MD Ecom 26

Building on last year’s momentum, the 2026 edition will bring together retailers, brands, digital leaders, agencies and tech innovators to explore the ideas, tools and shifts shaping the future of commerce.

MD Ecom 26 is the largest senior ecommerce conference in the North West, convening leaders and decision-makers from retail, DTC, platforms and digital teams to examine how commerce is being reshaped in real time. It is not positioned as a hype-led AI event, but as a focused conversation about what is actually changing — and what organisations need to do about it. Designed for those responsible for growth, performance, platforms and profitability in ecommerce, the event creates space for strategic, peer-level discussion.

Ecommerce leaders are facing a fundamental shift. Customer journeys are fragmenting across AI, social, search and marketplaces. Decision-making is becoming increasingly automated and agent-led. Margins are under pressure, while expectations around speed, trust and experience continue to rise. At the same time, teams are being asked to do more with less, without losing control. MD Ecom 26 is designed to help senior leaders make sense of this complexity, offering practical insight, honest discussion and peer-led perspectives.

The conference is curated exclusively for senior professionals, including C-suite leaders, Directors and Heads of Ecommerce, as well as Heads of Digital, Growth, Performance and Operations, and senior Product, Platform and Technology leaders from retail, DTC, marketplaces and platforms. Sales-led content and junior-heavy audiences are deliberately avoided to ensure conversations remain strategic, relevant and valuable.

Key themes for 2026 include agentic and autonomous commerce, asking what happens when AI systems do not just assist but act; AI-led buying and invisible checkout, exploring how decision-making, conversion and purchase are shifting beyond traditional funnels; productivity, operations and efficiency, focusing on how technology can scale teams, platforms and processes without increasing complexity; trust, risk and resilience, addressing fraud, compliance, accessibility and control as automation accelerates; and social and off-site commerce, examining what breaks when journeys move away from owned channels and how organisations can adapt.

What sets MD Ecom apart is its senior-only audience, with no sales floor and no recruitment pitches, alongside curated speakers from leading retailers, platforms and technology organisations. Panels and discussions are shaped around real challenges rather than product demonstrations, and networking is designed to connect people who make decisions. The event is hosted by Manchester Digital, the industry body for digital and ecommerce in the North West.

Speakers and contributors include leaders from organisations such as Regatta, The Very Group, THG, White Stores, Protein Works, EGO, Bet365, Nexa and PushON, with further names to be announced.