New York, Retail’s Epicenter: AI, the Physical Store, and French Ambition

The largest retail show in the world, the NRF in New York, drew French leaders, startups, and analysts this week, and the dominant theme was unmistakable: artificial intelligence is no longer a future prospect but an immediate operational force reshaping everything from how customers browse to how stock is allocated. Yet alongside the AI frenzy, a quieter but equally important message emerged — the physical store is not disappearing; it is being reinvented as the hub of a new, AI-powered commerce.

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol and the End of the Purchase Tunnel

Isabelle Vantard, director of European Solutions at Vusion, described Google’s announcement at the show as “not a simple innovation, it is really a new use.” The Universal Commerce Protocol creates a common language between AI, product data, payment systems, and delivery. The practical implication: customers will no longer need to navigate a website to make a purchase. Instead, they will have a conversation with an AI — no purchase tunnels, no breaks in the experience. Google is also accelerating drone delivery, with a deployment at Walmart covering 150 stores and 40 million Americans. “We can see that now we are on a reliable, scalable and industrialized solution,” Vantard said.