Countdown to ShopAble 2025: Commerce Media’s Big Moment

ShopAble 2025 is coming up—and if you’re serious about learning where commerce media is headed next, this is where you’ll want to be. ShopAble isn’t just another event for your calendar. It’s where strategies sharpen, real conversations happen, and brands figure out how to actually move faster.

Commerce media isn’t “emerging” anymore. It’s the pressure point—the new operating system for marketing teams navigating omnichannel buying paths, shifting retail partnerships, and AI-fueled planning cycles that barely leave room to breathe.

The truth? Annual plans aren’t built for what commerce media is throwing at brands anymore. Shoppers are moving faster, data is moving faster, and AI has collapsed what used to be six-month roadmaps into daily decision loops.

This year’s ShopAble zeroes in on one thing: how leaders move in this reality. Not with endless theory. With sessions that pressure-test assumptions, demos that show (not tell), and strategy exchanges that prioritize the hard stuff—how to navigate fragmentation, measurement gaps, and accelerating complexity.

“Commerce media is the heartbeat of modern marketing now. ShopAble is where marketers step out of the theoretical and into the strategies that will drive the next wave of growth,” says Michelle Urwin, Executive VP of Marketing at Skai.

ShopAble’s built for the ones still willing to get in the weeds. To swap notes. To rethink what “winning” even looks like now.

If you’re serious about cutting through the noise, you’ll want to see what’s next.

What’s happening at ShopAble

Things kick off May 13 with the Awards Reception at Bryant Park Grill—a chance to connect early, celebrate progress across the space, and set the tone for the next day.

Then, on May 14, CENTER415 transforms into a working hub for commerce media’s future. Expect a full day of sharp sessions, success stories that don’t skip the hard parts, and real-time exchanges with operators across brands, retailers, and agencies.

The ShopAble Media Mall will turn theory into practice. Demo stations, retail pop-ups, and live product walk-throughs—giving you a hands-on view of what’s working right now.

“We designed ShopAble to be a place where real conversations happen in the moments between sessions—because that’s often where the best ideas spark,” says Dasha Korabelnikova, Senior Events Manager at Skai.

The best ideas usually spark between the official sessions—in the corners, at the coffee lines, inside the working spaces built for collaboration.

Key sessions on the industry’s biggest trends

ShopAble is about digging into the decisions that will shape the next twelve months. “Commerce media’s moving too fast for surface-level conversations,” says Jason Wolfson, VP of Product Marketing and Enablement at Skai. “This year’s sessions are about what’s working now—and tips on what’s required to lead.”

The agenda hits the biggest tension points marketers are wrestling with right now—the ones you won’t solve by sticking to last year’s playbook.

RETAIL media or retail MEDIA?
Retail media is at a crossroads. Should it sit inside ecommerce teams to drive quick, measurable sales? Or inside media teams to fuel long-term brand growth? This session will dig into both perspectives, challenge assumptions, and help marketers rethink where retail media belongs in future strategies.

From ChatGPT to ShopGPT: GenAI’s role in commerce media

GenAI is collapsing the path to purchase—shrinking consideration windows, bypassing traditional search, and blending discovery with conversion. Marketers now need to design for a dynamic, AI-mediated buyer journey.

Social commerce: Stop leaving it to the brand teams!
Too often, social commerce gets siloed under brand marketing when it should be a critical part of retail media strategy. This session will show why social commerce deserves a seat at the performance marketing table and how leading organizations are closing the gap to drive real revenue impact.

Is the retail media bubble bursting?
Retail media’s growth has been explosive, but now questions are emerging about long-term sustainability. With network fragmentation, measurement challenges, and tougher economic scrutiny, this session will unpack whether retail media is facing growing pains or something bigger.

It’s a rare mix: practical enough to act on, sharp enough to challenge how you’re thinking right now.

The agenda at a glance

• May 13: Awards Reception at Bryant Park Grill (evening)
• May 14: Full-day main event at CENTER415
  • Morning kicks off with keynote and trend talks spotlighting commerce media innovation, GenAI, social commerce, and retail media’s evolution
  • Midday sessions focus on real-world success stories and practical pivots brands are making including Haleon, Bayer, Pepsico, and JLabs.
  • Afternoon shifts to the ShopAble Media Mall—live activations, demos, and spaces designed for in-the-weeds strategy work
  • Throughout the day: networking lounges, working spaces, and plenty of operator-to-operator conversation

It’s a fast-moving schedule—designed to leave you sharper, not just “informed.”

See the future—and move faster toward it

ShopAble 2025 will be something not to miss. It’s the gathering of the ones already building what’s next—and willing to move at the speed the market now demands. The brands and agencies that adapt—who build new muscle for omnichannel orchestration, dynamic measurement, and AI-augmented decision-making—will be the ones defining the next two years.

Skai’s updates from ShopAble will pull that future into sharper focus—and surface the plays that are already working under the surface.

This isn’t about waiting and watching. It’s about leading. If you’re ready to be part of it, ShopAble is where you start.