Must-Attend Retail Conferences in 2025
The 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show is the must-attend event for retail leaders seeking unparalleled opportunities to learn, network and drive growth. But if you can’t make it, we’ve curated a list of other top retail conferences in 2025—handpicked to provide valuable insights that can help you achieve your business goals.
CommerceNext June 24-26
- Location: New York City
- Type: Ecommerce
- Attendees: 2,700+
- Speakers: 150+
The 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show dives deep into emerging retail technologies, customer experience innovation, digital marketing, personalization and data-driven strategies. With over 150 industry-leading speakers from brands like Wayfair, American Eagle and Foot Locker and 2700+ attendees from Target, Sephora, Walmart and more, it’s a must-attend event for learning and making connections in ecommerce.
CommerceNext will feature panels and keynotes on AI, omnichannel strategies and content optimization. Plus, CommerceNext offers the most generous travel program in the industry, with up to $1200 in travel credit for retailers and brands.
Register now for the 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show!
Speaker Highlights
– Kim Waldmann, Foot Locker
– Craig Brommers, American Eagle
– Fiona Tan, Wayfair
– Tom Ward, Sam’s Club
– More to be announced
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- How brands navigate political divides
- Sustainability in ecommerce
- The impact of shifting consumer behaviors
- AI tech & innovations
✔️Pros:
– Generous travel program
– High-profile speakers/attendees
❌Cons:
– Costly NYC location
Prosper Show March 25-27
- Location: Las Vegas
- Type: Ecommerce
- Attendees: 21,000+
- Speakers: 80+
Speaker Highlights
– Trey Littell, Amazon
– Jane Naugler, SharkNinja
– Sean Riley, Dude Wipes
– Sherry Shi, TikTok Shop
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI-Driven personalization
- Sustainability in ecommerce
- Augmented Reality (AR) shopping
- Voice commerce
✔️Pros:
– Focus on marketplace setting
❌Cons:
– Limited appeal to non-marketplace sellers
eTail West & eTail East February 26-29, August 19-22
- Location: Palm Springs, Boston
- Type: Ecommerce
- Attendees: 2,500+
- Speakers: 250+
Speaker Highlights
– Paige Sheedy, DSW
– Kevin Moffitt, Office Depot
– Amanda Effron, IKEA North America
– Anna Esrov, Boll & Branch
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Sustainability initiatives
- Innovative supply chain innovations
- Ethical AI usage
- Strategies for leveraging data
✔️Pros:
– Wide appeal of topics, flexible dates/locations
❌Cons:
– Exclusive appeal to certain industry, travel costs
NRF Big Show January 12-14
- Location: New York City
- Type: General Retail
- Attendees: 40,000+
- Speakers: 450+
Speaker Highlights
– John Furner, Walmart
– David Solomon, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
– Brian Cornell, Target
– Azita Martin, NVIDIA
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- The ethical use of consumer data
- AI innovations
- The effects of tariffs and global economic shifts on retail
✔️Pros:
– Large event for extensive networking
❌Cons:
– Overwhelming size, less ecommerce-specific
Retail Summits Various Dates
- Location: Various Locations
- Type: General Retail
- Attendees: 10,000+
- Speakers: 350+
Speaker Highlights
– Bert Barnes, TheRealReal (Los Angeles)
– Michelle Chester, General Mills (Minneapolis)
– Ajith Vasudevan, Wayfair (Boston)
– Vithya Kuckreja, Forever 21 (Denver)
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Social commerce expansion
- International expansion strategies
- Logistics and payment solutions
✔️Pros:
– Accessible local events
❌Cons:
– Smaller scale, less emphasis on tech
Shoptalk Spring & Shoptalk Fall March 25-27, September 17-19
- Location: Las Vegas, Chicago
- Type: General Retail
- Attendees: 10,000+
- Speakers: 200+
Speaker Highlights
– Michelle Gass, Levi Strauss & Co.
– Adeela Hussain Johnson, BÉIS
– Sharon Price John, Build-A-Bear Workshop
– Kyle Leahy, Glossier
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI-driven personalization, fulfillment and delivery technologies and innovative merchandising strategies
- The future of in-store technology
- Evolving political policies
✔️Pros:
– Large attendance with customer-centric focus
❌Cons:
– Busy sessions, expensive for non-retailers
Modern Retail Marketing Summit April 7-9
- Location: New Orleans
- Type: General Retail
- Attendees: ~1,000
- Speakers: ~100
Speaker Highlights
– Michael Black, BARK
– Samantha Fodrowski, Tecovas
– Emma Giles, Chobani
– Stacey Hartnett, Chomps
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Omnichannel integration
- Retail media networks
- Experiential retail
✔️Pros:
– Focus on sustainability, intimate settings for networking
❌Cons:
– Less tech and operations content
Women in Retail Leadership Summit April 28-30
- Location: Amelia Island
- Type: General Retail
- Attendees: (invite only)
- Speakers: N/A
Speaker Highlights
– Gina Drosos, Signet Jewelers
– Jacqueline Ardrey, Vera Bradley
– Julie Rice, SoulCycle
– Linda Hubbard, Carhartt
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Brick-and-Mortar transformation
- Customer loyalty and payment systems
- Ecommerce Platform Optimization
✔️Pros:
– Exclusive for women leaders, strong leadership development focus
❌Cons:
– Limited audience, fewer tech discussions
Future Stores 2025 June 4-5
- Location: Los Angeles
- Type: General Retail
- Attendees: N/A
- Speakers: N/A
Speaker Highlights
