The e-commerce sector is moving ever faster, becoming more diverse and innovative - and competition is more intense than ever before. Especially in an industry that sets new sales records every year, it is important to keep your finger on the pulse. For 2024, the Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE) forecasts e-commerce sales of an impressive 88.3 billion euros - an increase of 3.4 per cent compared to the previous year. And this despite ongoing economic challenges: Global crises, geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties are causing many companies to stumble. Innovation and flexibility are therefore more important than ever for companies to withstand the demands of these uncertain times and continue to operate successfully.
Where better to find such approaches than at an event? We asked ourselves precisely this question and, together with our partner Shopware, created ‘Inspiration and impetus in e-commerce’. On 24 October 2024, we not only celebrated this high-profile event, but also the inauguration of our new elio headquarters in Giessen - a milestone that is more than just a change of scenery for us.
In attendance: over 60 participants and ten inspiring speakers who filled the day with a wide range of topics and insights. From the question of how online consultations inspire customers to hidden potential in the search function and the internationalisation of online shops - the day offered a wealth of future-oriented topics. This also included the latest e-commerce trends and the transformation through artificial intelligence. The crowning finale was the evening, which rounded off the event perfectly with networking opportunities and a magical show act.
In this follow-up report, we summarise the highlights and most valuable learnings for you.
Success stories in e-commerce: from modular systems to customised solutions
Sascha Vorderstemann, Founder & CEO of elio GmbH, opened the event with an inspiring presentation on the possibilities that go far beyond standard solutions. Using real customer projects, he showed how versatile online shops can be designed when elio's expertise and Shopware's functions are combined.
Two case studies were particularly impressive:
- Pluxee by Sodexo Group: Among other things, a multi-tenant setup was set up for this customer, which enables the internationalisation of the shop for different countries. Thanks to the reusability of the plugins, it was possible to create an efficient and scalable solution that meets the individual needs of international markets.
- Cube (Pending System GmbH & Co. KG): An e-catalogue was created here based on Shopware 6, which enables the implementation of dynamic product comparisons. In addition, customised CMS elements were developed, for example, to ensure a user-friendly and appealing presentation of the products.
His conclusion: ‘Shopware already offers a lot out-of-the-box. But only customised adaptations turn a standard shop into a real sales magnet.’
Immediately following Sascha Vorderstemann's introduction to the possibilities of Shopware, Sebastian Hamann, founder and co-CEO of shopware AG, took the audience even deeper into the world of the e-commerce system. Hamann began his presentation with a charming look back at the beginnings in Schöppingen, where he laid the foundations for Shopware together with his brother Stefan. In humorous anecdotes - accompanied by photos from the early days - Hamann recounted how his brother Stefan initially had to teach himself how to programme after their parents took away their computer games. Even back then, the division of roles was clear: Stefan as the technical expert, Sebastian as the creative mind.
The first real customer? An uncle who wanted his own online shop. It soon became clear that more people were enthusiastic about this need - and so Shopware was born.
Today, Shopware is a leader in the e-commerce market and is constantly breaking new ground. Hamann provided insights into the latest features, which focus primarily on the area of spatial commerce - the fusion of VR/AR technologies and online shopping - and the integration of artificial intelligence (such as the new Copilot). Shopware wants to pave the way for the future and take e-commerce to the next level.
Tip: You can also find out more about these features in our social media post, which presents the new functions in detail. It's worth a click!
Using AI wisely: Between creative power and forecasting boost
The presentation by Levitan Novakovski, Head of AI & Development at elio GmbH, was a real highlight for the visitors. With his ‘AI Masterclass’, he not only brought light into the darkness of artificial intelligence, but also provided many a smile. Novakovski charmingly and humorously explained that we humans are often ‘framed’ - similar to an AI that is only trained with certain data and derives probabilities from it. A thought that gave the audience food for thought.
He impressively demonstrated why the use of AI is essential for companies. It can help to automate processes, analyse data efficiently, improve products and services and drive innovation.
