Agenda

Today's store associate wears more hats than ever - serving customers, fulfilling digital orders, managing inventory, supporting pickup, and more. As these responsibilities continue to expand, retailers are rethinking how technology can simplify work rather than add complexity. This session explores how mobile tools, AI, and connected workflows are helping frontline teams work more efficiently, make faster decisions, and deliver more consistent customer experiences across physical and digital channels. Hear how retailers are equipping associates with the information and capabilities they need in the moment, while creating a more agile store operation that can adapt to changing customer expectations and evolving business needs.

By 2035, Generation X are projected to command $23 trillion in spending power. Yet, most brand strategies prioritize the sheer volume of Gen Z. The core reality is Gen X is not a footnote, they are the load-bearing generation: balancing families and workplaces and holding decades of institutional expertise while quietly driving economic velocity.  From the multi-generational spending power to the untapped loyalty, what would your company do differently if it stopped treating Gen X as a bridge between other generations?

Commerce has a new customer – and it isn’t human. Shopping agents are beginning to compare, decide and buy at machine speed and volume. They don’t browse – they read your data. And when an agent evaluates your catalog, speed alone isn’t enough – it needs to trust that your data is true. One stale price, phantom inventory count or hallucinated attribute can remove you from consideration.

This panel goes inside the intelligence layer that makes commerce agent-ready – enriched & verified product data, real-time pricing & availability, taxonomy machines can reason over, and governed endpoints that ground every answer in evidence. Leave with a practical definition of “agent-ready” – and why the next share shift in retail may be decided there.

If discovery happens in < 3 seconds: What replaces search? What replaces brand building? Creative becomes merchandising    In this panel discussion, we examine how in today’s retail landscape, the first impression isn’t made at the front door — it happens in a feed, a swipe, or a scroll. Consumers are making split-second decisions about what to watch, click, buy, or ignore, forcing brands to rethink how they capture attention and convert interest instantly.   This session will explore how retailers and brands can win in the “scroll era” by designing experiences that stop thumbs and drive action across social commerce, digital storefronts, live shopping, and mobile-first platforms. From visual storytelling and creator partnerships to frictionless checkout and AI-powered personalization.

As payments become increasingly invisible and identity becomes the new currency of trust, retailers face a pivotal question: how do you balance seamless commerce with security, privacy, and consumer confidence? In this fireside chat, Jeff Pomeroy, Payment Services & Crypto at PayPal discusses game-changing new technologies like palm and facial recognition — and the impact that getting identity right can have on merchants' bottom line. He will be joined by a leading brand to explore real-world use cases, emerging risks, and what retailers need to prepare for as the line between "who you are" and "how you pay" continues to blur.

Consumer behavior is shaped as much by emotion as by economics, with shoppers seeking joy, reassurance, and a sense of connection – not just efficiency – in their purchasing experiences. Every purchase must “earn its place,” which means retailers need to build trust, personalization, and emotional connections rather than relying solely on convenience-driven tactics. And with AI reshaping the journey and shopper expectations shifting rapidly, retailers that prioritize meaningful, human-centered moments over transactional speed will differentiate themselves – and hopefully build loyalty. Ultimately, consumers want to feel a sense of belonging, community and identity.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha don't consume media the way previous generations did. They discover products and brands through a fluid mix of creators, social platforms, haul content, peer influence, experiential events, and in-person shopping experiences. The path to purchase is increasingly shaped by authentic moments rather than traditional advertising. For retailers, adapting to this reality is essential. Success requires showing up in the moments that influence consideration and purchase, from creator partnerships and social content to pop-up activations, experiential retail, and even the resurgence of the mall as a destination for shopping, entertainment, and social connection. Above all, brands must earn attention rather than demand it, integrating naturally into the environments and experiences that matter most to these generations, where authenticity is a prerequisite for engagement.

For more than 60 years, Lands’ End has earned a place in customers’ lives by making dependable, thoughtfully designed products for real people, real plans and real weather. That history isn’t something to move away from. It’s what CEO Charlie Cole calls the brand’s “cheat code”: generations of trust, product authority and customer relationships that few brands can replicate.   

Join Charlie for a fireside chat about using that advantage to build the next chapter of one of America’s most enduring brands. How do you welcome a new generation while continuing to serve the customers who made the brand what it is? Where can technology meaningfully improve the customer experience—and where must product truth and human connection continue to lead? How do leaders create change that employees and customers can understand, believe in and help carry forward?   

From modern marketing and brand storytelling to technology, personalization and customer experience, hear how Lands’ End is bringing fresh energy and relevance to the strengths it has built over generations, turning an iconic legacy into a foundation for what comes next.

Gap Inc. EVP and Chief Technology Officer Sven Gerjets joins us to unpack how the retailer is embedding AI and agentic technology into every layer of the business – from product design and supply chain to marketing and the customer experience. He’ll share what it takes to move fast without losing the brand's human core, including lessons from Gap’s multiyear Google Cloud partnership and its early bet on agentic commerce.

AI is no longer a back-office tool – it's the nervous system of the retail value chain. This session unpacks how predictive analytics, agentic AI, real-time demand signals, supplier transparency, and dynamic pricing are converging to build retail operations that are faster, leaner, and more attuned to the customer - while positioning organizations for what comes next.

The future of retail will be shaped as much by unexpected disruption as by known market trends. Join Barry Raghunathan, KPMG's Consumer & Retail Technology Leader, to explore the opportunities and challenges that will define the next era of growth. From AI-enabled planning and predictive insights to fostering a culture of technology curiosity, this session will examine how a leading retailer is turning uncertainty into a competitive advantage. Discover practical strategies to drive transformation, make smarter decisions, and confidently prepare for what's next.

Shopping and checkout are increasingly happening outside retailers’ owned storefronts, across marketplaces, social platforms, delivery apps, AI assistants, and embedded commerce experiences. As the path to purchase becomes more fragmented, maintaining ownership of the customer relationship is becoming more complex. This session will explore how retail leaders can evaluate emerging commerce channels, protect the customer relationship, and stay connected to customers wherever they choose to buy.

Long before circularity became a retail strategy, Goodwill was proving it could work at scale. For nearly 125 years, Goodwill has built one of North America's most successful reuse and resale ecosystems, keeping billions of pounds of products in circulation while creating pathways to employment and economic mobility. In this session, Goodwill Industries International President and CEO Steve Preston will share how the organization has evolved into a powerful model for circular retail, demonstrating how sustainability and business value can grow together. Drawing on lessons from thousands of retail locations, donation centers, and workforce development programs, Steve will explore how retailers can extend product lifecycles, maximize value recovery, and create lasting impact. He'll also look ahead to the future of circular retail, from technology and traceability to new partnerships and workforce strategies that can help build more resilient, inclusive, and profitable businesses.