SCHEDULE DETAILS Information of Event Schedules
World is committed to making participation in the event a harassment free experience for everyone, regardless of level of experience, gender, gender identity and expression
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
Main Stage Session - Opening Keynote
Joe Youst
SmartTalk! Session: Branch 360: A Collaborative Blueprint for the Future-Focused Banking Environment (Stage 1)
As banks reinvent their branches for digital-first customers, they face challenges long familiar to retailers: Balancing technology with human connection, designing for trust, and maintaining brand consistency at scale. This session explores how financial institutions are rethinking physical spaces through evolving branch models, research backed insights and changing customer behaviors. Discover how experiential design strategies can translate digital convenience into meaningful, high-performing environments that build confidence, engagement and long-term loyalty across every location.
Takeaways:
- Learn how banks adapt retail design strategies
- Discover shifts in customer expectations and behavior
- Explore experiential tools that build trust and performance
Bryan Meszaros
SmartTalk! Session
Bevan Bloemendaal
Inside the Retail Challenge: A Conversation with SNIPES
Join Bevan Bloemendaal, Founder of BB Creative Consultancy, for a fireside chat with German-based streetwear brand SNIPES. The conversation will explore SNIPES’ role in this past year’s Shop! Ideation Conference & Retail Challenge, the impact the brand is making within the communities they serve, and what’s next as they continue to shape culture through retail.
Lisa Wynne
SmartTalk! Session: Designing Sustainability for Reality (Stage 2)
Sustainability in retail is increasingly driven by transparency expectations from consumers and regulators – but its success depends on how well decisions move through design, sourcing, and retail execution. This session reframes sustainability as a shared system, offering practical insight into where misalignment occurs and how early collaboration enables more credible, effective progress.
Takeaways:
- Discover how sustainability succeeds or fails in the handoffs
- Learn how design is the leverage point for transparency
- Understand progress comes from shared visibility, not perfection
Robb Northrup
SmartTalk! Session
Kate Culley-Rapata
Optimizing Global Rollout: The Project Delivery Efficiency Model Driving Levi’s Store Expansion
As retail continues to evolve, efficiency and standardization are proving just as important as design for ensuring quality brand environments. This session will explore how Levi’s is critically assessing its global store rollout through a multi-year initiative that gathers data and leverages learnings to continually improve. Discover how data-driven insights, regional collabs and an evolving playbook are reducing complexity, controlling costs and accelerating timelines through real-world case studies, including the brand’s immersive Champs-Élysées flagship and other projects around the globe.
Takeaways:
- Learn how Levi's cross-functional coordination and internal guidelines streamline global store delivery
- Discover how data can align regional design and construction teams, improving quality across markets
- Explore tools that reduce costs and timelines
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
David Kepron
Blurred Lines: Where Retail and Hospitality Converge
As customer expectations begin to blur industry lines, the most compelling experiences are no longer purely retail or purely hospitality, but a blend of the two. This session will explore how brands can merge the best of both worlds to create memorable, seamless environments that resonate with today’s consumers. Discover how hospitality principles can elevate retail engagement, and how retail innovation can reinvigorate hospitality. Through practical insights and real-world thinking, learn why the future belongs to brands that embrace convergence, share-worthy moments and storytelling - no matter the setting.
Takeaways:
- Learn how hospitality can elevate retail experiences
- Discover ways retail innovation enhances hospitality
- Explore strategies for seamless, shareable environments
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
Shop! Awards Reception
Celebrate the industry’s top projects and talent during an evening of awards, networking, dinner, and complimentary cocktails. This event honors winners of the OMA Awards, Design Awards, and Global Awards and takes place in a beautifully appointed space within the New Orleans Convention Center, in the heart of Shop! MarketPlace!
A separate ticket is required for this event. Reserve now.
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
PAVE Social
Sip, socialize, and support student design at this evening networking event featuring cocktails, tasty bites, and boutique bowling at Fulton Alley. All proceeds benefit PAVE’s educational and student aid programs.
A separate ticket is required for this event. Reserve now.
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
Main Stage Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
Amber Bazdar
Culture as a Catalyst: Elevating Performance and Consumer Experience
Exceptional consumer experiences begin before the sales floor – it starts with culture. This keynote session will explore how a two-year transformation of a regional VM team at New Balance reshaped performance, customer impact, and collaboration. Discover the importance of empowering teams, embracing strategic evolution, and fostering trust – all of which can unlock and eliminate bottlenecks. Through real-world lessons, understand how intentional culture building creates future ready organizations, ones that elevate both internal performance and the experiences delivered to today’s consumers.
Takeaways:
- Learn how culture drives performance and experience
- Discover ways to unlock team potential
- Explore strategies for building future-ready teams
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
Main Stage Session
Eric Daniel
Main Stage Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session: Design That Delivers: Inside the Retail Challenge–Winning SNIPES Experience (Stage 2)
Get an insider look at the winning Retail Challenge activation with this special tour of the SNIPES booth, the standout concept that took top honors at Shop! Ideation & Retail Conference 2025. Join the creators behind the design as they walk you around the space, sharing the strategy, storytelling and decisions that made their build a winner. You’ll see firsthand how the experience functions in action, understand the design intent and innovation that brought it to life, and walk away with practical takeaways you can apply to your own environments. Meet the minds behind the magic and explore what makes this booth a benchmark in experiential retail design.
Takeaways:
- See how a winning concept comes to life, from initial idea through execution on the show floor
- Learn directly from the creators about the design choices, materials and strategies behind the build
- Take away practical inspiration for creating high-impact, functional experiential spaces under real-world constraints
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session: Breaking the Beige: Designing Emotionally Charged Retail Experiences that Scale (Stage 1)
While brands scale, the real challenge is growing without losing what makes your in-store experience special. This session will explore how leading retailers balance efficiency and expansion while protecting the emotional spark that sets them apart. Discover why standing out in a sea of sameness is more than a design decision, it's a strategy for relevance, loyalty, and long-term impact. Learn how thoughtful evolution can preserve authenticity, spark connection, and keep experiences meaningful as brands grow.
Takeaways:
- Learn how to scale without losing brand magic
- Discover why differentiation drives loyalty
- Explore strategies to evolve without sameness
Shop! MarketPlace 2026
SmartTalk! Session