That’s a wrap on Shoptalk Luxe. Flying out of the UAE with five things stuck in my head:
1. The brands building AI in house are drowning
Met a head of digital with a 15 person AI team. They’re beating Einstein on recommendations. But they can’t ship a “complete the look” feature because their backlog is 18 months deep. Tech changes every two weeks. Internal teams can’t keep up.
2. AI hallucination is a relationship ender
One brand told me their AI chat confidently mentioned a “discount ” that doesn’t exist. After a year watching their vendor doing some band-aid fixes that fix one thing and break another, they are going to pull the plug.
A confident wrong answer is worse than no answer.
3. Everyone is chasing the same number
30% conversion in store. 2% online. Every brand wants to close that gap. Not with popups or countdown timers. They want to recreate what a great sales associate does. Notice what you keep coming back to. Ask what’s holding you back.
4. The perpetual Migration – and the costs associated.
Talked to 5+ brands stuck in platform migration paralysis. IT says no to everything because they’re moving X to Y next year. Meanwhile they’re leaving 10-15% revenue on the table for 12-18 months. Nobody does that math.
5. Most companies are playing defense. The winners are playing offense.
Two AI strategies right now:
Defense: cut costs, automate tickets, reduce headcount.
Offense: drive revenue, increase AOV, convert browsers into buyers.
The gap is widening.
This was also a reminder that at Alhena.ai, we’ve come a long way. We used to attend these events looking for business. This time we were surrounded by customers. Armani. Victoria Beckham. Unilever. Ettitude. It was good to celebrate wins in person.
Easily our most successful conference. Ran out of fortune cookies and collateral on day 1. At a smaller conference. That’s never happened.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip what it was. Booth visits, dinners, everything in between.
Sharing some highlights below..