Top ecommerce & retail events in North America in 2018

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I was recently working on my schedule for this year, and identifying the different events, which I would potentially attend in 2018 in North America. My focus is on retail clients & some degree of b2b companies, hence I focus on events relevant to learning in those areas, and meeting clients.

Here is my list. pls feel free to add below if you come across any more interesting events which are a must attend on my list this year:



  1. NRF- Just concluded
  2. Shop Talk, Las Vegas, NV (March 18-21, 2018)
  3. Etail West, Palm Springs, CA  (Feb 26-March 1 2018) Also have a Etail east event for those who are interested.
  4. B2B online, Chicago, IL (May 7-9, 2018)
  5. Sapphire, Orlando, FL (June 5-7, 2018)
  6. IRCE, Chicago, IL (June 5-8, 2018)
  7. Illinois Ecommerce Summit, Chicago, IL (Sept 12, 2018)
  8. B2B next, Chicago, IL (Sept 24th, 2018)

Give me a buzz if you are planning to attend any of these shows. I don't know about you, but I am not a very big fan of attending shows like NRF personally. They are too huge and become irrelevant until you have a solid agenda when going to these events. 
If this is an opportunity for an all expenses paid the trip to go, attend and learn by sitting in the session, by all means. But otherwise, as a vendor, it's a tough event to find 'real' prospects.
I also don't set wrong expectations for self where a multi-million dollar client walks in through this event. 
Some suggestions from my side to really make use of your time(if you value it as much as I do), especially when planning to attend any such events & conferences coming ahead:
  1. Learner
    1. If you are coming in from a learning perspective, then work through the agenda in detail. Most of the big conferences come up with apps, to help you schedule your day by selecting sessions based on your interest.
    2. Do some research on the presenters and which clients or brands or industries they are going to be representing. This will help put some questions for these sessions, to have a learning on a deeper level and being able to understand better.
    3. Take a lot of pictures when walking through the expo halls. a lot of companies are showing their proof of concepts and working demos etc. that provides a great opportunity to see, inquire and take pictures for follow up later.
  2. Salesperson
    1. Focus on the conference and types of clients which are going to be coming in.
    2. work on setting up meetings upfront and schedule them on a calendar.
    3. At conferences, things can completely go haywire when it comes to personal schedule and most often people take meetings because they are going to be there. Use this as an opportunity to connect, put a face to the name and be flexible if the other person runs late or needs to reschedule.
Do share your feedback on this article. what are some of the other events which you are going to be going to this year, for retail & e-commerce. and how do you plan your trip?

If you liked this article, you would also like:
Electronic Shelf edge display in North american retail 
Amazon go-future is cool 
Why are companies big on payment systems? 

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