eCommerce Expo, the UK's leading ecommerce event, has today revealed that its 2014 edition held in October was the best to date, with an increase in visitors, international attendance and seniority level, plus the strongest and most diverse line-up of suppliers  ever to have been involved in the show.

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Over 6,000 ecommerce professionals descended upon Olympia London to experience the very latest in ecommerce technology and innovation and discover how some of the industry's best known brands including PayPal, Google, Facebook, Tesco and Shop Direct develop their own ecommerce strategy.  

Emirates, Hugo Boss, Lloyds, Microsoft, Net-A-Porter, Sainsburys, Argos, River Island, TalkTalk, Unilever, Boots, Virgin and Reiss were only some of the big-name brands that attended this unique ecommerce event and contributed to the overall success of a 2% increase in total attendance (6,625 attendees), 10% international growth and 5% increase in seniority. Plus, 25% of all attendees were from within the retail sector which was an increase of 5% compared to last year.

The eCommerce Directors Club - an exclusive invitation-only programme for ecommerce leaders - attracted more than 150 participants, which was the largest attendance to date and included senior professionals from Condé Nast International, eBay, Telefonica, L'Oréal UK, Christies, Heineken, Louis Vuitton, AXA, Hilton Worldwide, KPMG, Marks & Spencer, LivingSocial and Nokia.

With ecommerce becoming increasingly vital for the retail sector and demand for modern technology that enables a more efficient process on the rise, emerging ecommerce brands such as iZettle, Avenue Imperial, Metail and One iota showcased their state of the art technologies in the brand new feature zone the "Ecommerce Marketplace of the Future". This feature provided inspiration for technologies that can be used in store, at home and on the go, including digital wallet and future payment solutions, virtual shopping solutions, 3D body scanning and wearable technology.

"With the introduction of the 'connected consumer' and increasing convergence between online and offline shopping, it's crucial that businesses consider how their customers engage with them," eCommerce Expo's Rebecca Slater said.

"The Marketplace of the Future provided the platform to assist businesses in ensuring they are able to deliver the perfect omni-channel experience and how they can make the best use of the latest technology."

In addition to the beneficial live demonstrations, this year's event boasted the finest line-up of global suppliers than ever before. With brands including Amazon, Barclaycard, Royal Mail, Alibaba.com, Parcelforce, Experian Data Quality and PayPal, the most ideal space was created for ecommerce professionals to learn what new advancements and supplier innovations are available on the current market.

In collaboration with eCommerce Expo, the eCommerce Awards for Excellence was also hailed another great success attracting a record number of guests and winners from high profile brands within the ecommerce industry. Winners included ao.com, Halfords, Barclays Pingit, Nutmeg, Warehouse Ltd with Chalk Social, and Home Leisure Direct.

"Ecommerce is a world that moves arguably faster than any other area of online business. Keeping up with consumer demand and technological advancements is a huge challenge for businesses in this sector, but it is a challenge that all of our winners faced head-on with much success," Ms Slater said.

eCommerce Expo also announced that it has been successfully certified against ISO 20121, the International Standard for Sustainable Event Management.  

As one of the first global event organisers to be certified by an independent third party to this International Standard, UBM Live has now gained certification for ten of its brands including Ecobuild, Medtec Europe & Sudtec, the Protection & Management Series and CPhI Worldwide.

ISO 20121 focuses on working towards embedding sustainability into the very heart of how an organisation does business with the aim of leaving a positive legacy behind. This was achieved for eCommerce Expo through critically analysing and working to reduce environmental impact and dedicating skills, expertise and support to the local communities it works with.

About UBM Live (organiser of eCommerce Expo): 

UBM Live ( http://www.ubmlive.com) connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote brands and expand markets. Operating in more than 23 countries, UBM Live organises many of the world's largest, most important live events, awards and community sites in a wide variety of industries. Its technology events include Interop London, Technology for Marketing & Advertising, eCommerce Expo, Black Hat Europe and Game Developers Conference Europe and London Technology Week.

SOURCE UBM Live