World Retail Congress: Fashion retail between an AI boost, consumer pressure and a new desire for connection

At the World Retail Congress (WRC), a look at current developments in fashion retail – between artificial intelligence (AI) and consumer pressure – revealed that the rules of the game are noticeably shifting. The decisive factor is how companies react and what priorities they derive from this.

Before discussions on the WRC stages this week turned to Agentic AI, retail media, new platform logics and the outlook to 2030, the congress began where retail becomes visible to customers: in the store itself. A flagship store tour led delegates to sporting goods companies Adidas and Hoka, as well as the fashion chain Mango. It was a fitting start to the following days, in which AI dominated almost every conversation, while it repeatedly became clear that technology alone cannot explain the future of retail.

The store visits in the German capital made it clear even before the official start of the congress how differently brands handle retail space today. Adidas explained in its own Berlin flagship that global campaigns are combined locally with local storytelling and products developed specifically for the market. The brand aims to reach not only tourists but also to appeal to Berlin customers. Hoka, in turn, presented its store as a community space with run clubs, events, testing opportunities and a room explicitly designed for activation. At Mango, the store space was staged as a Mediterranean home. It featured zones designed to guide those interested in the brand through a curated product world, from arrival to the fitting room.

These impressions set the tone for a two-day conference that, while heavily focused on AI, repeatedly returned to the same core question: How does retail remain relevant when customers are becoming faster, more informed and more unpredictable? This is happening in a world where geopolitical developments add further complexity.

Berlin as a stage for an unpredictable market

It seemed no coincidence that the WRC took place in Berlin this year. David Schneider, co-founder of the Berlin-based online retailer Zalando, described the location in his opening speech as a difficult fashion market. Fashion spending is not particularly high; the city is fragmented, shaped by subcultures and does not represent a single aesthetic. For this very reason, one can learn from Berlin. Anyone wanting to be relevant here must understand subcultures.

Schneider followed on from the German Federal Minister for Digitalisation and State Modernisation, Karsten Wildberger, who viewed retail not from an external perspective but from his own experience. Before his political role, he worked in retail himself, said Wildberger. He knows the pressure of quarterly figures, supply chain problems and customers who silently switch to other providers. His central message, however, was broader: retail is not just an economic sector but an infrastructure for everyday life. Today's customers are more channel-agnostic, digital and yet more human than ever. This is not a contradiction but the new normal.

Wildberger touched on a central point that ran through many of the congress's discussions: the industry is not facing a simple digitalisation but a reorganisation of the entire retail model. Retailers are no longer just distributors; they are also media companies, technology providers, service providers, logisticians and, in some cases, financial service providers.

AI is everywhere, but not the same everywhere

Hardly any presentation managed without mentioning artificial intelligence. However, the perspectives differed significantly. Some speakers described AI as an opportunity for efficiency, growth and new customer experiences. Others warned of dependencies, loss of control and a future that is barely predictable.

In the session 'Harnessing AI for Advantage', the auditing and consulting firm EY explained that no one can predict exactly what retail will look like in 2030. The panel therefore worked with scenarios ranging from growth and transformation to collapse. AI could enable new business models but also destroy value if platforms concentrate power or retailers lose direct customer access.

Peter Ruis, managing director of the British retailer John Lewis Partnership, summed up the urgency. His advice to retail decision-makers was to ensure they “have a seat at the table,” because this is not the metaverse, it is real. Those who fall behind will not be able to catch up.

Scott Price, group CEO of the Hong Kong-based retail holding company DFI Retail Group, also issued a warning in the same session. Twelve months ago, he would not have believed that a retailer could be pushed out of business by Agentic AI. Now, he believes exactly that. To survive in this new world, one must first execute the in-store and digital experience excellently; second, be able to handle transparent pricing logic; and third, protect the customer relationship and trust.

Zalando: 90 percent AI-generated marketing content

Schneider was particularly specific when discussing Zalando. The company, which according to the co-founder started in a Berlin basement in 2008 selling flip-flops, now has around 60 million customers in Europe and works with more than 7,000 brands.

Schneider described how significantly AI has already changed the company's way of working. At Zalando, 90 percent of product marketing content is now AI-generated. A year ago, this figure was close to zero. At the same time, content volume has increased by 70 percent without additional investment. Production cycles that used to take up to eight weeks can now be completed in just a few days.

