RetailClub
RetailClub operates the RetailClub AI Festival, a three-day outdoor beachside conference convening 2,000+ retail and brand executives for AI-focused peer exchange, monetized through tiered ticket sales and 250+ multi-tier sponsorships.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What RetailClub does
RetailClub operates an AI-native retail event business anchored by its flagship RetailClub AI Festival, a three-day outdoor beachside conference held on a 1/3-mile open-air Boardwalk along the Pacific coastline in Huntington Beach, CA. The company convenes 2,000+ retail and brand executives, AI operators, founders, and investors for peer-to-peer exchange on AI's impact on retail across four content themes: Build with AI, Lead with AI, Sell with AI, and Live with AI. The festival is differentiated by a no-pay-to-play content model in which 80% of the 150+ speakers are C-level executives drawn from Walmart, Target, Amazon, Sephora, Lowe's, Kroger, Estée Lauder, Ulta Beauty, PepsiCo, and other blue-chip retailers and brands, and by the Breakthru Networking Program — an AI-powered matching platform that uses 100+ profile data points per attendee and "millions of datapoints from past programs" to facilitate 30,000+ pre-scheduled, double opt-in 15-minute meetings per event.
The company monetizes through two primary streams: tiered ticket sales across nine attendee categories ($1,195 for early-stage startups, $2,095 for retailers and brands, $2,395 for investors, $2,695 for general attendees, with hosted retailers, media, employees-in-transition, nonprofits, and students at free or reduced rates), and multi-tier sponsorship revenue (Levels 1–5) from 250+ sponsors including AWS (Level 5, with a dedicated "AWS Retail Grounds"), Anthropic, Shopify, ServiceNow, Klaviyo, ElevenLabs, Salesforce, and Stripe. Hosted retailers and brands receive complimentary tickets plus up to $1,250 travel reimbursement in exchange for completing Hosted Meetings with sponsors, creating a three-way marketplace between attendees, sponsors, and the event. Distribution occurs primarily through direct website ticket sales subject to review and approval, supplemented by group discounts and partner referrals.
RetailClub Events, Inc. is privately held with corporate headquarters in New York, NY, and operates with approximately five employees. It was founded by the creators of Shoptalk and Groceryshop — Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Caroline Farley and Krystina Gustafson, and Co-Founder Anil D. Aggarwal — bringing direct prior credibility in the retail events industry. The company has partnered with the Retail AI Council for invite-only practitioner content, Personatech for registration infrastructure, VMG Partners for an "AI Commerce Hub" on the Boardwalk, and the Hyatt Regency and The Bungalow for hospitality. Additional RetailClub-branded events (Food Processors Forum, Food Price Forum) indicate portfolio expansion beyond the flagship AI Festival.
RetailClub firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- RetailClub
- Legal name
- RetailClub Events, Inc.
- Website
- https://retailclub.com
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- RetailClub operates the RetailClub AI Festival, a three-day outdoor beachside conference convening 2,000+ retail and brand executives for AI-focused peer exchange, monetized through tiered ticket sales and 250+ multi-tier sponsorships.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
RetailClub industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Retail Industry Conferences and Executive Networking Events
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Industry-Specific B2B Trade Show Organizers (THAHABAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Customer/User Conferences & Client Advisory Boards (THAHAMAD), Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK), Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination (HSACADAA)
Keywords
Where RetailClub is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
RetailClub business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Others
Revenue model
- Event Ticket Sales: RetailClub generates primary revenue from tiered ticket sales across multiple attendee categories: Retailers & Brands ($2,095), General Attendees ($2,695), Investors ($2,395), Early Stage Startups ($1,195), Growth Stage Startups ($1,395), Education ($1,295), and Media. Hosted Retailers & Brands receive free tickets (up to $2,395 value) plus travel reimbursement in exchange for completing Hosted Meetings with sponsors.
