Shoptalk Spring 2026: What ClickZ Is Looking Forward To

If you’ve been to Shoptalk before, you already know how it works. The sessions give you language, the expo gives you options.; but the real value is what happens in between. The side conversations. The “wait, how are you measuring that?” moments. The late afternoon coffee where someone quietly tells you what actually worked, and what absolutely didn’t.

That’s why Shoptalk Spring 2026 feels like an important one. Not because retail needs more buzzwords. Because retail is at a point where every CMO is being asked some version of the same question:

What are we doing this year that will actually move the numbers?

The speaker lineup is a roadmap for where the industry is headed

A quick glance at the roster tells you what Shoptalk wants to tackle this year: where demand is coming from, what shoppers trust, and how retail actually gets executed across stores, digital, media, and ops.

Some names worth circling early:

• Nicola Mendelsohn (Meta). If you’re spending serious money in paid social, you want her POV on where performance is going next.
• Steve Huffman (Reddit). Community is not “brand love.” It’s influence, intent, and product discovery in plain sight.
• Matt Madrigal (Pinterest). A platform built on taste and discovery, which is exactly where a lot of commerce is being won or lost right now.
• Macy’s leadership (stores and digital). The retailer story most people are watching in 2026 is how physical and digital stop acting like separate planets.
• Etsy’s product and tech leadership. Marketplace dynamics are still one of the best places to learn what “customer experience” really means when you do not control everything.

It’s a lineup that should appeal to senior marketers because it isn’t just brand people talking to brand people. It’s platforms, retailers, and operators, the folks who live with the consequences after the campaign ends.

Three themes you are going to hear a lot

1. Retail media is growing up.
   The conversation has moved past “should we test retail media?” Most brands already have. Now it’s about structure: where it sits, how it connects to creative, how you prove lift, and how you stop paying for what you would have gotten anyway. Shoptalk’s agenda leans into this, including a dedicated retail media track. If you’re a senior marketer, this is where you go to steal frameworks and compare notes with people who have scar tissue.
2. Discovery is shifting again, and it’s happening in public.
   Search still matters, but it’s not the whole story. Discovery is increasingly happening through feeds, creators, communities, and platforms designed to spark “I didn’t know I needed that” moments. There’s even a session explicitly framed around this: “Engineering Serendipity to Inspire Purchases,” led by TikTok’s e-commerce strategic initiatives team. Call it whatever you want, but the point is simple: shoppers are finding products in new places, and you need a plan for that, not just hope.
3. The store is not “back.” It never left. We’re just measuring it better now.
   What’s changing is how seriously brands are treating stores as part of the performance engine. Not just “brand experience,” but measurable outcomes: conversion, repeat purchase, loyalty sign-ups, and retail media impact inside the aisle. There’s also programming around in-store execution, including sessions on AI applications for physical retail. Even if you are tired of the AI framing, the in-store angle matters because it forces a practical conversation: what can you actually operationalize across hundreds of locations?

How to do Shoptalk like a senior marketer (and not leave with an empty notebook)

If your calendar is already packed, here’s the simplest way to make the event pay off.

Show up with two questions you need answered. Not ten. Examples:

• “Where are we over-attributing and how do we fix it?”
• “What should my retail media mix look like if I care about incremental growth, not just easy conversions?”
• “How do we build discovery that doesn’t depend on one platform staying friendly?”

Build your schedule around friction, not trends.
The best sessions will feel unglamorous. Measurement, org structure, partner expectations, in-store rollout realities. This is where you find the stuff you can take back and implement.

Have one “stop doing this” decision ready.
Most teams do not have a strategy problem. They have a focus problem. Shoptalk is a great place to validate what to cut.

Do not skip the people part.
The fastest way to get smarter is to compare notes with someone who’s already tried what you’re considering. The real ROI comes from those honest conversations, not the perfect keynote slide.

The bottom line

Shoptalk Spring 2026 is shaping up to be the kind of event where you can actually sharpen your point of view. On retail media. On discovery. On stores. On what to prioritize when every channel feels noisy and every dashboard looks “fine.” If you’re a senior marketer, come for the signal. Stay for the conversations. Leave with decisions.