The Strategic Guide for What Comes Next in Retail

At CommerceNext, our speakers provide 3-5 exclusive CommerceNext Steps: a curated list of actionable takeaways you can apply to your business immediately.

From marketing strategy to tech and growth, don’t miss out on the strategies that will define your growth—found only at CommerceNext.

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CommerceNext 2026 Recap

Discover CommerceNext Steps from these leading retail brands

Are Robots Stealing Your Brand Soul? Keep it Human in the Age of Agentic

Automate the routine, humanize the meaningful.
Use AI to remove friction from discovery, FAQs and order support, while reserving emotional, judgment-based moments for people.

Differentiate through brand, not technology.
As AI capabilities become ubiquitous, memorable experiences, authentic storytelling and clear brand identity will be the true competitive advantage.

Design for trust at every touchpoint.
Build AI experiences that know when to escalate, reinforce brand values consistently and strengthen customer confidence—because trust, once lost, is difficult to regain.

Oscar Diaz

SVP, Technology & Digital Innovation, G-III Apparel Group

Adnan Somani

EVP, Digital Technology, Authentic Brands Group

Elizabeth Garry

VP, Ecommerce, Pandora

Kimberley Gardiner

Chief Marketing Officer, Tractor Supply Co.

The Human Edge: What Tractor Supply Knows About Winning in the Age of AI

Start with who you serve, not what you sell.
When you’re clear about who you’re for, decisions about products, experiences and technology become much simpler.

Customers don’t separate necessity from passion.
Winning means serving both the practical needs and the passions that define Life Out Here.

Technology scales convenience. Stores scale trust.
Team members provide expertise, problem-solving and human connection. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, that trust becomes even more valuable.

Use AI to make things easier, not less human.
The best use of AI is removing friction. The goal is creating more time for the interactions that matter most

Customer-centricity is built, not declared.
Customer-centricity isn’t a statement—it’s an operating model.

The Future of Personalization is Physical, Human and Immersive

Stores are relationship engines, not just transaction channels
Driving loyalty, acquisition, community and brand engagement.

Radical hospitality is a competitive advantage
Customers remember how a brand makes them feel, not just what they buy.

Technology scales the experience; people are the engine behind it all
AI and data empower associates, but human connection builds trust.

Personalization is becoming more physical and immersive
Blending environments, expertise and customer insights beyond screens.

Store success must be measured holistically
Including impact on ecommerce, loyalty, customer lifetime value and brand growth.

Amiee Bayer-Thomas

Chief Retail Officer, Ulta Beauty

Kim Heidt

Chief Retail Officer, Tecovas

Lessons from High-Growth Scale-Ups

Always be testing into new growth engines.
New products, channels, markets and business models may unlock the next stage of growth.

Upgrade the infrastructure.
Driving rapid, sustained growth requires constant reevaluation and upleveling across team, processes, partners and platforms.

Diversify to stay resilient.
Growth comes from meeting customers wherever they are, whether it’s new channels or geos.

Creative wins.
A consistent pipeline of authentic, high-quality content drives performance across every channel.

Build the brand, protect the product.
Brand awareness attracts new customers; product quality keeps them.

Katia Unlu

Chief Commercial Officer, Boll & Branch

Yingying Kuang

Chief Marketing Officer, Kitsch

Nicole Wegman

Founder & CEO, Ring Concierge

Everyone Owns the Customer. So Why Is Growth Still So Hard?

Clarify who owns the end-to-end customer journey.
Define who is accountable for orchestrating the journey across marketing, ecommerce, service, operations and technology.

Audit where your customer experience breaks across teams, channels or partners.
Map the journey and identify the biggest friction points: Handoffs, data gaps, inconsistent messaging or execution breakdowns that make the experience feel disconnected.

Focus on activating first-party data, not just collecting it.
Review what customer data you already have and ask: What decisions or actions is this data actually driving today? If the answer is “mostly reporting,” prioritize use cases that translate insight into action.

Create stronger cross-functional operating rhythms around the customer.
Establish regular forums where teams review customer insights together, align on priorities and leave with a clear owner, action and timeline.

Vijay Talwar

Chief Digital, Data & Technology Officer, Avolta

Sreeharsha Upadhyayula

VP, Transformation, Under Armour

Jamie Cygielman

Global Head of Dolls, Mattel, Inc., Mattel

From Toy Aisle to Cultural Engine, Mattel is Reinventing Connection

Commerce has become culture.
Winning brands don’t just sell products. They create moments people want to participate in.

Nostalgia is a launchpad, not a strategy.
The strongest brands honor their heritage while continuously creating new reasons for consumers to engage.

Experience is the new differentiator.
Physical retail succeeds when it delivers memories, community and emotional connections—not simply transactions.

Communities create lifetime value.
The most valuable customers become advocates, collectors, creators and storytellers.

AI-Powered CX: Turning First-Party Data Into Profit

Don’t stop at the data.
The real value comes from turning customer signals into action—whether that’s improving a product, adjusting a message or creating a better experience.

Your customers are already telling you what they want.
The challenge isn’t collecting more feedback. It’s finding ways to surface it, connect it and act on it faster.

The future of CX is personal, proactive and scalable.
The best use of AI isn’t replacing the human touch. It’s helping brands deliver more relevant, helpful experiences to more customers.

Kristi Carlson

VP, Digital Technology, Kendra Scott

Justin Emig

Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Artistant Lane Furniture Collective

Henry Spear

SVP, Digital & Customer Care, JD North America

From Digital Natives to Legacy Institutions: Omnichannel’s Next Era

Redefine omnichannel around context, not channels.
Stop optimizing touchpoints in isolation. Design for customer experience and profit.

Make loyalty your connective tissue, then push it further.
Points are table stakes; emotional stickiness through community and experience is the differentiator. Your app experience can be a game changer.

Prepare to use AI in your omni-experience now.
Don’t be afraid to test and learn, and don’t wait.

Josh Friedman

SVP Ecommerce & Digital, Ulta Beauty

Debbie Woloshin

Chief Marketing Officer, Stitch Fix

Mandeep Bhatia

SVP, Global Digital Product & Omnichannel Innovation, Tapestry

All About the Long Game: CLV as the Ultimate Growth Metric

How your organization defines CLV is important. If asked independently, would you all be aligned on how you measure it?

You can’t act on CLV if you can’t measure it consistently.
How good is your “good data?” Do you have a clear picture of how your customer is shopping your brand across all channels, owned and 3P?

CLV should be a company-wide operating metric.
You need to know how you define and measure it so that it can properly inform how you invest in and use it