eTail Palm Springs 2025
February 24 - 27, 2025
JW Marriott Desert Springs, Palm Springs, CA
Pre-Summit Day, Monday, February 27: Transform SEARCH Summit Focusing on optimizing SEO and other performance marketing strategies
7:10 am - 7:40 am
Networking Breakfast & Registration
Get a jump start on conference registration and join us for a delicious breakfast before a full day of content & interactive roundtables
7:40 am - 7:45 am
Welcome Remarks
Elizabeth Robillard -
Event Director,
eTail Palm Springs
7:45 am - 8:05 am
Keynote Chat: Securing and Maintaining C-Level Buy in for Your SEO Efforts
Ratish Naroor -
Global Head of SEO,
Etsy
• Deciding the level of advocacy you need from the c-suite to hit your goals
• Do you need their buy-in to influence other departments or do you need their money to buy new technology?
• Preparing specific metrics and market research to prove your case
• Understanding what the goals of your business leaders are so you can target the issues that matter most to them
• Legitimize yourself as a leader for SEO by having a through grasp of the concept as currently applies to your company and what the potential could be
8:05 am - 8:20 am
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Craig Smith -
Founder & CEO,
Trinity Insight
8:20 am - 8:50 am
Panel Discussion: Partnering To Optimize Enterprise Level SEO
Craig Smith -
Founder & CEO,
Trinity Insight
Ali Haris -
Director, SEO,
Tailored Brands
David Graveline -
Senior SEO Product Manager,
Achieve
Greg Haslam -
Head of Worldwide eCommerce,
Davis Instruments
Gerard Sullivan -
Founder/CEO Of Adquench Representing Shirofune At The Event,
Adquench/Shirofune
SEO should be a full enterprise priority which means all of the teams across your organization that have a hand in your SEO strategy need to work together to make sure that it is done effectively. The creative you are putting into ads, the content you are writing and the actual engineering of the ad itself, needs to be seamless so these teams should talk to each other in order to make sure all of this is cohesive. Join this panel with several SEO experts as they tell us how they are aligning across their enterprises to keep this strategy front of mind. Expert to hear about:
- Defining what it means to truly achieve SEO to an enterprise level
- Improving your organic presence and revenue at scale
- Assessing the tools and services you need to succeed
- Working cross functionally on your SEO initiatives from PR to creative to engineering to content
- Educating across the organization and ensuring all teams are on the same page
Gerard Sullivan
Founder/CEO Of Adquench Representing Shirofune At The EventAdquench/Shirofune
8:50 am - 9:05 am
Roundtable Host Introductions
Hear quick intros from your roundtable hosts and get ready to take a deep dive into the latest challenges related to search and performance marketing.
9:05 am - 10:25 am
Interactive Roundtables
Jason Ferrara -
CMO,
Searchspring
Deirdre Kelly -
Director of Acquisition,
Pura Vida
Udayan Bose -
Founder & CEO,
NetElixir
Liam Patterson -
CEO,
Bidnamic
Keelan Durnien -
Performance Marketing Lead,
Herschel Supply Co.
Todd Ulise -
SVP,
Ad.net
Arv Natarajan -
Director of Product,
Groupby
Mat Drela -
Managing Director,
Zeropark
Michael Aragon -
VP of Sales & Account Management,
AdMedia
Jeff Alderman -
SVP, Sales and Marketing,
AdMedia
Ari Simchi -
COO,
Group 8A
Aaron Pelander -
VP of Marketing,
GovX
Joe Yakuel -
CEO,
Within
Peter Misek -
Business Development Director,
Zeropark
Kevin Tsao -
SVP, eCommerce,
Open Farm
Table 1:Creating the Ultimate Shopping Experience
Site search should be simple and high-performing. Shoppers shouldn’t get irrelevant, incorrect, or no results at all. Merchants shouldn’t have to build custom code or mess with lightweight plugins. The right search enables product discovery and illustrates intent as well as fuels your merchandising and personalization strategies. Your search should make shoppers say, “Whoa - I found what I needed before I finished typing!”
Moderator: Jason Ferrara, CMO, SearchSpring, Deirdre Kelly, Director of Acquisition & Retention at Pura Vida Bracelets
Table 2: Mastering Search Marketing in the AI-powered era: Winning Strategies for "New" Google Ads.