- Sponsorship Revenue: Sponsors pay to participate at multiple tiers (Level 1 through Level 5), gaining access to the attendee community for brand activations, hosted meetings, experiences, and dinners on the Boardwalk. Sponsors include major technology companies (AWS, Anthropic, Salesforce, Shopify, Stripe, Klaviyo, ServiceNow, etc.) across 250+ total sponsors.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Hosted Retailers & Brands — free ticket + $1,250 travel reimbursement |
| Subscription | Annual | Retailers & Brands — $2,095 per ticket (9% off) |
| Subscription | Annual | General Attendees (Solution Providers, Agencies, Non-Sponsors) — $2,695 per ticket (10% off) |
| Subscription | Annual | Investors — $2,395 per ticket (8% off) |
| Subscription | Annual | Early Stage Startups — $1,195 per ticket (14% off) |
| Subscription | Annual | Growth Stage Startups — $1,395 per ticket (13% off) |
| Subscription | Annual | Education — $1,295 per ticket |
| Subscription | Annual | Media — Free (subject to approval) |
| Subscription | Annual | Employees in Transition — Free (limited, subject to approval) |
| Subscription | Annual | Nonprofits & Government — Special rate tickets |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
RetailClub product offering
Product offeringCore offering
RetailClub organizes and operates the RetailClub AI Festival, a three-day, all-outdoor beachside conference held at a 1/3-mile Boardwalk in Huntington Beach, CA, that convenes 2,000+ senior retail and brand executives, AI operators, founders, and investors. The event revolves around the proprietary Breakthru Networking Program, which uses AI-powered matching on 100+ attendee data points to schedule 30,000+ double opt-in 15-minute meetings, alongside peer roundtables, curated experiences, and merit-selected stage content. Revenue is generated primarily through tiered attendee ticket sales and multi-level corporate sponsorships.
Product overview
RetailClub is an AI-native retail event company offering a unified platform for professional networking and education around AI in retail. The core product is the RetailClub AI Festival—a three-day, all-outdoor beachside event held in Huntington Beach, CA—augmented by the Breakthru Networking Program, which is RetailClub's proprietary networking technology platform. The Breakthru Networking Program encompasses four interconnected components: Breakthru Meetings (AI-powered pre-scheduled double opt-in 1:1 meetings), Breakthru Talks (45-minute peer roundtable discussions), Breakthru Experiences (50+ curated activities including networking dinners, wellness sessions, culinary classes, and AI-focused activations), and Breakthru Networking Dinners (intimate 15-25 person meals at premium venues). These components are supported by the Boardwalk—a 1/3-mile open-air promenade connecting stages, sponsor activations, the AI Playground, and meeting spaces. The AI Playground itself contains AI Current (live AI demos), AI Sandbox (expert-led peer sessions), and Level Up Area (professional development). Additional integrated offerings include the Retail AI Council Beach House (invite-only practitioner roundtables) and the Retail Insiders Party (senior executive evening event). All components are coordinated through a registration and profile platform that uses 100+ data points and AI recommendations to facilitate attendee matching.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- RetailClub AI Festival Three-day, all-outdoor beachside retail conference in Huntington Beach, CA, bringing together 2,000+ retail and brand leaders, AI operators, and founders to discuss AI's impact on retail across four content themes. Features stage sessions, Breakthru Meetings, Breakthru Talks, and Breakthru Experiences, and is the primary ticketed product RetailClub sells.
- Breakthru Meetings Pre-scheduled, double opt-in 15-minute meeting program that pairs RetailClub AI Festival attendees using AI-powered matching on 100+ attendee profile data points. Includes Hosted Meetings between qualified retailers/brands and sponsors, and General Meetings for peer-to-peer connections. Powers over 30,000 meetings per event.
- Breakthru Talks 45-minute, topic-based roundtable discussions for peer-group exchange of insights and collaborative problem-solving on AI themes, including agentic commerce, future of search, enterprise AI strategy, and intelligent supply chain.
