I
The Signal
The industry voice people actually stop scrolling for.
Winner revealed 17 September
BC
Vice President of Media & AcquisitionNeuro
CP
FounderRetail Rewired
JC
CEO & FounderOpen Late Collective
Golden Cart
Golden Cart
The Inaugural Class of 2026
Every nominee got here because a peer who watched them work put their name in. There were no applications and there was no pay to play.
Curated by CartStars
55 Wall Street, New York
The Evening
"Start with a Bellini. The Cipriani family invented it in Venice in 1948, and this is their room."
Then you take your seat at a curated table of ten. A host runs the intros, so you are never the person making small talk with a stranger.
We present fifteen awards across the evening. The night closes with the Golden Cart itself, and nobody in the room knows that name until it is read out.
The only question left is who else is at the table.
In the room on September 17
These are the brands in the room on September 17. You will spend the evening at a table of ten with some of them.
Seats are still being placed, so this list keeps growing.
How a name gets on the list
Anyone could put forward someone whose work they had seen firsthand. Self nominations were allowed, and they were flagged rather than removed.
Eight operators read every card, balloted privately in each category, then argued it out live. All eight, and the chair, are recused from winning anything.
The three finalists in each category are public now. The winners stay sealed until the envelope opens at Cipriani.
The Recognition Committee
Presenting Partner
The Golden Cart Awards are presented by Klaviyo, whose partnership is what puts the whole industry in one room on the night of September 17.
With support from
The Class of 2026
These are the three names the Recognition Committee put forward in each category. They are listed alphabetically, because the winners are not revealed until September 17.
The industry voice people actually stop scrolling for.
The leader who keeps the customer at the center when it costs something.
The operator who found the profit everybody else walked past.
The person who made the channels behave like one brand.
The one who makes the hard part look boring.
The person who shipped the thing nobody had tried yet.
The campaign that earned attention instead of buying it.
The program where the data, the message and the moment finally line up.
The community that keeps showing up when nothing is on sale.
The team that used AI on a real problem instead of a demo.
The stack decision that changed what the team could do.
Team of the year, for in-house brand and retail teams only.
The partner who behaves like they are on payroll.
The room people were glad they flew for.
For the person who moved commerce forward more than anyone else this year.
Know before you go
Getting here and staying over
Cipriani sits in the Financial District, and the host hotel is a five minute walk from the front door.
The Venue
55 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005
It is the old Merchants' Exchange, and the main hall has a coffered ceiling and Corinthian columns that make a room of four hundred feel like an occasion instead of a ballroom.
The Host Hotel
Most people arrive on September 16 and check out on September 18.
We are holding a block here. Email us before you book anything and we will come back with the rate and the link.
Who has a room covered
We cover the room for finalists, table hosts and the Recognition Committee. If that is you, you will hear from Debbie or Aaron directly with your nights, so please do not book on your own first. Everyone else books at the block rate.
By subway
From the airports
Three ways into the room
This is not a conference with a ticket link. Every seat is at a hosted table of ten and we build the tables by hand, so the ten people sitting together are peers with a reason to be sitting together. The only thing you can buy is a plus one.
Registration runs on Luma. Put in your request and we will come back to you with your table, because every seat is placed by hand.
Request a SeatA plus one is $1,000 and it is a full seat at the dinner, with the cocktail hour from 6:30 and the ceremony. We seat your guest at your table, so you have the night together.
Add a plus oneA table is $12,500 and we curate your table of ten. You tell us who you are trying to meet and we build the table around it, so the night is ten conversations worth having rather than a list you had to chase. A few are still open, and we will send you the prospectus.
Take a tableEverything people keep asking
Because the table is the point. Every seat is placed by hand at a table of ten, and we build each table so the ten people sitting together are actual peers, with comparable scope and comparable problems, and nobody at the table who is there to sell to the rest.
A host runs the intros when everyone sits down, so you are never the person making small talk with a stranger. It is also why we cannot send a seating chart in advance, because the tables keep moving until the last RSVP lands.
Thursday, September 17, 2026 at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall Street, New York. Doors open at 6:30 and the night wraps around 9:45.
Black tie. It is the one night the industry gets to dress up, so please lean into it.
The host hotel is the Hyatt Centric Wall Street, about five minutes on foot from Cipriani. Most people check in on the 16th and out on the 18th.
We are holding a block and will confirm the rate and the booking link shortly, so email us before you book anything.
We cover the room for finalists, table hosts and the Recognition Committee. If that is you, wait to hear from us with your nights before you book anything.
Not for your own seat. Seats are by invitation and every one of them sits at a hosted table of ten, so we place people by hand. Request a seat and we will come back to you with your table.
The one thing you can buy is a plus one, at $1,000.
