Shoptalk is Just Around the Corner

By Natalie Evans

January 16, 2019

Shoptalk is just around the corner, dubbed as one of "retail’s best shows", it’s a must attend for any retailer or merchant. This four-day event, will hit Las Vegas March 3-6^th at The Venetian Resort, with more than 8000 attendees they will also feature more than 350 speakers. The event will cover the critical changes in retail, from marketing and the customer experience to supply chain and logistics.

To succeed in the retail industry with the ever changing landscape, retail leaders need to keep abreast of the new technologies. Learning has become crucial to becoming a leader in the retail industry. To succeed, retail leaders must now focus on their professional development to deepen their knowledge of retail trends and technologies. The speakers present at the event are at the forefront of the industry and experience change first hand, they are constantly developing new retail experiences and business models to meet consumers’ shifting demands along with bringing new innovative marketing technologies.

This year, Shoptalk's focus is on learning. The speakers that they have brought in are not just experts in the field, but also have the ability to teach attendees about the evolution of retail. Shoptalk has announced, that they will be launching two new education initiatives at the event:

A standardized set of agenda sessions called the Core Curriculum, representing courses that will be offered every year, but with updated perspectives. These sessions will consist of 40 minute track session. Courses in the Core Curriculum they will cover a wide range of topics, from Innovations in Store Design to Hiring and Training Digital Talent, and from Selling on Marketplaces to Next Generation Supply Chains.

There will also be an Annual Retail Education Certificate, which will be awarded each year to those individuals who complete at least 10 credits of approved continuing education at Shoptalk. Shoptalk learning programs including:

• Tabletalks - Interactive peer group discussions among retailers and brands

• Techtalks - Overviews of technology innovation presented by tech company executives

• Hosted Retailers & Brands Program - Meetings with tech company executives

Credits will be awarded for these different types of onsite learning as follows:

"As Shoptalk gears up for its fifth show, we continue to set new standards for the industry and break new ground with our agenda and unprecedented onsite programs," said Anil D. Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Shoptalk.

"Learning has become critical to being a leader and key contributor in the retail industry. To succeed, retail leaders--and aspiring leaders--must now focus on their professional development to deepen their knowledge of retail trends and technologies. Our new Core Curriculum and Annual Retail Education Certificate are designed to empower the entire retail industry with the absolute best continuing education opportunities at this critical time."

This new approach to standardizing industry education will enable retailers and brands to get a fresh perspective each year on the core issues they must continue to address, and to learn from companies at the forefront of change. The next generation of leaders and key contributors will be those who are able to learn and adapt quickly, and to lead and encourage others around them to do the same.

Currently they have 262 Speakers confirmed for the event, with more than 350 to be expected:

• Erik Nordstrom, Co-President at Nordstrom Inc

• Art Peck, President & CEO at Gap Inc

• Dani Reiss, CEO at  Canada Goose Inc

• Neela Montgomery, CEO at Crate and Barrel

• Ben Silbermann, o-Founder & CEO at Pinterest

• Victor Luis, CEO at Tapestry Inc

• Roger Rawlins, CEO at DSW Inc

• Jocelyn Wong, Chief Marketing Officer at Lowe's Company, Inc

• Sid Mathur, Chief Strategy & Development Officer at Mattel, Inc.

• Bill Taubman, Chief Operating Officer at Taubman Centers, Inc.

• Dave Kimbell, Chief Merchandising & Marketing Officer at Ulta Beauty, Inc

• Celeste Burgoyne, EVP, Americas at Lululemon Athletica, Inc

• Stefanie Jay, VP & GM of Walmart Media Group at Walmart

• Ryan Ostrom, Global Chief Digital Officer at KFC

• Jennifer Goldfarb, Co-Founder & President at Ipsy

For 2019, Shoptalk has introduced two new networking platforms: Tabletalks and Shophop.

Tabletalks: Interactive peer-to-peer 45-minute roundtables that enable deep dive discussions and learnings. Tabletalks bring together 5-8 individuals from retailers and brands to share insights, address issues and generate actionable takeaways that help drive their businesses forward. Each Tabletalk covers one of 10 topics, all of which are based on the industry’s most pressing challenges and opportunities.

Shophop:  Described as a high-end “pub crawl”, designed to bring hundreds of retailers and brands together in a fun, social environment conducive to creating new peer connections as well as deepening existing relationships--vendor attendance is limited to a small number of supporting sponsors.

There will be plenty of time for networking along with cocktail events. On Tuesday March 5^th FedEx and Google will be hosting the Poolside Reception & Dinner featuring a performance by Shaggy. For more information about the event and its offerings please click here.

Natalie Evans

Natalie Evans has over 16-years in the tech industry and currently works as the event coordinator and tech reporter for CMS-Connected, keeping up-to-date on what's happening in and around the Content Management industry.