Life moves fast, but eCommerce moves faster! Exploring personalisation, future CX and innovation at Savant eCommerce Berlin 2020.

I was honoured to chair my third senior-level eCommerce gathering for the wonderful people at Savant eCommerce this week in Berlin. The event took place on the 28 & 29 January in the impressive surroundings of the Kalkscheune, the venue where the very first Savant eCommerce took place six years ago. 

The specially curated audience included over 200 Heads of eCommerce, Digital, Marketing, Consumer Experience and Omnichannel from leading retailers and some superbly innovative startups.

The theme of the event was Data-Informed Digital Commerce with the curation tailored for retailers focused on personalisation & digital transformation in the DACH region. The expert speakers delved into what a novel approach to data can do to help advanced omnichannel retailers & pure players become better than great, to become a clients companion, advisor and inspiration in their shopping behaviour. The conference also looked into practical techniques to improve the customer experience, optimise conversion rates and build strong customer relationships. Digital transformation for retailers and brands was a major theme, as the industry is working on perfecting many digital ecosystems. 

In true UX style, we explored the iterative nature of innovation. Spoiler alert, culture still eats strategy for breakfast, and fostering a digital culture is vital. Delegates learned how to reinvent their companies as innovation and experimentation-driven powerhouses, where learning and agile adaptation to the evolving customer landscape is paramount. 

As with all Savant events, we learned, we networked, and we had a lot of fun. 

Day One

Philip Rooke, the CEO of Spreadshirt, kicked off proceedings with a keynote about how personalisation can create a social revolution. He explained how to empower customers to express themselves on-person and in the world around them, and why enabling people to spread their individual messages could help to change the world with their ideas. 

Next, a case study from Giovanni Luca Randisi, Marketing Director at Home24 and Kerstin Holzinger, Customer Success Manager at Dynamic Yield, gave delegates some hugely valuable inspiration, and techniques, on how to win at Black Friday. 

Then was had a vibrant panel discussion about creating a standout experience, and using customisation to stand out in a competitive environment. Savant advisory board member Christian Möhring, Founder & CEO of personalisation company madeone, did a great job of moderating a discussion with Sebastian McClintock, Global Director of Customer Experience at Delivery Hero, Andrey Revyashko, CIO at Wildberries, and Jeremy Halbout, the VP of Customer Success at Velocidi. 

Then it was time for some all-important networking over coffee and fresh croissants (the most important meal of the day). 

Our next section explored the generation shift and personalisation for a new generation. We had a very fitting keynote from Gemma Comabella Noguero, Managing Director DACH at Made.com, encouraging delegates to check out the Made.com AR app. I downloaded it and took the liberty of placing a stylish chair beside her on stage. 

Next, Andreas Platiel, Strategic Partnerships EMEA at ChannelAdvisor, gave a success story with some top tips on how brands and retailers can build a successful strategy for digital marketing and marketplaces. He shared some stunning figures around the uplift on sales and margin, which can result from choosing your channels wisely. 

Then we had a very topical keynote from Jörg Heinemann, the Principal of Innovation and Digitisation at OTTO, where he examined the challenges and opportunities of voice search and personal assistants, and asked: "OK Google, What's next in voice commerce?"

After the networking lunch (the most important meal of the day) we went into more depth around personalisation, starting with a fascinating keynote from Vishal Katelia, the Head of Customer Strategy and Engagement at Farfetch Store of the Future. Dapper Vish gave delegates a crystal ball into what retail will look like in the future and shared some techniques and methodologies on how to make it happen. 

Next, we had a Thought Leadership session on why the world of content is changing from Theo Khoja, the Director of Business Development EMEA at Amplience. Theo asked the question "Should companies look at a headless CMS" and found the answer to be a resounding yes. 

Then we enjoyed an Inspirational Keynote all about Empowering Creativity from Simone Karweina, the VP Product and User Experience at Mytoys, who was indeed very inspiring. She spoke in the language of UX best practice, which was, of course, music to my ears. Tl;dr, innovation isn't a magic wand; it isn't suddenly all done, it is an ongoing, interactive process. 

Then the delegates chose to join one of seven retail roundtables in which they collectively brainstormed out-of-the-box solutions to challenges shared by digital professionals.

Thanks to our superb moderators: Ieva Filonova, Ecommerce Manager at lala Berlin GmbH, Annalisa Cola, Voice of Customer Lead at lastminute.com, Andrey Revyashko, CIO at Wildberries, Christian Kehr, Global Head of eCommerce at Mammut, Andreas Kretschmer, VP European operations at Casper, Steve Flemming, Director eCommerce at L'Oreal (yes, I said "because you're worth it" in his intro, I couldn't help myself, don't @ me), and Sven Koehler, the Head of Digital Centre of Excellence at Nokia. 

