Inside the Innovation Room at sync 2026

More than 250 people attended sync 2026 at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester on 9 September. Between the talks, visitors joined us in the Innovation Room to try Shopify POS, interactive product displays, electronic shelf-edge labels and our drinks quiz.

Every customer-facing screen was powered by Broadcast, with the content managed from Shopify admin.

The day in numbers

• 250+ people attended sync 2026.
• 1,400 interaction events were recorded on the drinks quiz, powered by Blueprint.
• 182 merchandise orders went through the tills.
• 89 drinks orders went through the kiosk.

The merchandise came from Visualsoft and partners including Shopify, Yotpo, SparkLayer and Attentive. Visitors could choose from T-shirts, hoodies, plastic ducks, caps, water bottles, power banks and beer coolers.

Shopify pricing, straight to the shelf

Visitors were particularly interested in the electronic shelf-edge labels. We demonstrated how changing a price in Shopify updates the label on the shelf, without having to print and replace a price ticket.

Our Shopify app for electronic shelf-edge pricing labels is launching soon.

Trying Magic Shelf and Magic Mirror

Visitors could place a Manors cap, shoe or accessory on Magic Shelf to bring up product information, video, styling suggestions and related products on screen.

Magic Mirror let visitors explore the Manors collection through a virtual lookbook, starting with a tap of their digital wallet.

The drinks quiz was a hit

The “What drink are you?” quiz, powered by Blueprint, was a hit with visitors. People could also place their drinks orders through the kiosk.

Ideas from the stage, conversations on the shop floor

Jenna Meek's session on REFY was a particular highlight for us. AI's impact on commerce also featured across the programme, including Shopify's session on becoming transaction-ready in the AI era and Universal Works and Depict's discussion of human taste and brand judgement.

See the full sync 2026 agenda.

Bring the experience to your next event

Thank you to everyone who visited, tried the technology and shared their ideas, and to the team and partners who helped make the room happen.

Planning a launch, pop-up or store opening? VS Labs can supply the equipment, configure it for your brand and products, and handle installation.

For personalised products, we can also include Blueprint, our product configurator for Shopify POS and online stores.

Talk to us about your event.