Start your day with a delicious breakfast while networking with fellow attendees.

In a market where growth is harder to earn, consumer expectations continue to shift, and the path to purchase is increasingly fragmented, relevance has become a moving target. In this opening keynote, Ariel Dalton shares how Danone is building relevance at scale by aligning teams, capabilities, and investments around the consumer. Learn how the company is breaking down traditional silos, focusing on the moments that matter most, and creating a more connected growth engine that drives impact across the entire consumer journey.

The store is becoming a very different kind of place. Digital screens, sponsored search, retail media and emerging technologies are changing what can happen between the entrance and checkout. But the bigger question is what retailers want the store to become. In this keynote, Ahold Delhaize USA’s Bobby Watts shares an executive perspective on the decisions shaping the next era of in-store retail, from building technology around the realities of grocery to creating more connected experiences across partners, channels and data, and leveraging AI to drive meaningful business outcomes.

How does a legacy category stay relevant and modern at retail? Explore what’s driving new momentum in dairy milk, from higher-protein products to new moments of cultural relevance. Hear how data, digital tools and recent campaigns like Supergirl are informing how brands show up at retail, while helping retailers identify opportunities to support sales and basket growth.

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Consumers make hundreds of decisions every time they shop. So what actually catches their attention? In this fireside chat, Hy-Vee will explore not only what it takes to realize omnichannel success today, but what turns everyday interactions into opportunities for connection, using thoughtful storytelling, clear messaging, and a deeper understanding of what makes shoppers stop, engage, and spend.

Every year, brands spend enormous sums on offers, digital coupons, retail media and incentives designed to win at the shelf. But what happens to your brand’s offer after you fund it? Gary Hawkins and Bobby Tinsley trace a brand-funded offer from shelf to checkout to proof. Along the way, they’ll show where value gets lost, why “your POS is headed for a heart attack,” and how verified commerce ties incentives to verified purchases.

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Brands are increasingly influencing the store environment far beyond their traditional aisle. This discussion explores mission-based merchandising, seasonal activations and cross-category placement strategies that drive visibility and conversion while balancing shopper value with commercialization.

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Today's retail leaders have better data but not necessarily better decision-making. As AI changes how insights are generated and acted upon, organizations need to rethink not just what they measure, but how they connect performance to action. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how leading brands and retailers are evolving their approach to measurement--from in-store performance and retail media to shopper behavior and commercial outcomes. Together, attendees and experts will identify the metrics that actually influence decisions, uncover common blind spots and build a practical framework for creating measurement strategies that drive growth instead of simply reporting results.

Consumer shopping behavior is rewriting how retailers and brands think about physical stores, discovery, loyalty and conversion. In this exclusive first look at research from P2PI and Placer.ai, we'll unpack the latest shifts in store visitation patterns, channel performance and shopper priorities to reveal which retail formats are gaining momentum and why.

The session will explore how evolving consumer expectations are influencing merchandising, retail media, store design and omnichannel engagement strategies. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of the tactics separating high-performing retailers from those struggling to maintain relevance, along with practical implications for brands seeking to drive stronger in-store influence. We'll also examine the growing role of AI in shaping shopper journeys, operational decisions and the future physical store experience.

What does it take to make an impact in CPG? We're bringing our 2026 Hall of Fame honorees together for a candid conversation about pivotal moments that shaped their success. Hear how they've navigated change, what they've learned along the way and what they believe matters most for the industry's future.

Today’s CPG and retail marketers are caught in a trap. They have more data than ever but less proof of what's actually driving product off the shelf. This session will provide the playbook for how brands can break out of this trap. As shopper behavior shifts across channels, media budgets tighten, and the pressure to prove ROI mounts, brands need more than delivery metrics — they need proof tied to actual purchase behavior. Hear how Outcome Intelligence is helping brands move past proxies to measure what really drives sales and store visits, and the results that followed.

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Move beyond high-level retail trends and get a closer look at what is actually happening in stores. This session will use real-world visibility into merchandising, assortment, availability and execution to examine the conditions shoppers encounter at the shelf. The discussion will surface what’s happening on the ground, where execution differs from the plan and what brands can learn.

