Overview
For retailers, flux is the new business as usual.
Emerging technologies are disrupting every aspect of the retail sector — from logistics to in-store experiences to marketing strategies — and shaping consumer expectations accordingly.
At the second annual two-day Code Commerce, Jason Del Rey and Kara Swisher sat down with leaders who are reimagining the retail sector to discuss business model disruptions spanning categories from grocery and CPG to luxury goods and high fashion, the growing influence of social platforms like Instagram on the customer journey, and the role of AR, AI and voice technologies in shaping future shopping experiences.
We brought back the popular On-Location Experiences — your opportunity to engage firsthand with how the most innovative retail businesses have built their same-day delivery hubs, showrooms and more.
Video
Speakers
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Moiz Ali
Founder and CEO, Native -
Binny Bansal
Chairman and CEO, Flipkart Group -
Ari Bloom
CEO, Avametric -
Hui Cheng
Head of Silicon Valley Research Center, JD.com -
John Collison
Co-Founder and President, Stripe -
Sarah Friar
CFO, Square -
Scott Galloway
Founder, Gartner L2, and Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern -
Jeff Gennette
Chairman and CEO, Macy’s -
Tobi Lütke
Founder and CEO, Shopify -
Shan-Lyn Ma
Co-Founder and CEO, Zola -
JT Marino
Co-Founder and Chief Visionary, Tuft & Needle -
Apoorva Mehta
Founder and CEO, Instacart -
Nahema Mehta
Co-Founder and CEO, Absolut Art -
Neela Montgomery
CEO, Crate and Barrel -
Jen Rubio
Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer, Away -
Vishal Shah
Director of Product Management, Instagram -
Susan Tynan
Founder and CEO, Framebridge -
Hamdi Ulukaya
Founder and CEO, Chobani -
Emily Weiss
Founder and CEO, Glossier -
Billie Whitehouse
CEO, Wearable X
On-Location Speakers
Sponsored On-Location Speakers
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Robert Clarkson
General Manager, PayPal North America, and Vice President, Global Business Development, PayPal -
David Conn
CEO, FAO Schwarz for TSX Broadway -
Darrell Esch
Vice President and Commercial Officer, Global Credit, PayPal -
Andrew Essex
Former CEO, Droga5 and Tribeca Film Festival, and Founder and CEO, Plan A for TSX Broadway -
David Levinson
Chairman and CEO, L&L Holding Company for TSX Broadway -
Kelly Radford
Vice President, Real Estate and Development, Warby Parker for TSX Broadway
Schedule
Monday, September 17, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Code Commerce 2018 Power Lunches
On Day Two, Power Lunches are your chance to convene in small groups around interest and dive deeper into the most important topics facing retailers, brands and e-commerce companies.
Launching the Modern Brand
How do new brands execute successful launches in today’s online-to-offline world? Join Michael Duda, a managing partner at Bullish — one part creative agency and one part consumer investment firm — for a deep dive on how to build a thriving brand with companies that have executed successful launches across industries.
- Michael Duda, Managing Partner, Bullish
- Nicole Gibbons, Founder and CEO, Clare
- Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Brand Marketing, Peloton
Surviving the Shift to Voice Commerce
As voice search becomes the next marketing must-have, brands are quickly learning what works (and doesn’t work) when building voice strategies. Join Doug Robinson, CEO of Fresh Digital Group, for a conversation about how top brands are successfully launching and iterating on voice apps to engage current customers and reach new ones.
- Doug Robinson, CEO, Fresh Digital Group
Mastering Amazon’s Ever-Evolving Advertising Platform
Keeping up with the evolution of self-service ad platforms is essential for online marketing success, and Amazon continues to push its advertising products aggressively. Andrea Leigh, a former Amazon executive and current VP of Client Services at Ideoclick, and Ben Winters, Ideoclick’s VP of Marketing, will walk through the trends that brands need to understand to excel at advertising on Amazon in 2018 and beyond.
- Andrea Leigh, Vice President of Client Services, Ideoclick
- Benjamin Winters, Vice President of Marketing Services and Automation, Ideoclick
When Brick-and-Mortar Makes Sense
Online success doesn’t mean that direct-to-consumer brands shouldn’t consider taking their brands offline, especially as falling rent prices are creating opportunities for new retailers to move into brick-and-mortar. Hear from Ryan Babenzien, Founder and CEO of upscale sneaker brand Greats, on his approach to physical retail, how he’s facing the rising cost of acquiring new customers online, and his plans for expansion.
- Ryan Babenzien, Founder and CEO, Greats
Launching Conversational Commerce Inside the Fortune One Company, Presented by Walmart
Join Jenny Fleiss, the co-founder and CEO of Jetblack and co-founder of Rent the Runway, to learn how her team drives digital innovation within the world’s largest retailer. Hear how the team launched a new text-based shopping service in under a year, how it operates within Walmart and the role it plays in driving the future of commerce.
- Jenny Fleiss, Co-Founder and CEO, Jetblack
On-Location Experiences
We’re excited to announce our first three On-Location Experiences at this fall’s Code Commerce. This is your opportunity to go behind the scenes and engage firsthand with the most innovative retail and payments businesses. Register now to secure your first choice!
On-Location With Casper
Welcome to The Dreamery, Casper’s first “nap store” in the heart of New York City, where customers can hit pause and recharge whenever they want. Tour the space with Co-Founder and COO Neil Parikh and Chief Experience Officer Eleanor Morgan, and dive deeper into the role that experiential marketing plays for this direct-to-consumer brand.
Speakers:
- Eleanor Morgan, Senior Vice President of Experience, Casper
- Neil Parikh, Co-Founder and COO, Casper