The platform's interface has also changed. Instead of a similar homepage for everyone, the online retailer uses a personalised feed that displays content, brands and products based on individual behaviour and looks different for every customer. Despite being in an early stage of development, the AI assistant is already used regularly by six million customers. On the topic of size and fit, Schneider spoke of the “Holy Grail” of fashion e-commerce. More than one million people have already stored their body measurements in their profiles, which should help to improve selection and reduce returns.

It was noteworthy, however, that Schneider did not position AI as a substitute for creativity. For Zalando, technology and data go “hand in hand” with human creativity. Relevance is becoming more important precisely because AI facilitates content creation and enables a flood of content.

“Less fashion and more strategy”

In the 'Roadmap to 2030' panel, the fashion industry was viewed self-critically. Jaume Miquel Naudi, CEO of the international fashion group Tendam, said the industry offers “too much fashion.” Today, it is less about creating more products ever faster and more about understanding customers better, working more strategically and becoming more agile. Companies must accept that they cannot be loved by everyone. It is important to identify your own target group and invest where you can really make a difference. His pointed conclusion was that the market needs “less fashion and more strategy.”

Nadine Graf, president for Europe, the UK and Ireland and emerging markets at the US cosmetics company Estée Lauder Companies, described in the same panel how power has clearly shifted to consumers. Consumers are more informed, less loyal and do not think in terms of channels or funnels, but in terms of experiences. Speed has therefore become a currency. Relevance has an ever-shorter shelf life.

Digital retailers, human problems

Digital players also did not focus solely on technology. Julia Bösch, founder and executive chair of the Spanish-German online retailer Lookiero Outfittery Group, described her company in the 'Growing AI Powered Models' talk not as a classic e-commerce provider, but as a service that provides customers with guidance. Traditional e-commerce starts with the product range; she begins with the customer. The company sells not just clothes, but self-confidence and attention.

Bösch addressed a problem that is particularly visible in fashion retail: customers often do not know exactly what they are looking for. Anyone searching for “the blue Adidas Samba” is in good hands with classic e-commerce. It becomes more difficult when customers only know that they need something suitable for a presentation at a conference. This is precisely where the difference lies: not in the search, but in the discovery.

Asos also positioned itself at the congress through relevance rather than pure scaling. José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, CEO of the British online retailer, described the company's turnaround as a move away from large volumes of goods, performance marketing and promotions towards relevant products at the right time, a more inspiring shopping experience and full-price sales. For him, customer centricity is not the opposite of growth, but the best way to achieve it.

When AI has an opinion about brands

One of the most compelling talks dealt with the question of how AI systems perceive brands. David Roth, chairman of the brand analysis platform BAV at WPP, explained in the 'Every AI Has an Opinion About Your Brand' panel that large language models not only find information but also read content, evaluate it, draw conclusions and act based on them. For brands, this means they no longer only have to ask what consumers think about them, but also how AI systems represent them.

According to Roth, only around 5 percent of the sources for such evaluations come from the brand's own website. The rest comes from reviews, third-party content, old articles, complaints and competitor narratives. His advice: brands should check their AI presence because you cannot manage what you have never seen. You also have to actively write your own story, otherwise someone else will. This is particularly relevant for fashion companies.

In the future, brand communication will be designed not only for people, but also for systems that interpret content and make recommendations.

Store remains, but different

Despite the dominance of AI, physical retail was not discussed as an obsolete model. On the contrary, the more automation was discussed, the clearer the role of the physical store became as a place for experience, connection and surprise.

In 'The Art of Shopkeeping in the Digital Age' panel, Timo Weber, CEO of the Berlin luxury department store KaDeWe, said that shopping is ultimately the result of the experience you have created beforehand. If someone leaves the store happier than when they arrived, you have fulfilled your task. Melanie Gallop, former president of the US brand Calvin Klein in Europe, described brick and mortar retail as a place where brand meaning becomes tangible. Data is important but cannot replace every insight. Especially in a world of prediction, the magic of surprise becomes more valuable.

In the luxury panel, this idea was expanded globally. Nermeen Nosseir, chief of retail leasing at the Saudi Arabian development company Diriyah Company, explained that shopping malls and retail destinations in the Gulf region are still places where people spend time with family and friends. Such moments and memories cannot be replicated online. In a world full of AI and social media, people are hungry for human connection.

