### Landmark Announcement: Finalists for the 10th Call for Speakers at E-commerce Berlin Expo 2026The announcement of finalists for the 10th Call for Speakers at the E-commerce Berlin Expo 2026 signals a defining moment for one of Europe’s most influential gatherings in digital commerce. Scheduled to take place at Messe Berlin—a new, larger venue—this milestone edition is set to welcome over 14,000 industry professionals and more than 340 exhibitors from upwards of 30 countries. A highlight of this year’s event is the exceptional scale and inclusivity of its content curation process: nearly 40% of the conference agenda will be directly shaped by the e-commerce community through the open Call for Speakers competition. With 950 submissions and over 25,000 public votes cast, the process reflects an unparalleled level of industry engagement. Advisors, comprised of seasoned e-commerce leaders, will now select one winner per category, with 15 additional “wildcard” presenters ensuring that innovative voices outside the main voting results are also featured. The final winners are slated for announcement on October 30, 2025.### Community-Driven Agenda: A Paradigm Shift in E-commerce Event StrategyThe E-commerce Berlin Expo’s Call for Speakers contest exemplifies a new paradigm for industry events, eschewing traditional top-down programming in favor of authentic, community-driven dialogue. Unlike curated lineups dictated solely by organizers or marquee names, nearly half of the agenda emerges from practitioner submissions and collective voting. This approach gives direct voice to those managing real-time operations, challenges, and technological change on the ground—enhancing agenda relevance and practical impact. The contest spans nine operational domains: Platforms & Tech, Acquisition & Growth, Communication & Engagement, Conversion & Customer Experience (CX) & Personalization, Marketplaces & Omnichannel, Logistics & Fulfillment, Global Expansion, Leadership & Strategic Management, and Bold Predictions & Forecasts. This breadth ensures coverage of every critical facet shaping modern e-commerce and fosters tangible connections between strategy, execution, and emerging innovation.### Driving Standards and Practices: Impact on Product Feeds and Catalog InfrastructureThe speaking topics that have advanced to the finals reveal prevailing trends in content infrastructure and catalog management:- Product feeds, once static repositories, are increasingly dynamic systems of record. Several finalist topics explore AI-driven optimization of product data, automation of feed updates, and cross-border compatibility—all factors that accelerate assortment launch and support global scalability.- Cataloging standards are being actively challenged and refined. Finalist discussions around ERP-integrated B2B portals, AI-assisted product data generation, and omnichannel content strategies indicate a move toward both greater standardization and adaptable, modular schemas.- The completeness and quality of product cards are under strategic review. Sessions on leveraging psychological targeting in content, using AI to enrich product attributes, and deploying no-code tools to facilitate rapid catalog updates underscore the growing expectation for both thoroughness and contextual relevance in product presentation.- Speed of assortment rollout—a core operational competitive factor—is addressed via case studies on automation, scalable logistics, and agile feed management tools. These strategies tie directly to faster go-to-market timelines and more resilient supply chains.Quantitative research from recent e-commerce infrastructure analyses supports these qualitative trends. For example, according to EHI Retail Institute's 2025 report, over 63% of leading B2B and B2C retailers cite the “automation of feed management” as a primary driver of assortment expansion speed, while more than 70% attribute improved catalog completeness to integrated AI solutions in data enrichment—both themes visible in this year’s finalist topics.### No-code, AI, and the Democratization of E-commerce Content ProcessesA recurring motif in the finalists’ submissions is the convergence of no-code platforms and advanced AI tools in core content workflows. These technologies are rapidly lowering technical barriers for non-developers, enabling marketing, retail, and CX teams to:- Automate previously manual catalog updates,- Build and iterate landing pages and product cards at scale,- Integrate product data across channels using API connectors and plug-in architectures.“Agentic Analytics” and practical AI integrations are notable among speaker topics, reflecting both theoretical potential and documented business outcomes. Recent commentary from McKinsey Digital notes that no-code and AI-based content management have reduced time-to-launch for product listings by up to 46% in pilot studies at mid-size European retailers (McKinsey Digital). These advances are directly relevant to Expo conversations on modular cataloging and rapid assortment deployment.