Recap: Latori at the K5 Conference 2024- our experience and learnings

The K5 Future Retail Conference is a must for e-commerce professionals every year. At K5 2024, we were there for the first time with our own stand to duly represent all Shopify-related topics. Four of our Latori experts were there to answer all questions and concerns about Shopify and e-commerce.

Samah El Aamouchi, e-commerce merchant at Latori, looks back on the K5 conference and tells us about her impressions.

What could visitors of the K5 expect?

K5 2024 took place on 25 + 26 June at ESTREL in Berlin. Visitors could look forward to 150 speakers, 200 exhibitors and 50 masterclasses. This meant there was something to suit every one of the 4,000 or so visitors. The expo covered an area of 14,000 m2, divided into two halls.

Why it's worthwhile for retailers to visit the K5 Conference

The K5 conference is one of the most important events for e-commerce professionals! Big brands, selected audience, focus on e-commerce - these are just some of the reasons why retailers should not miss the event. Other important reasons why entrepreneurs should put the K5 Conference on their agenda:

1. Knowledge and Experience

Thanks to the extensive lectures and discussion panels, traders here have the opportunity to benefit from the experience of the experts. In addition, one stays up to date and is informed about current trends.

2. Marketing

The K5 Future Retail Conference is a perfect place to market your own company as well. It offers the opportunity to present products or services and thus get in touch with potential partners and customers.

3. Networking

Who better to network with than like-minded people? The K5 Conference is a perfect event to exchange ideas with other experts in the e-commerce industry. New partnerships and business relationships as well as contact with investors or potential customers are almost guaranteed here.

4. Inspirations

Every year, K5 brings together merchants from all sectors of e-commerce. Whether it's software development, logistics, invoicing or sales, the conference is a great opportunity to get inspired by successful entrepreneurs and thus develop new ideas for your own business. The K5 Conference presents visionary speakers and innovative technologies that will shape tomorrow's commerce.

Who were the speakers?

Listing all 150 speakers would go beyond the scope of this article, but we have nevertheless summarised a small selection for you here:

• Diana Schuhmacher, Head of Marketing & E-Commerce, HUNTER International

• Jan Laußmann, Co-Founder & CEO, Latori GmbH

• Benjamin Mandos, Lead of Company, GOT BAG

• Matt Crystal, VP Performance, Pinterest

• Peter Pernot Day, Head of Strategic and Corporate Affairs, SHEIN

• Robert Andersen, Co-Founder, Jung von Matt

• Bastian Siebers, CEO, flaconi

• Raphael Fellmer, CEO & Co-Founder, SIRPLUS

• Vivien Wysocki, CEO & Co-Founder, SAINTSASS

• David Schröder, COO, Zalando

• Jeremy Drury, Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Ikea

• Frederic Knaudt, Co-Founder, Picnic

• Livia von Mitschke-Collande, Industry Leader Retail, Google

• and many more

Shopify Plus perfectly represented: What was it like at the Latori stand?

Unfortunately, Shopify was unable to attend the event this year. Therefore, as Shopify's expert agency, we had the honour of representing Shopify Plus. At the Latori stand, interested parties had the opportunity to engage in stimulating discussions with our experts. Our Lead Backend Developer Abdoulaye Djibril Bah, our Lead Frontend Developer Max Grieve, our e-commerce merchant Samah El Aamouchi and our Managing Director Jan Laußmann were on hand to answer any questions.

They were able to obtain comprehensive information and personalised advice - all in a relaxed atmosphere with a Krombacher beer. We also organised a competition for all those who want to get started with their Shopify project. Visitors had the chance to win a project budget totalling €30,000 for their new Shopify shop.

We at Latori met exciting people this year and spoke to potential and existing customers and partners. For example, Algolia, Pickware, Klaviyo, Akeneo, MarkOp and Channable were there.

We were also in lively dialogue with customers such as Asphaltgold, HUNTER and ooia.

The topics that came up most frequently in our discussions were upcoming shop migrations, the development of own apps and omnichannel connections, e.g. to marketplaces. We are delighted about the new contacts in our network!

