ShopTalk 2019 Highlights: the Sessions, Speakers and Startups You Don’t Want to Miss

With a packed agenda, 5 tracks, more than 350 speakers and hundreds of showcasing startups, it is hard to choose what to do at ShopTalk 2019 and how to make the most of your time onsite.

As I was planning my agenda for the conference, I took the time to list a few of the things I’m most looking forward to: sessions, side events and startups to watch, and I think it will be beneficial for those of you attending as well.

If you’re going to be there and want to meet us, drop me a line at info@re-tech.io and we’ll set time to meet!

The must-see sessions

There are 100+ different sessions taking place across 5 tracks throughout the 4 days of the event. Unfortunately, even if I had the time to see all of them, it is not physically possible (at least not for the next 20 years or so), so I have to choose.

After going through the agenda thoroughly, here are the sessions that I’m most looking forward to and recommend you check out as well:

1. Keynote: Erik Nordstrom, Co-President at Nordstrom

What: Courtney Reagan, Retail Reporter at CNBC, will be interviewing Erik Nordstrom in one of the most intriguing sessions in ShopTalk.

When: Sunday, March 3 at 5:05PM – 5:25PM

Where: General Session Room

Why: The Nordstrom family has run stores across the US for more than a century. While other retailers are closing, Nordstrom opened a high-profile NY store last April. Following the passing of former President, Blake Nordstrom, this is a unique chance to learn what Erik Nordstrom thinks about the future of retail and the company’s strategy.

2. Artificial Emotional Intelligence

What: This session will feature four cutting-edge technology companies whose solutions use artificial intelligence to elicit or gauge human emotion.

When: Monday, March 4- 2:50PM – 3:30PM

Where: Track Room 5: Technologies Transforming Retail- Artificial Intelligence

Why: As retailers today strive to differentiate themselves,  innovative AI-based tools can help to create unique, personalized shopping experiences. I’m curious to learn about the latest developments in this fascinating area.

3. Delighting Customers through Personal Interactions

What:  Industry leaders Stich Fix and Ulta Beauty will discuss how they’re using personalization tactics online and offline to create more relevant, engaging shopping experiences.

When: Tuesday, March 5- 10:00AM – 10:40AM

Where: Track Room 1: Next Generation Retail Experiences: Ecommerce and Stores

Why: I’m fascinated by Stich Fix’s massive growth. With a model that requires ongoing scale of operations, I’m curious how they are able to support such scale without compromising on personalization.

The onsite events to check out

1. Israeli & Canadian innovation tour

If you thought that innovation in retail is coming primarily from the US, think again.

This year at ShopTalk, there will be around 40 Israeli and around 30 Canadian retail tech startups that will present cutting-edge solutions. To help you navigate and find them through the busy floor at the Venitian, Re:Tech has partnered with the Quebec official delegation for a unique tour.

We will start at the Israeli Pavilion booth at 13:45 on Monday with a special announcement – covering the key highlights of a report called “Deep Dive into Israeli Retail Tech” that we will be releasing at ShopTalk. Following the announcement, we will take you through the floor to hear first hand from the founders of some of the most interesting Israeli and Canadian startups, and will conclude at the Canadian Pavilion booth for a recap.

When: Monday March 4th at 13:45-14:30 (this is during the networking break, to make sure you don’t miss any of the keynotes)

Where: We will meet at the Israeli Pavilion, booth #3037

Why: This is the best way to discover the next-gen retail tech solution coming from Israel and Canada

2. Welcome Reception on Sunday

There are a lot of amazing speakers on ShopTalk this year. For those of you arriving on the first day, don’t miss the opportunity to also meet them personally over drinks

When: On March 3rd between 6.15pm-7.00pm.

Where: The speakers will be available for questions and conversation with attendees in different locations throughout the Exhibit Hall

Why: From my experience, 1:1 conversations tend to be some of the best moments in conferences, especially in large ones like ShopTalk – that bring together over 8,000 people. The welcome reception is a fantastic opportunity to form some interesting relationships. And of course, there’s nothing like a cool drink after a long day of sessions, meetings and talks.

 The startups to watch

There are 30+ Israeli startups presenting at ShopTalk this year. To give you a taste, we gathered a list of 10 of the startups that will be presenting.

To get a glimpse at their cutting edge technologies, visit us at the Israeli Tech Pavilion, at booth #3037.  Here is a handy map for you to get around easily:

Floor plan clean 1

  1. CommonSense Robotics- CommonSense Robotics enables grocery retailers to profitably fulfill and deliver online orders within one hour. The company’s platform, powered by robotics and AI, redefines the way goods are fulfilled and delivered within cities to support on-demand e-commerce at scale.
  2. Namogoo- Namogoo is pioneering the market of Customer Hijacking Prevention. Created with the mission of preserving a distraction-free online customer journey, Namogoo’s disruptive technology identifies and blocks unauthorized ads injected into consumer web sessions that divert customers to competitor offerings, hurting conversion rates and damaging brand equity.
  3. Personali- Personali’s AI Intelligent Incentive platform offers the ability to elicit, capture and harness shoppers’ emotional responses, to achieve the highest engagement and encourage increased spend.
  4. Syte- Syte developed a visual AI for retail. Selected as one of a Gartner cool vendor in the AI category, Syte’s solution improves retailers’ site navigation, product discovery and user experience by enabling users to search with images, a method proven to engage and convert shoppers.
  5. Cyberint- CyberInt eliminates potential threats before they become crises by looking at all online activities and digital assets from an attacker’s perspective and provides managed detection and response services to customers worldwide. You can check out Cyberint’s tech at the Israeli tech Pavilion at booth #3037.
  6. My stor-e- My store-e developed an AI-based right-hand assistant named Tore-E, who delivers wisdom to individual stores automatically, allowing retailers to communicate with the stores in real-time and maximize the value of every product in-store.
  7. Cloudinary- Cloudinary provides a cloud-based media full-stack solution for the world’s top brands and helps them to manage images, videos and other rich media assets and deliver an optimal end user experience.
  8. Riskified- Riskified is an all-in-one eCommerce fraud prevention solution and chargeback protection service for high volume and enterprise merchants.
  9. Splitit- Splitit is a global payment solution enabling customers to pay for purchases with an existing debit or credit card by splitting the cost into interest-free monthly payments, without the need for additional registrations or applications.
  10. Donde- Donde is transforming the online shopping experience by using its award-winning AI, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing technology to help e-commerce sites mimic the way their customers think about products.

All set

In a few days, most of the retail industry leaders will be packing their bags and arriving to Vegas for one of the most exciting events of the year.

Now that I have my priories organized for what to do at ShopTalk, I am even more excited for the ride!

Drop by booth #3037 to say hi, and feel free to drop us a line at info@re-tech.io if you’d like to set time to meet. See you there!

 

Featured Image: kenexx

Yael Kochman