### Content Quality, Card Enrichment, and Channel Consistency: Emerging Consensus and DivergenceWhile consensus exists around the need for data-driven catalog transformation, the field continues to debate best practices for content enrichment and channel synchronization. Some finalists argue for total automation—leveraging AI to generate, structure, and adapt product cards. Others focus on hybrid models, mixing automation with human oversight to ensure accuracy, compliance, and brand distinctiveness, especially in regulated verticals or complex B2B segments. This live dialogue will be further shaped by Expo presentations dissecting real deployment cases, experiments in content modularity, and the balance between velocity and quality control.### Strategic Acceleration: Logistics, Fulfillment, and Global Market IntegrationCategories dedicated to logistics and global expansion point toward essential infrastructure innovations. Scalable fulfillment models, cross-border payment systems (including blockchain-powered solutions), and smart logistic strategies are in focus among finalists. Notably, the Expo’s open selection model ensures that operational and technological advances—such as the migration of fulfillment to cost-efficient regions and the integration of versatile ERP systems—are debated alongside customer-facing themes. According to a ParcelMonitor Q3 2025 survey, 77% of European e-commerce professionals identify “multichannel catalog synchronization” and “logistics integration” as crucial to both reducing return rates and expanding internationally, underlining the commercial stakes of these conversations (ParcelMonitor).### Bold Forecasts: AI, Human Commerce, and Future InfrastructureThe “Bold Predictions & Forecasts” category encompasses strategic hypotheses on the future of go-to-market models, the re-emergence of human-centric commerce in an AI-dominated landscape, and the redesign of risk-scoring systems. Topics such as transparency in credit scoring and the evolution of e-grocery trends in 2026 align with the broader industry movement toward trust, personalization, and risk mitigation. These forward-looking themes inform both the present infrastructure debates and long-term investment priorities, as seen in parallel expert roundtables reported by E-commerce Europe Association (E-commerce Europe Association).### Advisory Review, Wildcard Selection, and Industry RepresentationA unique attribute of this year’s contest is its sophisticated multi-stage finalist selection process:- Initial public voting identified the top five proposals in each category based on industry resonance.- Advisor review, featuring decision-makers from leading European e-commerce brands, ensures evaluation by those managing scale, complexity, and innovation at enterprise level.The introduction of wildcard slots—fifteen additional speakers selected irrespective of public votes—further democratizes the stage, amplifying breakthrough ideas that might otherwise remain under the radar. The final lineup thus embodies both popular demand and strategic expertise, providing a representative cross-section of the industry’s next priorities.### Infrastructure Impact: Practical Implications for E-commerce PlayersFor operators, technology vendors, and service providers, the outcomes of the Expo’s agenda-setting process have direct practical implications:- The diversity of finalist topics means actionable insights across technology, process, and customer engagement frameworks.- Session conversations around product data, cataloging, and automation are likely to influence ecosystem standards, with ripple effects in integration policies, procurement decisions, and vendor benchmarks.- Innovations in no-code and AI are poised to further decentralize content process ownership, ushering in new workflows for information architecture, channel consistency, and performance measurement.As the commercial stakes of digital transformation grow, the E-commerce Berlin Expo continues to function not only as an annual marketplace but as a standards-setting “legislature” for the industry’s next phase.### Awaiting Outcomes: Next Steps Toward EBE 2026The final selection and announcement of speakers on October 30, 2025, represent the culmination of an open vetting process—an explicit commitment to transparency and community empowerment. With the agenda in place, anticipation builds for February’s Expo sessions, where the intersection of infrastructure, content quality, and emerging technologies will be explored through detailed case studies, debates, and masterclasses.Industry observers and participants will be closely watching the degree to which this year’s themes and solutions migrate from the Expo stage to daily operational practice, accelerating the ongoing evolution of product feed management, cataloging standards, and agile content strategies across European—and global—e-commerce markets.For ongoing expert commentary and sector data on the evolving e-commerce infrastructure, further updates can be found at NotPIM and McKinsey Digital.***The E-commerce Berlin Expo 2026 finalists highlight the critical importance of adaptable product data management. We at NotPIM recognize the urgency for e-commerce businesses to streamline catalog processes, especially in areas like feed automation and AI-driven content enrichment. This aligns directly with our platform's capabilities to facilitate seamless product data transformation, ensuring consistent and high-quality information across all sales channels. By addressing these challenges proactively, businesses can significantly improve time-to-market and enhance overall customer experience.