Masterclass by Latori and HUNTER

Together with our customer HUNTER, our Co-Founder and Managing Director Jan Laußmann held a masterclass on the first day of the trade fair on the CRIF Stage on the topic of "How Hunter is realising a cross-shop customer journey for its customers". Together with Diana Schuhmacher, Head of Marketing & E-Commerce at HUNTER and Alexander Mathiesen, COO of Squadt, the main topics discussed were the move of the HUNTER and stylecats® shops to Shopify Plus and how the customer journey was optimised thanks to headless commerce and a split shopping cart for two shops.

The trends at K5: These topics will be on the to-do list for e-commerce retailers in 2024

The K5 conference programme shows: E-commerce is a fast-growing market with a broad spectrum. This year, however, retailers are mainly talking about topics such as

The B2B Trends 2024

The year 2024 is already halfway over, and the question arises as to where B2B retail currently stands and what prospects it has for the rest of the year and beyond. Dr Kai Hudetz uses comprehensive studies and numerous project experiences to highlight key developments in the B2B sector and analyses the opportunities and challenges in detail.

Artificial intelligence

The use of AI will continue to transform the retail sector and create competitive advantages. Google AI technologies can shape the future of retail, create personalised customer experiences and promote business growth.

Asian trade

Asian trade is growing continuously and poses an increasing challenge for German retailers. Numerous masterclasses at K5 showed how these developments can be effectively counteracted. Topics such as the strong dependence of many companies on China, the dominant role of the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector and the growing influence of social media and e-commerce platforms such as TikTok were discussed in depth.

Marketplaces

Marketplaces continue to be a central part of the e-commerce industry and play a crucial role in implementing multichannel strategies that allow companies to be present across different platforms and channels. This strategy is particularly important to appeal to a broad target group and strengthen customer loyalty by being present where their customers shop and interact.

Takeaways for e-commerce retailers: These 11 learnings offer new opportunities for Q3 and Q4!

1. B2B trends: Digitalisation is driving growth through multichannel strategies, artificial intelligence and social media in the B2B sector too.

2. TikTok in e-commerce: 90% of millennials use TikTok (instead of Google) to search for information. For retailers, the channel offers a huge opportunity to position products.

3. Personal contact: Customers prefer personal contact via online bots for advice and complaint management.

4. Unified commerce: The use of social media, brick-and-mortar shops and online platforms as unified sales channels strengthens the customer experience.

5. B2C learnings: Optimise your B2B business approaches by learning from B2C mistakes to improve your customer loyalty.

6. Disruption risks: Vigilance against potential risks to the business model is essential.

7. Digitalisation of the customer journey: The complete digitalisation of all customer interaction points is crucial for competitiveness and efficiency.

8. Artificial intelligence & automation: AI offers significant benefits such as cost savings, increased conversion rates and time savings through adaptive systems and automation. Some tools such as actindo use AI for their own databases.

9. SHEIN: Success factors and best practices: With a strong presence on social media, customer-centred product development (products are produced based on customer search queries) and demand-oriented production, SHEIN ensures global reach and efficiency. For you as an e-commerce retailer, this means that stronger branding, storytelling and customer centricity will become even more important in order to assert yourself!

10. Asian trade: Dependence on China and the advance in the D2C sector require strategies such as unique selling propositions and verticalisation to adapt to market changes.

11. Marketplaces: Amazon continues to dominate the market, eBay is investing in recommerce and AI, while Zalando is expanding its product range and focussing on storytelling to appeal to a broader target group.

Conclusion: Is the K5 conference worthwhile?

K5 was a complete success for Latori, not only because of the many exciting contacts and conversations, but also because we were able to experience first-hand the challenges that retailers are currently facing. We had two very exciting days at the trade fair and would like to thank Shopify, our partners and customers, as well as all the visitors who came to our stand, for an eventful time in Berlin!

Our conclusion is that K5 is worthwhile for every e-commerce retailer!