you’re turning every visit and every digital message into an opportunity to strengthen the bond with your customer.

This kind of human-first, tech-powered approach is going to be the central theme at NRF 2026.

Saving money by loving your customers: Cutting CAC and boosting CLV

Retailers are desperately seeking ways to lower the cost of finding new buyers.

Think about the money you spend trying to get new customers (your Customer Acquisition Cost, or CAC), which includes expensive ads and social media campaigns. Clienteling is all about keeping the great customers you already have (retention).

When your associates use a clienteling app to send a simple, personal text about a new product, your customers will come back to purchase faster, and they’ll spend more in each purchase they make— you can check out the data on that here. This dramatically increases their Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)—how much they’ll spend over their entire history with you.

At NRF 2026, every smart retailer will be looking for ways to cut CAC and boost CLV. Clienteling is widely recognized as the best strategy to achieve this.

It’s not just “omnichannel” anymore, it’s unified commerce

You’ve probably heard the word “omnichannel” a lot. That just means all your shopping channels (store, website, app) work together. That concept is now considered old news.

The future and the focus at NRF 2026 is unified commerce. Think of unified commerce as a perfectly connected brain.

When a customer browses a blue sweater online, that information pops up on the store associate’s device when the customer comes in. The entire customer experience is connected, highly personalized, and never confusing.

Clienteling is the essential tool that makes this unified experience actually happen and is executed effectively on the sales floor.

Comprehensive clienteling: The 2026 retailer’s playbook for associate success

Today’s top-tier clienteling goes beyond an associate having a great memory. It’s about leveraging technology to make your store’s memory (and your team’s memory) perfect, so every customer interaction feels genuinely thoughtful and personal.

AI is the assistant, the associate is the star

We hear a lot about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in retail, but in clienteling, AI is there to empower your people to shine. It eliminates the guesswork in high-value relationship-building.

Here are the key functions of modern, AI-powered clienteling that will be demonstrated at NRF 2026:

• “Who should I talk to?” is solved (Next Best Action): Store teams don’t have time to scroll through customer lists. AI figures out exactly which five people the associate should contact that day and tells them why. For example: “Client Sarah M. looked at hiking boots five times this week. Reach out with a discount code!”.
• Writing personalized messages is instant (Generative AI): Instead of staring at a blank screen, Generative AI instantly drafts a high-quality, on-brand message for the associate to quickly approve and send. This is a massive time-saver.
• Knowing who’s a VIP (Client segmentation): AI automatically sorts customers for you. It knows who is a casual shopper and who has the potential to become a VIP based on their spending and browsing habits. This ensures associates focus their limited energy on the clients who will drive the most revenue.

The next level: Making hyper-personalization feel human

Hyper-personalization means going beyond simply using a customer’s name. Clienteling makes this depth of service possible because it combines rich data with the indispensable human touch.

• The 360-degree profile: The system pulls all omnichannel data, storing details like “prefers cashmere, hates floral prints, bought size 8 shoes online recently.” This unified view allows the associate to pull relevant items instantly without asking annoying questions and demonstrates complete brand knowledge.
• Perfect timing: Clienteling apps track critical customer dates (birthdays, anniversary of first purchase) and prompt associates to send celebratory messages, making the customer feel genuinely remembered and valued.
• No customer left behind: If a customer usually sees an associate, Jane, but Jane is off today, another associate, Mark, can see all of Jane’s notes and step in to help without skipping a beat.

How do we know it’s working? (The critical ROI metrics)

Retail leaders at NRF 2026 won’t be satisfied with just “feel-good stories”; they’ll demand hard numbers and proven return on investment (ROI). The best clienteling solutions track the direct impact on your business:

• Associate-attributed sales: This is the most important metric. It tracks the total revenue the associate directly brought in by proactively using the clienteling app.
• Average Order Value (AOV): Personal recommendations from a trusted advisor usually lead to customers buying more items at once, significantly boosting the Average Order Value.
• Average time between sales: When associates maintain personal contact, customers return faster. This metric tracks the reduction in time between purchases, proving that clienteling drives increased purchase frequency and loyalty.

Before investing, retailers should ask for verifiable ROI data from vendors to prove their solution can drive before-and-after improvements in these metrics. For instance, the Tulip Clienteling Benchmark Report offers valuable data on these exact outcomes.

Must-see retail tech innovations at NRF 2026: The tools of the future

The NRF Expo floor is massive, but the most important area will be where the technology that directly empowers the store associate lives. You need solutions that make your team more productive and profitable.

One app to rule them all: The unified clienteling platform

Retailers should be cautious of using a separate app for every little thing (messaging, stock check, notes) as this slows people down. The real innovation to look for at NRF 2026 is the unified clienteling platform.

This is one simple app that does everything the associate needs: checking inventory across all stores, booking appointments, and sending personalized messages. This single-app approach is crucial because it keeps the associate focused on the customer, not on navigating complicated software.

When you see a platform, check how simple it is to use. Can a new employee pick it up in a single shift? If so, you’re looking at a winner.

Featured tech: The genius of segmentation and AI-powered engagement

When looking for the best solutions on the floor, pay close attention to platforms that master segmentation and proactive engagement. This means using the right tool for the right customer to maximize efficiency.

Tulip is a leader in this space, demonstrating two distinct approaches:

• Core clienteling (AI-powered): Used for the top 10% of customers (VIPs), focusing on high-touch, AI-assisted personal relationship management. This ensures your highest-value clients receive unparalleled, personalized service.
• Outreach Plus (High-scale engagement): Designed to target the remaining customer base (the other 90%). It allows associates to execute complex, high-scale campaigns to proactively nurture the long-tail and drive them toward VIP status, all while managing responses and compliance with ease.

