EuroShop looks ahead to 2026 as it prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary event

The organisers of EuroShop unveiled a sneak preview of what to expect at next year’s show at its UK Press Event earlier this week, as the global retail trade fair gears up to celebrate turning 60 in 2026.

Hosted in LUSH‘s Soho Perfume Library, retail consultant and store tour maestro Ian Scott brought together media, influencers and analysts for a look ahead to the trade event, which will take place between 22 – 26 Feb 2026 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The trends setting the agenda

Setting the scene, Ulrich Spaan, SVP at the EHI Retail Institute, offered insights into the trends shaping store design, innovation and consumer behaviours, which will form key focuses at EuroShop next year, across its exhibition and conference programme.

These included autonomous stores and examples of the tech – from SCO to AI and ESLs – powering consumers’ convenience demands while delivering operational efficiencies.

And, while the concept of experiential retail isn’t new, Spaan pointed to forward-thinking examples of how retailers are evolving ‘service-led’ store experiences – from hobby-led activities to brand immersion spaces and personalisation stations, like that in Olfactory’s NYC store. Community-building activations, such as SNIPES’ Studio44 in Berlin that offers a free-to-use space for art, dance, fitness and culture, will also blend transactional spaces with social hubs.

Sustainable retailing remains high on the agenda – albeit in a more nuanced way, as brands balance environmental aspirations with economic headwinds.

Re-sale / pre-loved, repair and recycling will continue to be key initiatives heading into next year, as well as decarbonising. Spaan cited the recent example of Spanish retailer, Blue Banana, which claims to have become the first “carbon negative” clothing company.

Celebrating a 60-year milestone

EuroShop Event Director, Elke Moebius, then joined Ian Scott for a fireside chat, outlining what visitors can expect from the 60th edition of the trade fair next year.

She explained how, since first launching in 1966 – the same year England won the FIFA World Cup final – EuroShop has become a leading global event platform for international retail, which now attracts exhibitors and visitors from across the globe every three years.

“EuroShop’s three year show cycle is important,” Moebius explained. “It allows the exhibitors to truly innovate between shows. This means they are able to showcase evolved solutions and concepts that have significantly moved forward, allowing visitors to see new or significantly different offerings.”

Celebrating its 60th year anniversary with a Global Retail Festival, she explained that 1,900 exhibitors from 60+ countries attend EuroShop across its 100k sq m of show floor space and 14 exhibition halls.

In seven experience dimensions, EuroShop will highlight a wide range of services and products shaping the retail industry. These include a Shopfitting & Store Design zone, featuring 450+ exhibitors from leading architecture and store design firms, and a Retail Marketing dimension, exploring how to offer customers immersive, multi-sensory shopping experiences. Within the EuroCIS (Retail Technology) dimension, over 550 innovators will spotlight solutions, with AI, customer centricity and smart stores among the innovations taking centre stage.

Guided tours taking in design, tech & sustainability

To help visitors take in the expansive show floors, EuroShop will host guides tours across the halls, as well as store tours highlighting the best examples of physical retailing within the city of Düsseldorf.

POPAI‘s Steve Lister will also be running a series of sustainability focused tours, helping visitors navigate green retail offerings at the event – from materials to VM and technology.

Speaking at the EuroShop Press Event, Lister explained how sustainability will continue to be a core focus of the event – but rather than being “shouty”, the green agenda will be more organically embedded within exhibitors’ solutions.

“Sustainability has matured – and has therefore become more pragmatic and embedded within both solutions and retail environments,” Lister said. “For those early adopters, green retailing is now BAU and is fully immersed, meaning its not necessarily some thing they have to shout about, rather its a natural course of their operations.”