A primary talking point was the evolution of shoppable social, with speakers including Pinterest CEO Bill Ready focusing on how to meet consumers in the right mindset by furnishing them with purchase options at the ideal time in their shopping journey.

Gen Z’s proclivity for luxury spending amid economic crisis was hotly debated with resellers including thredUP speaking about this generation’s capacity to power up the consumer propensity to view luxury goods as tradeable assets. Meanwhile, blockchain specialists Eon spoke about instant reselling technology capable of further supercharging that propensity.

Cultivating a storefront capable of sparking organic user-generated content – and thus tapping into peer recommendations and reviews – was also a talking point.

The mechanics of mining subcultures for mainstream culture rejecting Gen Z (see see 4: The End of Mainstream Pop Culture? Paul Frank’s Subculture-Cementing TikTok in Youth Marketing Strategy NYC, 2023: Gen Z Thought Starters for more), was a luxury brand talking point.

Resale traceability was debated by speakers as varied as American non-profit organisation Goodwill and blockchain specialists Eon. While levels of sophistication varied – from noting the point of donation to uphold cyclical societal care to smart-tagging hosted on blockchain for bullet-proof transparency – speakers agreed on the power of locally-anchored, trackable recommerce.

Several beauty brands signalled a shift to using micro-influencers, as these individuals are more embedded in specific target communities and typically garner a higher engagement rate compared to their more expensive but less engaging mega-influencer counterparts.

Combining the benefits of in-person connection with the ease of ecommerce was another talking point, with American tech retailer Best Buy majoring on its new digital clienteling store.

Enabling Gen Zalpha consumers to meet brands in proto metaverse environments, formulating familiarity that later solidifies into in-person loyalty was a key talking point.