AI and Black Friday dominate Technology for Marketing and eCommerce Expo 2026 at London ExCel
Technology for Marketing and eCommerce Expo 2026 took place last week at ExCeL London. AI remained high on the agenda, with Sharon Gai, CEO and Founder at Culture Fluid, exploring how e-commerce is moving beyond traditional search and click shopping towards more predictive, personalised experiences.
“The future of e-commerce is not about making websites smarter. It’s about getting to a point where the shopping experience can predict what a customer needs before they even search for it,” Gai said. She added “Personalisation can be incredibly powerful, but there is a line between useful and uncomfortable. The challenge for retailers is using data and AI to make shopping easier without losing trust.”
AI governance was also in the spotlight in ‘Would You Let an AI Move £50,000 For Your Business?’, led by Klaas van Raaij, Managing Director at Incard Netherlands, who warned that automation can quickly outpace human oversight. His advice for keeping AI in check was simple: “Give AI a career path, not the keys.”
Elsewhere, social and discovery commerce emerged as a major theme. In ‘Cracking TikTok Shop: The Strategy Behind Sustainable 7-Figure Growth’, speakers from TikTok and Social United explored how content, product, consistency and creators can drive sustainable growth.
“People don’t open TikTok because they want to shop. They open it to be entertained. The opportunity for brands is to turn that entertainment into discovery, and discovery into sales,” said Giulia Yang, Growth & Strategic Partnerships at TikTok.
Jay Joshi, Head of TikTok Shop at Social United, added: “The impact of TikTok Shop goes beyond the transaction. There’s a halo effect across the wider brand, as discovery on TikTok drives awareness, consideration and sales elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, Emily Booroff, Founder and CVO at Social Climbers Collective, argued that brands no longer need to build a traditional following before reaching an audience, outlining four fundamentals for TikTok Shop success: search, discoverability, earning attention and working with creators.
Retail media was also a key focus point. In a panel discussion titled ‘Retail Media ROI: The Data Driving Sales Onsite, Offsite and on TV’ Mike Hyman, Head of Media at Henkel, said: “We don’t see in-housing and outsourcing as two separate things. Everything needs to be connected. Internally, we retain the strategic core, then rely on our retail media partners to help plan measurement and activation to maximise impact.”
Clare O’Brien, Associate Media Advisor at ISBA, also called for the industry to move beyond the divide between performance and brand building: “It’s time to get rid of the ‘versus’. Everyone wants short-term results, but those results should ladder up to brand equity over time.”
Attention also turned to peak trading, with Matt Walsh of IMRG sharing the latest expectations for Black Friday 2026. IMRG expects health and beauty to perform strongly, with haircare a standout, while electricals is also forecast to perform well. The data also showed Black Friday continuing to start earlier, with 15% of retailers running promotions by Halloween in 2025, rising to 21% by 3rd November.
The two-day event concluded with Millie Bright, former England Lioness, Chelsea Captain and UEFA Women’s EURO winner, and Ellen White, former England Lioness, record goalscorer and UEFA Women’s EURO winner, discussing what it takes to build high performing teams under pressure.
Bright said leadership brings “responsibility, not just for you to perform, but to get your team to perform”, while White highlighted the importance of shared culture and accountability: “Everyone was accountable for each other. We had a common and shared goal, everyone understood what was required, and everyone had a voice.”
eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing will return to ExCeL London in 2027, running from 22nd-23rd September.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