Moderator: Udayan Bose, CEO, NetElixir
Guest: Aaron Pelander, VP of Marketing at GovX
Table 3:From Strategy to Results: A Collaborative Conversation on Search Marketing with Bidnamic and Herschel Supply Co.
Moderator: Liam Patterson, CEO, Bidnamic, Keelan Durnien, Performance Marketing Lead, Herschel Supply Co
Table 4: Learn about how best to diversify your search partners and reached an untapped marketplace
Moderator: Todd Ulise, SVP, Ad.net
Table 5:How new product discovery technologies are paving the way for a frictionless shopper journey
Moderator: Daniel Taras, VP, UNBXD, A Netcore Company
Table 6: Out With the Old in With the New: Next-Gen Search for Modern Ecommerce Shoppers That Want Google-Quality Results
Moderator: Arv Natarajan, Director of Product, Groupby
Table 7: Modern consumer buying journey & the marketers’ messy middle: How to separate the signal from the noise.
Moderator: Peter Misek, Business Development Director, Zeropark
Mat Drela, Managing Director, Zeropark
Table 8: Maximizing Your Return on Search
Maintain an edge on your competition by learning how to leverage AI and Automation within Paid Search & SEO. We’ll also discuss how to measure the incrementality of search relative to other channels, how to deploy search tactics based on the stage of your brand, and more.
Moderator: Joe Yakuel Founder & CEO WITHIN & Kevin Tsao, SVP, eCommerce, Open Farm
Table 9:
Topic The Evolution of Retail Search Marketing
Moderator: Michael Aragaon, VP of Sales & Account Management, AdMedia, Jeff Alderman, SVP of Sales & Marketing, AdMedia
Table 10:
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: How Retail Brands Can Use Affiliate Content to Win on Search
For most e-tailers, trying to get your brand’s website to organically rank on the first page of Google for high-yield searches like “best tennis racquets” or “dyson vacuum alternatives” is a fool’s errand. Legacy content sites and affiliate sites have already gobbled up that real estate and won’t be giving it away any time soon. So, what’s an e-tail brand to do? In this roundtable, we will discuss affiliate marketing’s current prominence within search results for retail queries and what brands can immediately be doing to succeed across the customer product discovery journey.
- Understand the challenges of directly competing for top SEO results across top, middle and bottom of funnel search query types
- Discuss methods to accelerate an increase of qualified convertible traffic through affiliate based search engine optimization
- Discuss tactics to multiply your search engine real estate via credible third party content
Moderator: Ari Simchi, COO, Group 8A
10:25 am - 10:55 am
Morning Coffee & Refreshments
Your mind is buzzing with ideas, so grab some coffee and a quick bite and keep it going!
10:55 am - 11:25 am
Keynote Panel Discussion: The Recipe for A Top Performing Media Mix
Craig Smith -
Founder & CEO,
Trinity Insight
Mark Bietz -
CMO,
FUN.com
Aaron Magness -
CMO,
Thistle
Brian DeLaite -
Senior Vice President, Marketing Solutions,
LS Direct
With new channels coming into play and customer preferences constantly shifting, how can you stay on top of the latest trends shaping the future of digital advertising? Customers report that they find digital advertising intrusive, repetitive and irrelevant, so how can you ensure that you stay proactive and stay on top of these issues? Join panelists from Thistle and Ruggable among others as they share ideas around:
- Examining how the media mix has changed with ad costs going up and campaign effectiveness going down
- Identifying how to allocate digital marketing dollars effectively in this new media environment
- Rethinking the use of traditional and newer online media to grow the top of your funnel
- Analyzing what seems to be working since the mix has changed
- Testing and evolving your strategy as you go
11:25 am - 12:45 pm
Interactive Roundtables
Table 1:
Creating the Ultimate Shopping Experience
Site search should be simple and high-performing. Shoppers shouldn’t get irrelevant, incorrect, or no results at all. Merchants shouldn’t have to build custom code or mess with lightweight plugins. The right search enables product discovery and illustrates intent as well as fuels your merchandising and personalization strategies. Your search should make shoppers say, “Whoa - I found what I needed before I finished typing!”