After the next coffee break (most important meal of the day) we dived into one of my favourite topics, building an immersive Omnichannel strategy. A panel of high-level speakers asked the question are you Omnichannel or Omnishambles? Many thanks to moderator Jesko Breuer, Managing Partner at JJP Management Consulting, Gabriela Seir, European Head of Digital Product & Innovation at Coca-Cola European Partners, Kai Thornagel, Head of Digital Activation & Connected Commerce at Mondelez and Tomer Dean, Founder & CEO at Bllush, a young man who speaks a lot of sense. 

As Gabriela reflected, "life will never be this slow again" - while life moves fast, eCommerce moves faster. Events like Savant eCommerce are an essential part of ensuring you are not left behind.

Next we enjoyed a Thought Leadership session from Thomas Weyand, VP DACH at Contentsquare, who explained how to make CX analytics your competitive advantage in 2020. 

Then it was up to Zoltan Maklary, the Director of Marketing at Notebooksbilliger.com, to deliver the closing keynote about reconfiguring physical stores with a digital-first mindset. Zoltan should know, physical leaders Notebooksbilliger.com invoice over 1bn in annual revenues! 

It has to be said, participating on a conference is thirsty work, so it was time for the drinks reception for all of the attendees (the most important meal of the... OK, maybe not...) Dinner meetings were had, and much later some of the more intrepid delegates and sponsors gathered in the nearby Bravo Bar, where the support act of a death metal/darkwave band was a young lady reading a five-page feminist manifesto. A fairly standard night out for Berlin, I was led to believe. 

Day Two

The next day we welcomed the Age of Innovators, and jumped straight into a morning dedicated to fostering innovative transformation and overcoming challenges through creative solutions. Our first panel reimagined the eCommerce department; this included eliminating silos in organisations to empower staff, and also getting rid of top-down management. Katja Felke, the Head of eCommerce at Butlers, moderated a fascinating discussion with Andrea-Victoria Noelle, the Global Head of eCommerce at Bayer, Fabian Henrich, the VP of Sales at Chal-Tec, and Sven Koehler, the Head of Digital Centre of Excellence at Nokia, who kindly joined us for a second time on stage. 

Next, we had an energetic Spotlight Session from Allon Caidar, the CEO of TVPage, who explained how easy it is to establish and run a branded influencer video commerce programme. 

We then had a networking break where TVPage and the rest of the event sponsors and partners were doing brisk business throughout the event, as their stands were placed around the delegate lunch and coffee areas. 

After re-caffeinating properly, the delegates returned to enjoy a keynote from Tristan Burns, the Analytics Lead at Pizza Hut Digital Ventures. We learned that Pizza Hut was an early eCommerce innovator, and also found out what the Venn diagram looks like for pizza, pineapple, AOV, conversion and Alice Cooper. True story. 

In our next Spotlight Session, Brendan Hughes, the entertaining CEO of Bionic Marketing, explained why most current attribution modelling is like trying to identify which drink gave you a hangover the next morning. He was kind enough to demonstrate the Bionic "Rosetta Stone" of cross-platform attribution, and also to distribute Jamesons whiskey shots from his stand. Bonus points. 

Next, the delegates joined four Innovation Roundtables which explored themes like data strategies, testing & personalization, measuring customer needs and add to cart behaviour, and unlocking trapped value on an international scale. Many thanks to Timo von Focht, Country Manager DACH at Commanders Act, Eleftherios Kousakis, Senior Account Executive DACH at AB Tasty, Carina de López, Unit Lead User Experience at eye square, Felix Metzger, Unit Lead Shopper Experience at eye square, and Tom Rother, Sales and Marketing Manager at CJ Affiliate by Conversant, for leading the way. 

Following a very delicious lunch, we reconvened to listen to the suitably attired Matthew Dean, the VP Digital at Hugo Boss, who delivered a keynote about living in an Amazon world. He gave the delegates some invaluable and hard-won tips on how to protect their brands in the global marketplace. 

Our next inspiring case study was a detailed exploration of how data and analytics can drive value in eCommerce, and the use case of dynamic pricing & promotion analytics. Claus Heintzeler, Associate Partner at a small startup called McKinsey & Co (our little in-joke at the event) was joined by his former colleague Sebastian Klapdor, now the Chief Data Officer at Vistaprint. 

The final keynote of the day offered delegates a glimpse into the future to eCommerce, as two very brilliant young entrepreneurs shared the details of how to build a million Euro business on Amazon while staying independent. Johannes Kliesch, Founder & CEO of Snocks (an amalgam of sneakers and socks) and Romy Riffel, CEO of Snocksulting (an amalgam of Snocks and consulting) showed the delegates what traditional companies could learn from the startup spirit. A pair of very cool kids, for sure. 

We wrapped up but looking back at the impressive achievements of the event: the 170+ attendees from 80+ countries and the hundreds of Euros raised for the Victoria Wildlife Foundation. Finally, we announced the winner of the Savant Socialite award, Thomas Hertkorn from A&O Hotels.

And with that, we said "auf wiedersehen" to Savant eCommerce Berlin, with a promise to gather once more in 2021. Many thanks to all of the speakers, delegates, sponsors, partners and to the great team at Savant for another world-class event!