Shoptalk looks "rose" in Abu Dhabi

What do you get if you cross Matthew McConaughey movie Dazed and Confused with Gloria Gaynor's song I Will Survive? The Shopify Partner Team, of course. Let's do the news. Welcome to the VSpot, your home for the e-com and early news. Layoffs are now a layup for those using AI as the cause. And earnings reporters this season. Amazon, Nike, Home Depot, and Pinterest among those doing a Frozen and letting it go. I'm not sure that Anna and Elsa would like their song to be taken quite so literally. Let's do the news. First up, and Target brings in 3,000 new beauty products across 60 new brands this week, according to a press release. 90% of these products are under $20. Brand names that are sure to inspire at that price point include Supergoop and Morph. New names, new faces. Second story this week, and a personal favorite of mine: Sydney Sweeney has launched a new lingerie line called Siren. It opened up this week. In an attempt to do some research, I was unable to browse the site due to some form of glitch encountered. I was able to load the site watched the first video, and then I got stuck just like that. Couldn't move anywhere else. So the video just stayed on the repeat over and over again. We did try send a note to their agency, but thought against it. They were probably busy this week. So there you have it. Sydney Sweeney has launched a lingerie line. Third up, CNN has reported this week that US consumer confidence is at a 9-year low or 11-year low, depending on what way your maths work. Work. Uh, it's at its lowest point anyway since 2014. That is declining 9 points. That's where the 9 came from. It is worth noting though that this survey did include a pool of only 3 people, Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, and Abby Phillips. But story of the week surely goes to ShopTalk Luxe. In a shocking departure from the 2026 conference circuit, attendees at this week's ShopTalk Luxe have reported a rare sighting: human faces that are not distorted by Zoom fatigue filter or the existential dread of being replaced by a large language model. Now, while every conference this year has been a windowless basement crawl of AI-enabled synergized logistics, ShopTalk Luxe has opted for a different kind of intelligence: aesthetic intelligence. The most buzzed-about innovation wasn't a chatbot. It was the physics-defying sight of hundreds of retail executives sipping crisp rosé on a beach in a country where public alcohol consumption is generally a polite no. Unless you're Irish, I guess. "I'm not saying it's a miracle," whispered one CMO we spoke to while shielding their glass from the desert sun. "But I've spent 3 days talking about heritage branding." and I haven't heard the word prompt once. I think the wine is a hallucination, but it is at least a high-fidelity one. It's a move that baffles industry analysts, so the VSpot can confirm that there were zero sightings of the depressed vendor. The old way was a lonely account executive in a 10x10 booth eating a stale turkey wrap near a leaky cooling vent. The Luxway, a strategic partner, handing you a chilled towel while discussing the sensory journey of Gen Alpha. But the photos coming out of the Emirates Palace have been so well lit and not dingy that several tech— finally, a palate cleanser before we head into the February madness. If you thought that ShopTalk Lux was a trip, wait until next Sunday. Super Bowl 60 is officially upon us, and the price for 30 seconds of attention has hit a record 8 $100 million. At that price, you'd expect a cure for the common cold, but instead we are getting A-list overload. Prepare for Lady Gaga crooning Mr. Rogers for a mortgage company and Sabrina Carpenter picking Pringle petals. It's nostalgia bait at its finest, essentiality, and it's a $100 million effort to make you feel like you're 10 years old again so you will buy a RAV4. The weirdcore inclusion though, this all comes in every year. Dude Wipes did it 2 years ago. Keep an eye out for Manscaped's talking shower drain, hair, and Liquid Death's army of papier-mâché heads. Apparently the industry has decided that terrifying the consumer is the only way to beat the skip ad reflex that we all now have. And AI, of course, is going to be in there. So while Shoptalk was a beachy escape from tech, the big game is doubling down. Expect AI-generated scenery and virtual signage that shifts in real time. Woo, real time. We've reached a point where the commercial might be more sentient than the person holding the remote. So your survival guide, courtesy of the VSpot, how do you get rid of this? Well, avoid anything that is described as patriotic without being political. It usually results in a 60-second montage of what fields— of wheat fields, I should say— that tells you absolutely nothing about the product. Think gladiator but with Tylenol. Expect the celebrity curse flip from Kendall Jenner and Adam— Andy Samberg becoming a mayonnaise-themed Neil Diamond. Weird. And then our pro tip: and if the ad features a QR code, don't scan it. That's how the AI follows you home from the beach. That's it, folks. That's the VSpot this week. Thank you so much for watching. We're off to find a beach where the rosé is real and the ads are are non-existent. That is the 6 minutes you're not getting back this week.