Signals from Shoptalk Spring 2026

One of the strongest lessons from Shoptalk is that change is no longer optional, but trust still matters. That tension came through clearly in reporting from the show.

Anca Marola, Global Chief Digital Officer at Sephora, said, "You cannot stop progress, that’s the baseline,” but she also made the more important point: “What will never change is the fact that the customer is seeking advice from people who know best… What’s at stake is to remain that trusted advisor."

That is highly relevant for complex retail. Customers now research across more channels, use more self-service touchpoints, and arrive further along in the journey. But they still need confidence. They still need clear information, relevant recommendations, and an experience that feels consistent. The technology may change. The need for trust does not.

This may be the most useful takeaway for leaders evaluating their stack. Sven Gerjets, Chief Technology Officer at Gap Inc., warned against novelty for novelty’s sake, saying many launches feel like “tech for tech’s sake,” and adding, “we’re not focused on that, but on what tech enables, whether that’s creating something valuable for our customers or our employees.”

That is the ROI lens. And it is the right one.

For a complex retail organization, evolving the stack is rarely a branding decision. It is a revenue decision. A margin decision. An operations decision. The real question is whether better systems will improve discovery, pricing, ordering, service, and internal efficiency.

Another signal worth paying attention to is who is shaping those decisions.

In a post shared after the event, Amanda Cole, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomreach, argued that “the CTO is BACK” and may now be “the CMO’s new best friend or the new decision maker for martech.” That feels especially relevant in complex retail, where technology decisions are increasingly tied to data architecture, composability, implementation quality, and long-term ROI, not just front-end experience.

Across the broader agenda, Shoptalk emphasized AI not just in marketing, but across pricing, forecasting, personalization, operations, and decision-making. AI is moving beyond pilot programs and into enterprise-wide integration across the value chain.

That matters most in complex retail, where the biggest blockers are usually not ambition or awareness. They are structural. Product data is inconsistent. Pricing logic lives in too many places. Channels send mixed signals. Systems do not connect cleanly. Teams work from different versions of the truth.

In that environment, AI does not create clarity by itself. It amplifies whatever foundation is underneath it.

That is why the first step is not another tool. It is better data.

That is where Datmos can help. Our data engineers and strategists are built for the hard work behind modern commerce and the complexity that stands in the way of scale. Whether the challenge is massive catalogs, disconnected platforms, or unreliable signals across channels, we help bring structure and create the foundation needed for what comes next. We partner with Databricks and Snowflakes, among others, but our role also includes building technology and investment roadmaps tied to ROI.

Shoptalk made the opportunity feel urgent for retailers in particular. For complex retail brands, the next step in ecommerce evolution is making sure the foundation is strong enough to support it.