The industry AI connects the shopping journey with end-to-end retail operations to enhance the consumer experience.

Waldorf, Germany, November 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SAP SE ( NYSE : SAP ) and VF Corporation ( NYSE : VFC ) announced today the launch of S.Fashion at their headquarters in Waldorf, Germany. This is a retail innovation space designed to explore how end-to-end processes empowered by AI can enhance both the consumer experience and the operational efficiency of stores.

This store brings the SAP "independent enterprise" vision into a actually operating fashion retail environment and introduces selected products from the VF Corporation global renowned brand portfolio, including The North Face, Vans, and Timberland. In this environment, industry experts from AI utilize their expertise in business data and retail processes to support decision-making and actions in areas such as inventory management, order management, pricing, fulfillment, and replenishment. The store combines these capabilities with SAP applications, automation, and interconnected hardware.

This news was announced at the opening event of S.Fashion held in Waldorf. Christian Klein, the CEO of SAP, and Sujay Kumar, the Global ERP Technical Vice President of VF Corporation, attended the event.

SAP CEO Christian Klein stated: "When AI is able to understand the business context and take action within interconnected processes, autonomous enterprises truly become a reality. We are working with VF Corporation to turn this vision into reality in one of the most dynamic environments in the retail industry. S.Fashion demonstrates how applications, data, and industry AI can work together throughout the entire operational chain, transforming insights into action while allowing people to maintain control. When technology absorbs complexity, store teams have more time to interact with consumers and create experiences that can build lasting relationships."

Industry in retail operations AI

Fashion retail requires precise coordination among brand, style, size, color, availability, price, and fulfillment. In S.Fashion, product-level RFID data, robotics technology, and SAP applications support interconnected processes for inventory management, order processing, pricing, promotions, and restocking. AI agents are designed to help interpret events and coordinate the next steps across these processes, while personnel still retain oversight over operational rules and exceptions. By simplifying and connecting these processes, the store will explore how technology can reduce operational complexity for teams, allowing them to focus more on consumers.

Consumers can discover products, experience personalized options and virtual try-on services, and place orders. Subsequently, the process can initiate product retrieval, customization, packaging, payment, and pickup. The transaction updates inventory and can trigger subsequent actions, such as restocking, without the need for manual handovers between different systems.

This experience connects physical stores with a digital journey through mobile applications. Joule, as part of SAP Business AI Platform, can guide consumers through the entire process from entering the store, discovering products, to navigating within the store, and finally checking out. At personalized workstations, consumers can transform sketches and prompts into AI patterns that can be used for embroidery. After placing an order, the customized clothing is embroidered, packaged, and stored in a personal locker for pickup. The holographic virtual try-on feature allows consumers to view the fit, color, and overall appearance without having to change clothes. In the fitting room, product recognition and smart mirrors can recommend sizes, matching items, and styling ideas. Consumers can also request to change sizes without leaving the fitting room. If consumers choose to join, their preferences and past interactions will be used to generate tailored looks and increasingly relevant recommendations.

For SAP and VFC, this store serves as a real-time testing environment to observe how AI, intelligent automation, and physical retail work together. During specific periods, the store will operate autonomously without any staff on site.

VF Corporation Global ERP Vice President of Technology Sujay Kumar stated: “S.Fashion provides us with a unique opportunity to transform retail innovation into real-world learning. By testing new experiences in a real environment, we can better understand what resonates with consumers and what can help our team provide a better experience every day. For us, technology is most valuable when it allows employees to spend more time interacting with consumers and creating meaningful in-store experiences. The insights we gain will help us learn faster, focus on effective practices, and scale solutions that can have the greatest impact within our brand portfolio.”

Intelligent stores built around the customer experience

S.Fashion aims to explore how intelligent technologies can utilize the same interconnected data and business processes within stores to support a variety of retail experiences. The focus is on understanding how technology can complement the roles of store teams, improve operational efficiency, and create more attractive and interactive experiences for consumers.

During specific periods, the stores will operate autonomously without human supervision, allowing SAP and VFC to explore different retail models based on the same underlying technologies and processes. S.Fashion will be open to the employees of SAP and their relatives and friends, and will also accommodate visits arranged by customers and partners. This provides a functional retail environment for VFC and SAP to test their operational processes under real-world conditions and to demonstrate how these processes work together.

Real-World Verification Points of "Independent Enterprises"

The launch of the Waldorf stores puts the SAP 'independent enterprise' strategy into practice in a real retail environment. This will help SAP and VFC evaluate how processes identify changes, coordinate cross-functional actions, and support new business models.

About SAP

SAP ( NYSE : SAP ) is a global leader in the field of enterprise applications and business AI, situated at the intersection of business and technology. For over 50 years, various organizations have relied on SAP to help them achieve their best performance by integrating key business operations such as finance, procurement, human resources, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, please visit: https :// www.sap.com /.

About VF Corporation

VF Corporation ( NYSE : VFC ) owns a range of leading outdoor and sports brands, including The North Face ®, Vans ®, and Timberland ®. VFC is committed to providing consumers with innovative products that are rooted in performance and also possess a sense of design, while creating sustainable long-term value for its employees, community, and shareholders. For more information, please visit: vfc.com.

This press release was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and has been reviewed by an editorial team.

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, outlooks, or other expressions regarding future events. These statements are based on current expectations, projections, and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may lead to significant differences between actual results and outcomes. For more information regarding these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the section on risk factors in the SAP 2025 Form 20-F Annual Reports.

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