A round-up from Magento Live Europe 2019
Magento Live Europe 2019 has closed its doors for another year and our Redbox team have returned from Amsterdam to give their view on how it went, as well as provide a summary of the announcements that were made.
More than 2000 partners and merchants from across Europe descended on the RAI Exhibition and Conference Center in Amsterdam. There was a fantastic line-up of speakers including Dame Stephanie Shirley who gave an uplifting and very moving speech after moving from Nazi Germany to the UK in 1939 as an unaccompanied child; Joost Rigter who lost most of his sight due to a rare eye condition; Jason Woosley, VP Commerce at Adobe; Gary Specter, Adobe’s global head of GTM, commercial business and many more.
There were technical and commercial sessions covering everything from PWA’s and security to commerce driven order management, Magento PageBuilder and ways to optimise payment strategy. And to top it off our client, Nahdi, won the Commerce Ace Award.
Here are the highlights from across the two days.
Redbox customer wins top Magento award
Every year, businesses who have shown exemplary leadership within their industry are recognised and awarded by Magento/Adobe. This year, our client Pawel Dabrowski, ecommerce director at Nahdi, won the coveted Magento Live Commerce Ace Award for ‘creating a unique vision and delivering commerce excellence.’ Pawel, together with Redbox, delivered a complete omnichannel commerce experience for Nahdi’s customers, which has seen the pharmacy’s online business grow 400 per cent.
Jonty Sutton, Redbox's CEO accepting the award on behalf of Pawel Dabrowski.
New Adobe organisation to support SMEs and mid-market companies
Gary Specter, Adobe’s global head of GTM, will lead a newly created organisation within the Digital Experience business to support the needs of SMB and mid-market companies.
As Gary Specter pointed out during his keynote: “Adobe recognises that the way SMB and mid-market companies go-to market or buy software and technology is very different. Often, they lack resources and look to an eco-system to support them. Adobe and Marketo have a strong eco-system of partners, developers and ancillary support to help them deploy technologies that allow them to be much more competitive with their larger counterparts. Adobe is putting a different lens on how they go about helping these companies, and the solutions that are being offered come with an ‘army’ of people, which is what SME and the mid-market companies need. It’s a new way of partnering, we recognise that they need to be supported in different ways to enterprise organisations. There is a huge opportunity for Adobe, with the Marketo acquisition, to dive into this market segment.”
Amazon Sales Channel Extension now available in the UK
Jason Woosley Adobe’s vice president, Commerce took to the stage and announced that Amazon Sales Channel Extension for Magento Commerce and Magento Open Source will be available in the U.K. immediately.
This is good news for small to medium-sized businesses who are looking to grow and scale their business. It allows them to become a viable player in the Amazon economy through integrating their catalogue, establishing a bi-directional data flow and managing listings from their Magento admin.
Jason Woosley on stage
As Jason Woosley explained: “Amazon is becoming an irrefutable force and one that needs to be embraced, not ignored. Adobe is making it easy to participate in these market places, opening up new geographies and regions for them to do business.”
Magento’s Early Access Program
From Jan next year, Magento will be opening the Early Access Program for Magento Commerce customers. The program, which is powered by Adobe Sensei - Magento’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, gives them the ability to analyse shopper behaviour and add highly personalised product recommendations to their store’s pages.
Inspirational talks
Philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley gave a very moving speech about her arrival in the UK from Germany as an orphaned five-year-old child. She talked candidly about her struggles and difficulties adapting to life in Britain. She founded a software company, F.I Group PLC but has since retired to concentrate on philanthropic work.
Dame Stephanie Shirley giving a moving and inspirational talk
Dame Stephanie Shirley’s speech was followed by Joost Rigter, a well-known speaker and entrepreneur, who lost nearly all of his site due to a rare eye condition. He asked the audience to wear a blind-fold and took them on a journey into a world without sight. His unique story about change resonated with everyone and he taught a valuable lesson about how we can all find light in the dark and how obstacles, which often feel unsurmountable, are much smaller than they seem.
And finally, to next year. We’ll be heading to Vegas for Imagine at the Adobe Summit. We look forward to seeing you there.