André Maeder, CEO of the luxury department store operator Selfridges Group, said that by 2030 at the latest, Selfridges will no longer be just a department store, but a platform and retail media company. The store has cinemas, 18 restaurants, exhibitions, talks and recently a 2,500 square metre members' club with 26 VIP shopping rooms. Notably, membership is to be based not only on goods purchased, but also on time spent.

Community as a competitive advantage

Alongside AI, community became the second major key theme. In the 'Beyond the Sale' panel, Michael Roth, senior vice president for global development at the US sports brand Fabletics, explained that customers do not just want to be invited; they want to be part of a brand's journey. Concrete product ideas, such as denim, have emerged from conversations with the community. Brand love is created when customers feel seen, heard and loved. AI can do a lot, but it cannot give love.

Myntra also showed how community can work digitally. Venu Nair, chief of strategic partnerships and omnichannel at the Indian e-commerce company, explained that the platform has 75 million monthly active users in India, almost half of whom are Gen Z. With 'Glam Stream' and so-called 'Shopper Creators', Myntra gives customers the opportunity to post their own videos and receive a small payment for sales. In less than a year, more than five million creators have emerged on the platform.

The roles are thus blurring: customers are becoming sellers, influencers and co-creators. This development was also evident in the 'Future of Loyalty' talk. Hansa Wongsiripitack, senior vice president marketing at The 1, a platform belonging to the Thai conglomerate Central Group, described how customers today go far beyond traditional loyalty programmes. They act as multipliers themselves by sharing content, recommending products and extending the brand's presence on their own channels. When companies “clock off for the day,” brand communication continues on the customer side. Loyalty is thus shifting from a points-based system to a continuous, two-way relationship between the brand and the community.

Sustainability: less prominent, but with a stronger business case

It was noticeable that sustainability was less present compared to AI. When it was discussed, it was less in moral terms and more in terms of risk, efficiency and economic resilience. In the 'Collaborating to Win' panel, Pascal Brun, vice president sustainability at Zalando, explained that sustainability must enable growth and efficiency. Data and AI would help to better manage processes along the value chain, for example in planning inventory or reducing returns.

Adam Karlsson, chief financial officer at the Swedish fashion group, also described sustainability as part of long-term value creation, not as pure compliance. Investments must be measured by the impact they have on CO2 reduction and long-term resilience.

2030 remains open

Perhaps the most honest conclusion of the congress was that no one knows exactly what retail will look like in 2030. Petra Scharner-Wolff, chairwoman of the executive board of the Hamburg-based retail group Otto Group, spoke of overlapping crises that reinforce each other and change the rules of the game politically, socially and economically. Transformation is not a choice, but a necessity. At the same time, innovation must continue even in difficult times.

Mango CEO Toni Ruiz expressed a similar stance in the closing interview. Uncertainty is now part of everyday life. For a global company with more than 120 markets and sourcing in more than 20 countries, it is crucial to constantly discuss geopolitical risks at board level, develop scenarios and build flexibility, agility and resilience.

Mango itself sees itself in a strong phase. Ruiz pointed out that the company grew by 13 percent in 2025 and has almost doubled its turnover from 2.3 billion euros before Covid to an expected four billion euros in 2026. A clear strategy with a focus on elevation, expansion, earning and empowerment is central, with product and brand positioning at its core.

Conclusion: not AI or human, but both

The World Retail Congress in Berlin revealed an industry that is simultaneously euphoric and nervous. AI is becoming the operational standard, changing content, search, personalisation, pricing logic, fit, planning and brand perception. Yet the strongest contributions were those that did not view technology in isolation.

For the fashion industry, the core message is this: anyone who wants to be relevant in 2030 must use artificial intelligence without losing sight of the human element. It is about better data, but also about connection. About automation, but also about community. About speed, but also about strategy. About new platforms, but also about stores that create memories.

Perhaps that is why Berlin was such a fitting host city. Multi-layered, difficult to predict, diverse and not easy to read. Just like retail itself.

The next edition of the World Retail Congress will take place in Milan. Founder Ian McGarrigle announced that the congress will move there for the first time on May 10, 2027.

This article was written by Florian Müller.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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