Moderator: Jason Ferrara, CMO, SearchSpring, Deirdre Kelly, Director of Acquisition & Retention at Pura Vida Bracelets
Table 2: Mastering Search Marketing in the AI-powered era: Winning Strategies for "New" Google Ads.
Moderator: Udayan Bose, CEO, NetElixir
Guest: Aaron Pelander, VP of Marketing at GovX
Table 3:
From Strategy to Results: A Collaborative Conversation on Search Marketing with Bidnamic and Herschel Supply Co.
Moderator: Liam Patterson, CEO, Bidnamic, Keelan Durnien, Performance Marketing Lead, Herschel Supply Co
Table 4:
Learn about how best to diversify your search partners and reached an untapped marketplace
Moderator: Todd Ulise, SVP, Ad.net
Table 5:
How new product discovery technologies are paving the way for a frictionless shopper journey
Moderator: Daniel Taras, VP, UNBXD, A Netcore Company
Table 6:
Out With the Old in With the New: Next-Gen Search for Modern Ecommerce Shoppers That Want Google-Quality Results
Moderator: Arv Natarajan, Director of Product, Groupby
Table 7:
Topic Modern consumer buying journey & the marketers’ messy middle: How to separate the signal from the noise.
Moderator: Peter Misek, Business Development Director, Zeropark
Mat Drela, Managing Director, Zeropark
Table 8:
Topic TBD
Moderator: Joe Yakuel Founder & CEO WITHIN
Table 9:
Topic The Evolution of Retail Search Marketing
Moderator: Michael Aragaon, VP of Sales & Account Management, AdMedia, Jeff Alderman, SVP of Sales & Marketing, AdMedia
Table 10:
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: How Retail Brands Can Use Affiliate Content to Win on Search
For most e-tailers, trying to get your brand’s website to organically rank on the first page of Google for high-yield searches like “best tennis racquets” or “dyson vacuum alternatives” is a fool’s errand. Legacy content sites and affiliate sites have already gobbled up that real estate and won’t be giving it away any time soon. So, what’s an e-tail brand to do? In this roundtable, we will discuss affiliate marketing’s current prominence within search results for retail queries and what brands can immediately be doing to succeed across the customer product discovery journey.
- Understand the challenges of directly competing for top SEO results across top, middle and bottom of funnel search query types
- Discuss methods to accelerate an increase of qualified convertible traffic through affiliate based search engine optimization
- Discuss tactics to multiply your search engine real estate via credible third party content
Moderator: Ari Simchi, COO, Group 8A
12:45 pm - 1:10 pm
Fireside Chat: Bringing Retail Marketing To Connected TV To Reach Highly Engaged Audiences
Craig Smith -
Founder & CEO,
Trinity Insight
Victor Castro -
General Manager,
ByHeart
Connected TV is certainly not a new advertising channel, but it is one that has not been tested by that many brands. It offers a chance for retailers to put certain products right in front of a very engaged and often targeted audience, which could provide a huge opportunity as retailers seek to find new measurable, scalable marketing channels given that social marketing success rates are declining. Join this session with Victor Castro from ByHeart as she walks us through their recent successes on connected TV. Expect to hear about:
- Discussing connected tv advertising and the huge opportunity to reach and engage with your target audience
- Assessing which streaming services hold your customers’ attention, as ad buying across channels and devices is becoming a more singular process.
- Cross sharing eCommerce and marketing data to build out successful digital ad buys
- Building the ability to automate data-driven buying decisions to target audiences.
1:10 pm - 2:10 pm
Lunch & Networking
2:10 pm - 2:35 pm
LIGHTNING ROUND: eCommerce Growth Marketing Hacks
Craig Smith -
Founder & CEO,
Trinity Insight
David Contract -
Marketing Team Lead,
The Betesh Group, Inc.