- Breakthru Experiences Curated small-group activities designed for high-quality connections, including networking dinners, professional development, wellness (yoga, beach bootcamp, guided meditation), culinary experiences (pizza making, Vietnamese spring rolls, mixology, coffee masterclass), and AI-focused activations. More than 50 experiences are offered per event.
- Breakthru Networking Program RetailClub's official networking umbrella bundling Breakthru Meetings (AI-matched double opt-in 1:1 meetings), Breakthru Talks (peer roundtables), Breakthru Experiences (50+ curated activities), and Breakthru Networking Dinners (intimate 15–25 person meals at premium venues). Uses 100+ profile data points and AI recommendations to match attendees.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2,000+ attendees, 150+ speakers, 250+ sponsors, 30,000+ pre-scheduled meetings per event
Companies that use RetailClub
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
RetailClub technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
RetailClub partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Retail AI CouncilcoreRetailClub has partnered with Retail AI Council — a community focused on honest, practitioner-led conversations about AI in retail. Together they created two experiences inside the RetailClub AI Festival: the Retail AI Council Beach House (an invite-only track for retail AI builders, buyers, and deployers featuring 'Council Collab IRL' collaborative roundtables) and the Retail Insiders Party (an invite-only evening at The Bungalow for senior retail executives). The partnership brings the harder AI conversations that retail leaders need but typically don't get at industry events.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)flagshipAWS is a Level 5 (highest tier) sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026. AWS has built 'AWS Retail Grounds' — a curated multizone showcase on the Boardwalk featuring live tech demos, an AI Lounge, AWS Theatre, Retail Bodega, executive roundtables, and immersive activations designed to connect retailers with innovative technology companies reinventing modern commerce, powered by AWS.
- AnthropicflagshipAnthropic is a Level 5 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026. Anthropic participates in the event to engage with senior retail executives and AI leaders on the application of AI in retail contexts.
- ShopifyflagshipShopify is a Level 5 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026, engaging with the retail and brand executive community at the event.
- SalesforceflagshipSalesforce is a Level 2 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026, participating in the event's ecosystem of technology partners serving the retail industry.
- StripeflagshipStripe is a Level 3 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026, participating in the event as a payments and financial infrastructure partner for the retail ecosystem.
- ServiceNowflagshipServiceNow is a Level 5 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026, engaging with retail and brand leaders at the event on AI-powered enterprise solutions.
- KlaviyoflagshipKlaviyo is a Level 5 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026, participating as a customer engagement platform partner for the retail ecosystem.
- ElevenLabsflagshipElevenLabs is a Level 5 sponsor of RetailClub AI Festival 2026, participating as an AI voice and audio technology company engaging with the retail community.
- PersonatechcorePersonatech is RetailClub's strategic technology partner, providing the registration and event platform infrastructure. Attendees register and manage their participation through Personatech-powered forms. Referenced in the privacy policy as a key service provider.
- VMG PartnersminorVMG Partners has built the 'AI Commerce Hub' on the Boardwalk — a fully produced walk-through pavilion bringing together curated VMG portfolio companies as a unified ecosystem organized around a shopper journey framework.
- Anne Mezzenga / Retail Field ReportminorAnne Mezzenga, CEO of Retail Field Report, co-hosts 'People Powering AI' — a series of intimate conversations with people driving retail's AI transformation. Sessions are held live and via livestream on Retail Field Report's LinkedIn page, extending RetailClub's content reach.
- The Bungalow (Huntington Beach)minorThe Bungalow is an iconic beachside venue in Huntington Beach selected as the host venue for the exclusive Retail Insiders Party. The physical environment is part of RetailClub's thesis that outdoor settings enable higher-quality conversations.
- Hyatt Regency Huntington BeachminorPrimary hotel partner for RetailClub AI Festival. Badge pickup is available at the Vista Ballroom. Preferred hotel with dedicated room block for attendees. Part of the broader hotel ecosystem near the Boardwalk venue.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
RetailClub competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Dreamforce: Salesforce's annual user conference — one of the largest enterprise software events globally. Comparable as a broad incumbent because Salesforce is both a RetailClub Level 2 sponsor and a competing organizer of a major enterprise technology event serving overlapping buyer communities.