– Philip Amandola, Reformation
– Jeff Fisher, Blenders Eyewear
– Sid Arigapudi, Vans
– Courtney Hawkins, Mejuri
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Social commerce expansion
- Automation and robotics
- Enhanced in-store technology
✔️Pros:
– Focus on in-store innovation, hands-on workshops
❌Cons:
– Niche audience, not ideal for digital-first brands
The Lead Summit May 28-29
- Location: New York City
- Type: Tech-Focused
- Attendees: 3,000
- Speakers: 180+
Speaker Highlights
– Mimi Ruiz, Columbia Sportswear
– Victoria Katsarou, MAC Cosmetics
– Sarah Angelmar, Clarins Group
– Gaurav Dixit, Lowe’s
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Generative AI in fashion
- Sustainable and ethical fashion
- Leveraging big data to inform product development and marketing strategies
- Enhanced mobile shopping experiences
✔️Pros:
– Strong innovation/startup focus, large-scale
❌Cons:
– Not solely focused on ecommerce
NRF Nexus July 14-16
- Location: Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- Type: Tech-Focused
- Attendees: ~300
- Speakers: ~50
Speaker Highlights
– Emeline Berlind, Sephora
– Dan Murphy, Liquid Death
– Fatih Nayebi, ALDO Group
– Jeremy Lowenstein, Milani Cosmetics
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Emerging technologies and the future of retail customer experiences
- The convergence of entertainment and retail
- Competing with China’s online retail powerhouses
- MarTech: 1st party data strategies
✔️Pros:
– Digital marketing/tech focus, high-level discussions
❌Cons:
– Limited to tech/digital leaders, smaller scale than NRF Big Show
Total Retail Tech 2025 September 8-10
- Location: Los Angeles
- Type: Tech-Focused
- Attendees: Invite only
- Speakers: N/A
Speaker Highlights
– Sharonda Weatherspoon, Ralph Lauren
– Josh Shabtai, Lowe’s Innovation Labs
– Christopher Thomas-Moore, Domino’s
– Scott Devlin, The Vitamin Shoppe
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI & Machine Learning/digital transformation
- AI & Machine Learning/digital transformation
- Sustainability initiatives
- Omnichannel retailing
✔️Pros:
– Omnichannel and digital insights, retail executive-level networking
❌Cons:
– Limited to senior executives, fewer startup discussions
Subsummit May 28-30
- Location: Dallas
- Type: Industry-Specific: Subscription Models
- Attendees: 2,000+
- Speakers: 100+
Speaker Highlights
– Courtney Owumi, Shipt
– Jennifer Peters, OLLY/Unilever
– Cristina Arango, Fubo
– Sam Springfield, Bark Technologies
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Hyper-personalized subscriptions
- Integration of social commerce
- Community-focused memberships
✔️Pros:
– Deep dive into subscription models
❌Cons:
– Limited to subscription businesses, niche focus
Groceryshop October 21-24
- Location: Las Vegas
- Type: Industry-Specific: Food & Grocery
- Attendees: 2,000+
- Speakers: 150+
Speaker Highlights
– Fidji Simo, Instacart
– Claire Peters, Amazon Fresh
– Stuart Aitken, Kroger
– Ram Krishnan, PepsiCo
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- Expansion of private label products
- Automation and AI
- Enhanced pricing and promotions
✔️Pros:
– Top event for grocery and CPG trends, covers logistics
❌Cons:
– Limited niche content, vendor presentations
E-commerce Berlin Expo February 19-20
- Location: Berlin
- Type: International
- Attendees: 12,000+
- Speakers: 150+
Speaker Highlights
– Nele Odzuck, TikTok
– Dr. Andreea Kremm, Delticom OE
– Christiane Adler & René Zimmermann, Google
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI & emerging tech
- International expansion strategies
- Logistics and payment solutions
✔️Pros:
– Strong European name/presence, large-scale B2B event
❌Cons:
– Primary focus on European market
World Retail Congress May 12-14
- Location: London
- Type: International
- Attendees: 1,000+
- Speakers: N/A
Speaker Highlights
– Brian Cornell, Target
– Alex Baldock, Currys PLC
– Alexander Lacik, Pandora
– Cheryl Potter, Marks & Spencer
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI-driven personalization
- Omnichannel integration
- Data privacy and security
✔️Pros:
– Executive-level networking, covers global growth drivers
❌Cons:
– Expensive & Exclusive
Shoptalk Europe June 2-4
- Location: Barcelona
- Type: International
- Attendees: 4,500+
- Speakers: 175+
Speaker Highlights
– Raymond Cloosterman, Rituals
– Fanny Moizant, Vestiaire Collective
– Paula Bobbett, Boots
– Julie De Moyer, LVMH
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI-driven search & discovery
- Retail media networks
- Circular economy & recommerce models
✔️Pros:
– Focus on digital transformation, curated meetings
❌Cons:
– Focus on European trends
eCommerce Expo September 24-25
- Location: London
- Type: International
- Attendees: 10,000+
- Speakers: 200+
Speaker Highlights
– Adam Ull, H&M
– Ami Shukla, Diageo
– Anja Spielmann, Mars Food & Nutrition
– Alyssa Jaffer, Deliveroo
Expect these 2025 trends to be covered
- AI-powered customer service
- Voice search optimization
- Data privacy and security measures
✔️Pros:
– Extensive industry-leading content
❌Cons:
– UK-focused
As you plan your conference strategy for 2025, remember that these events are more than just learning opportunities—they’re platforms for professional growth. To maximize your experience, research each event thoroughly, set clear goals and prioritize networking.
Don’t miss the chance to attend the 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show, one of the industry’s premier events for learning and networking. Register now!
