Shoptalk is the latest event to reschedule plans amid the coronavirus outbreak sweeping the globe. The annual retail conference, now in its fifth year, had been scheduled to take place in Las Vegas for four days beginning March 22. It will now be postponed until Sept. 14 and remain at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Event organizers emailed attendees and speakers early Thursday morning. “The guidance of various health and safety organizations and our commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of our community necessitated the shift,” read text on the event website. Shoptalk’s other conference, Groceryshop, had been scheduled for September—that event is now rescheduled for spring of 2021 with more details to come, organizers said.
It’s unclear however, if Shoptalk will still be able to schedule the same lineup of speakers, which includes executives from Whole Foods, Glossier, J.Crew, Ulta and other retailers. Shoptalk's agenda page now says an updated agenda will be released shortly. A spokeswoman from Wayfair, which had two executives scheduled to present, said she is checking schedules to see if participation is still possible. Rachel Bogan, a partner in product management at agency Work & Co who had been scheduled to speak says she plans to participate in September.