Chicago, IL — Shoptalk Fall 2025 once again confirmed its place as a cornerstone gathering for retail, brand, and commerce leaders. While innovation and AI dominated headlines, attendees left talking about something deeper: the alchemy of retail, where creativity, behavioral intelligence, and authenticity converge to shape the future of customer experience.
Session Highlights & Attendee Favorites
Retail as Alchemy: The Keynote Spark
Speakers: Jonathan Adler (Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Jonathan Adler)
Exploring retail as an act of theater, where glamour, craft, and storytelling combine to create experiences that transport customers into a fantasy.
- Noted Practices: Treat retail environments as stages that inspire and delight, blending design, creativity, and narrative into the shopping journey. Storytelling, he noted, is not just a way to differentiate, it’s a means of sparking joy and forging deeper connections with customers.
- Core Idea: Retail is not only about selling products; it’s about selling a fantasy. When brands lean into storytelling and theatricality, they elevate transactions into meaningful moments that resonate far beyond the purchase.
- Memorable Quotes:
- Jonathan Adler: “You’re selling a fantasy in retail.”
Search, Discover, Convert: Improving the Ecommerce Customer Experience
Speakers: Jessica Alsing (Chief Digital Officer, Grendene Global Brands); Sunny Jiang (President & CEO, Eyebuydirect, EssilorLuxottica); Joe Cano (SVP of Digital, Lowe’s), Dominick Miserandino (CEO, Retail Tech Media Nexus)
This session zeroed in on making every step of the digital journey feel simple, helpful, and trustworthy—without rushing into shiny tools that add friction.
- Noted practices: ambassador frameworks that drive authentic advocacy; post-purchase care as a growth lever; tuning the full funnel (search → discovery → product detail → checkout → reassurance) to reduce effort and increase repeat intent.
- Core idea: Personalization should feel like service, not selling; earn loyalty by improving each micro-moment.
- Memorable quotes:
- Joe Cano: “Use the grandmother test. If she couldn’t figure it out, it’s not a fit.”
- Jessica Alsing: “Reality – Expectations = Happiness.”
- Sunny Jiang: “Keep ecommerce CX simple. Less is often more.”
Winning Brand Expression Across Platforms: A Conversation
Speakers: Lauren Price (SVP, Ecommerce & Digital Marketing, NA, COS); Nicklaus Hasselberg (VP, Performance Marketing & Ecommerce, Every Man Jack), Sam Tomlinson (EVP, Warschawski)
Why “consistency everywhere” is giving way to fit-for-channel storytelling—and why that shift only works when the whole org backs the brand.
- Noted practices: always-on brand presence; pressure-testing the insight behind campaigns; being selective with partners and trusting operator instinct.
- Core idea: adapt the brief and the operations for each channel, not just the message.
- Memorable quotes:
- Lauren Price: “Consistency across channels has been a legacy way of thinking—we’re moving away from that.”
- Lauren Price: “Buy-in across the enterprise is required.”
- Nicklaus Hasselberg: “You must know your brand if you want to scale and test ideas.”
- Nicklaus Hasselberg: “When the insight that led to your strategy changes—and it will—your approach has to evolve.”
Messaging That Moves: Turning Brand Narrative into Buyer Intent
Speakers: Wayne Purboo (VP, Amazon Shopping Video, Amazon Ads), Tony Marlow (Chief Marketing Officer, LG Ad Solutions), Jordan Rost (Head of Ad Marketing, Roku), Hitha Herzog (Chief Research Officer, H Squared Research)
How stories shift from “nice to have” to conversion fuel when they’re anchored in real customer motivations.
- Noted practices: tailoring by channel; using behavioral signals to time the message; ensuring offers and UX deliver on the promise the story makes.
- Core idea: narrative must do more than build affinity—it should lower uncertainty and create a clear next step.
- Memorable Quote:
- “It’s not enough to tell your story—you have to tell it in a way that makes someone want to act.”
Futureproof Formula: Creating Next Gen Brands for the Next Generation of Customers
Speakers: Ciaran Long (CEO, a.k.a. Brands), Kristin Stoller (Editorial Director, Fortune)
To win with the next generation, brands must be fast, flexible, and authentic—anchoring themselves in culture, community, and sustainability while treating physical retail as a stage for discovery and experience
- Noted practices: micro-influencers with real credibility; testing small, scaling only what resonates; treating flagships as culture hubs, not just stores.
- Core idea: authenticity first; speed with discipline; physical retail as an experience and content engine.
- Memorable Quote:
- Ciaran Long: “The number one element that draws people to our brand is authenticity.”
- Ciaran Long: “Demand-led product development keeps us on-trend while avoiding markdown traps.”
Investing in People and Tech to Transform the Art and Science of Retail
Speaker: Ann-Marie Campbell (Senior Executive Vice President, Home Depot), Melissa Repko, (Retail Reporter, CNBC)
Emphasized that customers still seek service, trust, and expertise from real people, and the role of technology is to make those interactions more seamless, informed, and impactful.
- Noted practices: clear on-shelf availability signals; associate-enablement tools; diversified fulfillment to meet ‘need-it-now’ expectations.
- Core idea: most journeys start online but many finish in-store—so connect data, training, and shelf execution to remove friction everywhere.
- Memorable quotes:
- “Speed wins—but only when it reduces friction.”
- “Retail is a people business. Do not lose that emphasis.”
Final Thoughts
Shoptalk Fall 2025 closed with a powerful reminder that retail is as much about meaning as it is about merchandise. As Francesca Kennedy reflected, “Modern retail is pure alchemy — the art of blending glamour, craft, and storytelling into experiences that spark joy.” She noted that at Shop LC, that spirit is made tangible through the Your Purchase Feeds program, which has provided more than 55 million meals and supports over 50,000 children daily. Her perspective captured the heart of the week: creativity and purpose are not side notes to commerce, they are its engine. When brands embrace storytelling, service, and impact, they transform shopping into something that resonates far beyond the transaction — a connection that customers remember, value, and return to.