Don't just talk about 'community', build products with them, for them
What we saw on Day 2 at Shoptalk Fall
Zihan Lyu
September 19, 2025
Hi there,
Here we go – Day 3 at Shoptalk Fall! Yesterday was about speed and clarity. Today, the focus shifts to bold campaigns, leadership lessons, and finding the signal in a noisy retail media landscape.
Day 2 Download
The Beauty Lab: Founders Redefining Innovation
Suveen Sahib (K18), Linda Wang (Karuna | Avatara), Sarah Gibson Tuttle (Olive & June)
What does innovation look like when you’re building for emotion, speed, and science – not just shelf space?
|
At Shoptalk Fall, three beauty founders revealed how agility and cultural fluency are outpacing big budgets and long pipelines. Their brands may be smaller, but they’re growing nearly 4x faster than global conglomerates, and the reasons why are deeply operational.
Suveen Sahib of K18 sees innovation as a science problem, not a marketing one. K18’s biotech hair treatment was built “from first principles,” working with bioscientists to repair damage at the molecular level. |
Watch Linda Wang in this clip on why data is central to keeping pace with modern beauty consumers.
|
Each founder underscored that innovation is defined by how well you read the room.
Big CPG waits for certainty. These founders ship with conviction.
They move in parallel, stay close to the consumer, and test ideas in the wild.
And they don’t just talk about “community”, they build products with them, for them.
Amelia Garone from Fospha shared her reflections right after attending this session at Shoptalk Fall:
@clickz_official Amelia Garone from Fospha shared her reflections right after attending The Beauty Lab: Founders Redefining Innovation session at Shoptalk … See more
Why Fospha’s work matters here:
Beauty brands rely on speed, cultural relevance, and emotional connection. Fospha gives them the measurement tools to see how those investments pay off.
With always‑on full‑funnel measurement, Fospha surfaces Unified ROAS across channels (including DTC, Amazon, and social commerce), so teams know which creative, packaging, or launches move the needle.
Retail Intelligence: What AI Can and Can’t Do Today
Dan DeMeyere (ThredUp), Neelima Sharma (Lowe’s), Stephen Yalof (Tanger)
|
At Lowe’s, the focus is on applying AI to real customer journeys, not speculative tech. Neelima Sharma outlined how Lowe’s uses AI across shopping, selling, and operations.
|
|
“We are prioritizing the problems that are very important to our customers, problems important to our business and for our associates. And then we’re bringing in AI that can most effectively solve that problem.”
Neelima Sharma
ThredUp’s challenge is scale and uniqueness. With 5 million secondhand items live at any time, Dan DeMeyere stressed that AI helps surface what customers are most likely to want.
An overhaul of their search engine and personalized merchandising has led to a 60% increase in new customer conversion and a 10% lift in lifetime value.
“It’s not necessarily a silver bullet, you have to kind of understand where traditional tech and AI… come together to sort of address a real customer problem, as opposed to, I have this AI hammer and walking around and looking for nail.”
Dan DeMeyere
Tanger is using AI to drive deeper loyalty – but without losing its physical edge. CEO Stephen Yalof explained how AI helps personalize offers tied to credit card activity, nudging return visits. But store experience still leads.
Tanger has built an internal committee to test AI carefully, with adoption measured against workforce readiness and operational impact.
Across all three brands, a few themes stood out:
✔️ AI that’s embedded – not marketed – is more likely to deliver results
✔️ Tech teams are focused on frictionless, human-centered use cases
✔️ Caution is a competitive advantage
Designing Shopping Experiences That Convert In-Store and Online
The best stores stick in your memory. At Shoptalk Fall, leaders from Caruso, Wayfair, and American Girl shared how they’re turning physical retail into engines of emotion, storytelling, and long-term loyalty.
|
Caruso wants to win more than wallets – it wants “heart share.” |
 |
-
Its Glass Box incubator gives digital-first brands a flexible way to test physical formats.
-
Pop-ups from brands like Dr Jart and Lineage are beating expectations, and boosting cross-shopping across the property.
Wayfair is bringing digital breadth to physical depth.
Chief Merchant Liza Lefkowski called its new store a “physical manifestation” of the Wayfair brand.
-
Associates use tablets to link in-store visits to each customer’s app journey.
-
The curated range includes a “Wayfair Verified” label to avoid decision fatigue and reinforce trust.
American Girl is reimagining what experience means for a legacy brand.
Danielle DiMaiolo Rendini highlighted a full reinvention of the in-store journey, including:
-
“MAGIC” service protocols where staff aim to inspire and celebrate, not just serve
-
Style by You, a new semi-custom doll experience that delivers emotional value in one visit
-
Personal shopping and loyalty events that deepen the relationship
Across all three, the big shift?
Experience is the commerce.
✔️ Conversion is tied to emotion
✔️ Data powers frictionless journeys, but never replaces human connection
✔️ Loyalty starts with storytelling
What the Team’s Sharing
ClickZ is still collecting POVs from brands and leaders – share yours to be part of the conversation.
What’s Coming Up Today
How Retail Media is Rewriting the Storefront and Digital Shelf
Speakers: Target, Expedia Group Advertising, Media, Ads + Commerce
11:20am – 12:00pm | FIRE
Creative Sprints: Moving from Idea to Execution at the Speed of Light
Speakers: Papa John’s, SharkNinja, Milani, January Digital
11:20am – 12:00pm | WATER
Bold Campaigns, Unexpected Collabs, and Brand Guts
Speakers: Coach, MCoBeauty, Teleties, FTI Consulting
1:05pm – 1:45pm | WATER
What the Best Leaders Are Doing Differently
Speakers: Anthropologie, Elie Tahari, Chameleon Collective
1:05pm – 1:45pm | EARTH
The Alchemy of Relevance: Day Trading Attention
Speaker: Gary Vaynerchuk (VaynerX, VaynerMedia, VeeFriends)
4:10pm – 4:30pm | Mainstage
Like what you’re seeing?
Enjoy the last day!
Make sure you don’t miss us.
To keep these insights in your main inbox, follow these quick steps:
-
Gmail:
-
Mobile: Tap the 3 dots top right → ‘Move to’ → ‘Primary’
-
Desktop: Drag this email to your ‘Primary’ tab
-
-
Apple Mail:
Tap our email at the top → ‘Add to VIPs’
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY
Independently Created. Not affiliated with Shoptalk.
Unofficially Shoptalk is a ClickZ Media publication in the Events division
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.