Registration for the 2019 B2B Next Conference & Exhibition, the premiere annual conference covering business-to-business ecommerce and digital transformation, is now open, organizers say.

B2B Next, an event for senior executives driving digital transformations at B2B companies, will take place in Chicago from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 at the Hilton Chicago hotel.

Andy Hoar, co-founder and event chairman, B2B Next

B2B Next is organized and operated by B2B Next LLC, a joint venture between Vertical Web Media, a media and research company focused on global e-commerce, and Paradigm B2B, a consulting organization formed by Andy Hoar, a recognized authority on B2B ecommerce.

This year’s event builds on the highly acclaimed launch of the first B2B Next conference, which drew more than 700 attendees to Chicago in September 2018 and featured detailed content in sessions, workshops and panels led by 44 speakers, each with extensive ecommerce experience and insight.

Capitalizing on B2B market opportunities

The 2019 B2B Next Conference & Exhibition has expanded in multiple ways to meet the needs of companies of all sizes looking to capitalize on emerging opportunities in B2B ecommerce, a market where ecommerce sites, portals and marketplaces generated total 2018 sales of nearly $1.1 trillion, according to data published in the 2019 U.S. B2B Ecommerce Market Report, a new report from Digital Commerce 360, a VWM brand, and B2BecNews, the official media partner of B2B Next.

This year’s B2B Next Conference & Exhibition features three days of content—more than double the number of speakers and sessions from the inaugural event and twice the number of sessions, says Hoar, B2B Next co-founder and event chairman.

“We’re excited to offer attendees more opportunities for the kind of hands-on learning that delivers those critical, actionable insights that B2B companies need in today’s rapidly evolving digital-first economy,” Hoar says.

More than 70 industry experts

Altogether the 2019 B2B Next Conference & Exhibition is expecting to draw more than 1,200 attendees to the Hilton Chicago and will feature more than 70 speakers and 60 sessions delivering detailed insight on a range of topics, helping B2B ecommerce professionals at all levels better understand and grow their ecommerce business.

For example, this year’s B2B Next features six separate tracks covering business models, channel strategies, content and data management, and technology; and newly added tracks on customer experience and change management. The 2019 B2B Next Conference & Exhibition also features four pre-conference sponsored workshops—each run by a top technology company—that dive deeply into the core technologies helping the B2B industry advance ecommerce initiatives.

As with the first B2B Next event, this year’s conference and exhibition will present detailed and meaningful content from featured, workshop and session speakers and panelists that will help manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and all attendees drive growth in their ecommerce operation.

Featuring from Netflix: a change management expert

Featured speakers include Patty McCord, a business coach on culture and leadership who also served as chief talent officer of Netflix; and James Thomson, a partner at Buy Box Experts, an agency supporting online brands, who was once the business head of Amazon Services.

“We’re thrilled with the caliber of speakers we’re offering this year—selling on Amazon is a perennial issue, and few people know more about how to do that well than James Thomson,” Hoar says. “Also, we added a change management track this year to help companies address the critical processes and subcultures needed to deliver effective digital transformation. Patty McCord is one of the leading thinkers in the world in that space.”

Molly Love, co-founder, B2B Next

In addition to providing detailed and expert content, the 2019 B2B Next Conference & Exhibition will have an expanded exhibit hall featuring more than 50 companies and multiple ways for attendees to network and draw and share insight with their peers, says Molly Love, CEO of Vertical Web Media and B2B Next co-founder.

“This event is about helping manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, resellers and all attendees meet their customers’ growing expectations for best-in-class ecommerce performance,” Love says.

Registration for B2B Next opened last week. Learn more at B2BNext.net.

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