CommerceNext Steps: 2026 Retail Growth Strategies & Takeaways

Skip the theories and drive real growth. CommerceNext Steps delivers exclusive, highly actionable insights directly from the executives steering today’s top retail and DTC brands. 

Pulled straight from our 2026 Growth Show speakers, these takeaways offer a rare look at how the best in retail are solving today’s challenges.

 

The Human Edge: What Tractor Supply Knows About Winning in the Age of AI

Kimberley Gardiner, Chief Marketing Officer, Tractor Supply Co

Interviewed by: Steve Dennis, Host, The Remarkable Retail Podcast

1. Start with who you serve, not what you sell. When you’re clear about who you’re for, decisions about products, experiences and technology become much simpler.
2. Customers don’t separate necessity from passion. Winning means serving both the practical needs and the passions that define Life Out Here.
3. Technology scales convenience. Stores scale trust. Team members provide expertise, problem-solving and human connection. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, that trust becomes even more valuable.
4. Use AI to make things easier, not less human. The best use of AI is removing friction. The goal is creating more time for the interactions that matter most
5. Customer-centricity is built, not declared. Customer-centricity isn’t a statement—it’s an operating model.

 

Are Robots Stealing Your Brand Soul? Keep it Human in the Age of Agentic

Oscar Diaz, SVP, Technology & Digital Innovation, G-III 

Adnan Somani, EVP of Digital Technology, Authentic Brands Group 

Brian Schiff, Co-Founder & CEO, Flip 

Elizabeth Garry, VP, eCommerce, Pandora

Moderated by: Alicia Esposito, Director Content + Media Strategy, Future Commerce

1. Automate the routine, humanize the meaningful. Use AI to remove friction from discovery, FAQs and order support, while reserving emotional, judgment-based moments for people.
2. Differentiate through brand, not technology. As AI capabilities become ubiquitous, memorable experiences, authentic storytelling and clear brand identity will be the true competitive advantage.
3. Design for trust at every touchpoint. Build AI experiences that know when to escalate, reinforce brand values consistently and strengthen customer confidence—because trust, once lost, is difficult to regain.

 

The Future of Personalization is Physical, Human and Immersive

Amiee Bayer-Thomas, Chief Retail Officer, Ulta Beauty

Kim Heidt, Chief Retail Officer, Tecovas

Moderated by: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune

1. Stores are relationship engines, not just transaction channels—driving loyalty, acquisition, community and brand engagement.
2. Radical hospitality is a competitive advantage—customers remember how a brand makes them feel, not just what they buy.
3. Technology scales the experience; people are the engine behind it all—AI and data empower associates, but human connection builds trust.
4. Personalization is becoming more physical and immersive—blending environments, expertise and customer insights beyond screens.
5. Store success must be measured holistically—including impact on ecommerce, loyalty, customer lifetime value and brand growth.

 

Lessons from High-Growth Scale-Ups

Katia Unlu, Chief Commercial Officer, Boll & Branch

Yingying Kuang, CMO, Kitsch

Nicole Wegman, Founder & CEO, Ring Concierge

Moderated by: Emily Hickey, Co-Founder, Chief Detective

1. Always Be Testing Into New Growth Engines. New products, channels, markets and business models may unlock the next stage of growth.
2. Upgrade the Infrastructure. Driving rapid, sustained growth requires constant reevaluation and upleveling across team, processes, partners and platforms.
3. Diversify to Stay Resilient. Growth comes from meeting customers wherever they are, whether it’s new channels or geos.
4. Creative Wins. A consistent pipeline of authentic, high-quality content drives performance across every channel.
5. Build the Brand, Protect the Product. Brand awareness attracts new customers; product quality keeps them.

 

How Harrods is Preserving 175 Years of Luxury Heritage While Building a Foundation for AI

Leigh Stuart, Head of Business Solutions, Harrods

Tobias Ring, Chief Revenue Officer, Scayle

1. Be brave about the foundation. Harrods built a modern digital foundation in 7 months: with pace and focus. 
2. Protect what makes you unique. Scale should not flatten the experience. It should make excellence easier to deliver.
3. Leverage AI for value creation. Use AI responsibly to embed advantages, e.g. for personalization

 

Everyone Owns the Customer. So Why Is Growth Still So Hard?

Vijay Talwar, Chief Digital, Data & Technology Officer, Avolta 

Sreeharsha Upadhyayula VP, Transformation, Under Armour

Natalie Black, Director, Brand Strategy, Iridio by RRD

Moderated by: Kacey Sharrett, CDO, Hanna Andersson

1. Clarify who owns the end-to-end customer journey. Define who is accountable for orchestrating the journey across marketing, ecommerce, service, operations and technology.
2. Audit where your customer experience breaks across teams, channels or partners.  Map the journey and identify the biggest friction points: Handoffs, data gaps, inconsistent messaging or execution breakdowns that make the experience feel disconnected.
3. Focus on activating first-party data, not just collecting it. Review what customer data you already have and ask: What decisions or actions is this data actually driving today? If the answer is “mostly reporting,” prioritize use cases that translate insight into action.
4. Simplify your personalization strategy around relevance, not complexity.  Pressure-test whether your personalization efforts are actually improving the customer experience or just adding more segments, rules and operational overhead. Start with the highest-impact opportunities to make experiences more relevant at scale.
5. Create stronger cross-functional operating rhythms around the customer.  Establish regular forums where teams review customer insights together, align on priorities and leave with a clear owner, action and timeline—so customer strategy turns into execution instead of staying stuck in dashboards or presentations.

