Nashville, for the first time
Retail Unplugged.
Fewer slides, more candid conversation.
Shoptalk Fall heads to Nashville for the first time in 2026, landing in the “sweet spot” window when retailers and brands set their direction for the year ahead. The show leans into what organizers call “Retail Unplugged.” Fewer slides, more candid conversation, with 60% of attendees expected to be first-timers and this year's themes spanning operations, AI-driven customer experience, modernized tech, and the intersection of commerce, content, and community.
As we do every year, Incisiv is spotlighting the event where the industry gathers to decide what 2027 looks like. This preview highlights the themes shaping the agenda, the new B2B Exchange program, and the sessions we think are most worth our followers' time.
Where takeaways turn into relationships
Each day of Shoptalk Fall sets aside dedicated Meetup blocks, pre-scheduled hosted and general meetings for one-on-one conversations between retailers, brands, and solution providers. Alongside Meetup, the show layers in TableTalks over lunch, Retailer & Consumer Brand Dinners, and the Shoptalk Fall Party, giving attendees plenty of room to turn agenda takeaways into real relationships.
Key Topics Shaping the Shoptalk Fall 2026 Agenda
The 2026 agenda centers on three themes:
Case Studies in What Makes Retail and Ecommerce Excellent Today: Redesigning shopper experiences, AI-enhancing customer engagement, and modernizing the tech stack for 2027 — best practices on fulfillment, conversion, and using data to scale, from the leaders who did it.
The Merger of Shopping and Entertainment: Building immersive brand experiences, working with content creators, and leaning into social shopping — what consumers want and how to reach them with on-brand, entertaining experiences.
Understanding the Customer of 2027: All-new data, research, and benchmarking on retailer engagement strategies and customer behavior shifts — separating short-term noise from the long-term changes worth planning around.
New this year:
Now in Nashville: A new backdrop, a new cross-section of retail and brand leaders, and the looser, roll-up-your-sleeves room “Retail Unplugged” is built for.
More Ways to Connect: More learning formats, more networking, and more peer-to-peer sharing for this fall's biggest retailer and brand audience.
New B2B Pre-Day & Workshops: Dedicated B2B commerce sessions and peer discussions for B2B leaders and teams expanding into wholesale — detailed below.
Spotlight: The B2B Exchange at Shoptalk
New for 2026, the B2B Exchange (built with Master B2B) gives B2B commerce leaders a dedicated track within Shoptalk Fall. It opens with an invite-only Pre-Day Summit on September 28 — executive table topics and peer-led roundtables — then continues as Discovery Stage programming on the Shoptalk Fall show floor from September 29 through October 1, covering B2B and wholesale growth, the modern B2B buyer, and data, AI, and commerce infrastructure (product data, search, agentic buying and selling).
With four to five tracks running in parallel during most time blocks, planning your ideal path through Shoptalk Fall can be overwhelming. Below, Incisiv highlights one can't-miss session per time block — plus the plenary keynotes — chosen for their direct relevance to our research on digital commerce and CX benchmarking, connected retail and store technology, AI and agentic commerce, and personalization.
Shoptalk Fall can't-miss sessions
The plenary blocks worth building your day around
Main StageOpening Remarks
Kicks off the show and frames the themes organizers see shaping 2027 planning.
Main Stage Keynotes
Opens with Hal Lawton, President & CEO of Tractor Supply, followed by two more keynote slots. This is the plenary block worth building your day around.
Track Keynote: The Next Evolution of Ecommerce
A flagship research keynote on where digital commerce is headed — the kind of forward-looking benchmarking Incisiv's own Digital Commerce work is built to track.
Delivering Personalization That Drives Engagement and Transactions
Personalization tied directly to engagement and conversion outcomes is one of Incisiv's most consistent research pillars — this session gets specific about what's actually moving the needle.
Insights: New Research on Online Shopper Needs and Expectations
Fresh research on shifting online shopper expectations is a direct complement to Incisiv's Retail Customer Experience Index — worth benchmarking your own assumptions against.
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Discounts, Value Menus, and Serving the Price-Conscious Consumer
Value and affordability have shown up repeatedly in Incisiv's consumer research as the dominant shopper priority right now — a session worth attending for anyone rethinking pricing and promotion strategy.
Designing New Approaches to Digital Discovery
Digital shelf and discovery is core Incisiv digital commerce territory, and increasingly reshaped by AI-driven search — relevant for any brand or retailer rethinking findability.
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The plenary block worth prioritizing
Main StageWelcome Back Remarks & Main Stage Keynotes
Three keynote slots following the lunch break — the plenary block worth prioritizing over any single afternoon track.
Case Studies: How Conversational Agents Elevate the Customer Journey
Conversational and agentic commerce is one of the fastest-moving areas in Incisiv's AI-powered retail research — real case studies here are more useful than another vendor pitch.
Tech Spotlight: Frictionless Ecommerce Technologies
Reducing friction across the digital shopping journey is a recurring finding in Incisiv's Digital Commerce Maturity Assessment — a good pulse check on what's newly available.
The final day's keynote block — worth attending in full
Main StageWelcome Back Remarks & Main Stage Keynotes
The final day's keynote block, ahead of the closing tracks and Shoptalk Fall Key Takeaways. Worth attending in full.
Track Keynote: Examining the Store's Role in Connected Commerce Strategy
Connected commerce — how the store fits into a unified strategy — is exactly what Incisiv's Connected Retail Experience Study measures. A strong fit for anyone rethinking the store's role in omnichannel.
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Driving Loyalty via Omnichannel Convenience
Loyalty increasingly hinges on cross-channel convenience, not points programs — a theme that shows up consistently in Incisiv's Retail Customer Experience Index.
Fulfillment and Delivery: Exceeding Customer Expectations
Fulfillment speed and reliability are recurring pressure points in Incisiv's digital commerce benchmarking — a practical closer before the show's Key Takeaways session.
The events
Shoptalk Fall's education agenda is only half the show. Here are the surrounding moments where the real conversations tend to happen.
TableTalks + Lunch (Prescheduled, Retailer & Consumer Brand Attendees Only)
Small-group lunch conversations that set the tone before the afternoon's tracks.
Retailer & Consumer Brand Dinners
Invitation-style evening dinners that carry day-one conversations into a more personal setting.
TableTalks + Lunch (Prescheduled, Retailer & Consumer Brand Attendees Only)
A second round of small-group conversations midway through the show.
The Speakeasy @ Shoptalk Fall
The Speakeasy at Shoptalk Fall 2026 brings retail's leading minds together for an evening of connection at Nelson's Green Brier Distillery in Nashville — a historic setting paired with curated food and spirits for meaningful conversation.
View Event PageShoptalk Fall Party
The show's signature party — the year's biggest informal networking opportunity, by design.
Get the full Incisiv guide to Shoptalk Fall 2026
Every can't-miss session, keynote block, and networking moment — compiled by Incisiv into one guide you can keep on hand in Nashville.
Download the Guide