Every year, numerous trade shows, conferences and events in cities around the world provide robust agendas designed to support the needs of B2B, B2C and D2C businesses. So, in 2023, when we decided to launch our own event, we knew it had to be unique. Nine months later, on April 16, 2024, we launched Elevate — The Global Commerce Summit™ at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The commercetools crew hosted our customers and partners, along with industry experts, analysts and companies considering migrating to composable commerce, for two days of learning, collaborating, networking and fun. It was a resounding success, with over 600 attendees feeling inspired and excited about the future of commerce.
We’re now deep in planning the second Elevate — The Global Commerce Summit™ event. We’re headed back to Miami Beach, May 20-22, 2025, to bring you another unforgettable, empowering experience that will elevate your thinking, elevate your skills and elevate your digital business. Here are seven great reasons why you should join us.
#1 The perfect location
You can’t beat Miami Beach. It’s got ocean breezes, white sandy shores, a laid-back vibe, amazing people-watching and a vibrant music and art scene. Plus, the conveniently located, ultra-modern convention center is within walking distance of Lincoln Road Mall, where you’ll find great shopping and fantastic restaurants.
Elevate 2024 was wonderful. I have to be honest, I was so happy it wasn't in Las Vegas. I love the Miami weather. Even though the convention center is a large place, the event feels intimate, which is nice.
VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER APPLICATIONS, EXPRESS
Getting to Miami Beach is super easy for both domestic and international travelers. It’s a quick 30-minute ride from the Miami International Airport. Since there’s a plethora of places to stay near the convention center, including many hip boutique hotels, we discovered last year that most people preferred to find one on their own rather than select from a pre-reserved block of rooms.
#2 Inspirational speakers
In 2024, attendees learned from the transformation stories of brands including UK-based retailer, John Lewis Partnership and Cepheid, a global healthcare and life sciences company. They also got to listen to three intimate fireside chats Jen Jones, Chief Marketing Officer of commercetools, had with leaders of PetSmart, Ulta Beauty and Ticketmaster. And, all of this happened on day one!
In the clip below, Simon Fulford, Delivery & Operations Manager, and Simon Skelton, Platform & Operations Manager of John Lewis Partnership, share four key takeaways that they believe contributed to the success of the company’s transformation.
On day two, attendees were treated to industry expert Heather Hershey, Research Director at IDC, who took the stage to explore the biggest trends impacting digital commerce. They also got front-row seats to an insightful conversation between Dirk Hoerig, Chief Innovation Officer at commercetools, and special guest Dirk Nowitzki, Basketball Hall of Famer, retired NBA star and philanthropist. After which, Dirk H. challenged Dirk N. to a game of waste paper basketball.
We’re working on a lineup of speakers for 2025 who will be just as candid and compelling about the opportunities they’ve seized and the challenges they faced. The agenda will be released on Nov. 20, 2024 — the same day ticket sales go live.
#3 Commerce connections
At our first event, attendees were handed conference badges with Klik wearable technology, which allowed them to easily exchange contact information with anyone and everyone they met simply by bumping badges. We watched in awe as attendees actively seized this novel approach to meeting new people. People were making connections everywhere — while checking out partner booths in the Expo, sitting next to each other at keynotes and breakout sessions and even while waiting in line for coffee.
Walking around and talking to people gave me confirmation that we’re on the right track with our transformation approach. Everyone is enthusiastic about the future — that’s what I’ll be taking home and sharing with the C-suite.
LEAD E-COMMERCE TECH, VISION HEALTHCARE
#4 Collaborative conversations
One of the goals of Elevate is to create an agenda featuring leaders who live, breathe and speak the language of commerce — and are willing to share their expertise, experience and insights to help transform the future of commerce. We work with our speakers to craft breakout sessions and innovation talks that dive deep into the topics most important in commerce today.
It’s important to us that you feel part of the conversation. While each of our breakout sessions is led by a moderator, audience participation is encouraged. Designed as panel discussions, they pair business leaders with technology vendors and industry experts to allow you to hear multiple perspectives on the same topic.
Our Innovation talks, held in the Expo and led by a commercetools expert, are more informal than the breakout sessions. They provide a great opportunity to learn about specific commercetools products and solutions, while also promoting conversation within the group.
At the first Elevate, we were thrilled to see many attendees actively engage with our speakers during and after these events.
#5 Exclusive insights
Transparency has always been part of commercetools culture, and we believe Elevate offers the perfect stage for our C-suite leaders to share our accomplishments with our customers and partners, announce new products and features, and of course, introduce updates to our roadmap.
In addition to providing you with intel to reinforce the confidence you’ve placed in us, our executives also share thought leadership on the state of our industry and the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Case in point: Kelly Goetsch, Chief Strategy Officer at commercetools, gave the closing keynote at Elevate 2024, focusing on our company’s vision for AI in commerce. His presentation captivated the audience, even if a few of his predictions were a bit disconcerting. He offered insights into where AI is now, where it’s going and challenged business leaders to step up to the plate to find ways to dominate AI. In the clip below, Kelly explains how commercetools policy to be transparent and open in everything we do has given us a competitive advantage with AI.
#6 Innovation in action
While the keynote presentations, breakout sessions and innovation talks will provide you with incredible content and lots of inspiration, we also integrate dedicated time and space to our incredible partner ecosystem, all of which are critical to providing you with a best-in-class composable commerce tech stack. At the Expo, you’ll find select SIs and ISVs from around the globe, who arrive with experts who can answer all your questions, live demos and, of course, some great swag.
While each one is unique in its products, services and capabilities, they all share commercetools’ dedication to helping businesses leverage composable technology to deliver outstanding shopping experiences and continually adapt to the ever-changing digital world we live in.
#7 Community celebrations
Conferences can’t be all work and no fun! Plus, celebrations are a great way to thank our awesome customers and partners for their role in helping us become a leader in global commerce. So, we’ll host a come-as-you-are Welcome party on May 20, where you can grab a bite and have a drink or two while mixing and mingling with your peers and the commercetools team.
We’ll also host two awards ceremonies, recognizing both partners and customers for outstanding achievements in commerce. As mentioned earlier in reason #2, there’s also a surprise special guest. We can’t tell who it is yet, but we promise it will be someone you’ll be excited to meet. The event will wrap up with a themed party that will immerse you in a sensory experience. Elevate 2024 gave us Havana Nights complete with hand-rolled cigars, fedoras for everyone, a Mojito bar and an incredible band. Stay tuned for the announcement of the theme for 2025!
There are three elements of this event that are important for me. One is hearing about the latest feature announcement from commercetools, especially on the B2B front. Two is meeting with some of our vendors that are providing engineering capacity to compliment what we are building. And, three, is connecting with other retailers that are building their own engineering teams to see if we can share learnings.
SENIOR MANAGER, E-COMMERCE ENGINEERING, MARS WRIGLEY
Of course, there are far more than seven reasons to attend Elevate — The Global Commerce Summit 2025. If you’re a leader in the digital commerce space, you understand the importance of staying one step ahead of the competition — and we promise you, attending Elevate provides you with a distinct advantage! Join us as we define the future of commerce, May 20-22, 2025 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Stay up to date as we build the agenda by visiting the Elevate website and setting a calendar reminder for Nov. 20, 2024, so you can take advantage of early bird pricing on day ticket sales launch.
Anita J. Temple is the Corporate Journalist at commercetools. She was a fashion editor at Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) and W Magazine before launching a career as a freelance writer and creative producer. She has written content and worked on a wide range of marketing projects for companies including Dreamworks, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Verizon, and Adidas.