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Retail media budgets keep flowing to the same handful of retailers. Meanwhile, millions of weekly shopping trips happen in convenience-led independent retail, where most brands have no data or media presence. This session will explore how independent retail can help brands reach underrepresented consumers in traditional retail media programs, have visibility where immediate consumption decisions are made, and find incremental volume major chains can’t deliver.

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Today’s shoppers are willing to change brands, stores and pack sizes based on value, convenience and relevance. This panel explores how brands can use incentives, data and in-store messaging to protect loyalty in a more fluid marketplace.

What does success look like when shoppers move fluidly between digital and physical retail? There’s a lot that influences the modern store and knowing what’s truly driving behavior has become increasingly challenging. This session explores how executives are connecting insights across channels to evaluate in-store performance, optimize investments and identify where digital engagement translates into physical results. 

Hear how one of retail's leading organizations is thinking about the next generation of in-store.

Cap off a great day with a reception where we honor the top Women of Excellence!

Start your day with a delicious breakfast while networking with fellow attendees.

Consumers don't think in channels, and increasingly, neither does Church & Dwight. In this session, Rick Florio and Channan Sawhney will explore how the company uses shopper insights, trend forecasting and integrated brand strategies to create connected experiences across e-commerce, retail media and in-store environments. Through real-world examples from some of its fastest-growing brands, they'll share practical lessons for reducing friction, improving execution and driving conversion wherever shoppers choose to engage.

Today, loyalty is evolving beyond rewards to become a more powerful driver of engagement, traffic and growth. In this fireside chat, Giant Eagle will share how it’s taking its loyalty program to the next level, using customer data to create more relevant experiences and new reasons to engage–from fuel rewards to targeted promotions. The conversation will explore how those insights are also shaping marketing and merchandising decisions across the customer journey.

From neighborhood grocers to experiential flagships and merchandising innovators across Europe and Asia, some of the world’s most exciting retail ideas are hiding in plain sight. This visually rich presentation will reveal observations based on years of store visits across the globe, highlighting the formats, merchandising strategies and shopper experiences redefining what physical retail can be.

Health and wellness shoppers think in outcomes, not categories. Whether they're managing a condition, supporting a lifestyle change or seeking everyday well-being, consumers increasingly expect retailers and brands to help guide their journey. This session explores how organizations are collaborating across categories, leveraging shopper insights and creating more intuitive store experiences to help consumers make informed decisions while driving growth across the wellness ecosystem.

Shopping discovery was once largely relegated to the store shelf, and now it happens across physical stores, digital channels, social feeds, and increasingly through AI agents. And each one shapes what ends up in the cart. In this session, Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, will explain how these moments connect, why no brand or retailer can win in just one of them, and how the physical store is changing in response. Learn how to separate what will matter this holiday season from what to prepare for over the next five years.

Not every SKU deserves the same investment. The highest-performing brands know where growth is coming from, and where resources are being wasted. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn a practical framework for evaluating product performance, identifying the assortment driving the greatest value and uncovering hidden opportunities across the rest of the portfolio. Using real-world examples and interactive exercises, attendees will explore how data and AI can help prioritize investments, improve merchandising decisions and focus teams on the products with the greatest potential for profitable growth.

The future of merchandising is increasingly collaborative. This session explores how brands across categories are partnering around shared shopper missions, occasions and lifestyle moments to drive larger baskets and stronger engagement. Plus, they’ll reveal what it took to get to that level of alignment.

This session will examine current industry priorities and share strategies that help organizations drive stronger business outcomes. More details to be announced soon!  

Consumers don't distinguish between social media, retail media, a retailer's app or the physical store; they experience one brand journey. Yet many organizations still plan and measure these touchpoints separately. As digital engagement increasingly shapes in-store behavior, leading brands are rethinking how they connect media, merchandising, shopper marketing and sales into a unified commerce strategy. This discussion explores how cross-functional teams are creating seamless experiences that influence shoppers before, during and after the store visit, while measuring what truly drives conversion.