The market disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses to push ahead as they rebuild their B2B commerce technology and strategy for connecting with customers and maintaining if not growing their market share.
The third annual B2B Next conference and exhibition—with the tagline, “Accelerate change and embrace the ecommerce challenge”—is responding to this disruption as an all-virtual event on Sept. 29 and 30. Registration is open at B2BNext.net.
AndyHoar, CEO, Paradigm B2B
“This is the most experienced group of speakers we’ve had to date,” says Andy Hoar, CEO of consulting firm Paradigm B2B, which co-owns and operates B2B Next in a joint venture with Digital Commerce 360. “And in the age of COVID-19, B2B ecommerce professionals expect only the very best advice in these uncertain times.” This year’s event is the third annual B2B Next.
B2B Next 2020 will feature a roster of more than 70 speakers delivering practical, “how-to” actionable tactics and educational content.
Registered attendees can access more than 50 presentations of virtual content, including:
- 7 Keynote addresses
- 8 Case studies
- 6 Peer-to-peer roundtables
- 9 Workshops
- 12 Panel discussions
- 2 Pre-conference workshops.
The virtual show will also feature exhibit hall “tech tours” and live executive.
New opportunities for B2B ecommerce
The entirely virtual B2B Next 2020 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 2019 sales of $1.3 trillion, according to data published in the 2020 U.S. B2B Ecommerce Market Report, a new report from Digital Commerce 360 B2B.
B2B Next this year features an interactive platform that enables attendees to select the sessions most important to them; attendees also can access keynotes and case studies they miss at a later date. The full slate of digital educational content available at B2B has been organized into these prominent tracks:
- Change management
- Channel strategies
- Digital business
- Technology & Innovation
Each day, B2B Next will lead off with multiple keynote sessions from some of the highest-profile executives in B2B ecommerce. Attendees can click in and view and hear keynoters from digital-first distribution and manufacturing company executives such as W.W. Grainger Inc. CEO D.G. Macpherson, Graybar Electrical Supply CEO Kathy Mazzarella, Procter & Gamble Inc. executive vice president Tim Knavish and Elite Sportswear CEO Girisha Chandraraj.
Keynoters also include Dawn Foods CEO Carrie Jones-Barber, Fisher Healthcare Head of Strategy, Commercial Marketing & Data Science Meeta Kratz, and RBC Capital Markets managing director Mark Mahaney.
Find solutions and insights for business
The virtual agenda at B2B Next 2020 addresses the wants and needs of B2B ecommerce practitioners of all types, says Molly Love, CEO of Vertical Web Media, the publisher of Digital Commerce 360.
Molly Love, CEO, Vertical Web Media LLC
“B2B ecommerce companies and executives are looking for solutions to problems, and insight and analysis on how to enhance their digital programs and strategies, especially in these extraordinary times we all must live in,” Love says. “These practitioners need a digital event that won’t waste their time but instead enables them to connect and exchange ideas, solutions and results with peers—and that’s precisely the educational content and experience we will deliver at B2B Next 2020.”
Manufacturers and distributors involved in B2B ecommerce ended 2019 on a positive note. They anticipated that 2020 would be another year of steady growth in ecommerce, despite trade wars and other economic factors that might slow manufacturing productivity and sales in some vertical markets, according to analysis in the 2020 B2B Ecommerce Market Report.
Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week, covering technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, vice president of B2B and Market Research Development, at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @markbrohan.
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