The Best eCommerce Conferences to Attend in 2016
Running an eCommerce business makes it hard to get out to a conference – you’re taking orders 24/7 so there’s always something that needs to be done – always an excuse not to leave the office.
That doesn’t mean you should stay in the office all year round! Rather you should assess what you want to achieve in the coming months and identify the conferences that are going to help you do that.
To work out which conference(s) you should go to, consider these factors:
- Cost
Some are free, some are a few quid, others are £100s
Is the cost worth it for the anticipated benefit? - Timing
Does when it happen work for you? If you’re aiming to have the project done by August and the relevant conference in September – will it still be worth it? - Content
What is the conference going to be covering? - Speaker quality
This varies A LOT – at some of the massive free shows you’re mainly going to get pitched at (ie “our product can do X”), at a smaller more curated shows the quality will be higher - Attendees
One of the biggest benefits of attending a conference comes from the conversations you have with other attendees during the day(s) – so try and get a feel of who goes, are they like you? Are they running a similar size and type of business?
To help you out a bit you’ll find some great recommendations below. These are conferences where you will get great content, and great speakers. They’re a mix of my recommendations and those who appeared on our recent Expert View series of podcasts (you can find them all here).
In rough chronological order:
These are organised every couple of month’s by WeMakeWebsites.
Organised every few months by IWOCA in London, Birmingham, Leeds and elsewhere in the UK
London
Spring: 17-19 Jan 2016
Autumn: 11-13 Sept 2016
Covers a wide range of topics, including the “Academy LIVE” which is the conference stream.
The Delivery Conference – organised by MetaPack
London
2nd Feb 2016
All about delivery – I’ll was there! Download or listen to my top takeaways.
Pure London – Fashion focused
London
14-16 Feb 2016
Including a range of seminars and speakers.
RBTE – Retail Business Technology Expo
London
9-10th March 2016
Not one I’m particularly familar with, but it was recommended to be my Ian Jindle so I’ll be popping along this year to see what’s going on.
Catalyst Connect – organised by Channel Advisor
London
20th April 2016
One of the best conferences I attended last year – I will be there again this year, and hopefully sticking around for more of the party! (watch the video on the homepage for long enough and you’ll see me talking to the camera!)
SheerLuxe B2B eCommerce Conference
London
20-21st April 2016
An event full of enthusiasm.
Internet Retailing Expo & eDelivery Expo
Birmingham
27-28th April 2016
If money is tight – then at least attend one day of this co-located conference as it’s free to attend and the content is great. I will almost certainly be there – so if you spot me please do say hi!
London
2nd June 2016
With roots in the mail order sector there’s a lot of great advice and helpful people at this one.
XChange – Organised by Demandware
Berlin
14-15th June
Next to nothing released about this one yet – but it is targeted more at the Enterprise level business.
London
October 2016 (date tbc)
It is aimed at larger eCommerce businesses (turnover £10m+), and this year I will be bringing you my takeaways again (hear 2015’s here)
London
October 2016 (date tbc)
It is aimed at larger eCommerce businesses (turnover £10m+), and this year I will be bringing you my takeaways again (hear 2015’s here)
London
Hopefully returning to the UK in 2016, but no details yet released.
Do you have any recommendations? Please comment below!