- National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show: The largest annual retail industry conference, drawing tens of thousands of retail executives to New York each January. Broad incumbent comparable to RetailClub because it serves the same enterprise retail buyer audience, but at much larger scale and with a broader (less AI-native) mandate.
- CES (Consumer Electronics Show): The largest global consumer technology trade show run by the Consumer Technology Association. Broad incumbent comparable because it convenes senior retail and brand buyers with technology vendors at scale and anchors significant enterprise sponsorship spend.
- Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity: A premium week-long international festival for the marketing, advertising, and creative industries. Broad incumbent comparable to RetailClub because it operates a similar high-ticket, sponsor-heavy, executive-attendee festival model with curated experiences and content programming.
- SXSW Conference & Festivals: A multi-track annual conference and festival combining technology, film, music, and culture. Broad incumbent comparable because it pioneered the 'festival-meets-conference' format that RetailClub adapts for retail, with tiered ticketing and significant sponsor activation.
- Web Summit: One of the world's largest technology conferences, held annually across multiple geographies. Comparable as a broad incumbent in large-scale premium tiered-ticket tech events with significant sponsor revenue and senior executive attendance.
Direct peers
- Money 20/20: The flagship conference for payments, banking, and financial services technology — operated as a vertical-specific, premium-priced enterprise event similar in format to RetailClub. Directly comparable in business model (tiered tickets, multi-tier sponsors, hosted buyer programs) and target buyer seniority.
- Groceryshop: A Shoptalk-branded event focused on grocery and CPG, also previously led by RetailClub's founders (Krystina Gustafson as former SVP of content). Directly comparable because it targets the same enterprise retail buyer community with a vertical-specific event format.
- Shoptalk: The flagship U.S. retail and ecommerce conference, originally built by RetailClub's founding team (Caroline Farley, Krystina Gustafson, Anil Aggarwal). Directly comparable because it serves the same enterprise retail and brand buyer audience with similar ticketing and sponsorship economics — and is in fact the founders' prior franchise.
Emerging players
- TechCrunch Disrupt: An annual startup and technology conference featuring founders, investors, and enterprise buyers. Comparable because it overlaps with RetailClub's founder-and-investor attendee segment and follows a tiered-ticket, multi-tier sponsor model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
RetailClub social profiles
Digital presenceRetailClub financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
RetailClub leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
RetailClub funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
RetailClub M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about RetailClub
What does RetailClub do?
RetailClub organizes and operates the RetailClub AI Festival, a three-day, all-outdoor beachside conference held at a 1/3-mile Boardwalk in Huntington Beach, CA, that convenes 2,000+ senior retail and brand executives, AI operators, founders, and investors. The event revolves around the proprietary Breakthru Networking Program, which uses AI-powered matching on 100+ attendee data points to schedule 30,000+ double opt-in 15-minute meetings, alongside peer roundtables, curated experiences, and merit-selected stage content. Revenue is generated primarily through tiered attendee ticket sales and multi-level corporate sponsorships.
Is RetailClub a public or private company?
RetailClub is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was RetailClub founded?
RetailClub was founded in -1. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is RetailClub based?
RetailClub is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does RetailClub make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Event Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are sponsorship Revenue.
Who are RetailClub's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Dreamforce, National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show, CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, SXSW Conference & Festivals and Web Summit. Direct peers are Money 20/20, Groceryshop and Shoptalk. TechCrunch Disrupt is listed as an emerging player.
Does RetailClub have an API?
No public API is recorded for RetailClub.
What industry is RetailClub in?
RetailClub's product category is Retail Industry Conferences and Executive Networking Events. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHABAB, Industry-Specific B2B Trade Show Organizers, with a secondary code of THAHAMAD, Customer/User Conferences & Client Advisory Boards. Its NAICS code is 56192.