Coronavirus escalation sees Shoptalk 2020 rescheduled to September
Shoptalk 2020 had been due to take place later this month in Las Vegas. But following the rapid escalation of the Covid-19 outbreak around the world, the event has been rescheduled to 14th-17th September, with the venue (Mandalay Bay) remaining the same.
“The guidance of various health and safety organisations and our commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of our community necessitated the shift. We considered input from many of our sponsors, attendees and speakers, as well as the impact of widespread corporate travel restrictions during March across the retail industry,” the organisers said in an online statement.
“We’re working hard to transition our sponsors, attendees and speakers to the new dates, and we expect Shoptalk 2020 to be the best event we’ve ever held,” it added.
Groceryshop, which was planned for September, will be moved to Spring 2021, with additional details to be announced in the coming months.
“Extreme problems require extreme solutions”
Last year, Shoptalk announced that in 2020 every speaker would be a woman. This includes main stage keynotes, track speakers, interviewers and moderators, which clocks in at more than 225 speakers.
"Speaker gender parity in 2020 would have been relatively easy, but it would not have shifted the dialogue in the way that we have done consistently," said Simran Rekhi Aggarwal, Founder and President, Shoptalk. "Is this all female speaker approach extreme? Absolutely, but we think extreme problems require extreme solutions."
From 2021 onwards, the event will always feature 50/50 male and female speakers.