Generative AI - the creative AI
Novakovski sees great potential in generative AI. It can design content and products, from automatically generated product descriptions and personalised content to new design ideas for packaging. Particularly noteworthy are the modern chatbots that not only answer simple enquiries, but also solve complex tasks as intelligent assistants and offer personalised advice.
At the same time, this also brings with it a number of challenges and dangers, such as deep fakes. They impressively show how distorted our perception can become through AI technologies. The speaker referred to a well-known video of Kim Jong-Un that illustrates the possibilities and dangers of such technologies:
Predictive AI - the forecasting AI
Predictive AI, on the other hand, is a real powerhouse for companies when it comes to making strategic decisions and optimising processes. It analyses historical data to predict future trends and behaviour patterns. This enables companies to manage their stock levels efficiently and proactively avoid bottlenecks in the supply chain.
In addition, predictive AI plays a key role in production by predicting maintenance requirements and thus increasing efficiency. It also provides valuable services in cyber security by recognising anomalies and identifying potential threats at an early stage.
Tip: For anyone who wants to delve deeper into the topic, it's worth taking a look at our new white paper on predictive AI in e-commerce, which also covers the ethical aspects and the EU AI Act. There you will find comprehensive information and advice on how to utilise the full potential of predictive AI for your company.
Rethinking smart selling: the conversion revolution in online shops with AI
Speaking of artificial intelligence: this important topic was also at the centre of the presentation by Dominik Witt, Managing Director of PHAINA GmbH. He highlighted a key challenge for many companies: Strong sales efforts have often not been sufficiently transferred to the digital channel, resulting in shop sales and conversion rates that fall short of expectations.
The solution is simple and efficient: PHAINA is a guided selling solution that has been specially developed for the B2B sector with products that require explanation. The solution is based on AI and uses questions to guide customers to the right product.
The tool combines a wide range of sales employees in one tool:
- Pre-Sales Agent: This digital assistant guides website visitors to the appropriate categories and thus increases the purchase intention right from the initial contact.
- Sales Agent: The digital sales agent sells products in the respective categories and contributes significantly to increasing the conversion rate in the shop.
- Sales Expert: The Sales Expert suggests several products as a configuration, which leads to larger shopping baskets and reduces the number of queries.
- Sales Team: The digital sales team combines all features and fulfils the specific needs of categories, products and configuration advice.
The presentation by Simon Reichel, CEO and co-founder of BatteryIncluded GmbH, also focussed on AI. He explained how crucial search is for the success of your shop. It goes far beyond simply entering search queries. And that's where search discovery provider BatteryIncluded comes in. According to a survey by the research institute ibi research, intelligent search functions lead to higher customer satisfaction and increased conversion rates.
What customers expect from a shop, according to Reichel:
- Trust instead of being overwhelmed: consumers want less choice but more trust in the products on offer.
- Fully automated product recommendations: Functions such as ‘Customers who bought this also bought’ or completing the set increase the likelihood of purchase.
Reichel gave a tip: In the best case scenario, the search should be kept as simple as possible to optimise the user experience and increase the relevance of the products.
Clever checkout and limitless markets
How do you ensure that customers complete the purchase process smoothly and payment defaults are avoided? In the next presentation, Nils Hagen, Product Manager Decisioning at Creditreform Boniversum, shed light on how retailers can increase their conversion rates in the checkout and minimise bad debt losses at the same time.
The payment habits of Germans in 2024
Hagen drew on current data from the ibi Payment Report 2024. The report provides interesting insights into the payment habits of Germans: Around two thirds prefer PayPal, followed by direct debit (48%) and purchase on account (45%). Even though services such as Klarna are on the rise as a popular purchase on account method, recent complaints from the consumer advice centre have highlighted the problem of poor payment methods. These developments make an independent and reliable invoice option more important than ever. A precise credit check is becoming a necessity for retailers in order to minimise risks and at the same time ensure a high conversion rate.
His conclusion: Maximum conversion rates without major bad debt losses? Yes, this is possible with a commitment to active risk management, a stable risk management platform, reliable data and a good debt collection partner.
