1. Spotlight on The Future of Commerce at Next ECOM Africa in April 2023 Helping organisations become resilient and anti-fragile, focusing on the future of commerce and keeping up with the constantly evolving e-commerce sector will be at the heart of the upcoming ECOM Africa, taking place in Cape Town from 18–10 April 2023. The programme will comprise a global community of experts and practitioners and local success stories and up-and-coming start-ups, sharing their experiences in the latest trends across five tracks focused on: retail and e-commerce, fintech and payments, cybersecurity, fulfilment and logistics and the future of marketing. This will be the ninth edition of this flagship, specialist gathering for the e-commerce, etailing and fintech sectors. With an expected 2,500 attendees it is the largest e-commerce event on the continent. Digital Transformation Requires Agility “Resilience has become a buzzword since the pandemic, and global geo-political, energy and economic challenges have continued since then,” says ECOM Africa MD Terry Southam. “However, resilience is not enough. Business leaders need to create anti-fragile organisations that not only survive but thrive in a time of accelerated change. Digital transformation requires agility, which is the ability of an organisation to renew itself, adapt, change quickly and succeed in a rapidly changing, ambiguous, turbulent environment”. ECOM Africa will present more than 60 speakers across three stages and five core tracks over two days. To ready companies for the future of commerce, attendees will gain practical insights and expert guidance on the direction of future technologies, best practices and change management in the digital era. The latest trends that will be unpacked include smart contracts, 3PL (third-party logistics), conversational AI, digital wallets, first-party data, creating a cybersecure culture, email security and social commerce. Track highlights::: Retail and e-commerce This track will focus on building resilient fulfilment and logistics strategies; direct-to-consumer; first party data; personalised shopping experiences; subscription models; the metaverse; merging online and in-store experiences and LTV (lifetime value) and CAC (customer acquisition cost). Fintech and payments Discussions on digital wallets, decentralised finance, cryptocurrencies, fintech and banking infrastructure, cash inclusion, fintech-as-a-service and mobile payments will assist companies in keeping up-to-date with the latest e-finance trends. Cybersecurity Security is always a concern for companies, suppliers and customers alike, and ransomware, building a cybersecure culture, phishing attacks, malware attacks and email security are some of the measures that will be unpacked in this track. Fulfilment and logistics The delivery revolution in e-commerce is ongoing and the discussions will deal with the latest technology and developments, including seamless omnichannel fulfilment, sustainable logistics, smart supply, inventory management, automation, customer experience, smart contracts, 3PL logistics, smart supply chains and last-mile delivery. The Future of Marketing With state-of-the-art techniques, from augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to the metaverse, the future of marketing seems to have arrived already. Other topical trends in the marketing sector that will be highlighted are video marketing, future martech, cookieless tracking, first-party data, voice search, user experience design and chatbots and conversational AI. Attending ECOM Africa All-access pass tickets for the event are already on sale: these provide access to all stages and the networking party at the end of Day 1 (18 April). Early bird tickets are on sale until 30 December 2022. The expo floor will also be open to visitors. Organisations that will particularly benefit from attending are SMEs and DTC brands looking to network and learn, as ECOM Africa is known for providing valuable opportunities to speak to solution providers and experts, as well as try out new specialist technologies in each track, and for meeting peers who share their experience and knowledge. Sponsors and partners that have already confirmed their return to and support for ECOM Africa 2023 include Worldpay, Skynet, Vectra, Hypertext, Bizcommunity, Retail Brief Africa and Smart Africa.