RTS 2026: The future of Retail is more human than ever

There’s a real energy that takes over the ExCeL during the Retail Technology Show, you can feel it. Retailers turn up with purpose, conversations are intentional, and the tools on display are getting sharper.

Walking the floor this year, surrounded by the brightest minds in the industry, one thing stood out to me: the last few years were about the possibilities of tech, this year was about the purpose of it.

Here are 3 reflections I’ve been chewing over since the show.

1. The human factor is the new (old) competitive advantage

There was a recurring theme across the keynotes and the stands this year: the industry is moving away from automation for automations’ sake, and towards tech that drives connections.

Many of the team at Proximity, myself included, have come from a shop floor background. We’ve always believed that store associates are a brand’s greatest asset. The tech on display at RTS 2026 reinforced clearly that leading retailers aren’t trying to replace their people with AI, rather they’re using AI to empower their people.

Whether it’s hyper-personalised recommendations or real-time customer history in the hands of the store associate, the goal is to remove the friction so the human connection can flourish.

2. Context is driving personalisation

I heard the word personalisation more times than AI this year (shock, I know), but it’s true. Putting a customer’s name in an email no longer meets even the minimum expectation.

We’ve all experienced it. Late night browsing, throw something in the basket and 30 seconds later it hits: ‘don’t forget your basket, Freddie!’. The email spam fatigue is real. Unsubscribe, delete, I’ll go somewhere else. This isn’t personalisation, it’s lazy by today’s standards.

So, how are leading brands delivering differently? Kering is a great example. They’re moving away from traditional, static CRM triggers, towards AI-driven insights that help teams to understand the ‘why’ behind a customer’s shopping behaviour.

They then lean on sales associates and agentic tools to personally contact customers and close the loop. It’s no longer about targeting a customer; it’s about delivering a personalised experience that feels like a service, not a sale.

3. The end of the transactional store

In 2026, if a customer wants to buy something, they do it online. If they walk into a store, it’s because they want the brand experience.

I read a great LinkedIn post from Kasey Swithenbank (Head of Retail at LUSH), talking about how experiential retail is having a real moment. She rounded it off by saying:

“The shops that thrive will be the ones that give people a real reason to show up. They’ll provide memories that last long beyond the Saturday trip out.'”

That aligns with what we saw at RTS. The most impactful innovations weren’t about speeding up the checkout; they were about turning the store into a destination and an experience. Store associates are becoming high-level consultants – stylists, brand advocates, educators – and the physical store is becoming a high-fidelity experience that a website can’t replace.

A final word

Leaving the ExCeL this year, it’s refreshing to see how the narrative around bricks and mortar retail has matured. We’ve stopped trying to build a ‘store of the future’ and re-focused on building stores that people actually want to visit.

The most impressive takeaway from RTS wasn’t a piece of hardware; it was a renewed understanding that the most important thing in any store is a well informed, empowered sales associate. The wow factor shouldn’t come from a screen, it should come from the person standing in front of it.

We’re heading back to the office with a clear vision: to ensure that while our tools get sharper, they do so in a meaningful way. Our job isn’t to change the way people shop; it’s to empower store teams to make shopping feel personal again.