NRF 2027: Retail’s Big Show runs from Sunday, January 10 to Tuesday, January 12, 2027, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, and registration is open. The two deadlines that matter now are close: early All-Access pricing ends around November 19, and qualifying retailers can claim a free Retail Expo Pass until December 30, 2026. Run by the National Retail Federation under the theme Fast Forward, the show is a trade event for the retail industry, not a public show, and it draws more than 41,000 retail professionals to the Javits Center each year.
Key details
- Event: NRF 2027: Retail’s Big Show, run by the National Retail Federation
- Dates: Sunday, January 10 to Tuesday, January 12, 2027
- Opening Party: Saturday, January 9, 2027, at the Marriott Marquis, Times Square
- Venue: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 11th Avenue, New York
- Scale: More than 41,000 attendees, 1,000+ exhibitors and 175+ sessions
- Retail Expo Pass: Free for qualifying retailers until December 30, 2026, then $100
- All-Access Pass: Retail members $1,100 at the early rate to $1,400 standard; retail non-members $2,100 to $2,400
- Who can attend: Retail industry professionals whose registration NRF verifies; not open to the general public
NRF 2027 Retail’s Big Show dates and passes: All-Access or Expo?
The choice at registration is between two passes, and the difference is the sessions. The All-Access Pass covers everything: Keynote sessions, the more than 30 Featured sessions, AI Stage sessions, Ask the Speaker, Exhibitor Big Ideas sessions, the Expo floor, the Overview Lounge and the Opening Party, plus a pre-event webinar with NRF’s events and content leads. The Expo Pass is built for technology scouting. It covers the Expo floor with its 1,000-plus exhibitors, Exhibitor Big Ideas and AI Stage sessions, the NRF Innovators Showcase, the Startup Hub and the Opening Party, but not the Keynotes or Featured sessions.
Pricing turns on whether the attendee works for a retailer and whether that retailer is an NRF member. At the early rate, an All-Access Pass costs $1,100 for retail members and $2,200 for retail non-members, rising to $1,400 and $2,400 at the standard rate, and non-retail industry partners pay more again. The clearest saving is the Retail Expo Pass, which is free for qualifying retailers who register by December 30, 2026, and $100 after that date. Registration, pass types and the current price for each category are listed on the official NRF Big Show website, and readers should confirm their own category price there before budgeting, because NRF verifies every registration.
That verification is the second thing first-time attendees miss. NRF reviews a registrant’s company type, role and job title before assigning a badge, and a retail badge requires a company email address that matches the registrant’s name and company domain, with an active business behind it. Anyone registering from a consultancy, agency or technology vendor should expect to be classified as an industry partner rather than a retailer, at a different price.
Who is speaking, and what is on the program?
The 2027 program runs to more than 175 sessions across the three days. Leaders NRF has named for the edition include Target CEO Michael Fiddelke, BJ’s Wholesale Club Chairman and CEO Bob Eddy, PepsiCo Foods CEO Rachel Ferdinando, Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, and Victoria’s Secret & Co. CEO Hillary Super. The Expo floor is organized around the questions those executives are answering on stage: the AI Stage covers artificial intelligence, robotics and agentic AI in retail, the Innovators Showcase and Startup Hub surface younger retail technology companies, and a Reverse Logistics Pavilion is devoted to the cost of returns.
Three add-on programs extend the week beyond the Javits halls, run with RETHINK Retail at Lavan Midtown on West 42nd Street. Commerce Media Saturday, on January 9, covers retail media’s move into commerce media. Supply Chain Sunday follows on January 10, and AI Monday, the AI in Retail Summit and Soiree, returns for a fourth year on January 11. The Sunday and Monday programs are free for retailers and brands, but they require separate registration during Big Show registration and admission is first-come until the venue reaches capacity. Guided Expo Tours and retailer-only Retail Store Tours of New York stores are also offered as paid add-ons.
Getting to the Javits Center, and how NRF compares
The Javits Center stands at 429 11th Avenue, between 34th and 38th Streets on Manhattan’s far West Side. The simplest route is the 7 train to 34 Street-Hudson Yards, a short walk from the Javits North entrance, with the M34 crosstown bus as the surface alternative. January weather and a 41,000-person show argue for arriving before the first Keynote rather than at it, and for collecting badges early in the weekend when the Opening Party brings the first crowd to Times Square on January 9.
Within Richford Post’s New York conference coverage, NRF sits at the large end of the scale. The AI Summit New York 2026 uses the same Javits halls a month earlier, on December 9-10, with a technology audience and a public Expo Pass, while the World Business Forum at the Javits Center is a general management gathering. The DealBook Summit is the opposite format, a single invitation-led day. NRF is narrower than all three in subject and larger than all three in attendance, which is why its January dates effectively open the retail year.
Frequently asked questions
Is NRF 2027 open to the public?
No. Retail’s Big Show is a trade event for the retail industry. Registrations are reviewed and verified by NRF, badges are assigned by category, and there is no general-public ticket.
How much does an NRF 2027 pass cost?
It depends on the category. A Retail Expo Pass is free for qualifying retailers until December 30, 2026, then $100. An All-Access Pass is $1,100 for retail members at the early rate, rising to $1,400, and $2,100 to $2,400 for retail non-members. Industry partners pay higher rates listed at registration.
When is the NRF 2027 Opening Party?
The Opening Party, listed as the NRF Big Apple Bash for pass holders, takes place on Saturday, January 9, 2027, at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, the night before the show opens at the Javits Center.
The practical next step is to register on the official NRF Big Show website while the early All-Access rate still applies, or by December 30, 2026, at the latest for a free Retail Expo Pass, ahead of the January 10-12, 2027 show at the Javits Center.
