This year’s Call for Papers was one of the most hotly contested we have ever seen.
The submissions came in from all over the continent, and our judges had a tough time narrowing it down to just a few winners. But after much deliberation, they did it!
And we have even more stats and takeaways to share with you about this year’s contest.
About the Call for Papers contest
It’s not a brand new concept, but the Call for Papers (CFP) contest is one of our most popular initiatives. And it’s easy to see why – who doesn’t love good competition?
The CFP contest is open to anyone who wishes to submit a presentation on a relevant topic. The presentations are then judged by our audience, and then by our expert panel in the second round, and the winners are decided.
This year, we had an incredible response to our call for papers, with submissions coming in from many industries and places. We received presentations on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the future of ecommerce to the role of technology in ecommerce.
For this edition, we were looking for submissions in the following categories:
- New Developments
- Marketing in E-commerce
- IT for E-commerce
- Website Conversion Rate
- Logistics / Delivery / International Expansion
- ePayments
As always, we were blown away by the quality of the submissions. It was hard to choose just a few winners – but before we reveal who they are, let’s take a look at some of the numbers that caught our eye.
Call for Papers 2022/2023 in numbers
#1 Over 420 submissions
More than 420 unique submissions have been received this year, which is a record number for the contest!
This shows that the interest in ecommerce and the topics related to it is growing every year. And we are very happy to see so many people from all over the world participating in our contest. It also shows that the quality of submissions is getting better and better each year.
#2 More than 20 thousand votes this year alone
The public stage of the contest is always very popular, with our audience voting for their favorite presentations. This year alone, we received more than 20 thousand votes from our audience! It’s a few thousand votes more than last year, which just goes to show how popular the contest is.
And with such a turn-out, it is no wonder that the competition was so tough this year.
The votes from the audience are always very important to us, as they help us to decide which presentations will go through to the second stage of the contest. We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for their favorite submissions.
This is an excellent way to ensure that the best submissions make it to the final round of the contest, where they are judged by our expert panel.
#3 Over 90 submissions from women
We are very happy to see that the number of submissions from women has increased again this year. In total, we received more than 90 submissions from women, which is almost a 25% increase from last year. This shows that the ecommerce industry is becoming more and more inclusive and that our contest is attracting a diverse range of participants.
We believe that women have a lot to offer the ecommerce industry, and we are committed to promoting gender diversity in our contest. We would like to encourage even more women to participate in next year’s edition of the contest, too!
#4 More than 60 case studies
Practical experience is always valuable, and this is reflected in the submissions we received this year. In total, we received more than 60 case studies from participants, who shared their learnings and insights with us.
Case studies are of uttermost importance for the industry, as they provide valuable real-world examples of what works and what doesn’t. During our event, E-commerce Berlin Expo 2023, case studies are what our attendees are most interested in. This might be because they can immediately apply the learnings to their own businesses!
#5 9 excellent Judges
The second stage of the contest, where submissions are judged by our expert panel, is always very exciting. This year, we had the pleasure of working with 8 excellent judges, who are all experts in their respective fields.
- Dominique Leikauf, Transformation Manager Culture & Diversity @DKB Service
- Ben Harmanus, International Brand Strategy Lead @Hubspot
- Max Melching, Director Online Marketing @PARFÜMERIE DOUGLAS
- Thomas Ficht, Head of payment @MYTOYS GROUP
- Matthias Genz, Chief Administrative Officer @5 Retail Stores @MediaMarktSaturn
- Olga Spaet, E-Commerce Lead Region Overseas @Mercedes-Benz Cars
- Kai Herzberger, Group Director DACH & EMEA @Meta
- Efe Acunaz, Head of Marketing @ePages
- Zoltan Maklary, Head of Marketing @ Zalando Stores
The judges were tasked with selecting the best submissions in each category. This was no easy feat, as the quality of submissions was very high this year. In the end, though, our judges managed to agree on a shortlist of submissions that they believe deserve to be recognized.
We would like to thank our judges for their time and expertise. We are very grateful to have had such an experienced and qualified panel of judges this year!
Call for Papers 2022/2023: winners
Both the public and the judges have spoken, and we are now ready to announce the winners of this year’s edition of the Call for Papers contest!
The following submissions have been selected as the best in their respective categories:
Dr. Anamika Datta, Senior Product Manager @ Zalando – From Clothes to Goals : How to sell Intention in Fashion
Florian Nottorf, CEO @ ADFERENCE & Johannes Kliesch, CEO & Founder @ SNOCKS – Mit smarten Amazon Ads zur Socken-Million: die SNOCKS X ADFERENCE Story
Jöran Eitel, Managing Director & Ralph Cibis, People Lead Product Development @ Thomann.io – How we are creating the most inspiring online shopping experience for musicians
Elias Klemm, Senior Software Engineer @ SumUp & Filippo Conforti, Founder @ Commerce Layer – How SumUp used composable commerce to power 35 international markets
Casimir Rob, Co-Founder @ Every Foods – Achieving a double-digit conversion rate increase with sustainable same-day delivery
Kristina Kierner, Director Sales & Marketing @ EVO Payments International – Cross-border payments @Illy – the positive impact on conversion rates with international aquiring and local payment methods
See you in 2023
All the winners will present their submissions during our annual E-commerce Berlin Expo. Let’s meet on the 23rd of February in STATION Berlin where we’ll be talking all things ecommerce, and celebrating the 8th edition of our event!
And, of course, after another successful edition of the Call for Papers, we are already looking forward to next year’s contest. Save the date and pencil next September when we’ll reveal more info.
The e-commerce industry is constantly evolving, and we are always on the lookout for new trends and developments. This means that our contest is also constantly evolving, and we are always trying to make it better. Let us know what could be improved!