Cedric Parsiegla -
Director, eCommerce & Digital Marketing,
Henkel Beauty
Julia Metaxas -
VP of Growth,
Lulu and Georgia
With the Apple IOS 14 privacy update and the planned phase out of 3rd party cookies, how can you stay on top of the best and most effective ways to acquire customers and grow your business? In this panel, hear what growth marketing hacks are working best to generate leads. Join this diverse panel of experts as they walk you through their strategies for:
- Timing your media advertising and optimizing your placements
- Leveraging educational videos and UGC
- Continuously testing various content strategies
- Examining email and SMS for post purchase marketing
- Looking at the role of organic search in driving acquisition
2:35 pm - 3:15 pm
Interactive Roundtables
Table 1:
Creating the Ultimate Shopping Experience
Site search should be simple and high-performing. Shoppers shouldn’t get irrelevant, incorrect, or no results at all. Merchants shouldn’t have to build custom code or mess with lightweight plugins. The right search enables product discovery and illustrates intent as well as fuels your merchandising and personalization strategies. Your search should make shoppers say, “Whoa - I found what I needed before I finished typing!”
Moderator: Jason Ferrara, CMO, SearchSpring, Deirdre Kelly, Director of Acquisition & Retention at Pura Vida Bracelets
Table 2: Mastering Search Marketing in the AI-powered era: Winning Strategies for "New" Google Ads.
Moderator: Udayan Bose, CEO, NetElixir
Guest: Aaron Pelander, VP of Marketing at GovX
Table 3:
From Strategy to Results: A Collaborative Conversation on Search Marketing with Bidnamic and Herschel Supply Co.
Moderator: Liam Patterson, CEO, Bidnamic, Keelan Durnien, Performance Marketing Lead, Herschel Supply Co
Table 4:
Learn about how best to diversify your search partners and reached an untapped marketplace
Moderator: Todd Ulise, SVP, Ad.net
Table 5:
How new product discovery technologies are paving the way for a frictionless shopper journey
Moderator: Daniel Taras, VP, UNBXD, A Netcore Company
Table 6:
Out With the Old in With the New: Next-Gen Search for Modern Ecommerce Shoppers That Want Google-Quality Results
Moderator: Arv Natarajan, Director of Product, Groupby
Table 7:
Topic Modern consumer buying journey & the marketers’ messy middle: How to separate the signal from the noise.
Moderator: Peter Misek, Business Development Director, Zeropark
Mat Drela, Managing Director, Zeropark
Table 8:
Topic TBD
Moderator: Joe Yakuel Founder & CEO WITHIN
Table 9:
Topic The Evolution of Retail Search Marketing
Moderator: Michael Aragaon, VP of Sales & Account Management, AdMedia, Jeff Alderman, SVP of Sales & Marketing, AdMedia
Table 10:
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: How Retail Brands Can Use Affiliate Content to Win on Search
For most e-tailers, trying to get your brand’s website to organically rank on the first page of Google for high-yield searches like “best tennis racquets” or “dyson vacuum alternatives” is a fool’s errand. Legacy content sites and affiliate sites have already gobbled up that real estate and won’t be giving it away any time soon. So, what’s an e-tail brand to do? In this roundtable, we will discuss affiliate marketing’s current prominence within search results for retail queries and what brands can immediately be doing to succeed across the customer product discovery journey.
- Understand the challenges of directly competing for top SEO results across top, middle and bottom of funnel search query types
- Discuss methods to accelerate an increase of qualified convertible traffic through affiliate based search engine optimization
- Discuss tactics to multiply your search engine real estate via credible third party content
Moderator: Ari Simchi, COO, Group 8A
3:15 pm - 3:15 pm
Conclusion Of Transform Search Summit
Cocktails & Conversations (Retailer-Only): Connect With Retail Peers From Similar Sized Organizations
Grab a glass of wine or a beer and unwind with fellow retailers of your revenue size to talk about current challenges and opportunities for your business!
Grab a glass of wine or a beer and unwind with fellow retailers of your revenue size to talk about current challenges and opportunities for your business!
Grab a glass of wine or a beer and unwind with fellow retailers of your revenue size to talk about current challenges and opportunities for your business!
Grab a glass of wine or a beer and unwind with fellow retailers of your revenue size to talk about current challenges and opportunities for your business!
4:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Conclusion Of Cocktails & Conversations
4:45 pm - 6:00 pm
eTail Palm Springs Beach Bash
Are you ready to let loose and have some beachy fun? Then come join us for our Beach Bash Cocktail Reception! From tropical drinks and mouthwatering hors d'oeuvres to live music, it's sure to be a night to remember. Don't miss out on this chance to socialize with colleagues and friends while enjoying or beach in the desert atmosphere.