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- Scenario planning is about designing operations that bend—not break—when disruption hits
Scenario planning is about designing operations that bend—not break—when disruption hits
Inside the key takeaways at Shoptalk Fall Day 1
Zihan Lyu
September 18, 2025
Hi there,
After a first day focused on resilience and real-world execution, today’s conversations turn to bold brand-building and how leaders are staying growth-focused in a volatile market.
🧠 Day 1 Download
Scenario Planning in a Volatile World: A Conversation
David Gaylord (Bushbalm) & Kim Roxie (LAMIK Beauty)
When resources are tight and volatility is the norm, resilience looks different. In a powerful conversation, independent founders David Gaylord and Kim Roxie revealed how they’ve built calm amid chaos, from rerouting supply chains to rejecting cookie-cutter growth playbooks.
For Gaylord, it was about stabilizing culture before logistics:
“If you don't calm the team down on Monday, the whole week is almost ruined.”
Roxie took a different route, building in-house operations to gain flexibility and cut costs.
Whether it’s betting on estheticians over ads or turning store visits into relationship-building moments, both founders underscored one thing: real-world connection trumps conventional wisdom.
For emerging brands, scenario planning is about designing operations that bend—not break—when disruption hits.
▶️ Watch the moment:
“You can’t pay Facebook enough to get that kind of word-of-mouth.” In this clip, Bushbalm CEO David Gaylord breaks down how pivoting from pure DTC to supplying 13,000+ waxing salons created a viral, human-led sales engine—one that now reaches 20,000 estheticians daily.
@clickz_official “You can’t pay Facebook enough to get that kind of word-of-mouth.” In a session at Shoptalk Fall, David Gaylord (Bushbalm Skincare) explai... See more
Keynote: From Tariffs to Tactics: Scenario Planning in a Volatile World
Jamie Bragg, Chief Supply Chain Officer & EVP, Tailored Brands
Standing still is not an option.
That was the message from Tailored Brands’ Jamie Bragg, who took the keynote stage at Shoptalk Fall to unpack how his team is building resilience into every supply chain decision. From navigating tariffs that forced a pivot away from China to experimenting with AI across three fronts, including an internal “tiger team”, Bragg revealed a playbook that treats disruption as strategy, not setback. His approach blends long-term scenario planning with real-time visibility, using partners like Project44 and demand-sensing systems to link forecasting directly to store assortments. |  |
But technology isn’t the hard part.
"You can implement technologies all day long, but if they're not following the process that you defined or are trying to activate within your ecosystem, you're not going to get the results."
His advice to supply leaders heading into 2026? Use Q4 not to react, but to plan. Break silos, align teams, and turn uncertainty into your edge.
Track Keynote: Running a Brand in the Face of Change
Kate Gulliver, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer, Wayfair
“Since 2020, and COVID, we've been in an industry that has experienced an enormous amount of change,” said Kate Gulliver, outlining the rollercoaster Wayfair has navigated over the past four years.
“We had really a significant demand pull forward, then we had inventory challenges in our category, because so much was purchased. Then we had the category fall off.”
To manage through the shift, Wayfair implemented several strategic initiatives:
Launched physical retail stores, with over 60% of in-store customers being new to Wayfair
Introduced Wayfair Verify, a program that provides curated product recommendations
Implemented a loyalty program to drive customer engagement
Developed a marketplace model working with thousands of suppliers globally
Gulliver pointed to the company's end-to-end logistics network as a strategic advantage, built to support scale, speed, and white-glove delivery in a margin-tight category. The company's focus remains on delivering the best customer experience, regardless of market conditions. The key strategy has been staying laser-focused on day-to-day execution, ensuring they can "get that product to the customer" efficiently and effectively.
👉 In today’s environment, clarity is everything, not just for operations but for marketing performance. Fospha’s full-funnel measurement platform is built to give brands that clarity.
Fospha shows eCommerce and retail brands the true incremental impact of every marketing channel - across Meta, TikTok, Google, and retail media - in one unified view. Instead of relying on surface-level attribution reports, Fospha gives marketing and finance leaders the confidence to invest where it actually drives incremental growth and profit.
👀 What the Team’s Sharing
🌟 What's Coming Up Today
Day 2 shifts into deeper strategy mode - with sessions zeroing in on retail media’s real impact, brand building in a fragmented landscape, and how executives are navigating disruption while staying growth-focused. Here are a few standout moments to keep on your radar:
📌 Futureproof Formula: Creating Next Gen Brands for the Next Generation of Customers
Speakers: Ciaran Long, CEO, a.k.a. Brands
🕑 2:00pm – 2:20pm | South Hall - Main Stage
📌 What the C-Suite Can Learn From the Frontlines
Speakers: Fabletics, Coach
🕑 4:15pm – 4:55pm | EARTH
📌 Future-Ready: What Retail Needs to Look Like Now
Speakers: EMARKETER, ECDB, Merkle
🕑 5:00pm – 5:40pm | AIR
🎉 And the not-to-miss: Shoptalk Fall Party feat. Timbaland
Cap off Day 2 with retail’s biggest night out. Timbaland - the hitmaker behind collaborations with Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, and Nelly Furtado - takes the stage at House of Blues Chicago for an unforgettable performance.
📍 Where: House of Blues Chicago, 329 N Dearborn St
🕗 When: Thursday, Sept 18 | 8:00pm – 10:30pm
📲 Like what you’re seeing?
Enjoy Day 2!
The Unofficially Shoptalk Team
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