QBCS Is Headed to Paris: See You at NRF 2026
There's a particular kind of energy that builds in the days before a big trip - the one where you've triple-checked the itinerary, your team chat is full of "can't wait" messages, and the suitcase is out a full day early "just in case." That's exactly where we are at QBCS right now, because tomorrow, our team packs up and heads to Paris for NRF 2026.
If you've never been, NRF's European gathering is one of those rare events where the entire retail world seems to exhale into a single city for a few days: retailers, brands, technologists, and operators all comparing notes on where the industry is actually heading, rather than where the slide decks say it's heading. It's part trade show, part town hall, part reunion - and every year it manages to feel both familiar and completely different from the last.
Why We're Going
We could give you the polished, press-release version of why QBCS is attending. But the honest answer is simpler: retail is changing faster than almost any other sector right now, and the best way to keep up with that pace isn't to read about it after the fact - it's to be in the room while it's happening.
A few things we're especially looking forward to:
- Being where the real conversations happen. NRF Paris pulls together the people actually building the next wave of retail experience - we'd rather hear it from them directly than catch up on it secondhand three months later.
- The coffee-line conversations. The chat that starts while you're waiting in line and turns into an hour-long discussion about where customer experience is headed.
- The demo you didn't plan to see. The booth you wandered into on a whim that ends up reshaping how you think about a problem you've been chewing on for months.
- The reunions you can't schedule. Running into an old colleague or industry friend completely by accident.
You can't put any of that on an agenda, which is exactly what makes it worth traveling for.
What We're Hoping to Bring Back
Every trip like this is really two trips in one: the one where you show up and share what your team has been building, and the one where you quietly absorb everything you can and bring it home. We're planning for both:
- Sharing what we've been building. Talking through our own work with the people who'd actually use it.
- Listening more than we talk. Asking what's genuinely working for teams right now, versus what just sounds good in theory.
- Wandering with curiosity. Giving ourselves time to explore the show floor without a fixed plan, instead of sprinting between back-to-back meetings.
- Getting reminded why this work matters. It's easy to get heads-down in roadmaps and sprints and lose sight of the fact that behind every feature request is a real store, a real team, and real customers walking through a real door.
A few days surrounded by the people living that reality every day has a way of resetting your priorities in the best way.
Let's Meet While We're There
If you're going to be in Paris this week, we would genuinely love to connect - whether that's a proper sit-down conversation, a quick hello between sessions, or just trading notes over coffee about what's caught your eye at the show. No pitch required. Some of our favorite industry relationships started as exactly that kind of casual, no-agenda conversation.
If you're not able to make it to Paris this time, don't worry - we'll be sharing what we learn once we're back. Consider this the first of a couple of dispatches; we'll follow up with our real takeaways, the ideas that stuck with us, and probably a few photos that prove we did, in fact, leave the hotel and see the show floor.
For now, though: bags are packed, badges are printed, and we couldn't be more excited. See you in Paris.