Read Time: Approx. 3 Minutes 3 Seconds 
Author: Lewis Stretton 
On the 18th and 19th of September, Dave, Mark from our partners Face the Future, and I travelled down to London for the eCommerce Expo 2024 at Excel London. 

What is eCommerce Expo? 

The eCommerce Expo is the UK’s biggest eCommerce event. It is held annually and usually runs across two days. Over 12,000 B2B and B2C senior eCommerce professionals and 300+ world-leading eCommerce solution providers and agencies come together to share their insights into the world of digital. 

What I learnt from both days 

Throughout both days, I attended many talks, ranging from multinational brands sharing their perspectives to eCommerce experts discussing the future, AI, and other key categories. Dave also managed to attend different talks covering trending topics such as the role of Retail Media, the impact of discounting, and the future of fulfilment. 
 
The first talk I attended was from Virgin Wines, where they discussed their email success. The key takeaways for me were how they’ve incorporated AI into their email marketing and how their subscription customer base is integrated into their creative strategies. 
 
AI was one of the main topics across the event, with a dedicated stage focusing on the future of AI. It was interesting to learn how AI has found its place in the world of eCommerce. One of the talks, "Putting AI to Work," discussed how we’ve transitioned from a human-first world to an AI-assisted world, with a future plan to move toward an AI-first world. A fascinating statistic from that talk is that employees who use and optimize AI in their workflows get 12% more work done. 
 
One of the talks I attended on the second day was "How JD Sports Puts Customer Identity at the Heart of Their Program." It was interesting to learn that 50-80% of JD Sports’ revenue comes from loyal customers. While JD’s loyalty scheme is a cashback program, which the speaker acknowledged reduces the Average Order Value (AOV), he highlighted that it increases the Lifetime Value (LTV) of customers, ultimately generating more long-term revenue. The speaker also touched on data strategy, emphasizing the importance of making the process frictionless. For instance, JD Sports only asks two questions and requires phone number verification when signing up. They’ve also launched a gamification campaign, where users swipe left or right on five shoes Tinder-style, which helps them gather data on customer preferences for more targeted campaigns. 

My Experience 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first Expo, but I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging and enjoyable the two days were. From start to finish, the event was packed with insightful talks covering various aspects of the eCommerce world. It was also great to visit the many stalls and stands, where we had the chance to learn more and strengthen partnerships with our collaborators. 
 
Many of the stalls featured free merchandise, games, or other fun activities, which made for a great way to attract marketers. One of my favourite activities was at Scurri’s stall a racing simulator. I managed to get the fastest time at the event across both days! 

About the eCommerce Awards 2024 

As the first day of the eCommerce Expo came to an end, the eCommerce Awards followed shortly after, bringing together some of the industry’s top minds for an evening celebrating this dynamic and fast-paced sector. This year, we were shortlisted for three awards, where we proudly took home: 
 
Silver – Best B2C App – With Face the Future 
Silver – Best Multi-Channel Marketing Campaign – With Face the Future 
Gold – Best eCommerce Boutique Agency 
 
The eCommerce Awards were an incredible experience and an enjoyable event brilliantly hosted. Ben Hanlin, one of the hosts, was particularly entertaining with his magic tricks, which I’m still trying to figure out! The highlight of the evening was our win for Best eCommerce Boutique Agency, which capped off a fantastic day. 
 
An overall great and successful night for the team at CFD, and congratulations to all the other winners as well. 
Finally, we’d like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who organized the event, the sponsors, and the speakers across the two days. A huge congratulations to all the other winners at the eCommerce Awards, and we look forward to attending again in 2025. 
 
If any of the above has piqued your interest, please feel free to get in touch
Tagged as: Ecommerce, Events
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