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- Shoptalk Fall is on!
Shoptalk Fall is on!
Here’s what’s shaping Day 1 — plus your essential checklist before you hit the floor.
Zihan Lyu
September 17, 2025
Hi there,
Shoptalk Fall 2025 kicks off today in Chicago with retail’s power players converging to tackle AI adoption and the growing demand for accountable media spend. Day 1 is about moving past pilots and plans - and seeing how the industry is turning strategy into real-time action.
🧠 Today’s Key Themes
We’ve reviewed today’s Day 1 agenda and surfaced the ideas likely to spark the biggest conversations across the room. Here’s what to watch:
📊 AI-powered decisioning goes mainstream
Sessions today focus heavily on taking AI out of pilots and into production - from Wayfair sharing how data fuels merchandising to Target and Athleta discussing AI’s role in search and discovery. The question is no longer if AI works but how quickly it can improve forecasting and customer experience at scale.
🛒 Merchandising under pressure
Wayfair and SHEIN take the stage with playbooks for responding to shifting demand signals and testing new formats. Expect conversations around balancing assortment bets with inventory risk, especially in an environment where consumers are more selective.
💡 Media spend accountability is tightening
Marketers are being asked to prove impact across every channel, including retail media, faster than ever. Fospha’s approach to full-funnel measurement - connecting Meta, TikTok, Google, and retail media spend to incremental profit - reflects what many brands will be looking for in today’s discussions on attribution and decision-making.
🤝 Leadership through disruption
The afternoon brings focus to how retail executives lead through constant change. Expect candid insights from Coach, Fabletics, and others on team empowerment and balancing cost control with innovation.
🎤 Today’s Mainstage Moments
📌 Leveling Up on Search in the AI Era
Athleta, Target, and Edible Brands share how they’re using AI to transform search and discovery, and what they’ve learned about personalization at scale.
🕑 9:35am – 10:15am | AIR
📌 Making New Formats Stick: Moving Beyond the Pilot Phase
SHEIN, Consortium Brand Partners, and Simon Property Group unpack what it takes to scale new store formats and keep innovation alive after launch.
🕑 10:25am – 11:05am | FIRE
📌 Track Keynote: Running a Brand in the Face of Change
Wayfair’s CFO & CAO joins Reuters to talk about leading a major retailer through shifting demand, cost pressures, and evolving customer expectations.
🕑 2:45pm – 3:25pm | FIRE
One question many attendees will be thinking about heading into this session is how marketing performance gets treated inside the business. When measurement moves beyond reporting, it becomes the bridge that gets CFOs and CMOs aligned on where growth is really coming from. Fospha’s full-funnel measurement approach gives marketing leaders and finance teams a shared view of which channels deliver incremental profit, turning marketing data into a tool for better, faster investment decisions.
📌 What the C-Suite Can Learn From the Frontlines
Fabletics and Coach leaders share lessons on empowering teams and staying close to the customer during times of rapid change.
🕑 4:15pm – 4:55pm | EARTH
🧭 Ready, Set, Go!
📍 Venue:
McCormick Place Convention Center - South Building
[Getting to McCormick Place]
Badge Pickup will be available at McCormick Place, South Halls, Level 3 at the following time:
- Wednesday, September 17th: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM all attendees (exhibitors from 8:00 AM)
📲 Download the App
Check the latest schedule, bookmark your sessions, and access venue maps. (Available via the Apple Store & Google Play Store)
📲 Like what you’re seeing?
That’s your Day 1 cheat sheet. Stay sharp, stay curious. See you out there.
The Unofficially Shoptalk Team
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