Huawei recently hosted its annual HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 event in China, where the company held a Smart Retail Forum themed ‘Redefining Retail with AI, Driving Omnichannel Smart Experience’. The session saw over 150 leading retail customers, industry experts and ecosystem partners gather from around the world to discuss how AI is being utilised in retail and to share digital innovations from global markets.
During the forum, Huawei, the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), Yum China, Meiyijia and Vusion, launched the Smart Retail Pioneer Program, which aims to accelerate the global retail industry’s transition to an omnichannel smart experience.
In his opening speech, Zhang Yichi, President of Huawei’s Retail BU, noted that global retail is moving from single-point intelligence in stores to a new AI-driven model built on full-link coverage and cognitive supply chains – now the core direction for high-quality industry growth. Drawing on its AI, cloud, network and IoT technology foundation, Huawei continually provides high-quality digital infrastructure for retail enterprises, helping the industry overcome transformation bottlenecks and upgrade its value chain.
At the event, industry experts and leading enterprise representatives shared their innovative practices. As Sean Sun, Head of CCFA’s All-Retail AI Spark Conference, pointed out, the Chinese retail market is highly competitive, with consumer demands evolving rapidly and new channels and scenarios emerging one after another. In this context, AI is a solution that directly addresses business pain points, deeply integrates with services and grows through real-world applications. It is these business-driven demands that have fostered the outstanding adaptability of retail AI in China.
Huawei’s smart retail solution was introduced at the event – built on an integrated cloud-network-data-AI-security foundation, the offering reshapes retail operations around consumers, products and spaces. By enabling intelligent connectivity, customer flow analysis and digital store management, it helps retailers unify online and offline channels, achieve refined operations and reduce costs.
The Smart Retail Pioneer Program, launched at HUAWEI CONNECT 2026, marks a significant milestone in Huawei’s collaboration with global ecosystem partners to advance digital and intelligent transformation in retail. Leveraging Huawei’s technical capabilities and transformation experience in the Chinese market, the program focuses on four core areas: marketing, services, O&M and supply chains. It aims to empower global retail enterprises to complete a generational upgrade in digital and intelligent capabilities.
Moving forward, Huawei will continue to increase R&D investment and work with system integrators, software providers and robotics partners. Together, they aim to build a simplified, secure and efficient smart retail ecosystem.
