Now that we are all settled back into the swing of things, it’s time to sit back and once again explore what’s going on in the world of digital, and join in the many conversations and events taking place. Facebook are adding tools to their German version of the site to tackle fake news and McDonalds in China are running a competition allowing hungry customers to vote on their favourite burger - where the winning burger will become part of a new free upgrade meal. If that’s made you hungry and you live in the city, Greggs have started to trial their delivery service in the city but you will have to club together with your colleagues as the minimum order is £20.

With Commerce 2020 coming around again on Tuesday 21^st February don’t forget to register today to confirm your delegate place at the event. According to a major 2016 report on disruption, 82% of executives believe industry boundaries are being obliterated and new business models are emerging for every industry. New ecosystems are being created that are both redefining and straddling industries. New competitors or ‘digital invaders’ are entering and they’re well placed to deal with the new challenges and to seize power. And we’re not talking the usual suspects, the likes of Uber, Netflix, Spotify, Whatsapp and Airbnb. Digital tech is still the game-changer. But it’s the digital trends that are key to getting it right... Commerce 2020 is all about the trends today’s businesses need to have in their line of sight; how to identify them and react, exploiting the potential commercial slipstream and future-proofing your organisation. Brands please register here for a complimentary delegate place.

Travel Industry Seminar and Roundtable Series at City Social

Date: Thursday 9^th February

Time: 12:30pm to 3:30pm

Speaker Panel: Pieter Jordaan, Director of IT Engineering, TUI - Alex Dean, EMEA Director of Business Development, SAP Hybris Marketing Products - Sunil Bannur, European Business Head Digital & Travel, Sonata Software - Rob Shaw, VP, Amplience.

As another significant year for the travel industry comes to an end, Sonata Software and SAP Hybris have invited an esteemed panel of industry practitioners to reflect on what has been achieved and what is possible in the near future for customer experience. You’re invited to join us in considering the various opportunities and challenges in creating a digital path to purchase, as well as hear of experiences and learnings direct from the leaders of product companies, travel and hospitality businesses. We will talk about how to maximise ancillary revenues through cutting edge tech and other innovations. Travel brands please register here

Ecommerce Club Working Lunch London: Your audience & strategic data

Date: Tuesday 31st January

Time: 12:30pm to 3:00pm

Speakers: Ed Harries, Visualsoft and Jennifer Prior, Google

Ed Harries of Visualsoft will set the scene highlighting which tools and platforms you should be working with in 2017 and will then introduce Jennifer Prior, Agency Development Manager, from Google to talk about understanding your audience, 2017 trends and what is happening now!  This event will combine networking and discussion with your retail peers and talks from our partner Visualsoft and guest speaker Google.  Ecommerce Club events are for retailers only to attend please register here 

Ecommerce Club's Webinar: To see or not to see, that is the question

Date: Tuesday 7th February

Time: 12:00pm to 12:45pm.

Speaker: Neil McKay, CEO, Endless Gain,

To get people to buy from your website, you need to be able to understand what makes them tick. Understanding the psychology behind what makes your customers return to your website over and over again and what they expect from you in terms of communications, context, offers and product is key to keeping them engaged and loyal to your business. (Ecommerce Club events are for retailer only to attend)  Register here

Ecommerce Club London: Creating a consistent brand on & offline

Date: Thursday 23rd February

Time: 12:30pm to 15:00pm.

This club event is focused on the hurdles of presenting a consistent approach to your customer whether you are a large high street retailer or a small boutique business. We have invited our partner Lightspeed and two SMB retailers, Papillon and Charlotte Zimbehl, to discuss how they have strived to achieve brand consistency and true omnichannel presence. Register here

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Charlie

Director & Founder

Mixing Digital & Ecommerce Club

YouTube has started publishing its live broadcasts with a new system which lets fans pay to add comments to the top live streams. 

Fire engines and ambulances in Sweden have been given the power to stop music playing in nearby vehicles to make hearing their sirens easier when they rush to incidents.

Marketers are undaunted by the technological challenge of managing today’s digital touchpoints, and are eagerly awaiting new tools such as VR to innovate campaigns in 2017, according to new research. 

Facebook is set to roll out new fake news tool on the German version of the social media website which will allow German users to potentially flag fake news stories.

Yep you read that right, last week McDonalds Japan begun a social media campaign to allow customers to vote for their favourite burger where the winning burger will become part of a new free upgrade deal.