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EXCLUSIVE: Seamless Europe 2023
Messe Berlin, one of the Germany’s most renowned exhibition hall, experienced a remarkable transformation on October 19th and 20th as it played host to Seamless Europe 2023.
Though patchier in attendance than hoped for, the conference marked a much anticipated and needed industry gathering around of the themes of e-commerce, financial services, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Organised by Terrapin, the longstanding event has a strong reputation for bringing together companies located across the entire chain of command of e-commerce; from central banks and financial service providers down to SMEs and last-mile delivery services. This year’s turnout of large players – particularly on the speakers’ front – was particularly impressive and underscored the importance of such brands embracing transformation today.
FF spotted C-Suite delegates from firms like Getir, Asos, Leroy Merlin, Burger King, Levi’s Straus, IKEA, Porsche, Diageo, and Douglas, to name a handful.
Impressive as well was the number of fintech companies who had flown in from cities as far off as Amman, Malta, Tbilisi, Porto, India, Dubai and even Hong Kong to connect with a larger audience over the course of the event’s two days. “Attending Seamless is becoming crucial in order to meet partners and potential clients within the e-commerce space”, stated Anthony Kyriacou, an executive at APS who had flown in from Cyprus to showcase their corporate payment solutions.
For many, like Benjamin Berényi from the German merchant-focused buy-now-pay-later firm Pastpay, Seamless was also a prized opportunity to get first-hand feedback from stakeholders.
“The paradigm shift which occurred in B2C e-commerce over the past decades has now reached the B2B segment, which is my own, and has brought with it many challenges mixed with opportunities,” he detailed. “I come to Seamless to discuss and find solutions.”
Indeed, the buzz to define exactly ‘what’ the future could look like for industries and individuals was palpable across the various content tracks.
At the Home Delivery conference stage, product developers were overflowing with tips on how to create engaging experiences whilst managing costs in these inflationary markets. Across the hall, the benefits of cashless and open banking were debated with panache amongst merchant payments executives. Meanwhile, banks, credit, and payment institutions discussed financial remodelling within the VIP confines of the Banking Theatre whilst aspiring entrepreneurs milled about the free-to-attend-areas and had their chance to learn about company building directly from the mouths of some of Europe’s slickest startup veterans.
And it was a joy to see that for many, especially the young startups, Seamless’s value-add shined through despite lower than usual attendance rates.
“When discussing the shifts within the e-commerce landscape and what merchants can do to increase their conversions, it really is fantastic to know those listening are formidable players within the space.”
Vova Lando, the co-founder of GeekPay, also walked away from the event feeling it was a valued chance to profile, make connections, and kickstart developing those into key weight-bearing partnerships.
“Despite the noticeable downturn in the industry, evident at the event, Seamless 2023 managed to attract an engaged audience and participants from the Fintech sector. As a young team ourselves, we are very grateful for organisations like them who support of young companies through favourable participation terms and the creation of a platform to speak. My firm, GeekPay, established many valuable connections and we certainly vouch for Seamless as a noteworthy event for startups.”
FF enjoyed discovering the near-on 200 exhibitors on show, and hearing insights from the speakers holding court on regulatory framework optimisation, optimum AI harnessing, and the tricks that industries need to learn to stay on trend and safely tucked into customer wallets.
Keep an eye out for the 2024 dates for Seamless Europe, Middle East, and Asia, on their Seamless events page.
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