Top 7 Ecommerce Conferences in 2020: Where, When, and Why to Attend

The new year is going to be packed with lots of ecommerce events you shouldn’t miss. Whether you decide to attend a conference, workshop, summit, or convention in 2020, it will definitely bring you valuable insights you can incorporate into your ecommerce business. Visiting industry events is all about building new business connections, sharing disruptive ideas, and participating in engaging talks. To help you choose what events to attend in the coming year, we’ve created a list of the best ones for you. You’re welcome!

#1 National Retail Federation (NRF) 2020 Vision

When: January 12–14, 2020

Where: New York, New York, USA

The National Retail Federation is the leading organization in the retail industry, and it’s been contributing value to the industry for over 100 years. NRF 2020 Vision is opening our list of the best ecommerce conferences in the new year. This isn’t a usual conference — it’s the very heart of NRF Retail Week, which is filled with professional workshops, unique networking opportunities, valuable educational sessions, and a lot of fun for retailers from all corners of the world. This is the largest retail conference and expo in the world, featuring about 38,000 attendees. The conference gathers the most experienced speakers from giant companies such as Walmart, Sephora, Adidas, and Starbucks. 

Why should you visit this conference? Because it promises to help you find a vision. The main idea behind NRF 2020 Vision is to help entrepreneurs and retailers plot their vision for doing business, set up an action plan, and create something really valuable. There will be 400 speakers, 800 exhibitors, and 175 sessions to help retailers share and learn from out-of-the-box experiences and ideas. This conference is a big chance for young ecommerce businesses to become part of a huge retailer’s network, trade disruptive ideas, or announce unique solutions. For those who aren’t new to this industry, it’s an honor to share expertise and find people holding the same views. 

#2 West Coast eCommerce

When: January 28–29, 2020

Where: Los Angeles, California, USA

The West Coast eCommerce conference was created in collaboration with regional, national, and international retailers. It brings together over 400 professionals that work in the ecommerce industry to discuss fresh ideas and thoughts on the latest topics. The focus of this event is sharing knowledge of customer acquisition strategies and learning how to apply these strategies to your ecommerce business. Among the speakers at West Coast eCommerce you can find innovators and industry leaders from established companies like Inmar, Kobelli, and ADtaxi. If you’re looking for new customers and new ways to attract them, this event is for you. 

#3 eTail West

When: February 24–27, 2020

Where: Palm Springs, California, USA

eTail conferences are considered some of the most interactive conferences ever. They’re held in different parts of the world annually. In Palm Springs, California, eTails West is focused on providing action-packed strategies from leading American retailers. At this conference, you can hear keynotes from speakers working at GAP, Lenovo, Sephora, Le Tote, Zappos, and other companies. If you’re looking not for theory but for actionable and practical insights, this conference is a must-visit. 

#4 eTail Asia

When: March 3–5, 2020

Where: Singapore

The biggest Asian ecommerce and digital marketing conference, eTail Asia is transforming the retail industry. This year’s event promises over 30 hours of valuable group and peer-to-peer discussions, over 600 retail leaders to share their experiences, no commercials, and dozens of strategic takeaways. eTail Asia isn’t a conference with lots of useless talks. It includes only valuable keynotes from the best speakers to educate and inspire every attendee. You’ll hear from top professionals at Amazon, the Walt Disney Company, JD.com, Alibaba, Walmart, H&M, and other companies. Visiting this event will help you learn how to:

• Build a successful brand 
• Overcome your competitors and get the top position in your niche
• Scale your business
• Build the best buying experiences
• Increase your actionable metrics
• Meet customer expectations

Who will benefit the most from this conference? Retailers who are looking for actionable tactics to grow their businesses and those who want to become part of the biggest ecommerce event in the eastern half of the world.

#5 Empowery Women’s Conference 2020

When: February 20–21, 2020

Where: Los Angeles, California, USA

The Empowery Women’s Conference is something really special in the ecommerce world. This is the first annual conference created only for women in the retail industry. It’s a place where everyone knows how it is to be a woman in this business sector. The Empowery conference was created for women to inspire each other and get inspired, to share experiences of being a boss woman, and to learn how to become a leader and make the business win. All speakers are women who have deep expertise working with ecommerce projects and who have experience teaching how to do business in this sphere. 

Things every attendee will come away with:

• Valuable insights that pack a punch
• Only relevant information
• Amazing networking opportunities
• Lots of fun and inspiration

So women in retail, don’t miss the opportunity to join this one-of-a-kind event and empower each other with new energy and fresh ideas!

#6 Shoptalk

When: March 22–25, 2020

Where: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The Shoptalk event has been held since 2015 and now is considered the fastest-growing event in the retail sector. By 2020, Shoptalk’s community had already grown to 8,000 attendees. The main focus of this year’s Shoptalk is transformation in the retail sector for the future decade. And the event organizers have recently announced that this year, 100% of Shoptalk speakers will be women. Lots of women are founding successful retail businesses, and this year they’ll have an opportunity to share their experiences. 

Shoptalk gives huge opportunities and resources for startup entrepreneurs. It provides new small businesses with the ability to find investors or create beneficial partnerships with other business owners. Entrepreneurs can also take part in the Funding Founders program, which introduces startups owners to investors at onsite meetings. 

#7 Marketplace Risk Management Conference

When: May 18, 2020

Where: San Francisco, California, USA

The Marketplace Risk Management Conference is the most unusual event, devoted to risk management strategies for marketplace startups. For startup owners, this conference is a great source of valuable information, useful connections, and unique talks from top speakers working for Airbnb, CouchSurfing, Upwork, Uber, and other companies. Topics covered include marketplace trust and safety, payments and fraud, digital identity, screening, insurance, and compliance. 

If you’re a marketplace startup owner looking for risk management strategies and solutions to avoid inconsistencies, this event is a great chance to get unique insights and improve your business in just one day. 

Summing up

Visiting conferences is an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs in the retail sector to improve their business processes, share expertise in their field, grow their business opportunities, and build a valuable network. Choose the conference that meets your business needs and vision to get the most out of it. Subscribe to our blog newsletter for more helpful posts on this topic!