From profitable digital growth to reliable commerce execution and lasting customer value
The Retail Summit 2027 eRetail Congress brings together retailers, brands, marketplaces and the wider eRetail community across two days, five stages and fifteen focused blocks. Each stage is organised around three connected decision areas.
Together, the stages follow digital growth from the initial decisions into operating reality, showing how platforms, systems, fulfilment and customer relationships determine whether visible progress becomes reliable execution and lasting value.
DAY 1 | FROM DIGITAL GROWTH DECISIONS TO RELIABLE EXECUTION
Day 1 examines whether digital growth choices can be converted into dependable commercial execution. Across strategy, commerce systems and logistics, the focus is on aligning commercial choices, operating capability and the customer promise before growth exposes the gaps between them.
eRetail Strategies & Data Management
The commercial decision layer: choosing where digital growth creates value, turning commerce data into accountable decisions and keeping products visible across today’s and emerging shopping interfaces.
GROWTH → DECISIONS → DISCOVERABILITY
1. Profitable Digital Growth & Channel Economics
Decide which digital channels, markets and business models create acceptable economic value, and where to scale, redesign, partner or stop. Cross-border growth forms part of the same investment decision.
2. Commerce Intelligence & Decision Ownership
Turn commerce data into timely action by defining which signals matter, who owns the decision and how evidence moves beyond dashboards.
3. Product Truth, Digital Shelf & AI Discoverability
Create and govern accurate product information so products remain visible, understandable and commercially effective across retailer sites, marketplaces, search, recommendations and AI shopping interfaces.
eRetail Commerce Systems & Execution
The commerce execution layer: reliable transactions, connected platforms and systems, and AI and automation applied to practical commerce operations.
TRANSACTION → CONNECTED SYSTEMS → AUTOMATION
1. Checkout, Payments & Transaction Reliability
Convert customer intent into a confirmed and protected order by balancing checkout simplicity, payment choice, identity, fraud, cost and recovery.
2. Commerce Platforms & Integration
Decide which commerce capabilities to own, buy or source through partners, and connect platforms and systems so the business can change and scale without losing control.
3. AI, Automation & Commerce Operations
Choose which commerce workflows to automate or delegate to AI, what must remain under human control and how to prove improvements in speed, cost, sales or service.
eRetail & Omnichannel Logistics
The customer-facing promise after the click: realistic fulfilment and delivery commitments, returns that protect value and continuity when the normal path breaks.
PROMISE → RETURNS → CONTINUITY
3. Omnichannel Resilience & Service Continuity
Define who acts when stock, systems, stores, warehouses or partners cannot support the normal fulfilment path, so service continues without relying on manual firefighting.
Outcome: A clearer basis for aligning the post-click customer promise with fulfilment, returns and service continuity.
DAY 2 | FROM PLATFORM GROWTH TO CUSTOMER VALUE
Day 2 examines how businesses can expand through powerful external platforms while building stronger customer relationships of their own. Across platform commerce and customer relationships, the focus is on balancing reach and visibility with control, retention and lasting customer value.
eRetail Marketplaces & Platform Commerce
The platform-commerce control layer: growing through marketplaces, governing platform visibility and turning social attention into commerce without losing margin, trust or customer ownership.
MARKETPLACE CONTROL → PLATFORM VISIBILITY → SOCIAL COMMERCE
1. Marketplace Control & Reseller Strategy
Grow through marketplaces while governing resellers, pricing, product presentation, margin and the customer relationship.
2. Platform Visibility & Retail Media
Invest in platform visibility where product readiness and incremental value justify the spend, without allowing paid reach to become a dependency.
3. Social Commerce & Live Selling
Turn social attention, creators and live formats into repeatable sales while protecting trust, fulfilment quality and the customer experience.
eRetail CX & Loyalty
The customer-value layer: deciding where customer investment creates profitable repeat behaviour, designing loyalty and membership propositions, and combining automation with human service when the relationship is tested.
CUSTOMER INVESTMENT → LOYALTY MODEL → SERVICE RECOVERY
1. Customer Retention & Investment Decisions
Decide which customers, behaviours and moments justify further investment, and where discounts, rewards, personalisation or service spending fail to create valuable repeat behaviour.
2. Loyalty, Membership & Partner Ecosystems
Design a loyalty or membership model with the right benefits, partners and funding so it creates value beyond repeated discounts.
3. Customer Service, Automation & Recovery
Combine self-service, automation and human support to resolve problems, escalate correctly and recover the relationship when the customer journey breaks.
Outcome: A clearer basis for investing in customer retention, building loyalty and membership propositions, and resolving problems in ways that protect future customer value.
The five stages form one connected eRetail decision environment. Each focuses on distinct decisions and owners, while consequences extend beyond each stage. The Congress is designed for company teams: colleagues follow the areas closest to their responsibilities and combine their insights to see where plans meet reality and whether first results create lasting value.
