2025 Shoptalk Fall Recap
Shoptalk's annual fall event was another major success with plenty of important takeaways.
Last week, thousands of attendees from brands and technology providers descended onto the Windy City for Shoptalk Fall. While this event is fairly U.S. focused, there were plenty of attendees from countries around the world.
A few fun updates - Shoptalk Fall 2026 will be hosted in Nashville and the team is really excited for the change of scenery. With this latest ShopTalk Fall in the rearview mirror, they’re now fully focused on the upcoming Shoptalk Luxe - the organization’s first formal foray into the world of luxury. They’ve already announced dozens of speakers on their website with more to be announced. The Fabric of Culture is an official media partner for the event so expect some exclusive articles and interviews coming your way soon.
This year’s theme centered around four main pillars: Data Driven & AI Augmented Retail Intelligence; Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure; Brand Identity, Loyalty, and Customer Experience in a Shifting World; and Leading Through Volatility and Change. Theoretically these can be applied at any time but with such a strong undercurrent in today’s global economy, they’re now more important than ever. The savviest, smartest brands are either putting a plan of action together as we speak or are already executing against a vision.
Data Driven & AI Augmented Retail Intelligence
Understanding how to collect and properly utilize massive amounts of data should always be part of the internal conversations with brands. Finding balance between personalization and using different touch points to tell your brand narrative is critical. Sunny Jiang from EssilorLuxottica discussed how they try to collect data from customers throughout their eyewear journey. Attempting to get too much information at one time, especially from a new customer, can be off-putting and you might lose them completely. They have over 4,000 SKUs so they try and do their best to provide new customers with as much information as possible for them to feel like they’re making an informed decision. Finally, they’re always experimenting with new tools to make the purchasing experience more seamless, like virtual try-ons so you can get a sense of what you look like with a specific pair of sunglasses.
We’ve now transitioned into a period where brands have either fully implemented an AI strategy or product for internal or external use. Artificial intelligence tools on average are very nascent compared to other SaaS products, so the build vs buy question still comes up frequently. Jamie Bragg at Tailored Brands (the holding company for Jos. A Bank and Men’s Warehouse) says they’ve developed an internal AI tool for their supply chain and ops team to use and have a comprehensive sandbox environment to test new features before rolling them out org/company wide. While they probably needed to invest in people/tech in order to build something on their own, they’re able to completely adapt it to their needs and lessen any potential cybersecurity issues, something that retail has been grappling with heavily this year.
Product Curation and Innovation Under Pressure
Consumer confidence has been waffling across the world and brands cannot afford to make the wrong decisions around their products and merchandise, less CAC costs begin to skyrocket or their retention rate starts to drop. Kate Gulliver, Wayfair’s CFO, shared that they do everything they can to empower their suppliers. Obviously Wayfair isn’t a fashion brand but plenty of these lessons can be applied to marketplace apparel companies and the brands that choose to work with them. Wayfair collects massive swaths of data about customers and their wants, needs, and purchasing behaviors. They then package this and use it to work with their thousands of global suppliers so that they can make the best decisions for their GTM strategy on Wayfair’s platform. They’ve also implemented a “Wayfair Verified” system that gives its customers recommended items based on quality and a host of other metrics. For fashion marketplaces, implementing these tactics not only creates a better customer experience, but attracts the top brands to your platform because you’re ensuring their success as well. This is how flywheels are established.
Brand Identity, Loyalty, and Customer Experience in a Shifting World
DEI is under attack but the smartest brands know that understanding and connecting with its customers of various ethnic backgrounds is still important. Minority communities have trillions of dollars of spending power and, after the debacle with Target, aren’t afraid to voice their concerns with their wallets. Julie Craig is the VP of Shopper Insights at market research firm Kantar. She reminded the audience of how aligning with a Latino audience can go a long way. Some of her key takeaways included:
Latinos still seek companies and products that understand who they are and culturally resonate with them (we see this with other ethnic groups as well).
On average Latinos are now shopping more online than they are in store in terms of frequency and how much they spend. By not going into brick and mortar stores, its critical for brands to continue investing in digital. Creating seamless bilingual experiences is one of the many ways to achieve this.
There’s a delicate balance between catering towards people and transparency. While Latino shoppers enjoy personalization, it has its limits. The data shows that while 36% of Latino shoppers are happy with the product recommendations they see online (compared to non-Latinos), only 30% of them feel comfortable with social media algorithms knowing them well (compared to 38% of non-Latinos).
We also heard from Leah Johns, the Head of Bain’s Global Consumer Lab. She focused on how consumers bucketed in different age groups across various backgrounds is changing as well. Meeting your customer where they are is much more likely to yield favorable results than trying to change consumer behavior entirely. By 2050, there will be ~2B people around the world age 60+. Shiseido is now offering free makeup classes for seniors. 70% of social media users have reported feeling lonely among teen populations. UK retailer Marks & Spencer have created “chatty cafes” to tackle the lonliness epidemic and Vyrae has created perfume to lift your mood. By creating something plausible within your business model to help solve problems your customers are experiencing is powerful and creates a positive, lasting impression of your brand.
Leading Through Volatility and Change
There were so many incredible sessions on this topic, but one of my favorites was “Bold Bets We’re Making and What’s Driving Them” with Victoria Picca, CEO of sports apparel brand Off Season, and Desirée Rogers, co-owner and CEO of Black Opal LLC. The sports landscape is evolving at such a rapid pace, and even though more women are watching the NFL now more than ever, the league hasn’t done a great job catering to what they want to wear. Off Season was started by clothing designer Kristin Juszczyk with this in mind. Victoria is in charge of leading a company that not only has to keep up with fashion, but what sports fans want to wear. Earlier this month they launched their premiere collection to kick off their partnership with the WNBA. They’re hitting their stride for growth so we should see some exciting things from them in the coming months and years.
Desirée is solving for a different yet equally challenging problem: taking a legacy brand and continuing to make it relevant for younger generations. Black Opal has a rich history as a beauty brand supporting people of color. Even in 2025, the vast majority of women with melanin in their skin cannot find products that cater towards them. Desirée is consistently making bold bets where marketing is concerned, ensuring that whenever they go to HBCU campuses, create pop-ups in major cities, or even bringing their product into military commissaries, there’s thoughtful brand positioning in how their prospective and current customers want to be catered to.