Artificial Intelligence Oversight
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Retail AI Trends 2025
Explore our benchmarking survey detailing retailers’ AI strategies, investments, challenges and where they see the greatest opportunity ahead.
The issue
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the global retail sector, creating new opportunities to improve efficiency, enhance customer engagement and support employees. As AI becomes embedded across retail operations and as agentic commerce reshapes the shopping experience, it is still unclear how the United States will regulate this powerful technology.
Innovation and governance must move in parallel. As enforcement activity increases and debates over federal preemption intensify, retailers should engage with policymakers to advance risk-based approaches that protect consumers without slowing innovation.
Why it matters to retailers
Retail companies are using artificial intelligence systems to enhance the customer experience, accelerate product development and improve operational efficiency. Even small retailers often operate across multiple jurisdictions, meaning regulatory fragmentation can quickly translate into burdensome operational complexity, drawing resources away from investments in other business areas.
NRF advocates for a uniform federal framework
NRF supports a uniform, risk-based federal framework that provides clarity for businesses while safeguarding consumers and without slowing innovation. Getting this balance right is critical to ensuring that AI continues to enhance consumer trust, operational efficiency and competition in the retail sector.
NRF Center for Digital Risk and Innovation
Explore NRF's hub for engagement on key technology issues that have significant policy and risk management implications for the global retail industry.
NRF’s Center for Digital Risk & Innovation plays a central role in this effort, strengthening retail’s influence in technology governance while equipping companies with practical implementation guidance. In recognition of AI’s growing importance to the sector, the Center released Principles for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Retail Sector, providing high-level guidance on responsible AI deployment.
If you’d like to learn more about the CDRI, please contact cdri@nrf.com.
NRF’s AI Committee convenes retail leaders to develop best practices for AI use and to educate policymakers on how AI-enabled technologies are improving retail operations and customer experiences. Together, these efforts ensure that the retail industry’s perspective is reflected in the broader legislative and regulatory dialogue surrounding artificial intelligence. If you’re interested in joining NRF’s AI Committee, reach out to membership@nrf.com.