Event Overview: The 10th Call for Speakers at E-commerce Berlin Expo 2026
On February 17–18, 2026, Berlin will host the 10th anniversary edition of the E-commerce Berlin Expo—Germany’s largest B2B e-commerce event and a central meeting point for industry professionals across Europe. This milestone edition is set to attract more than 14,000 attendees, featuring 340+ exhibitors from over 30 countries and more than 150 speakers spread across four stages and 50 masterclasses. Notably, the event is moving to Messe Berlin, a larger and more prestigious venue, signaling its rapid growth and heightened ambitions.
A distinctive feature of this expo is its commitment to community-driven content: nearly 40% of the conference agenda is shaped directly by the professional audience via the Call for Speakers competition. This open contest enables industry experts, practitioners, and visionaries—from any background—to propose session topics and potentially present on the main stage. Out of all applicants, 24 winners (selected through a combination of public voting and expert jury evaluation) will shape a significant portion of the event’s discourse, ensuring relevance and direct alignment with the e-commerce community’s pressing priorities.
Why the Call for Speakers Signals a Shift in E-commerce Dialogue
The continuation and expansion of the Call for Speakers initiative marks a pivotal change in how e-commerce conferences generate their value. Rather than curating a closed lineup of speakers, the expo actively involves its community in agenda-setting, giving a voice to practitioners facing marketplace realities. This approach enhances the event’s relevance by tapping into frontline experience, emerging challenges, and practical case studies rather than simply promoting well-known personalities.
For the 10th edition, the contest covers nine submission categories that reflect key operational domains and growth drivers in modern e-commerce: from technology platforms and logistics to customer experience (CX), personalization, omnichannel strategy, global expansion, and leadership. This breadth ensures that conversations at the expo will span the full spectrum of digital commerce infrastructure, customer engagement models, and innovation trajectories.
Implications for Product Data Feeds, Cataloging Standards, and Content Quality
The centrality of community-generated content in the expo’s agenda has tangible implications for the broader e-commerce tech landscape, particularly in how organizations approach product feeds, cataloging, and content automation.
First, many session proposals and expert talks are expected to focus on the ever-evolving requirements for e-commerce product data quality. As marketplaces and third-party channels mature, the standards for product information, feed completeness, and real-time sync have become stricter. Companies now recognize that accurate and enriched product data—fully aligned with evolving taxonomy and category guidelines—directly influences sell-through rates, visibility, and conversion.
Events like E-commerce Berlin Expo function as critical reference points for the exchange of emerging best practices around feed optimization. Sessions driven by practitioners highlight real-world strategies for:
- Harmonizing data across internal and external channels
- Addressing gaps in attribute coverage (e.g., materials, sustainability, compliance information)
- Leveraging automation and no-code platforms for mass content generation and syndication
- Accelerating new product onboarding and assortment rollout with minimal manual intervention
When conference content is shaped by those actually building and scaling catalogs at international retailers, feed managers and e-commerce leads benefit from insights grounded in operational reality, not just vendor whitepapers. The cross-pollination of solutions—from AI-driven enrichment to automated error-checking and rapid mapping to category standards—pushes the industry standard forward by popularizing actionable, reproducible frameworks.
Fast-Tracking Assortment Launches: From Manual Workflows to AI and No-code
One theme likely to recur in both the speaker contest and conference sessions is the drive towards automation in content operations. As assortments grow and new channels proliferate, manual content creation and migration can no longer scale. E-commerce Berlin Expo—by focusing on applied innovation rather than abstract futurism—will likely highlight:
- The rise of no-code tools: Platforms enabling non-technical users to create, customize, and deploy product feeds and digital assets across channels without engineering support.
- The deployment of generative AI: Systems that automate content writing, translate and localize listings, and optimize product descriptions for SEO and channel-specific requirements.
- Workflow orchestration: Best practices for linking product information management (PIM), digital asset management (DAM), and syndication platforms to slash time-to-market for new products.
Such innovations not only speed up the introduction of new SKUs and collections but also ensure that product content remains current, compliant, and conversion-optimized—hallmarks of digital retail agility. As AI matures, organizations presenting at the expo are expected to share metrics-driven case studies illustrating measurable uplifts in completeness, accuracy, and multichannel launch velocity thanks to semi- or fully automated content pipelines.
Trends in Catalog Management and Content Infrastructure
Another likely focus area, given the speaker categories and previous conference track records, is the evolution of catalog management and merchandising infrastructure across marketplaces and direct-to-consumer (DTC) stores. Industry practitioners are set to discuss:
- The integration of AI with catalog systems for intelligent product grouping, tagging, and up-to-date inventory sync
- Solving for cross-border listing challenges, including adapting to local compliance, language, and attribute requirements at scale
- Data governance and auditability as product assortments and syndication channels multiply
These topics are critical in an era where the accuracy, depth, and speed of catalog updates not only support discoverability on external channels but also influence the success of dynamic pricing, personalization, and marketplace expansion strategies. As industry experts report on the impact of new tools and protocols, peers gain a playbook for boosting both operational efficiency and commercial performance.
Setting Benchmarks for Speaker Proposals – and Community-driven Standards
The E-commerce Berlin Expo’s contest model doesn't just democratize speaking opportunities; it implicitly raises the bar for content rigor. Successful proposals are non-promotional, actionable, and closely attuned to current market shifts. The advisory board seeks talks demonstrating:
- Alignment with industry trends and pain points
- Evidence-based recommendations, supported by internal data or public research
- Real-world observation, presented by experts directly accountable for business outcomes
- Clear, audience-relevant takeaways tailored to buyer, operator, or marketer profiles
This methodology ensures that the event conference becomes a benchmarking arena for both operational tactics and strategic priorities in commerce infrastructure—a “living standard” set by frontline doers, not detached theorists.
The Larger Significance: Expo Events as Engines of E-commerce Ecosystem Evolution
Events like the E-commerce Berlin Expo serve as more than just annual meeting points; they accelerate the adoption of technologies, set informal standards, and crystallize the collective learning of Europe’s e-commerce sector. By emphasizing community contribution, transparency, and merit-based selection, the Call for Speakers contest increases diversity of perspectives and effectiveness of knowledge transfer.
In the context of ongoing disruption—be it the adoption of AI, evolving privacy constraints, supply chain volatility, or shifts in consumer trust—shared frameworks for cataloging, feed management, and content automation are vital. Sessions emerging from practitioner-driven proposals contribute directly to the industry’s operational toolkit, enabling faster, more reliable adaptation to change.
Looking ahead, the expo’s scale and open structure suggest it will further solidify its role as a proving ground for automation, no-code workflows, and AI-powered content strategies—especially as digital commerce complexity grows. The insights surfaced at the event often set the agenda for content and feed management innovation across the continent, influencing vendor roadmaps, retailer investments, and professional upskilling initiatives in equal measure.
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In sum, the 10th edition of the Call for Speakers at E-commerce Berlin Expo is more than a program highlight—it is an active lever shaping Europe’s digital commerce landscape, content infrastructure, and the broader conversation on what operational excellence means in 2026. The community-led agenda, reinforced by hands-on expert input, ensures that both session content and audience engagement stay synced with on-the-ground realities—accelerating the pace at which best practices and transformative technologies gain industry traction.
NotPIM’s Conclusion
The 10th E-commerce Berlin Expo highlights the growing necessity for robust product data management and automation in the e-commerce sector. As the industry embraces community-driven insights and advanced technologies, platforms like NotPIM are pivotal in streamlining data processes and enhancing catalog accuracy. This alignment reinforces the importance of efficient data solutions in addressing the evolving challenges and opportunities presented at such pivotal events.