Yes. A plus one is $1,000 and it is a full seat at the dinner, with the cocktail hour from 6:30 and the ceremony. It does not cover a hotel room.
We seat your guest at your table. Every seat in the room is placed by hand, so the rest of your ten is built the way it always is.
Add your guest on the plus one page, or email team@cartstars.com if you would rather we did it for you. Plus ones are personal guests and they are approved the same way seats are. If you are looking to bring a team or the vendors you work with, that is a partner conversation and we will send you the prospectus.
Peers nominated them. There were no applications and no pay to play, and every nomination came from someone who had watched that person or that team work.
Then eight operators on the Recognition Committee read every card, each picked their own top three per category on a private ballot, and the room talked through the results together to land the final three.
No. All eight members of the Recognition Committee are recused from winning anything this year, as is the chair, and that rule was set before the first ballot went out.
From the stage on September 17. The finalists are public now and the winners stay sealed until the envelope opens, including from the finalists themselves.
RSVP so we hold your seat, and get to Cipriani by 6:00 for the red carpet. You will also hear from us about your hotel nights and which table you are on.
If you want to bring someone, add a plus one at $1,000 when you register and we will seat them at your table.
One guest is a plus one, at $1,000, approved the same way any seat is, and we seat them at your table.
Bringing a team is a different conversation, so email us and we will come back to you.
Partners take a table at $12,500 and we curate the ten seats around who they are trying to meet. That is a different thing from bringing your own people, so tell us what you are actually after and we will point you at the right one.
Tell us when you RSVP and we pass it straight to Cipriani. Mention it again to your table host on the night if it is serious, because they have the seating chart.
The 2 and 3 stop at Wall St one block away, the 4 and 5 stop at Wall St two blocks away, and the J and Z stop at Broad St. There is no parking at the venue, so use a garage on Pearl or Water Street if you drive.
Head to the press page for the release, the committee bios and photography, or email us and we will get you on the list for the carpet.
Still stuck? Email team@cartstars.com and a human will answer.
For media
The Golden Cart Awards is the inaugural recognition night for the people who run commerce. Fifteen awards decided by a fully recused committee, four hundred seats at Cipriani Wall Street, drawn from a CartStars community of more than 700 brand side leaders.
The release
For anything not covered here, or for the release as a document, email team@cartstars.com and a human will answer the same day.
NEW YORK. The Golden Cart Awards will present fifteen awards to brand side commerce leaders on Thursday, September 17, 2026 at Cipriani Wall Street. Forty five finalists across fifteen categories are public now, and the winners stay sealed until the envelope opens on the night.
Every nominee was put forward by a peer who had watched them work. There were no applications, no entry fee and no sponsored categories, and self nominations were flagged rather than removed.
Eight operators on the Recognition Committee each balloted privately in every category, then met to argue the results into a final three. All eight, and the chair, are recused from winning anything this year, and that rule was set before the first ballot went out.
The awards are presented by Klaviyo and curated by CartStars, a community of more than 700 brand side commerce leaders built over three and a half years. One in four is a C level executive, and three in ten work at a company above $100 million in revenue.
Three stories you can write
All three are on the record and cleared. Attribution as written.
For the first time the industry has a peer nominated, independently judged ceremony. No pay to play and no sponsored categories. Every nominee was chosen by someone who had seen the work firsthand.
"The more limitations we put on, the more we struggle. These awards should be open. Let the work speak for itself and let the judges decide. That is what makes it real."
Colleen Waters, Vice President eCommerce, Steve Madden
CartStars spent three and a half years building a room of more than 700 brand side leaders. One in four is C level and three in ten are at a company above $100 million. The awards are the public expression of what that room built privately.
"What makes these awards different is that they come from the ecosystem itself. The nominations, the signals, they come from people who have actually seen the work. That is the most powerful form of validation there is."
Joan Morales, Vice President Americas Field & Global Partner Marketing, Klaviyo
The room that has held the Peabody Awards and the Gotham Awards takes the inaugural Golden Cart on September 17. Red carpet, seated dinner, fifteen awards, and a signal that commerce has arrived as an industry that celebrates its own.
"The people who win awards like these usually have their hands in multiple buckets. That is what makes them recognizable. They touch more parts of the business than anyone expects. This ceremony is about celebrating exactly that."
Laura Cantor, Vice President Marketing & eCommerce, New York & Company
The facts
Media kit
Logos, the crest, committee headshots and venue photography, sent as a link within the day. Tell us what you need and the deadline you are working to.
Request the kitCarpet credentials
Photographers and reporters are on the red carpet from 6:00, before the room fills. Credentials are limited and we place them by outlet.
Request accessWho decided this
Eight operators, all of them recused from winning. Each balloted privately in every category, then the room argued it out live.
The committee is chaired by Debbie Pearce, Founder and CEO of CartStars, who is also recused and cast no ballot.