This powerful segmentation ensures every associate can efficiently manage both their high-value personal clients and execute strategic, mass-personalized campaigns across the entire customer database.

This high-end capability is why the world’s most iconic retailers like Versace, COACH, Pandora, Jimmy Choo, Mulberry, Saks Fifth Avenue, Ferragamo, and David Yurman trust platforms like Tulip. These tools turn every store associate into a high-earning, powerful client manager.

Secure Your Clienteling Transformation at NRF 2026

If you’re serious about transforming your store team and making customer loyalty your biggest competitive advantage, you need to see this technology in action.

Book a meeting at Tulip’s booth #5271 for a 1:1 demo of Tulip Clienteling. The demo features a range of AI capabilities and our latest engagement innovation, Outreach Plus.

This is the critical next step in turning this guide’s strategy into your next quarter’s revenue.

Must-attend speaker sessions at NRF 2026

Don’t just wander the Javits Center—attend the sessions that are directly connected to your goal of mastering clienteling. We’ve hand-picked the ones that will provide the most valuable, actionable insights for your strategy.

The million-dollar associate: Supercharging human connection with AI-powered clienteling

• The takeaway: In a world full of computers, the human touch is what makes a brand special. This session asks a great question: What if the right technology could make that human connection stronger instead of replacing it? 
• Why it matters: You’ll hear directly from senior leaders at amazing brands like Tumi, Michael Kors, and Jenni Kayne. They will show you their playbook—the exact steps they took to successfully scale their clienteling programs to achieve remarkable results.

Ascending together: Driving growth, community, and innovation at REI

• The takeaway: The CEO of REI Co-op shares their new strategic plan, “Peak 28: Ascending Together.” This isn’t just about selling gear; it’s about building genuine trust and a loyal community. Clienteling is the tool that brings this purpose to life on the store floor.
• Why it matters: REI is an iconic brand that perfectly blends purpose and profit. This session will show retail leaders how to listen to member feedback, strengthen community bonds, and use data to innovate—all while staying true to brand values. These are the strategic goals that a powerful Clienteling solution helps your frontline team achieve every single day.

The ROI of retail readiness: What Forrester’s latest data reveals about the cost of disconnection – and the value of getting it right

• The takeaway: This session, based on Forrester’s latest Total Economic Impact™ study, reveals the exact financial costs of having disconnected retail systems (like inventory not talking to your Clienteling app). They’ll show the solid financial returns (ROI) you get when you stop fighting operational chaos and start investing in connecting your data and partners.
• Why it matters: Clienteling relies 100% on perfect, real-time data! If your associate’s app can’t see the accurate stock, the personalization breaks down. This session provides the high-level financial justification for investing in the unified commerce backbone needed to make clienteling successful. It gives you the numbers to prove the business case to your leadership team.

How to turn customer data into amazing experiences with Tulip

Tulip believes your customer data isn’t just numbers; it’s the beginning of a genuine, profitable love story. 

Here’s how Tulip equips retailers to move beyond transactions and into true affection, driven by empowered store teams. 

Why your customer data is failing to create true connections

Let’s be honest: Retail relationships break down the moment a customer walks in the door. 

Here is why all that data you own isn’t translating into better service:

• Your best customer walks into a store, and your associate has no idea who they are or what they bought online.
• Your sales team is wasting time digging through multiple systems instead of selling. 
• You have personalization software, but the “personal” part feels cold and generic.

Three ways Tulip rewrites the retail script

The solution is not more data, but better access and use of the data you already have.

Tulip turns complex customer history into simple, actionable next steps for the person who matters most: your store associate. Here’s how we do it:

1. Equipping your team with a crystal-clear customer view
2. Delivering personal service that feels like magic
3. Building lasting loyalty and profitable journeys

Finding clienteling success at NRF 2026

With thousands of exhibitors and sessions, NRF can feel overwhelming. Stick to this simple plan to cut through the noise and get the high-value clienteling knowledge you need.

• Focus on the “associate tech” zone: Don’t waste time on logistics or supply chain tech unless that’s your primary job. Look for the area focused on tools for the frontline employee—that’s where the best clienteling platforms will be found.
• Make booth #5271 your first stop: Go see the Tulip Clienteling platform in action.
  • Ask to see how their Outreach Plus feature makes complicated, personalized messaging easy and compliant.
  • See how the AI shows an associate who to talk to right now.
  • Seeing the best solution first sets a high standard for everything else you look at.

Your 2026 clienteling action plan

The core lesson from NRF 2026 won’t be about robots taking over retail; it will be about giving your people “robot-like intelligence” to build stronger human connections.

Clienteling is the essential strategy that makes this happen. It ensures your store team is not just selling products, but building relationships that drive lasting value and growth.

By focusing on AI-powered Clienteling and attending the crucial sessions we’ve highlighted, you’re not just preparing for the future—you’re getting ready to lead it.

Your absolute next step is to secure that demo time. The biggest takeaway from any NRF is the actionable idea you bring back. Make the Tulip demo your biggest win.

Learn more and book your demo

Book a meeting with one of Tulip’s solution experts at booth #5271 for a personal demo of Tulip Clienteling. This is your chance to see a range of AI capabilities and the latest engagement innovation, Outreach Plus, in action.