NRF 2025 Recap: Oh.... You Devil You

"What is the biggest news at NRF?" Always the biggest question at NRF by the attendees, who are ostensibly there to make news themselves.

Circular isn't it?

I would say Commerce right now is defined by the lack of news. Well, lack of news except:

* Some companies unplatforming, some companies replatforming, and some repositioning. More OMS than you can shake a stick at.

* Marketing orchestration out the wazoo. Does orchestration grow my customer file? Prove this please and thank you.

* B2B commerce platform differentiation becoming murkier by the moment. Vendor service is the key to these transformations. So I have to ask - are companies upping their service levels?

* In-Store cool again. Hello Commercetools to the market. Probably the biggest question that came my way. In the Commercetools booth there seemed to be a recognition that they need to be more "opinionated".

* Shopify is Shopify-ing. As always. 99% percent of the market seems to be avoiding direct competition. Because, well, focus and ROI.

As far as the Shopify competition front, the only person ostensibly even pretending to want to go head on with Shopify, and btw "head on" - get it? .... is Commercetools.

Used to be Commercetools did not want to be in the same room as Shopify. Now they want to be. Or did it happen the other way around? Perhaps they are getting their head screwed on straight.

Speaking of commerce platforms - who is heading Salesforce's now? Asking for a friend.

Another reason I see fewer platforms surviving is that there are still few replatforms. The Great Magento/Salesforce Migration which people speak about like so many stampedes has been a trickle and not a geyser. Expect more of this.

The ones that are replatforming it is because they have to and not because they want to.

Part of the slow migrations? CFOs are rightfully skeptical of platform promises, you know, wanting to keep their jobs and all. "This time surely the vendor's promises must be correct!" - said no CFO ever.

Another hidden reason: payments. It's a complex topic, and across the entire ecosystem no one has a fantastic platform + payment story that does not have at least some orange flags, depending on your segment and contract situation.

The Innovation Lounge is always the most interesting part of any event. New marketing tools to help with targeting, personalization, and attribution. AI without having to say AI. Nick Kaplan and I speak a lot about the value of your trailing twelve month customer file. With reason.

The health - in particular the growth and conversion - of that customer file is a telescope into your future.

Of course the first ever RMW Commerce event was a highlight for me, seeing so many Watsonians in person - same time next year ok?

Finally, a message for all vendors: Trust. Build it but expect it to take time. Content + Conversations = Relationships. Relationships + Execution = Sales.