RTIH’s American correspondent Christine Russo reports from Retail Club and Shoptalk Fall 2026
What would it take to get you off the sofa, buy the ticket, and go to a three-day event? It depends. If you are starting your career, if you are senior, if you are selling, if you are buying; it all depends. For me, I like density and intensity. I want knowledge flying at my head, new faces to get to know, and I want to be around people holding hands and moving the industry forward. I seek curious innovators.
This is a report from my time spent at each event. I have anecdotal feedback and do not have data provided by the organisers; it's just what I saw and what I heard. I asked over 50 people (combined for both shows) what they thought and how their experiences were.
The answers ranged from "What am I doing here and how soon can I leave?" to "This is amazing." And from the vendor side: I'm never coming to this again to “I had the most incredible day. So, see, it depends.
Retail Club is in its second year. Year one brought roughly 500 people. This year the attendance number I kept hearing was about 2,000. It's an estimate, but it came up in nearly every conversation. Four times the crowd, with a bigger footprint, more content, and more to do.
Shoptalk Fall is in its third year and its first in Nashville. The organisers anticipated more than 3,500 attendees. Growth is good. Both shows have a freshness about them, trying new things while taking the attendees on their journey.
Density
There are systemic issues pulling the density out of the main showfloor. This same thing happened at both shows. The 1:1s are a major and massively successful part of both shows. Individuals are matched in advance, both sellers and buyers love them, and the organixers do too. That's exactly why they pull so many people out of the room. When they start, people leave the floor and the content stops. The showfloor gets much quieter and there is a lull in the air.
Then there are the events outside the hall. Vendors are hosting more of them every cycle. They are getting bigger with more and more offerings, luring people away from the show floor. And then there are the stages. When the content stops there is open space, dark voids with empty chairs. It's like a party where the kitchen is full but the living room is empty. I can only assume there's no shortage of brand and retailer leaders who'd love to be part of the content to run it even during the meetups.
Intensity
When the density goes, so does the intensity. And so I was thinking. What if content was on every stage for the whole show; even during meetups. I'd rather see a full stage with a smaller conversation than an empty one. People could roll from one session to the next without schedule pressures.
And I repeat, a challenge to achieve density are off premises events. They are becoming more in quantity and bigger and bigger and they dilute the room. Perhaps there is a way to partner with these outside groups to keep more people in the room.
Obviously, floor energy isn't the measure. But what is?
Success is not only determined by floor energy. Both shows nailed quality: the content, the thought leaders, the technology, the brand leaders. With thousands of different agendas in the building, here are four qualities that worked.
Depth on where AI is heading. Retail Club went past the headline into agentic commerce, AI stacks, and vendor selection.
Breadth across the business. Shoptalk covered AI and also supply chain, store design, shopper sentiment, and brand partnerships.
Founders and brand leaders on stage. Pitches, town halls, and executive Q&A.
Something for every audience, from first-timers to people who've been in the space for years.
What to expect
The biggest variable I saw was expectation. Are people showing up to shake hands on deals? I don't think so, and if they are, they may leave disappointed. It's September. Most of these people have been in touch at other shows since January. The relationships were already started. This is where they get tended.
Different people walk in wanting different things, and that's probably why I got such different answers from the same halls.
Worth It?
Events are necessary. That's it, period. It's a combination of a proximity strategy, top/mid funnel, sales pipeline. And so if they are required, then what better way to do so than on the beach at Retail Club and in and around Nashville for Shoptalk? Which leads me to the highlighted conclusion.
The venues majorly contributed to the experience. In the beachside sunshine relationships are forged. Things slow down a little. There is more time to talk. And in Nashville, line dancing and custom hat making leads to relationship building and bonding. So, if you stayed on the sofa and have FOMO, you have my unsolicited advice: Next year you go.
