The IADS attended the 2025 annual Federation of International Retail Association (FIRA) meeting, of which IADS is a member. FIRA has proved a valuable investment in the past years regarding contacts and insights (membership is €1,400 a year), not to mention the free and reduced NRF passes offered to IADS members.

This year was similarly useful in terms of learnings and persons encountered. 56 delegates (63 last year) from 29 federations (31 last year) attended.

Due to the current context, the most interesting presentations were related to the US economy, what to expect from politics in the country, and a (much contrasting) state of the European commerce.

This document sums up the FIRA meetings. The NRF conferences we attended are summarised in a separate document, as well as the store visits.

FIRA 25 MEETING REPORT

Retail Outlook by Mark Mathews, NRF

US Policy in Transition by David French, NRF

EuroCommerce by Christel Delberghe

Update EU Digital Policy Issues BY Stephan Tromp