Shoptalk Update

Having launched Shoptalk to the public just two months ago, we wanted to provide an update on our progress as we embark on a mission to build a groundbreaking new event for nextgen commerce.

Where do we stand today? We have:

100+ speakers, including over 80 CEOs. We had high aspirations for our initial speaker lineup, but the response to our outreach surpassed all of our expectations. In the past couple of months, we've brought on over 100 executives from large U.S. and international retail brands, as well as dozens of venture-backed startups with disruptive technologies and business models. Over 80% of our speakers are CEOs; the others are C-level officers, Managing Directors and E/SVPs. We’re now in the midst of confirming our next 100 equally senior-level speakers, which will broaden and deepen our coverage — the preliminary agenda is set to include 300+ speaking and moderating slots.

A soon-to-be published preliminary agenda with 100+ sessions. To create our agenda, we've conducted an incredible amount of first-hand research to supplement our extensive in-house knowledge and experience in everything from tech to retail. We've also talked to dozens of industry experts about our views and refined our thinking in the process. We've distilled our agenda down to a series of tracks and sessions that address the most disruptive trends and technologies in commerce today; additionally, the sessions will help create a valuable new narrative for innovation in ecommerce and retail. We'll be publishing the agenda — including track and session titles — within the next 60 days.

An incredible list of sponsors and exhibitors—established and startup. As with speakers, the interest from sponsors and exhibitors has been phenomenal. While Shoptalk is first and foremost a conference rather than a trade show, our plan is to highlight some really innovative companies. We'll have just 30 or so traditional exhibit spaces alongside 125+ featured business and technology startups in a format that's new for ecommerce and retail events. The interest in Shoptalk has been so extensive that we're on track to reach capacity of our exhibit hall months in advance of our first show.

Great press coverage. New event launches don't typically get any media coverage, so we feel incredibly fortunate to have been written up in a wide variety of publications including Re/code, Retail Dive, Retail TouchPoints and Retailing Today. We've also confirmed some fantastic journalists from top-tier media to join us at the show.

The next six months will continue to be absurdly busy as we finalize our agenda, meet with speakers and plan for an amazing event. We'll keep you updated and hope to see you in May!