Success strategies for international markets
In his presentation, Michael Kalus, Agency Lead DACH at Mollie B.V., discussed how retailers can counteract the current decline in e-commerce sales by expanding into new markets. A common obstacle to this is a lack of expertise about the characteristics of the respective markets. No wonder why only a quarter of sales are currently generated abroad.
Kalus emphasised that the successful strategies from Germany cannot be transferred one-to-one to the international market. Instead, retailers should adapt their approaches to the specific needs and purchasing behaviour of the target groups. This includes not only adapting the language of the web shop, but also taking into account locally preferred payment methods.
Important points for adapting the strategy to different markets are, for example
- Great Britain: Implementation of a mobile-first strategy for in-app shopping.
- France: Expansion of a ‘Click and Collect’ network with flexible shipping options.
- Netherlands: Offering payment methods such as iDEAL, PayPal and Buy now, Pay later (BNPL).
- Switzerland: Integration of the TWINT payment method.
Technical insights for your e-commerce success
After Michael Kalus' international view, we return to the roots of e-commerce. Because without the right technology, even the best sales strategy will fall by the wayside!
This is what matters in e-commerce hosting
Simon Spitznagel, Head of Business Development at main cloud solutions GmbH, and Mark Dustin Wilms, Business Development Manager Cloud at TD Synnex, gave us an in-depth insight into the basics of successful hosting. Did you know that 53% of users leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load?
This is where hosting comes into play. It forms the basis for smooth performance. But what is important here? According to Spitznagel, there are four pillars for a secure and high-performance online shop:
- Technology and infrastructure: using high-quality hardware and a technologically well-built infrastructure that enables scalability.
- Security: Protection of data and security of the online shop through regular updates and security measures.
- Backup and recovery strategies: Implementing regular backups and disaster recovery plans to prevent data loss.
- Monitoring and alerts: Monitoring the infrastructure with uptime alerts, evaluations and adjustments to continuously optimise performance.
Spitznagel then interviewed Mark Dustin Wilms on why next-level hosting with Azure can be efficient, scalable and secure, and shared insights into TD Synnex's long-standing partnership with main cloud solutions.
How an iPaaS gets your e-commerce processes up and running
In the last presentation of the day, Markus Lüke, IT Consultant at synQup GmbH, and Sascha Vorderstemann provided insights into the advantages of an iPaaS solution for the efficient management of data flows. They presented the synQup platform and showed how it is specifically tailored to the requirements of data integration, migration and security.
Using a live demonstration, Lüke showed how the Akeneo PIM system could be connected to the Shopware e-commerce platform with synQup. The demonstration made it clear that synQup not only enables a stable data connection between the systems, but also offers an intuitive user interface that simplifies operation for users.
With a platform like synQup, a wide variety of data processes can be centrally controlled and automated - an important building block for sustainably improving the efficiency and security of e-commerce processes.
Conclusion
The event offered a comprehensive overview of the latest trends and challenges in e-commerce. The variety of topics - from AI and personalised shopping experiences to innovative sales solutions - showed just how dynamic and multi-faceted the industry is.
One particular highlight was the ‘AI Masterclass’ by Levitan Novakovski, who took participants on a journey into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. He not only demonstrated the enormous possibilities, but also the responsibility that the use of AI entails. The discussion on ethical issues made it clear that companies need to play an active role in creating a fair digital ecosystem.
What particularly characterised the event, however, was the lively exchange among the participants. The talks and discussions showed how important events of this kind are for learning from each other, gaining new perspectives and making valuable contacts. Networking was not just an added bonus, but a central part of the experience, allowing participants to expand their knowledge and refine their strategies.
For those who were unable to attend, don't worry! We plan to organise events like this more frequently in the future to encourage ongoing dialogue in this exciting industry.
What remains? Definitely that innovation and co-operation go hand in hand. Participants will go home with a rucksack full of ideas and strategies to take their e-commerce approaches to the next level. We look forward to future developments and the opportunity to work together on the challenges of digital transformation!