World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce : The Hot Spot for Digital Commerce
AI is influencing product recommendations, retail media is emerging as a growth driver, and the boundaries between commerce and other disciplines are becoming blurred: The World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce at DMEXCO provides an urgently needed discussion forum.
Digital commerce: The new rules of the game in 2026
Commerce is changing rapidly. New technologies are giving companies the chance to rethink customer experiences, make their processes more intelligent, and develop new business models.
The key drivers behind these commerce trends are:
- AI commerce and AI-powered product recommendations
- Retail media as a new source of growth and revenue
- Social commerce and the creator economy
- Platforms as the new starting points for the customer journey
- The integration of commerce, marketing, and media
Do you want to put these developments in context, discuss them with other industry experts, and develop tangible strategies? Then the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce in Hall 7 at DMEXCO 2026 is just the meeting place you’ve been looking for.
Our tip: Set off on a commerce quest now to secure the chance to win exclusive prizes at DMEXCO 2026! You’ll find one word from the answer in this story. Did you spot last week’s clue word?
Digital commerce in 2026: Interdisciplinary approaches needed
Ecommerce now consists of much more than just shop systems, payment solutions, and performance marketing. Today, it involves many other factors: product data, AI, retail media, social commerce, and platform strategies. Together, they determine how visible brands are and where purchase decisions are made.
AI commerce reveals how profound this transformation is. This is a point that Bastian Scherbeck (segmenta experience) also emphasizes in his role as AI Commerce Lab Lead within the Ecommerce Initiative at the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW):
“AI commerce is redefining the decision-making logic in the industry. Between purchase intent and transaction, we’re seeing the emergence of a layer of systems that filter offers, evaluate them, and increasingly make purchases independently. This is going to affect every company that sells: Going forward, machines that help decide what is purchased will be crucial in determining visibility.”
An ecommerce conference where the community gathers
In Hall 7 at DMEXCO 2026, online and conventional retailers will meet software and tech service providers, agencies, payment processors, marketplaces, and commerce platforms. This is where the players who are shaping digital commerce today and tomorrow come together.
The focus will be on topics such as:
- Shop technologies and commerce platforms
- Digital payment systems and payment solutions
- Social commerce
- Performance and affiliate marketing
- Bundling and micropayment models
- Sustainable processes and logistics in ecommerce
- Marketing, media, and commerce technologies
This diverse array of topics is what makes the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce so valuable. Instead of covering individual disciplines separately, retailers, brands, and technology companies show how successful digital commerce strategies are developed today: with a networked, data-driven, hands-on approach.
The World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce at a glance
The World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce combines four areas that complement each other:
- Expo: Over 100 exhibitors will present commerce technologies, platforms, and services.
- Commerce Stage: Strategies, best practices, and discussions about the future of digital commerce.
- Commerce Lounge: Networking, live podcast recordings, side sessions, and community formats.
- Affiliate & Performance Area: The gathering place for performance marketing, attribution, the creator economy, and affiliate trends.
Together, the areas create a place where innovation, professional exchanges of ideas, and business combine seamlessly.
See new digital commerce solutions up close and in-depth
Anyone who is preparing to make decisions such as investments in commerce technology or who wants to develop their existing processes will be able to compare technologies and providers directly in Hall 7. Over 100 exhibitors will showcase digital commerce solutions at the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce – including names such as Shopware, Shopify, Awin, idealo, and PayPal. This gives visitors the opportunity to assess new technologies, get to know potential partners, and move forward with concrete projects.
Whether you’re looking to evaluate innovative technologies, meet partners, or get projects off the ground, you’ll find all the relevant areas within easy reach of each other. Plus, you’ll benefit from a community that gathers specifically to discuss digital commerce. This guarantees relevant conversations and exchanges of ideas on an equal footing.
Commerce Stage: Best practices and future strategies
Which strategies are really working today? What role is AI commerce set to play in the years ahead? And how are successful companies developing their commerce organization? Answers to these and many other questions will be provided on the Commerce Stage.
The two-day DMEXCO Commerce Summit powered by BVDW will be one of the content highlights at the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce. International experts will discuss a broad spectrum of topics – from AI and agentic commerce to new platform dynamics and scalable tech stacks. The focus will be on the strategies and technologies that are redefining digital commerce throughout the entire customer journey. The summit will thus not only provide insights into the latest commerce trends but also practical guidance for strategic decisions.
Commerce Lounge: The place to connect with pioneers and visionaries
The Commerce Lounge supplements the program by providing a community hub for networking and exchanging ideas. Meet experts and potential business partners from across the e-commerce ecosystem. Sessions on the Commerce Lounge Stage will put a special focus on innovation in payment and fulfillment. Beyond the stage, the Commerce Lounge creates plenty of opportunities for deeper conversations about all things commerce. It’s the perfect place to grow your network: Between the sessions, live podcast recordings, the curated networking format Speed Connect, and side events, this is often where precisely those conversations that lead to new partnerships and concepts begin.
The Affiliate & Performance Area provides the finishing touch: It will be devoted to topics such as cookieless attribution, AI-optimized campaigns, creator and influencer marketing, and omnichannel customer journeys. Networks, platforms, advertisers, and technology providers will gather to discuss how performance marketing can continue to succeed in a new operating environment.
Digital commerce: Looking beyond the store
There’s one thing that gives the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce unique added value: It is firmly embedded within the entire DMEXCO experience. You can therefore expect much more than just an ecommerce conference. Topics such as martech, adtech, CRM, marketing automation, and retail media will be the common thread running through the halls and stages, connecting exhibitors and visitors.
It is precisely these connections that open up new perspectives. After all, successful digital commerce strategies aren’t developed in isolation today. Instead, the key is integrating technology, marketing, media, and the customer experience. Thinking outside the box is the way to find new opportunities for growth and innovation.
The World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce: Writing the future of digital commerce together
Visit the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce and you’ll come away with much more than just new contacts.
You can expect:
- Insights into the key commerce trends
- Leading companies’ strategies and best practices
- Exchanges of ideas with retailers, brands, and technology providers
- Inspiration for your own digital commerce strategy
- New perspectives on how to integrate commerce, marketing, and AI
From retailers to platform operators and technology providers to chief digital officers, the World 🟦🔴 OF 🟦🔴 Commerce brings together the people who are taking digital commerce to the next level. Get your ticket for DMEXCO 2026 now and join the digital community when it discusses the trends that are shaping tomorrow’s digital commerce.