 

From Toy Aisle to Cultural Engine, Mattel is Reinventing Connection

Jamie Cygielman, Global Head of Dolls, Mattel, Inc.

Interviewed by: Ken Pilot, Creator and Host, The Retail Pilot Podcast

1. Commerce has become culture. Winning brands don’t just sell products. They create moments people want to participate in.
2. Nostalgia is a launchpad, not a strategy. The strongest brands honor their heritage while continuously creating new reasons for consumers to engage. 
3. Experience is the new differentiator. Physical retail succeeds when it delivers memories, community and emotional connections—not simply transactions.
4. Communities create lifetime value. The most valuable customer bcomes advocates, collectors, creators and storytellers.

 

AI-Powered CX: Turning First-Party Data Into Profit

Kristi Carlson, VP, Digital Technology, Kendra Scott 

Justin Emig, CTO, Artisant Lane Furniture

Henry Speaker, SVP, Digital and Customer Care, JD North America

Maxx Blank, Co-Founder & COO, Triple Whale

Moderated by: Suzy Davidkhanian, VP, Content, eMarketer

1. Don’t stop at the data. The real value comes from turning customer signals into action—whether that’s improving a product, adjusting a message or creating a better experience.
2. Your customers are already telling you what they want. The challenge isn’t collecting more feedback. It’s finding ways to surface it, connect it and act on it faster.
3. The future of CX is personal, proactive and scalable. The best use of AI isn’t replacing the human touch. It’s helping brands deliver more relevant, helpful experiences to more customers.

 

Engaging Every Shopper: Deep Learning and AI-Powered Optimization Across the Customer Journey

Dianne Ramlochan, Vice President, Digital Marketing, GNC

Jaysen Gillespie, VP, Product Marketing & Analytics, RTB House

1. Start today, not tomorrow. AI projects are long-term, and everyone’s a newbie. Your biggest mistake is being last (not being wrong). 
2. Make AI tools a constituent. Human > SEO > AI. Double down on operational excellence. Make a human own the AI experience. 
3. Stay future-focused. Use consumer research. Human adoptions drive everything. 

 

From Digital Natives to Legacy Institutions: Omnichannel’s Next Era

Josh Friedman, SVP, Digital & eCommerce, ULTA

Debbie Woloshin, CMO, StitchFix

Mandeep Bhatia, SVP of Global Product & Omnichannel Innovation, Tapestry

Kimberly Shenk, Co-Founder & CEO, Novi

Moderated by: Jon Kosoff, Chief Digital Officer, Boot Barn 

1. Redefine omnichannel around context, not channels. Stop optimizing touchpoints in isolation. Design for customer experience and profit.
2. Make loyalty your connective tissue, then push it further. Points are table stakes; emotional stickiness through community and experience is the differentiator. Your app experience can be a game changer.
3. Prepare to use AI in your omni-experience now. Don’t be afraid to test and learn, and don’t wait.

 

AI and the Connected Customer Experience: What’s Real, What’s Theater and What’s Next

Jake Cohen, VP of Industry, Klaviyo

1. Slow down to speed up. Spend on training/show and tell. Document, document, document. Set AI strategy to avoid fatigue.
2. CIO/CTO partnership. Centralize internal data. Connect securely to AI platforms. Accountable owner from CIO office. 
3. Push on vendors. Assign an AI-literate owner to each vendor. Bid out work to service partners. Ask SAAS for implementation help.
4. First principle thinking. Your perspective/leadership is invaluable. Start with outcome; assume anything is possible. Trash conventions. 

 

All About the Long Game: CLV as the Ultimate Growth Metric

Adrian Rohr, VP, Marketing CRM, Fabletics 

Sabrina Cherubini, CMO, FullBeauty Brands 

Ankit “AJ” Patel, SVP of Global Growth, U Beauty 

Eiko van Hettinga, Co-Founder & Managing Director, 7Learnings

Moderated by: Anne Mezzenga, Founder + CEO, Retail Field Report

1. How your organization defines CLV is important. If asked independently, would you all be aligned on how you measure it?
2. You can’t act on CLV if you can’t measure it consistently. 
   1. How good is your “good data?”  
   2. Do you have a clear picture of how your customer is shopping your brand across all channels, owned and 3P?
3. CLV should be a company-wide operating metric. You need to know how you define and measure it so that it can properly inform how you invest in and use it

 

The strategies shared at this year’s show prove that driving sustainable retail growth requires staying ahead of the curve. Secure your access to the latest elite playbooks, cutting-edge AI innovations, and exclusive peer-to-peer networking by pre-registering for the 2027 CommerceNext Growth Show today.