eCommerce Expo Reports 11% Rise in Visitor Numbers in Record Breaking Year
24 Oct, 2013, 18:29 BST
LONDON, October 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
eCommerce Expo 2013 took place at London's Kensington Olympia in October and has reported growth across the board with visitor numbers, exhibitor numbers and re-book figures all up on last year's show.
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Visitor figures were up by 11% with more than 6500 people in attendance (pending ABC Audit). These visitors had the chance to meet with 160 exhibiting companies specialising in every aspect of selling online, from digital marketing strategy and mcommerce solutions to fulfilment and delivery. Exhibitors included PayPal, dotDigital, Royal Mail, ChannelAdvisor, Intershop and UPS.
Visiting ecommerce professionals also had the opportunity to attend a vast array of conference style seminars. More than 50 sessions took place across 4 theatres and delivered business strategy insight and case studies to inspire and inform audiences. The four streams focused on digital and mobile marketing, payments and security, ecommerce and social platforms and delivery and customer loyalty.
The Keynote programme, sponsored by V.me by Visa, also provided insight into the latest developments in ecommerce, combined with success stories, and thought-provoking case studies from some of the leading brands on the ecommerce and digital scene. Speakers included senior representatives from Facebook, Intel, Google, Nectar, Yelp, Twitter and PayPal.
"We are delighted with this year's event," said Rebecca Slater, event manager. "It's clear that the UK's ecommerce industry is thriving and showing no sign of slowing down. It's a pleasure to run an event which celebrates and represents such a vibrant and innovative industry."
With in-store technology developing in line with ecommerce, this year eCommerce Expo added a new interactive feature called the eCommerce Global Store which was curated by the team at Fruugo. Included within this feature were Blippar, Tinderstone, TAPTAP, EyeCandy[TM], Viewsyand Hercules Fisherman, each of whom displayed and demonstrated innovative store technologies including augmented reality, holographic displays and 3D printing systems.
Additional highlights included free visitor wifi sponsored by Barclaycard, the PayPal Networking Bar which showcased PayPal Here[TM], PayPal's newest mobile payment solution which was used successfully to take payments throughout the show.
The fifth edition of the eCommerce Awards for Excellence, in partnership with V.me by Visa and in association with IMRG ran alongside the Expo. This year's awards saw several new categories introduced including Best Airline, won by Icelandair; Best Financial Services, won by BullionByPost; and Best Live Event & Ticketing, won by Eventbrite.
Among the other winners were Asda Stores, which took the gong for Best Large Retailer; Master of Malt, judged the Best Small Retailer; House of Fraser, which took away the prize for Best Multi-Channel Retailer; and Hungryhouse.co.uk which won the Best Pure Play Retailer award.
Feedback from exhibitors and visitors alike was universally strong with many mentioning the quality of both the companies on show and those visiting.
Joe Bush, Co-Founder of The Chat Shop said, "This was the first time The Chat Shop has exhibited at eCommerce expo and we have been overwhelmed with the response. My team and I were pleasantly surprised at the quality of visitors, many of which were decision makers or influencers in our target market. The support and assistance from the UBM team was very much appreciated and I'm confident we will be exhibiting again in 2014."
Bjorn Espenes, Co-Founder at Finch said, "Over 90% of the visitors to our stand were qualified as eCommerce companies out looking for a better solution to business challenges and/or opportunities. The visitors were decision makers from companies from successful, growing eCommerce companies. We are very pleased with the leads generated; over 1,000 targeted leads, over 100 active dialogs, and 5 closed deals within 3 business days after the event."
Next year's eCommerce Expo and Awards for Excellence will take place on the 1st and 2nd of October at Kensington Olympia. For further information please see http://www.ecommerceexpo.co.uk.
About UBM Live
UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premiere brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.
SOURCE UBM Live