On-Location With Macy’s
Macy’s is reinvigorating the department store by investing in new technologies that power exceptional customer experiences — in-store, online and on the go. Join Macy’s President Hal Lawton at the iconic Herald Square store in New York City to learn how Macy’s is enhancing the customer journey with technology like VR, AR and in-store mobile checkout. You’ll have the opportunity try the new VR in-store furniture design experience, which, among other exciting new innovations, allows customers to virtually step into a room using VR headsets and map out their spaces.
Speakers:
- Hal Lawton, President, Macy’s

On-Location With J.Crew and Universal Standard
The idea of collaboration in retail isn’t new, but it is changing as traditional retailers partner with young, smart brands to broaden their reach and help retain a competitive edge. J.Crew, a pioneer in timeless American designs, recently launched an extended-size collaboration with Universal Standard, a size-inclusive fashion startup. Join Lisa Greenwald, J.Crew’s Chief Merchandising Officer, and Alexandra Waldman, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Universal Standard, for a conversation around how brands can effectively segue into extended sizing and why collaborations make sense in today’s retail environment.
Speakers:
- Alexandra Waldman, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Universal Standard
- Lisa Greenwald, Chief Merchandising Officer, J.Crew

On-Location With Flight Club New York
Sneakers aren’t just cool — they’re big business — and they’ve exploded into mainstream pop culture over the last decade. Flight Club, the retail mecca for sneakerheads, recently merged with the digital sneaker marketplace GOAT, creating a hybrid retail model serving more than 10 million registered buyers and sellers. Join GOAT Group Co-Founder and CEO Eddy Lu at the Flight Club New York store to get a behind-the-scenes look at the rarest collectible sneakers, the machine-learning technology used to determine authentics from fakes, as well as the company’s new initiatives to leverage the strengths of both brands post-merger.
Speakers:
- Eddy Lu, Co-Founder and CEO, GOAT Group

Sponsored On-Location With PayPal
PayPal continues to revolutionize financial transactions for millions around the world through its ability to power and monitor payment trends. Join us at PayPal’s Innovation Showcase, where we will dive deep into Venmo’s move from P2P into a payment method for big-name brands such as Uber and Williams-Sonoma. We’ll also explore how new digital payment options can attract younger consumers, and learn why PayPal is also investing in new credit products for millennials and Gen Z.
Speakers:
- Robert Clarkson, Vice President and General Manager of Large Enterprise, PayPal
- Darrell Esch, Vice President and Commercial Officer for Global Credit, PayPal
Sponsored On-Location With TSX Broadway
Brands continue to push the boundaries of experiential marketing to connect with consumers in the real world. But many retail spaces still reflect shopping’s history, not its future. TSX Broadway, the first full-building, one-of-a-kind experiential marketing platform slated to open in the heart of Times Square, welcomes you to discuss the future of the consumer experience. Delve into creative, innovative models that push traditional marketing boundaries with exclusive insights from Andrew Essex, former Vice Chairman and CEO of Droga5, along with other industry leaders.
Breakfast will be provided by The Nomad Hotel, by Chef Daniel Humm and Restaurateur Will Guidara.
Speakers:
- Andrew Essex, Former CEO, Droga5 and Tribeca Film Festival, and Founder and CEO, Plan A
- David Levinson, Chairman and CEO, L&L Holding Company
- David Conn, CEO, FAO Schwarz
- Kelly Radford, Vice President, Real Estate and Development, Warby Parker
Venue
Location
Industria
775 Washington St., New York, NY 10014
Premier Partners
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Fueled by a fundamental belief that having access to financial services creates opportunity, PayPal is committed to democratizing financial services and empowering people and businesses to join and thrive in the global economy. Our open digital payments platform gives PayPal’s 244 million active account holders the confidence to connect and transact in new and powerful ways, whether they are online, on a mobile device, using an app or in person. Through a combination of technological innovation and strategic partnerships, PayPal creates better ways to manage and move money, and offers choice and flexibility when sending payments, paying or getting paid. Available in more than 200 markets around the world, the PayPal platform — including Braintree, Venmo and Xoom — enables consumers and merchants to receive money in more than 100 currencies, withdraw funds in 56 currencies and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 25 currencies.
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Located in Times Square — the most valuable advertising intersection in the world — TSX Broadway is the ideal vehicle for a brand’s imagination to run wild. The only full-building promotional platform with tower signage, an experiential retail space and a one-of-a-kind outdoor stage, TSX Broadway is a spectacular display of innovation and brand power on the most heavily trafficked corner in the western hemisphere. An integrated platform of engagement, entertainment and experience, TSX Broadway is a 3-D advertising canvas for ambitious, future-focused brands to engage millions of consumers and capture the world’s attention every single day.
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Walmart helps people around the world save money and live better — anytime and anywhere — in retail stores, online and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 270 million customers and members visit our more than 11,700 stores under 65 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites. With fiscal year 2018 revenue of $500.3 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Learn more about Walmart at corporate.walmart.com.
Supporting Partners
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More People Buy with Affirm
Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly. Started by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, Affirm gives consumers the flexibility to buy now and make simple monthly payments. Unlike other credit options, Affirm offers transparent payment terms (no fees or compounding interest), and employs advanced technology designed to reach a broader consumer population.
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Criteo is the advertising platform for the open Internet, an ecosystem that favors neutrality, transparency and inclusiveness. Criteo’s 2,700 team members partner with more than 19,000 customers and thousands of publishers around the globe to deliver effective advertising across all channels, by applying advanced machine learning to unparalleled data sets. Criteo empowers companies of all sizes with the technology they need to better know and serve their customers. For more information, please visit www.criteo.com.
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